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2012 Listening Challenge - Details Here - Let's Go!
I think I'm going to try Track Four (Spread your listening). For January I'm going to knock off one Contempory with Eden Burning by Elizabeth Lowell. (I'm making listening to it worthwhile)
The Surprise by quarter:
#1- I just listened to It Had to be You so that would be my narrator (Anna Fields)
#2-Will be Celebrity in Death when it comes out
:)
Great to have you join us!One reason I chose Listening to the Top Hits was to give myself permission to take the time to relisten to some of my own favorites on that list. And since It Had to Be You is one of my SEP favorites, I'm sure I will be relistening to it this year. Memories of Dan railing at Phoebe who is so completely cool - what a pair.
Lea's Audiobooks wrote: "Great to have you join us!One reason I chose Listening to the Top Hits was to give myself permission to take the time to relisten to some of my own favorites on that list. And since It Had to Be..."
I have a strange reaction to SEP. Her books often make me really sad. It had to be you is the only one so far that didn't leave me feeling sad at the end. The worst was What I did for Love. I think SEP is a good writer and tells interesting stories but they might be a little too real sometimes for my overly romantic heart.
My problem with top 100 is that I've listened to a lot of them already and I like Kleypas but I'd have to listen mostly to her and I wasn't a huge fan of Roslyn Landor (sp?). I'd love to get my hands on to my favourite Linda Howard-Mr. Perfect by it seems to be one of those hard to find things.
What I Did for Love did not work for me in print or audio. I was completely disappointed.We do have some book sharing here for those hard to find gems such as Mr. Perfect. Send me a personal message if you want to talk about it.
i'm starting my official second book, since I keep getting distracted - Dark Peril for the narrator category - its narrated by Phil Gigante and Natalie Ross
Lea's Audiobooks wrote: "Megan - so glad you are joining in! Was it the narration or the storyline that failed for you in The Welcoming? Or was it too dated (it's an older series isn't it?)?"
Thanks, Lea!
The Welcoming does have a dated feel (e.g. the heroine doesn't want to have anything to do with computers).
The plot itself is ok. That the hero doesn't reveal what he's really doing on the island is to the heroine, even after they get engaged, felt too contrived. Sure she's a little too honest and might endanger the mission, but still, that whole conflict seemed contrived.
Here's my review of The Welcoming.
My rating: 2/5 stars
This is a fun but forgettable listen: while you run, do dishes, drive, basically, while doing something else.
PLOT: FBI Agent Roman DeWinter goes undercover at a bed-and-breakfast inn on Orcas island to uncover a counterfeiting and smuggling ring. Suspicion is on the Inn's attractive upbeat owner, Charity Ford, who is heavily involved in all aspects of running the Inn.
It becomes quickly clear to Roman that Charity is not a suspect. He finds she is full of charity herself, and falls in love with her. He stays his Secret Agent self, however, even after confessing love to each other, in order to discover and trap the villains.
NARRATION:This is my first listen to Christian Rummel. He was great with the villains. He really got the voice of threatening with thread of fearful in it at the same time. And when the villain is whining, he also got the grating intonation down. For the hero Roman's voice, though, the narration was jarring. I kept hearing a smirk. Maybe Roman is supposed to be smirking all the time. It might have been meant to be sardonic, but man, it came across as smirking.
View all my reviews
Finally, got over here...I finished my first Listening Challenge (Surprise by Quarter). I picked listen to a Winning Narrator - Lethal by Sandra Brown, read by Victor Slezak. I enjoyed it very much. The story and romance were entertaining, and the reading was very good. I gave it 4 stars.
I think my second Surprise listen this quarter will be On Thin Ice by Anne Stuart, read by Xe Sands. It meets the Romance Produced in the first three months of 2012 choice. It will also be a new-to-me reader who I've been anxious to try.
Okay - I have created a section just for our Challenge Worksheets. You will see the section below Individual Challenge Worksheets. Start a new thread for your individual worksheet. The first thread talks about how to utilize your individual thread. I also started my own thread to track my Challenge to date.
I have just finished Pleasure Unbound by Larissa Ione for the paranormal category of Spread Your Listening. It was good, but a little dark for me to listen to at work. I'm moving on to
, which my first book for the contemporary/romantic suspense category. And looking at my worksheet(http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/7...), I'm about halfway done. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. :^
Jo-Ann W. wrote: "I think my second Surprise listen this quarter will be On Thin Ice by Anne Stuart, read by Xe Sands. It meets the Romance Produced in the first three months of 2012 choice. It will also be a new-to-me reader who I've been anxious to try. "Oh! Very interested in your thoughts on it. Releases on Monday, 2/6 :)
Finished
.A good story, although the mens voices took some getting used to. This may keep me from listening to the others in the series as they sounded high pitched and whiny. Although her voice for the older, southern sister was spot on.
I get new a Audible next week, so I'm taking the time to look for another cont/rom sus or one produced this year for the quarterly listen.
Last night, I finished Linda Howard's After the Night for my Listening to the Top Hits Challenge. That's two down in that Challenge and I have completed the two for the first quarter of the Surprise by the Quarter Challenge. The Listening to the Top Hits Challenge is a bit like a gift. Every month I give myself permission to relisten to one of my favorites (and I'm going to try a few that are new-to-me as well).
I just saw the new list and wanted to say that The Next Always by Nora Roberts was a very enjoyable listen.
With my completion of Love in a Nutshell, I'm officially halfway through my challenge (spread your listening). I had thought to take a break, but then realized I have too many TBR books to slow down now.I downloaded
from the library, so I may listen to that or may look for something new for the second book in the quarterly surprise.(I wonder if there is a limit to the number of challenges I can do...)
I'd like to join this challenge ~ I'm so addicted to my Audio books, and when I find a narrator I love, I tend to pick books by what they've narrated as well as the authors. So I'll go with Winning Narrators in Speaking of Audiobooks 2011 Favorite Romance Audiobooks ~ do I need to sign up anywhere or just post here?
No sign up needed other than just sharing with us here as you go along. Thanks for joining in!
Glad to! Right now I'm listening to Wolf At The Door by Christine Warren ~ I've read it before, but it's been a while, and Audible is having a great sale, so snagged it ~~ it's a new to me Narrator, too, and she's really great ~ Kate Reading.
Listened to Theee Fates
That's 2/4 in contemporary for mixing it up
Did you like Three Fates? I really enjoy her boooks and am not familiar with this one. was it worth the listen?
Listening now to Devil's Bride which I think is 3 of 4 for historicals on my "Spread Your Listening" Challenge. So far:
Historical
An Infamous Army 5*
Then Came You 4* (2* for Rosalyn Landor's narration)
Paranormal
A Hunger Like No Other 4*
Contemporary
Whitehorse 3.5* (4.5* for Kate Reading's narration)
Anne wrote: "Did you like Three Fates? I really enjoy her boooks and am not familiar with this one. was it worth the listen?"Yup, definitely enjoyed it. Here's my review:
PLOT: 4 stars
NARRATION: 4.5 stars
I was debating whether to add this listen to my SOA challenge. I don't actually read or listen to that much Nora Roberts, but am an avowed devotee of Susan Ericksen's narrations of her In Death series. As I was going through my garage for books to post on PaperbackSwap (they swap audiobooks there, too), I found this CD and decided to listen.
And, boy, am I glad I did. I've still got lilting Irish accents in my head. The narrator for Three Fates, Bernadette Quigley, was new to me. She got that lyrical Irish dialogue and subtle nuances spot on. Her pacing and timing was great, too. How come I've never listened to her before?
Surprise Me - Quarter 1Choice #1 - Listen to a romance narrated by one of the winning narrators in the Favorite Romance Audiobooks Poll - Dark Peril narrated by Phil Gigante and Natalie Ross - Finished - 9 February 2012 Its been a while since i'd read any of Feehan's books because they were all starting to blur together, but I'm glad I found this one to listen to. Gigante and Ross did a great job of voicing Solange and Dominic and it was nice to see a fairly kick-ass heroine, as opposed to the milk-saps that typically show up in Feehan's work.
Choice #2 - Listen to a romance produced in the first three months of 2012
Choice #3 - Listen to a romance with a tortured hero - Breathless - Lucien is a nice tortured hero - Finished - January 20, 2012 - I know I should have hated Lucien in this book for what he was willing to do, but there was just something about him...Erickson did a great job once again (when has she not) of narrating this book and I look forward to finishing out the series in the near future.
Choice #4 - Listen to a Cabin Romance
Megan wrote: "Anne wrote: "Did you like Three Fates? I really enjoy her boooks and am not familiar with this one. was it worth the listen?"Yup, definitely enjoyed it.
Thanks Megan. I found it at the library and put it on order. Looking forward to listening to it!
Dee wrote: "Surprise Me - Quarter 1Choice #1 - Listen to a romance narrated by one of the winning narrators in the Favorite Romance Audiobooks Poll - Dark Peril narrated by Phil Gigante and Na..."
Hi Dee. I am a feehan fan and really enjoyed Dark Peril as an audiobook. Hearing the story gave things a different perspective.
it did and I loved the alternating Gigante/Ross narration - I wasn't as much a fan of their Fever pairing - mostly because the first 3 had been done by someone else - but this one worked yet...unfortunately, I don't think they did the next book - its another new narrator
I don't remember who did Dark Predator but is was decently done. I am looking forward her new book later this year.
DP was done by Erik Bergmann - I dont' know if i've ever listened to anything by him...I have it reserved at the library though
I will be curious to hear what you think of it once you get it. Keep us posted.
will do - one of my other groups is getting ready to start an audiobook challenge, that involves picking to listen to either 5, 10, 20, 30 or 50 audio books over the next 9 months...if you pick the 5, 10 or 20 you can't repeat any narrators, if you pick the 30 or 50 you can listen to the same person only twice...so it'll be interesting exploring some new people
I have never picked my books by narrator...intersting approach...is there a place to search by narrator not book?
Anne wrote: "I have never picked my books by narrator...intersting approach...is there a place to search by narrator not book?"At this point, now that I have a few narrator crushes, I actually almost always choose an audiobook by the narrator. And this has helped me explore genres I have previously bypassed. As for searching by narrator on Goodreads...hmm. Best I can think of is that if you know of a narrator you like, you can put that into the search field and their books will show up as if they had authored them (this is how mine appear).
on goodreads not so much - I think you can on audible though...or you can find an audiobook that you liked, click on the narrators name and see what else they narrated
Anne wrote: "I have never picked my books by narrator...intersting approach...is there a place to search by narrator not book?"Are you familiar with Audible? It is my primary method of searching by narrator. Just place the name of the narrator in the search field and it will bring up all books. You can then take a look by genre.
Another search option - on Amazon's Advanced Search, place the narrator name in the Keyword and it will bring up a list as well.
I don't usually pick a book by a narrator but if I'm thinking about purchasing a book and it is performed by a narrator I trust (to perform to my expectations), it nearly always tips the decision in favor of the book. If it is a book I enjoyed in print and it is narrated by a trusted narrator - almost 100% chance I'll buy it.
On the other hand, if it is a book I loved in print or expect to love in print (by a favorite author) and it is performed by a narrator I don't care for, it is doubtful that I will purchase it.
Thanks for the guidance. I have been on audible but never thought to search that way...I will have to give it try.
This is a question that many narrators are curious about - would love to hear more from listeners on whether you ever search by narrator (on Audible or elsewhere - in the Los Angeles library system you can search by narrator I know)? Or do you have other ways of seeking out additional works by narrators you've enjoyed?Thanks!
Karen wrote: "This is a question that many narrators are curious about - would love to hear more from listeners on whether you ever search by narrator (on Audible or elsewhere - in the Los Angeles library system..."I definitely search by narrator on audible. If a narrator is someone I haven't listened to before I'll try to listen to several samples on audible to get a feel for the voice and style. If it's a reader I particularly like, it will influence how I use my credits. I've definitely bought books because I liked the narrator.
ETA: Of course the reverse is true as well. I avoid books I might otherwise try because I know I don't care for the readers style.
Why don't we start a new thread for this narrator discussion? Start with Karen's question. Place it under Audiobook Discussions or possibly another grouping. I'd do it but I'm on the road.Lot of potential for this thread and don't want to hijack the Listening Challenge discussion. Carrie - can you then post your post on the new thread?
This is something that I'd like to feature at the column at some time.
Good discussion!
Lea's Audiobooks wrote: "Why don't we start a new thread for this narrator discussion? Start with Karen's question. Place it under Audiobook Discussions or possibly another grouping. I'd do it but I'm on the road.Lot ..."
Okay, I did it. I hope I did it correctly! ;-)
Finished
. The narrator did a really good with the variety of foreign accents--French (male and female), British (3 different males), and Egyptian to name a few. However, I did notice my intertest was more in the secondary characters than in the main ones.I'm not sure what I want to listen to next. For the spread your listening category, I have 1 paranormal listen left and 2 of each for the cont/historical categories.
Diana N wrote: "Finished . The narrator did a really good with the variety of foreign accents--French (male and female), British (3 different males), and Egyptian to name a few. H..."So, Diana, did you decide to add another Challenge? Maybe pick up Surprise by the Quarter next quarter?
Lea's Audiobooks wrote: "did you decide to add another Challenge?"I am doing the Surprise by the Quarter challenge in additon to the Spread Your Listening one. (For this quarter, I have listened to a winning narrator and will pick a recently published book later this month.)
I am thinking of also doing the Mix 'Em Up Firsts challenge or the Listen by the Number. I want to pick whichever one will allow me to supplement my reading the most. I hate listening to books I've already read. Most of the time, the narrator's rendition is totally opposite of what I imagined the characters' voices to be.
Anne wrote: "I have never picked my books by narrator...intersting approach...is there a place to search by narrator not book?"You can search by narrator in library catalogs. The narrator is usually treated like an author so it's easy to find books by narrator.
Cool, now if I could only remember who I like... ☺I will have to keep track going forward.
Just finished
and Eby was fabulous as always. Unfortunately I couldn't say the same about the story. I've enjoyed Mallery in the past but this book just rubbed me wrong. I finished it so I'm counting it for one of my categories, I'm just not sure which one yet.
Spread Your ListeningI've finished my second contemporary title with Sea Swept.
I'm now staring my third paranormal/SFR listen with After Dark.
So far:
Historical
An Infamous Army 5*
Then Came You 4* (2* for Rosalyn Landor's narration)
Devil's Bride 3* (Simon Pebble's narration 4.5*)
Paranormal
A Hunger Like No Other 4*
Slave to Seduction 4* (narration 3*)
Contemporary
Whitehorse 3.5* (4.5* for Kate Reading's narration)
Sea Swept 3*
After hearing Brittany's excitement over Linda Howard's To Die For, I'm relistening to it for my Listening to the Top Hits Challenge. This will be my third in that category plus I have completed my two for this quarter of the Surprise by the Quarter Challenge.
I'm finishing The Sweetest Thing by Jill Shalvis which will complete the contemporary/romantic suspense category of Spread Your Listening. This will leave only two listens left in the historical/western category before I am done! I will then move on to the Listen by the Numbers track (which I have already started) to keep myself occupied.
Also still working on the Quarterly Listen as well. I'm debating which one from the first 3 mos. to pick. I could complete the Lucky Harbor trilogy with Head Over Heels but the narrator for this one is different from the first two. Or I could wait to see what comes out in March on audio.
I just finished Linda Howard's To Die For for the Listening to the Top Hits Challenge. I love to relisten to old favorites just as I love to watch a favorite movie numerous times. Giving myself permission to relisten to some of these hits is delightful since I rarely think I have the time.To Die For is a top five favorite of mine for contemporary romance but only rates 4 stars in the audio version. Still - love it! Not the best narrator in the world but the interaction between Blair and Wyatt is exceptionally delivered. Sigh...it was so much fun, yet again.
Surprise Me - Quarter 1Choice #1 - Listen to a romance narrated by one of the winning narrators in the Favorite Romance Audiobooks Poll - Dark Peril narrated by Phil Gigante and Natalie Ross - Finished - 9 February 2012 Its been a while since i'd read any of Feehan's books because they were all starting to blur together, but I'm glad I found this one to listen to. Gigante and Ross did a great job of voicing Solange and Dominic and it was nice to see a fairly kick-ass heroine, as opposed to the milk-saps that typically show up in Feehan's work.
Choice #2 - Listen to a romance produced in the first three months of 2012
A Little Night Magic - Finished - February 23 - narrated by Amanda Ronconi, this book had the feel of a Molly Harper, so it was a cute listen. I liked the story as it developed, but the conflict between the H/h was a bit weak, when I think back over it - however, i'll be interested to see how it continues because I believe it is the first in a series.
Choice #3 - Listen to a romance with a tortured hero - Breathless - Lucien is a nice tortured hero - Finished - January 20, 2012 - I know I should have hated Lucien in this book for what he was willing to do, but there was just something about him...Erickson did a great job once again (when has she not) of narrating this book and I look forward to finishing out the series in the near future.
Choice #4 - Listen to a Cabin Romance - Prey: A Novel - In Progress
Romance Audiobooks
Books mentioned in this topic
'Twas the Night after Christmas (other topics)Angels at the Table (other topics)
Angels at the Table (other topics)
'Twas the Night after Christmas (other topics)
Unveiled (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Jennifer Crusie (other topics)Nora Roberts (other topics)
Jennifer Ashley (other topics)
Was it the narration or the storyline that failed for you in The Welcoming? Or was it too dated (it's an older series isn't it?)?