Audiobooks discussion

I finished the first half of Trollope's 32-hour opus The Way We Live Now just as February ended, and will read the rest in a few weeks before an upcoming online discussion - for those who've seen the TV production starring David Suchet, the book itself is more character-driven. Timothy West's narration makes the time fly by.

Wish I could say the same for Eleven Pipers Piping: A Father Christmas Mystery - a 17-hour cozy! I've got a couple more hours to go, but can say that it's been an exhausting experience. There's a murder fairly early on, but the story focuses on the inner thoughts of the protagonist, and his thoughts on the many other villagers. Plot gimmick of having the minister's housekeeper write letters to her elderly mother, presumably to give information not contained in the main story, if not her somewhat different take on things, probably works better in print, although the narrator herself does a decent job with the material.

I finished For Whom the Bell Tolls.
My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... Do yourself a favor. Pick another book by Hemingway. May I suggest A Farewell to Armsinstead?!
Hemingway uses special "literary techniques" in "For whom the Bell Tolls" that rather than enhancing the reading experience detract from it. The ending is totally soppy. What remains undeniably true though is that Hemingway can draw a scene so you see, hear, smell and feel it in your pores. Some dislike the macho behavior of his characters, but this doesn't bother me. I see it as typical of the times, and Pilar is the best character of this novel. She is a strong, intelligent,no-nonsense woman! The gimmicks and the ending totally destroy this book.

Now I will start The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. I am very skeptical that I will enjoy this. I am afraid I will find it preachy, and I hate books about illnesses. I am reading this for a friend b/c she still believes I will love it. I hope so! The narration of the audiobook is said to be excellent, so that is what I have chosen.

Chrissie wrote: "I finished For Whom the Bell Tolls.
My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... Do yourself a favor. Pick another book by Hemingway. May I suggest A Farewell to Armsinstead?!
Hemingw..."

I really enjoyed The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. I don't often enjoy books that are about the realities of life (family, illness, etc.)--I get enough reality in my real life--but this one was really endearing IMHO. I hope you like it!

Kristie wrote: " I don't often enjoy books that are about the realities of life (family, illness, etc.)--I get enough reality in my real life"

EXACTLY!!!!!!

It starts so depressing. Did you think that too?

Yes. It'll get better, but not until it gets a little sadder. There is some relief though. Hang in there! I think you'll be glad you did.

Kristie wrote: "Yes. It'll get better, but not until it gets a little sadder. There is some relief though. Hang in there! I think you'll be glad you did."

That is good! I find it very depressing, but I don't give up on books easily.

I finished Sharp Objects this morning. Wow, that was sick wasn't it? I did like it though. Is that bad? LOL! I am going to read Dark Places but am waiting for the ebook from the library so I can switch back and forth. I am 6th inline so it will probably be within the week.

In the mean time I will go ahead and start 14 which I picked up in the BOGO sale. It sounds pretty good.

I started Tandia yesterday. I listened to The Power of One about 6 months ago, so I'm eager to hear the sequel.

I accumulated about 3 more Bryce Courtenay books on the Audible BOGO sale, too. He's wonderful, though right now Tandia is not an easy listen, with all that is happening to her.

Catherine wrote: "I finished Sharp Objects this morning. Wow, that was sick wasn't it? I did like it though. Is that bad? LOL!"

That one is my favorite Flynn book. I came to really like Camille, and was totally shocked by the ending (teeth).

yes, me too. I am so glad she turned out to be what she seemed with no twists in the end to change that.

As for the teeth, yeah I am still trying to wrap my head around that. LOL

currently listening to And When She Was Good and loving it!

I have started The Revenge of Moriarty: Sherlock Holmes' Nemsis Lives Again by, John Gardner narrated by the late great Robin Sachs...I didn't realize this was a book 2 but so far thinking Gardner didn't take too many liberties to the Reichenbach Falls storyline.

Travis NNY Asked about The Stand narrated by Grover Gardner. I LOVED it.

John wrote: "I finished the first half of Trollope's 32-hour opus The Way We Live Now just as February ended, and will read the rest in a few weeks before an upcoming online discussion - for those who've seen t..."

I've watched The Way We Live Now but don't think I could listen to a 32 hour audiobook of it!

I got it with an Audible credit, so will put off the second half for a bit. However, it's so soap-opera-like that the time passed quickly, only one sub-plot particularly dragged for me.

Catherine wrote: "I finished Sharp Objects this morning. Wow, that was sick wasn't it? I did like it though. Is that bad? LOL! I am going to read Dark Places but am waiting for the ebook from the library so I can ..."

I finished Sharp Objects last week and loved it, also listened to 14 a couple of weeks ago too and will be interested in your thoughts.


Currently i'm listening to
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing and loving it. Its well written and flows incredibly well and if it wasn't true, you would think it to be too over the top.

John wrote: "I got it with an Audible credit, so will put off the second half for a bit. However, it's so soap-opera-like that the time passed quickly, only one sub-plot particularly dragged for me."

I'm also at about the halfway point on this one but let it languish on my In-Progress pile after getting distracted by other books. It did go fast while I was listening but I simply haven't found the mood to pick it back up again yet.

I also have "Eleven Pipers Piping" in my TBR pile. I found the first book in the Father Christmas series to be just as you describe this second one. I was hoping the author would find a little more self-discipline and be less wordy and introspective in the follow-up. Guess I was rong. Sigh.

Lori wrote: "Travis NNY Asked about The Stand narrated by Grover Gardner. I LOVED it."

Glad to hear that. I just finished

Swan Song and it seems in ways similar to the Stand, but I have only ever watched the movie. Now I feel compelled to read it to see how similar they are or aren't.

Jeanie wrote: "I also have "Eleven Pipers Piping" in my TBR pile. I found the first book in the Father Christmas series to be just as you describe this second one. I was hoping the author would find a little more self-discipline and be less wordy and introspective in the follow-up. Guess I was rong. Sigh."

Let me put it this way: I'm 16 hours into the 17 hour book, and I was checking the library listing to see if I could switch to the print or ebook to skim, as I really dread just one more hour. Moreover, the daughter is so precocious I cannot stand her (although part of that I'm sure is the narrator's "little girl" voice). I wouldn't touch the next one unless she goes back to a more normal length.

John wrote: "Jeanie wrote: "I also have "Eleven Pipers Piping" in my TBR pile. I found the first book in the Father Christmas series to be just as you describe this second one. I was hoping the author would fin..."

I'm with you on that. I also follow the Max Tudor series by G. M. Malliet which also has an Anglican priest for a protagonist. I had thought that second book in the series too long by about two to four hours--and that one was only twelve hours.
At least Max Tudor is written with a sense of humor.

Hello everyone. I just found this group a few days ago, but this is so timely, as audiobooks are becoming more and more my way to “read”. In the past couple of years my “reading average” has dropped way down due to a series of circumstances. But I finally figured out how to use my Iphone to download books from my library, and then found audible (I know, I am slow as molasses when it comes to technology).

Back to topic, I finished The Dog Stars yesterday. I really enjoyed this one and highly recommend it.

I have a couple of titles I am waiting for my turn at my library:
A Confederacy of Dunces and Frankenstein but I think I might just go to audible and get The Yellow Birds

Welcome to the group, Capitu!

I've heard so much good about the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I started the Fellowship and wow it's so much better than when I read it

I've started Short Squeeze: A Mystery, first in the Jackie Swietkowski series, a spinoff from Chris Knopf's Sam Acquillo stories. I had thought it would be necessary to have read the first two of those books for background of this one, but now I think Jackie can stand alone, with the observation that she seems to minimize her injuries from being caught (with Sam) in a bomb blast in the second of his books. Great narration.

Capitu wrote: "Hello everyone. I just found this group a few days ago, but this is so timely, as audiobooks are becoming more and more my way to “read”. In the past couple of years my “reading average” has drop..."

Welcome! You mentioned "A Confederacy of Dunces", this one is especially good in audio, the narrator gets it just right. Warning, take small sips of any beverage while listening or risk spewing it everywhere while you laugh ;)

Travis of NNY wrote: "I've heard so much good about the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I started the Fellowship and wow it's so much better than when I read it"

I feel the same! Tolkien's story is so great it deserves this great narration.

Just finished My Sparkling Misfortune which was very clever and very well done. I wanted to read the next in the series. Audible has it but I wasn't sure I wanted to spend a credit on it. So I checked out the Kindle version. $2.99 and for an additional $1.99 I could get the audiobook as well. What a deal! So now I am listening to My Royal Pain Quest.

Jeanie wrote: "Welcome! You mentioned "A Confederacy of Dunces", this one is especially good in audio..."

Thanks Jeanie. I will be careful.

Nikki wrote: "Catherine wrote: "I finished Sharp Objects this morning. Wow, that was sick wasn't it? I did like it though. Is that bad? LOL! I am going to read Dark Places but am waiting for the ebook from the..."

14 is really good so far. I am a few chapters in and I already like the main character..what's his name again? Oh yeah Nate. I am finding the dialogue and characters very lifelike and real. Love that. :-)

Travis of NNY wrote: "Lori wrote: "Travis NNY Asked about The Stand narrated by Grover Gardner. I LOVED it."

Glad to hear that. I just finished

Swan Song and it seems in ways similar to the Stand, but I have only eve..."

oh I highly recommend The Stand. Be sure you get the recently released uncut version. It's reeeally long but all the better for it. It's one of my favorite King books and have read it multiple times. Don't read it during flu-season though, LOL! It will make you paranoid.

Today I finished "Princess Elizabeth's Spy" by Susan Elia MacNeil. This second installment in the Maggie Hope series left me conflicted. Until the end, which sets up an intriguing third book, it felt like a bit of a mess with Maggie Hope being both superior in every way to her male counterparts and yet slow-witted and dense about other things. The author must be a huge fan of Queen Elizabeth because her depiction of Elizabeth as a 14-year-old princess makes her into the biggest royal Mary Sue in history.

I started the second Gervase Fen, Oxford Don Detective, "Holy Disorders" and am already enjoying the highly intelligent comic prose. I'm wondering if I should have started with the book of short stories because Fen is already reputed to have a history of crime solving even though this is only book 2--"The Case of the Gilded Fly" started with him wishing for another murder to solve, too. Maybe I'll try "Beware of the Trains" next, one of the short story compilations.

I finished The Breakdown Lane by Jacquelyn Mitchard. I found this book dragged and really couldn't wait until the end. I gave this book 3 stars!
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt. I'm really not into western novels, but did enjoy the story of the two brothers. I gave this book 3 stars!

This afternoon I started The Lazarus Vendetta by Robert Ludlum

Capitu wrote: "Hello everyone. I just found this group a few days ago, but this is so timely, as audiobooks are becoming more and more my way to “read”. In the past couple of years my “reading average” has drop..."

Welcome to the group! If you are waiting for library editions to become available, in between you can check for public domain recordings at librovox. I'm listening to Poor Miss Finch by Wilkie Collins and thoroughly enjoying it.

I just added the ambling books app for my DROID it is not well organized but has a lot of free and cheap books. There are some more expensive ones but the pricey books are what audible credits are for right.

I just finished listening to The Third Policeman narrated by Jim Norton. Really liked the narration, Norton's Irish accent enhanced the experience for me; however, this was a very odd story!! Several times I had to rewind to make sure I really heard correctly.

I'm also listening to a book narrated in an Irish accent: James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, narrrated by John Lee. Joyce has always frightened me somewhat, but this work is quite accessible and Lee narrates it very well. His Irish accent faulters occasionally, I think, but to my ear at least it's convincing enough.

Finished Days of Blood & Starlight & Dark Desires After Dusk in the past couple of days @ the end of Feb and beg of March. Loved both of them. The narrators for each are stellar.

Currently reading Patient Zero and enjoying it. This is the first time I've listened to Ray Porter's narration, but it won't be the last!

Nikki wrote: "Currently i'm listening to
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing and loving it. Its well written and flows incredibly well and if it wasn't true, you would think it to be too over the top."

I've got that on my short list to listen to soon. Glad you're enjoying it.

I don't easily give up on a book but have already found I've "DNF"'d 4 books this year. That is as many as I did all of last year. The last two were Gibson's
Pattern Recognition and Dunant's The Birth of Venus. I've never read a Gibson but didn't care for it and gave up at about the half way mark. I enjoyed Dunant's Sacred Hearts but found after half way I just didn't care about the characters in Birth of Venus.

I'm currently well into Michael Connelly's The Concrete Blonde and am enjoying it. He's a great writer and it's a very good story.

Catherine wrote: "Nikki wrote: "Catherine wrote: "I finished Sharp Objects this morning. Wow, that was sick wasn't it? I did like it though. Is that bad? LOL! I am going to read Dark Places but am waiting for the ..."

So pleased your enjoying it. Please keep me updated, no one I know has read it and whilst it has its flaws, i just loved the unpredictability of it. Its nice to read a book where you really can't predict whats going to happen next.

Fran wrote: "Welcome to the group! If you are waiting for library editions to become available, in between you can check for public domain recordings at librovox..."

Thanks, Fran. I will check it out.

In an impulsive move I got "Beware of the Trains" to see if it predated my first Crispin read. Short answer, no. Crispin evidently decided his Gervase Fen character would already have a reputation when he started writing about him. I really enjoyed the short story format and found myself listening through to the end of the book and that all the tales were quite good--the last two weren't Gervase Fen stories though. Now I'm back to "Holy Disorders" and still enjoying it.

Javasapien wrote: "Nikki wrote: "Currently i'm listening to
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing and loving it. Its well written and flows incredibly well and if it wasn't true, you would think..."

Well you won't be dissapointed with Endurance.

I've never read Michael Connelly, whats a good one to start with ?.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was a failure for me. There is nothing wrong with the narration by Jim Broadbent, in fact it was superb. I particularly adored the voice of Rex, Maureen's neighbor! I listened to 23 of 38 chapters. Having listened to such a large portion, I still had to stop. If you care to know my personal thoughts please send me a PM. I am writing no review.

I have begun listening to The Grapes of Wrath and enjoy it very much. I can guess from the very start that it will not appeal to all. Some may call it slow and too descriptive. Many minutes are spent on a land turtle's passage from a ditch and then over the road. I have already laughed, and I have seen how meticulously accurate Steinbeck's depictions of landscapes and a character's personality can be. The story will be interspersed with chapters of historical content. That is fine by me. I imagine a slow wonderful read.

Chrissie wrote: "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was a failure for me. There is nothing wrong with the narration by Jim Broadbent, in fact it was superb. I particularly adored the voice of Rex, Maureen's neig..."

If you end up liking Steinbeck I highly recommend Travels with Charley: In Search of America narrated by Gary Sinise. When I listened to the book I was on my way to Canada and coincidentally driving some of the same route as Steinbeck WITH MY DOG! It was a wonderful coincidence. My other all time favorite author who I have read in print is Wallace Stegner. Angle of Repose was fabulous, maybe someone who has listened to it can give a recommendation on the audio version but it looks fairly well reviewed on audible.com. Happy listening!

Fran, I have fallen in love with Steinbeck! His writing makes me laugh, cry, chuckle and smile. I want to hug his characters. I want to fight their enemies. i ate the fire roasted rabbit tasted with them and it was delicious. Yep, I have Travels with Charley: In Search of America queued up, along with Cannery Row. I have fallen in love with Colum McCann, and now Steinbeck too. "The Pearl" did not blow me over though. Think if I had given up!

I wasn't sure at first if I liked the narrator John chancer but NOW I am totally loving his narration.

I have noted your recommendation of Gary Sinise. Thanks.

ETA: Oh, I can only get Travels narrated by Peter Marinker. I hope it is as good! I did not like Stegner's, but I read the paperback.

Nikki wrote: "Javasapien wrote: "Nikki wrote: "Currently i'm listening to
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing and loving it. Its well written and flows incredibly well and if it wasn't tr..."

The Poet is the book that got me hooked on Connelly but if you are going for the Harry Bosch series the first book is The Black Echo..Sorry had to jump in huge fan of Connelly's Bosch.

I listened to The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie which was very sexy and a so so story. I think I got it in the BOGO sale. Now am listening to Polar Star and it's already hooked me.

MissSusie wrote: "Nikki wrote: "Javasapien wrote: "Nikki wrote: "Currently i'm listening to
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing and loving it. Its well written and flows incredibly well and i..."

Thanks for the recommendation :)

Kim wrote: "I'm also listening to a book narrated in an Irish accent: James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, narrrated by John Lee. Joyce has always frightened me somewhat, but this work is qui..."

That is good to hear because I have this audiobook waiting for me to get around to it :)

Seconded on Sinese's reading of Travels with Charley: In Search of America! I liked listening to Cannery Row, but bailed on its sequel Sweet Thursday.