Audio Recommendation

[Cassie]

Hello, everybody. I have never listened to an audio book before, but I want to try because my eyes are starting to feel strained from staring at a computer screen all day and an iPad all night. I have heard countless stories about horrible narration, so I am approaching this with caution. I am hoping you all can give me recommendations on what to try.

I would (greatly) prefer a recommendation that I have not already read, if possible. But if there are any suggestions on one that is worth a re-read, I'm open to that as well. Thanks!

[[deleted user]]

The best narrator I've ever heard is Jim Dale. He does the Harry Potter series and won some awards for it. He can create a different voice for each and every character. You can also keep an eye out for actors you know doing the narration. Often they only do abridged versions, but many are very good. Stephen Fry also does the Harry Potter series very well. Other than that, go to your library e-audio book selection on line. Most will let you listen to an exerpt before checking the book out, and all will let you check out e-audio books for free. You can download onto your computer or your ipad. Some narrations are hard to handle, but some people just don't like to consume books through their ears. You'll have to try out a few before you know what works for you.

[☻Nikki☻]

I love the narrator for The Rachel Morgan series (The Hollows). I read the series first then listened to the audio. The first book was a hard read for me but I LOVED the audio.

The Sookie Stackhouse narrator is really good too.

It took me a few minutes to get used to the narrator on but I ended up really enjoying it.

is narrated by James Marsters (Bones from Buffy, the Vampire Slayer). You can hear when he takes a breath which irritated me a bit at first but I was able to block it out after a bit and enjoyed it. They say the later books they fix that little bit of a glitch.

I also totally second the Harry Potter series with Jim Dale. He was the narrator that got me first hooked on audiobooks :D

[Carolyn F.]

I second the Sookie Stackhouse books.

I also enjoyed and audiobook series.

[Dee]

I liked Elisabeth Rogers who narrated the Succubus series by Richelle Mead -

top for me is Susan Erickson who narrated JD Robb's In Death series - - I tried so many times to read these books and kept giving up but with the audio, i've listened to 14 of them now

[Carolyn F.]

Ooh, I forgot about the Succubus series Dee, that was a good one too.

[Dee]

i'm listening to the second book in the Parasol Protectorate right now and enjoying it.

Phil Gigante who narrated KMM's highlander series is always a fav among listeners...then Joyce Bean who did the first 3 books in the fever series (and then it shifted to a duo of Natalie May and Phil Gigante)

I also like Simon Vance, but he doesn't really do UF - he does a lot of mysteries - he did the Stieg Larsson books - that were addictive

[Sally]

For me, the best read books are the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon and read by Davina Porter, and the Susan Elizabeth Phillips books read by Anna Field. Unfortunately, Anna has now died and the new narrator is good, but she was outstanding.
It really depends what kinds of books you like, but the Outlander series is the favourite of hundreds of people, including me.

[Carolyn F.]

Sally is Anna Field the one that sounded like Ellen Degeneres? If so, you're right she was really good.

I also love Davina Porter, she's my absolute favorite.

[PM]

I think the lady who did the Dicovery of Witches audio was great! Each voice was distinctive, yet not weird or anything and they sounded like I expected them to sound when I read the book originally.

[Terry (Ter05 TwiMoms/ MundieMoms)]

I agree, PM, not only was A Discovery of Witches my best read of 2011, I listened to the audio two weeks after finishing the book and loved it. She did a beautiful job of reading Diana and the other characters too.

[Shannon]

I absolutely agree with Dee about Phil Gigante and Joyce Bean as great narrators and Nikki is sooo right about James Marsters and his inhalations but the books were enjoyable in the end!

I totally loved Laurel Merlington who narrated books 1-6 and book 8 for the Merry Gentry series by Laurell K. Hamilton! She does great male voices and I think she made the books much more enjoyable than if I read them outright because the writing has a lot of "I said, Doyle said, Rhys said, etc." throughout the books and the contrast really helps, lol!



Also, Claudia Black narrated the seventh book in this series and I found I liked her as well.



Hillary Huber did a GREAT job with Lara Adrian's Kiss of Midnight book as well!

[☻Nikki☻]

I'm gonna comment on some of the above:

Gotta agree with Outlander. Davina Porter is AMAZING!! Keep it mind it is one looooooooong book :D I really enjoyed it but it's not for everyone. I've only listed to the first book in the series but I have books 2 & 3 and hope to listen to them sometime soon.

I've also listened to the first 2 of the In Death series by JD Robb. I really enjoy the narrator there too.

My favorite series is the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning. The audio has me a bit torn though. The first 3 books are narrated by Joyce Bean. I really liked her for all the characters except Barrons (lead male) and I HATED how she made him sound. I thought it sounded like a old woman. Books 4 & 5 have dual narrations. Phil Gigante for the men (AWESOME!!!) and Natalie May for the female. She was just ok. Not horrible but not outstanding either.

[Deanna]

I loved Dead Witch Walking and Outlander Also try Magic Bites and Urban Shaman

[[deleted user]]

Right now I'm listening to , and I also listened to the second book in the series before this one. I really like the narrator.

[Sally]

Carolyn F. wrote: "Sally is Anna Field the one that sounded like Ellen Degeneres? If so, you're right she was really good.

I also love Davina Porter, she's my absolute favorite."

I agree about Anna Field's voice. She made the men sound so sexy and the women also. Try listening to Match me if you Can!
As to Davina Porter, unbelievable!!!

Talking about James Marsters, I wish his voice had been used for Bones. Love those books, but the fake cockney of Bones really gets up my nose. As if, with the life he's lived for centuries, he wouldn't have improved his way of speaking?! An English accent, if the reader can manage a naturla sounding one, yes, but what we get? Please!!!!

Continueing with the readers theme. Keri Arthur is one of my alltime favourite authors, but as an Australian I cannot stand the reader who is doing the Riley Jensen books! Couldn't they find an Australian to read it? There are plenty of Aussies in the US working.

[Cassie]

Thank you all for your suggestions. I did end up getting Discovery of Witches, and I'm finding it to be pretty good. As PM said, the voices for each character are just different enough that I can tell who is speaking.

[☻Nikki☻]

I just finished the audio of and really enjoyed it. At first I thought the narrator read a little slow (not horrible, just a little) but I was able to increase the narration speed up to 1.25. I think that helped. Other than her reading a little slower than I like I thought it was a really good book with good narration. I hope to get the next book in the series on audio soon. I'm planning on starting in the morning based on the recommendations on this thread. :)

[Dee]

C - how was the narration for Discovery of witches? one of my groups is doing it as a GR in Feb and i'm debating between getting the audio, or buying the kindle version

[PM]

Dee wrote: "C - how was the narration for Discovery of witches? one of my groups is doing it as a GR in Feb and i'm debating between getting the audio, or buying the kindle version"

I thought Discovery of Witches was very well done. I had a better understanding of several portions of the book after I listened to the audio than I did when I read it.

[Blue Eyed Vixen]

Try your library also. Mine are buying more and more audiobooks due to popularity. I find them great since I have a 40 minute drive each way to work.
Our library is now offering online downloading of their audiobooks which is so convenient.

[Dee]

thanks PM...i'll def. look into it then ;)

[PM]

Blue Eyed Vixen wrote: "Try your library also. Mine are buying more and more audiobooks due to popularity. I find them great since I have a 40 minute drive each way to work.
Our library is now offering online downloading..."

That is where I got my audio version of Discovery. I am so addicted to reading, when I drive alone I always have an audio book playing now. I'd have neither the storage space or the money to handle my reading addiction without my library! LOL

[Jen]

some of my favorite audios are and non PR .
The Hunger Games series was really good to as are the Chicagoland Vampires series non PR definitely the Stieg Larsson millenium series - much easier to listen to than read since it was originally in Sweedish. I love audio, but it can be annoying when you're listening to a series and a couple of books in they change the reader. You get used to a voice and it helps shape the character so a change in how they speak or pronounce words can drive you crazy!

[harlequin {Stephanie}]

Anita blake vampire hunter by Laurell k Hamilton - kimberly alexsis brings anita to life for the first nine books then they switch to cynthia holloway who isn't bad but she is just not anita in my mind. Thankfully they have switched back to the original narrator.

dresden files
morganville vampires by rachel caine
Anything by Molly Harper in audio is great! Amanda Ronconi is a great narrator.
alex craft series by kalayna price
nightshade by michelle rowen
dreg city by kelly meding
the iron hunt by Marjorie M. Liu
Jane yellowrock by Faith Hunter
georgina kincaid by Richelle Mead

A lot of great books are in audio and it's very rare that you'll find a narrator the ruins a book completely. Above are some of the best. Check on audible they give you a preview before purchase so you can see if you like the narrator before you purchase. I have to warn you it really is murder converting them over if you don't have a name brand ipod though since they are aa files.

[Valerie]

a few of my favorites
I agree with stephanie Amanda Ronconi did a great job. A few of my favs are
J.R. Wards narrator for Black dagger(jim frangione) and fallen(Eric G Dove)
Dee Tenorino Deceiving the protector (Christian Rummel)
Jeaniene Frost series (Tavia Gilbert)
Cassandra Clare Clockwork Prince(Ed Westwick)
Dianne Duvall Darkness Dawn(Kirsten Potter)
Holter Graham

[Erika]

How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf One of the best readers I have ever heard. I am on my fourth book by this author, I have to stop myself, because I laugh out loud on the street!

[Sheri]

I'm currently listening to my first audiobook, Storm Front by Jim Butcher, and the reader is James Marsters. I love it! His voice is perfect for the character and so smooth. I wasn't sure at first I was going to like listening to an entire book, but I'm almost finished with the book without even realizing how far into it I was.

[P J]

Harry Potter is a great Audio Listen. He does such wonderful voice acting! I love listening to the Sookie Stackhouse books as well. She reads with such a great Sookie attitude. I'm currently listening to the Fallen series (again). I have quite a few Audible books on my Ipod and its nice to disappear into a book and still do other things. I usually prefer to listen to books I've already read, that way I can multitask and not worry about missing anything :)

[Cindy (Squin)]

The Anita Blake series is great, I really liked that one. The Carpathians series, however, aren't the greatest - the narrator, Juanita Parker isn't very good with pronunciations!!

[Dee]

they did get rid of Juanita Parker later on in the series. i'm listening to Dark Peril right now and its narrated by Phil Gigante and Natalie Ross - they were both in AAR's top 20 audiobook narrators for 2011

[Jen]

Marybeth wrote: "How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf One of the best readers I have ever heard. I am on my fourth book by this author, I have to s..."
Molly Harper is hilarious I have always loved listening to her books!!!

[☻Nikki☻]

I've made a new group about Audiobooks to try to share everyone's favorite books. There is another group on Goodreads about audiobooks that is ok but they don't have separate posts for different genres so I thought I'd make my own. Please come join me and help me share with others the best audiobooks out there.

http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/6...

[Paula]

One of my favorites for audiobook is Darynda Jones' Charley Davidson series. The book itself is hysterical (in my opinion), the main character Charley is sarcastic, and the narrator really makes her voice come to life.

[harlequin {Stephanie}]

Sally --- Talking about James Marsters, I wish his voice had been used for Bones. Love those books, but the fake cockney of Bones really gets up my nose. As if, with the life he's lived for centuries, he wouldn't have improved his way of speaking?! An English accent, if the reader can manage a naturla sounding one, yes, but what we get? Please!!!!

I agree James Marsters is a fantastic narrator. Night huntress was such a popular series I am surprised they did not bring in two narrators. The narrator does a great vlad & ian though. Bones' character would have been better if the narrator would have brought the tone down to a more masculine level instead of being so high pitched.



Another really good one is kate daniels serier by ilona andrews. The narrator does the beast lord to perfection. Some female narrators have trouble getting the male characters to sound right. Very good series.