Action/Adventure Aficionados discussion

Do you call it reading, the same as watching a movie, or somewhere inbetween

As a full time Otr driver, parent and 1/2 time student the only non school reading I get to do anymore is audio books....

I consider audio books to be reading. Life is crazy and a luxury for me to sit and hold a book in my hands and read. That's why I love audio books.I can multitask and still enjoy my stories.

It's reading, because you still have to translate the words and sentences into scenes and pictures in your mind's eye. Narrators help with voices but not always.

I not only consider it reading, but just heard Orson Scott Card, in his afterword to Ender's Game, say it was the way his books were meant to be read. I have to say that this book sure came across even better like that & Treason was at least as good, too.

A friend of mine & his wife don't watch much TV, but he reads aloud to her at night while she does some sort of hobby, I think. They've been married over 30 years, so I guess it works well for them.

I have a 45 minute commute each way to work & can also listen while doing quiet, fairly mindless operations (Spinning, carving, woodcarving) in the shop in the evenings & over the weekends. I can't listen while drawing plans or using power tools. Those operations take too much concentration &/or make too much noise.

I think it's reading. I listen to a book every say when I go on my morning walk and throughout my workout. I will admit that I don't get the same satisfaction from it as I do from actually holding the book or my Kindle in my hands and reading the written word, but some audio books are really good. I especially like it when the author is the one reading it because you can really feel their emotion. A Cook's Tour was amazing for that reason (plus others, but that's a whole other story haha).

I am glad I'm not the only one , I brought this up because a friend called me on it "you didn't read that book, you listened to it"

Bookwyrm13 wrote: "I am glad I'm not the only one , I brought this up because a friend called me on it "you didn't read that book, you listened to it""

I have this agreement with my sister all the time. She thinks I'm not "reading" if I'm doing the audio version of the same book she's "reading".

Eileen wrote: "Bookwyrm13 wrote: "I am glad I'm not the only one , I brought this up because a friend called me on it "you didn't read that book, you listened to it""

I have this agreement with my sister all the..."

favorite audiobook sofar? or one you wish would be made?

Wow, favorite so far? I can't pick a favorite... rather, I'll say, "I don't want to pick a single favorite" so I'll fire the spread....

The Rook was wonderful. The Narrator reminded me of Audra Hepburn or Lynne Redgrave. Sometimes British humor is a bit starchy but she pulled it all of and had me laughing and on the edge of my seat for the exciting parts.

Monster Hunter International another great Audiobook! I've done all four on audiobook and this guy has Owen Pitt's voice DOWN! The whole series is great!

Swan Song another fantastic audiobook.

Black Cross Historical Action/Adventure.

and last but not least Declare. and/or The Hidden Oasis

for sci-fiPandora's Star

enough for now

I, Curmudgeon wrote: "Wow, favorite so far? I can't pick a favorite... rather, I'll say, "I don't want to pick a single favorite" so I'll fire the spread....

The Rook was wonderful. The Narrator reminded me of Audra..."

Fantastic! I was thinking of giving up my audible account because I just don't know what to read, but you've given me a list and I'm off to use my credits! Thanks.

Sally, have you tried the Outlander series? The audio is wonderful. Let me warn you they are long, well worth your time, IMO.

My favorite so far would have to be "A Variable Star" Robert Hielien and Spider Robinson, wish they would start recording Modesitte's saga of Recluse

Eileen wrote: "Sally, have you tried the Outlander series? The audio is wonderful. Let me warn you they are long, well worth your time, IMO."
Oh boy, read the synopsis and they sound good! Have to start right away! I'll have to find a project to do so that I can start listening!

I love audiobooks! I use to have an hour or more drive to work and then the same home and the traffic was atrocious. I would get to work in knots because I would be so frustrated. Someone told me since I like to read so much I should try audiobooks so I did. That was about nine years and over 300 audios ago. Your mind is working the same in listening as in reading. The audios are as long as the books, it doesn't skip scenes like TV.

Sally wrote: "Eileen wrote: "Sally, have you tried the Outlander series? The audio is wonderful. Let me warn you they are long, well worth your time, IMO.""

You'll have to let me know what you think of the series.

It's one of my all time favorites!

Tracy wrote: "I love audiobooks! I use to have an hour or more drive to work and then the same home and the traffic was atrocious. I would get to work in knots because I would be so frustrated. Someone told me s..."

I couldn't agree more! I'll get to 300 one of these days, lol.

I started listening to audio books by my pool. It was just too hard reading in the sun, so I thought I'd try audio books. I've been a fan ever
since.

Eileen wrote: "Tracy wrote: "I love audiobooks! I use to have an hour or more drive to work and then the same home and the traffic was atrocious. I would get to work in knots because I would be so frustrated. Som..."

Most people that I talk to don't think they would like audio so they don't try it until I go on and on. Then they love them.

Sally wrote: "I, Curmudgeon wrote: "Wow, favorite so far? I can't pick a favorite... rather, I'll say, "I don't want to pick a single favorite" so I'll fire the spread....

The Rook was wonderful. The Narrato..."

The Dresden Files (Starting with: Storm Front) are narrated by James Marsters (Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and "The General" from Smallville) and I found them to be wonderful. I also liked the audiobook for "The War of the Worlds" if you like classics.

I also listened to all but 3 of the Sigma Force books on audio.

If you like Sci-fi there's a great series by Allen Steele that starts with "Coyote" that uses a couple of narrators and is actually a handful of long short stories, or short novellas, that join to make a wonderful tale of adventure, exploration, war, courage, love and heroism in space. One of the voices is that of a 16 year old girl and a dignified black man named "Robert E. Lee." Really cool.

If your into police procedurals, I've done audio books for 3 of 5 of the first group of "Virgil Flowers" detective stories by John Sandford that starts with Dark Of The Moon. (Sanford's "Prey" series is also available in audiobook too).

I, Curmudgeon wrote: "Sally wrote: "I, Curmudgeon wrote: "Wow, favorite so far? I can't pick a favorite... rather, I'll say, "I don't want to pick a single favorite" so I'll fire the spread....

The Rook was wonderful..."

I am in the middle ofGrave Periland am really enjoying it. I agree, Marsters is fabulous, and I'm loving the chance to see Jim Butcher's skill as an author growing. I love sci-fi and procedurals equally. You've given me a treasure trove of possibility! I think I'll clean the basement, that should give me lots of listening time!

The reader can certainly make or break the book for me. There are quite a few books on Libervox that I'd love to listen to, but the untrained readers usually irritate me too much.

The Queen Betsy series by MaryJanice Davidson is complete fluff & I barely managed to finish the first one, Undead and Unwed, as a regular book even though it only took a couple of hours & my daughter loved the series. Then I listened to the same book read by Nancy Wu & couldn't stop chuckling. I wound up listening to half a dozen. John Lithgow made Drama: An Actor's Education really interesting & I've never given a tinker's damn about the stage or actors. Wow!

Jim wrote: "The reader can certainly make or break the book for me. There are quite a few books on Libervox that I'd love to listen to, but the untrained readers usually irritate me too much.

The Queen Bets..."


I agree completely. An irritating reader can drive me away faster than my cat runs from the spray bottle! Especially if it's a book I already love.

My favorite reading is Nigel Planer doing the early Terry Pratchett novels.

I will have to look into your recommendations.

Jim wrote: "The reader can certainly make or break the book for me. There are quite a few books on Libervox that I'd love to listen to, but the untrained readers usually irritate me too much.

The Queen Bets..."

I listened to all of the Undead series on audio and cracked up the entire time!

Sally wrote: "I, Curmudgeon wrote: "Sally wrote: "I, Curmudgeon wrote: "Wow, favorite so far? I can't pick a favorite... rather, I'll say, "I don't want to pick a single favorite" so I'll fire the spread....

..."

I'm glad that I could help. I've got a stack waiting to be read (to me) on my cellphone (my preferred method of playing audio books so I can use it in the car and bluetooth connect with a good speaker at home).

Jim wrote: "The reader can certainly make or break the book for me..."

Same here. Jim Dale's readings of the Harry Potter books were absolute gems, prime examples of how a good reader can enhance the material. On the other hand, Len Cariou's over-careful reading of Michael Connelly's The Drop sucked all the feeling out of it.

Lance wrote: "Jim wrote: "The reader can certainly make or break the book for me..."

Same here. Jim Dale's readings of the Harry Potter books were absolute gems, prime examples of how a good reader can enhance ..."

I'd also say that that sometimes, the book doesn't fit the narrator, sometimes it does. Simon Prebble was perfect for Declare by Tim Powers, but I've heard other books that I didn't think he was memorable. (He's usually pretty good.) When I first heard the narrator for Monster Hunter International I was thinking... maybe not so... then before the first chapter was done I was YEAH! this guys cool!

There's a young voice that narrated some of the Sigma Force books, and I wasn't excited about, but he did a great job on Ludlum's "The Sigma Protocol." (Last Ludlum book I'm confident Ludlum wrote.)

So I tried an audio book on a long road trip. For some reason listening to this involved storyline caused my attention span to wither. So that didn't work out.

Then after reading Kings of Cool by Don Winslow I got really pumped because the movie of his book Savages was about to come out. I wanted to read that book before seeing the movie. Unfortunately the library hardcopy wasn't available, BUT there was an audiobook. So I brought the audiobook home, put on my headphones and let 'er rip. First off the narrator had a voice like Ken Nordine. Anybody recall this guy's weird stuff from the 70s? He sounds kinda smarmy, like he's trying to talk you into doing something that you...aaheem...might not "normally" think of doing. Hello? Get my drift?

So I plodded on with it. Well, there's this female character named "Oh" in the book. She plays a prominent role in the story, seeing that she is the girlfriend of the two male MCs. You see, it's a bit complicated right off. But then, it is a Don Winslow story. Oh is a rather exuberant girl. Okay, she's a loud one. You know who you are, out there. Eh? Whaddaya gonna do?

So there are many scenes where Oh is getting her groove on, so to speak, and she's going "Oh, oh, ohhhhhh." Only it's the voice of this Ken Nordine guy going "Ohhhh" and I'm thinking, Whoa! I don't think I wanna be listening to this.

So I just opted for the movie, instead, which was "interesting" to say the least.

Ken Nordine is still alive and is 92, according to the Internet. Here's a link:

https://www.google.com/#hl=en&scl...

Jim wrote: "So I tried an audio book on a long road trip. For some reason listening to this involved storyline caused my attention span to wither. So that didn't work out...."

That's a shame you've had such bad experiences. I'm fussy about what I'll listen to because it can be horrible. I started by listening to books I wanted to re-read & short stories. I find both work out really well, better than really long books. I listen to a lot of Elmore Leonard, Richard Stark, & such.

I need to be doing something else that isn't too mentally taxing. My commute or carding & spinning are perfect. My mind has to be occupied just enough that I won't fall asleep & get fidgety nor start concentrating too hard or I'll zone out, but they're quiet. Even the lathe is often too loud.

The reader must have a good voice. That's impossible to know until you've tried for a while, which is why I download them from the library for free. Some voices fit some stories better than others. Sometimes the voice is good for some parts, but they go overboard on others. I've had readers work in after a while, but others get so annoying I just can't take them a second longer. Jim Dale & Stephen Fry were both fantastic for me when reading Harry Potter, but friends hated one or the other.

You might try to look for those that are 'audio productions' like "Ender's Game" was. Multiple people reading, so definitely different voices for each part. Sometimes that's great. It sure worked for me with that book. Other times it sounds like a bad Old Time Radio production. I like those too, though. I have a whole bunch of them; Captain Midnight, Bulldog Drummond, The Shadow, Charlie Chan & such. They're a blast in small doses.

I guess it's not the medium for everyone, either. Marg hates them & doesn't know how I can listen to them.

I'd also say that a good narrator can save a mediocre book. I good book doesn't usually save a medocre narrator.

I'm all for the idea of being very picky when choosing an audio book. (or very open to it not being perfect... more open than normal anyway)