Audiobooks discussion

Well ... I'm 3 hours into The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, and it's pretty darned grim! Not quite so bad that I'll bail (yet), and I am curious to see how it ends, but I'm not feeling the massive love I've read about the book.
Also listening to a murder mystery Retirement Homes Are Murder, which I should hate as the plot is pretty bad, and the explicit sex is painful; however, the narration is good and I honestly want to know who did it! I'd probably have bailed on the print book.

I'm listening to Six Years and I'm finding it a little histrionic so far. Disappointing after listening to a really great mystery, River of Darkness. It was on Jacqueline Winspear's Mystery Author page at Barnes and Noble. She gave a list of recommendations. Two of them I'd already read and agree with her. One by Kate Atkinson and I love her stuff. And the one I just read, Suspect which I loved.

John, I did not like Fry! I finally got so disgusted I dumped it. I was almost at the end when I dumped it. I could not take it any more.

I'm setting aside Inkheart so I can listen to Roverandom for the Tolkien Group read.

I'm listening to The Name of the Wind. It's brilliant. So cleverly written and wonderfully narrated. I'm (sadly) approaching the end...

New Month and great challenges beginning with

Anne of Green Gables

listening to Countermeasure - narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds - new to me narrator - I like his Irish brouge for the male main character, but not digging his female voices

John wrote: "Well ... I'm 3 hours into The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, and it's pretty darned grim!"
John,I hope you keep reading because I'd really like to know your take on the book once you've finished it. Now, if you want something lighter, with some rollicking fun, I suggest
The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared There's one that's not too grim, though a few people die, but you don't have to be overly concerned about that.

Shirley wrote: "New Month and great challenges beginning with

Anne of Green Gables

"

I wish I knew the best narration for this series. There are so many of them. I really liked Megan Follows reading of it when I was younger but I am not sure if it would hold up now since I have become a little more select in my narrators.

Bob --

I bailed on the 100 Year Old Man already a couple of months ago, and have decided do so with Harold Fry, which I find frankly depressing.

I recently bailed on The Host after listening to slightly over 50%. I didn't enjoy the narrator (though she is quite loved by other reviewers) and cringed every time she breathily exclaimed, "Oh, Jarrrrrrrod". First and foremost though the story was boring me to tears - I'm quite sure I would have bailed on the print version as well. Now I'm listening to Storm Front and like it so far. Grabs your attention and the narrator has been a pleasant change from the previous experience.

Heidi (trust me) wrote: "Shirley wrote: "New Month and great challenges beginning with

Anne of Green Gables

"

I wish I knew the best narration for this series. There are so many of ..."

you might try a few at Librivox

I'm listening to "Smoke and Mirrors" by Neil Gaiman. It's a collection of his short stories. I got it from a friend, and I think the narrator is Kimberly Alexis, or at least she sounds a lot like her. It was originally on cassette, but I received it in MP3 format.

Also listening to "Mort" by Terry Pratchett. A ton of fun! Death takes on an apprentice and much goes awry.

This weekend I finished World Without End. Great book, but books that long kind of exhaust me. Gave it 4 out of 5 stars.

Then for a complete change of pace, I started Where'd You Go, Bernadette. I'm probably 20% into it and am enjoying it so far.

Kristie, I didn't listen to the audiobook, but I recently read Where'd You Go, Bernadette and really loved it!! It was very quirky and pokes fun at some of society's current trends by using witty quips and sarcasm. Hope you enjoy it!

Cher wrote: "Kristie, I didn't listen to the audiobook, but I recently read Where'd You Go, Bernadette and really loved it!! It was very quirky and pokes fun at some of society's current trends by using witty q..."

Thanks, Cher! I think I will enjoy it for the same reasons you did. So far I think the narrator's good, not great, but definitely fits with the quirkiness of the story. After my last book I just really needed a total change of pace, and I think WYGB will do the trick nicely.

I finished The Yard. It took me a while to get into it because the narrator was ponderously slow. While I appreciate pauses, I think the pauses should be natural. Once I became used to the narration, I really enjoyed the story. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

Kimberly, The Name of the Wind was fascinating, wasn't it? The second part, The Wise Man's Fear is on my wish list but I have to listen to The Life of Pi from the library first.

Finished Mary Coinby Marisa Silver narrated by, Eva Kaminsky, Alison Fraser, Mark Sisler all new to me narrators this book wasn't as good as I was hoping/expecting it to be, wish the story had been meatier.

Now listening to The Next Time You See Me by Holly Goddard Jones narrated by, Cassandra Campbell.

I was expecting something more ... introspective and philosophical with The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, and I didn't really get that. I wasn't sure why everyone else was raving over it. I'm not sorry I listened to it, but it didn't keep me captivated. It lost it's way when everyone started joining him on his journey, and he let them take over. Plus the ending wasn't some big thing to lead up to. It was just there.

Over the weekend I finished the latest Maisie Dobbs book by Jacqueline Winspear, "Leaving Everything Most Loved." I always enjoy these books and look forward to what Maisie will do next now that the decks are cleared for something completely different. I have to say the narration is mediocre this time as some of the character voices and some designated accents weren't quite fully realized.

I also finished the latest Hamish Macbeth book by M. C. Beaton, "Death of Yesterday". It's always fun to spend some time with Hamish, though this story could have been a bit tighter in plotting. And two characters introduced in the last book make a return visit with no apparent purpose given how they were drawn last time--unless it was to make sure people saw justice always eventually triumphs.

I finished the next in the Gabriel DuPre series being made available on Audible, "Wolf, No Wolf". I think the narrator changed this time but it wasn't obvious if so. This story was very good and had one new character who had me laughing out loud from the first moment we meet her. The other great characters were there too and I'm loving them more every time I visit that world. Thankfully it isn't too long before book 4 is made available.

In the mean time, I'm reading the fifth Gervase Fen book by Edmund Crispin, "Love Lies Bleeding". What I love most about these is that, while the solution to the mystery is always well done, the prose on the way to the solution is as much a reason to read the book as is getting to the end.

I finished The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, narrated by Anne Hathaway. I thought her voice for the Cowardly Lion was a bit much but otherwise I enjoyed it.

Started another children's classic, Black Beauty narrated by Nathaniel Parker.

@Jeanie - I recently finished reading Swan Song (paper version though) - I thought it was good but not as good as the second & third books in the series. Let me know what you think about Love Lies Bleeding!

Kimberly wrote: "I'm listening to The Name of the Wind. It's brilliant. So cleverly written and wonderfully narrated. I'm (sadly) approaching the end..."

The good news is that there is a second book! Which I just started. I love this story.

I have 3 audiobooks on the go at the moment. I do that a lot, i have one for the car, another for walks and around the house and another for bedtime listening. At the moment they are :

Car - Monster Hunter International. About 5 hours in and enjoying it. It was a reccy from people in here after a 14 discussion and I love the pace.

Main - The Book Thief. I've almost finished this one and while I've enjoyed it, i've felt that its lacked momentum. I love the in-book narrator being death but it seems a bit under utilised. I also wish there was a little more detail. I know a fair bit about day to day life during WWII from the british perspective and this book hints at life from a german perspective but lacks a true insight which is a shame.

Bedtime Book - My guilty pleasure is having Stephen Fry read me Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to sleep each night. I know that I'm a grown up with a job, a family and responsibilities but its nice for someone to read me to sleep for a change and Stephens been doing it for the last couple of months and I actually look forward to bed each night.

Listening to Kiss of the Night, I thought I was going through the series correctly but somehow skipped this one.

Nikki wrote: "I have 3 audiobooks on the go at the moment. I do that a lot, i have one for the car, another for walks and around the house and another for bedtime listening. At the moment they are :

Car - Mons..."

I loved the Book Thief on audio. I also love HP on audio and sometimes listen to my copies to fall asleep to.

Well I'm listening to
Appetite for Life: The Biography of Julia Child by Noël Riley Fitch
and I came accrossed a passage where she talks about a brief relationship with someone named Harrison Gray Otis Chandler who proposed marriage to her in 1941(she didn't accept him) . . . and THAT led me wonder if this person who was a scion of the Times-Mirror publishing was related to our Otis Chandler?? Ah . . . the search for more info is afoot!

I finished "Love Lies Bleeding" and found its title extension--a Novel of Felony and Mayhem to be accurate. I still love the prose and like the complex solution to the mystery. This one seemed to feel the need to explain the solution twice in extended chapters of discussion, but I didn't mind that. I think I liked "Swan Song" about equally with this one and probably more than you, Leslie. I put the second Gervase Fen below these two, can't exactly explain why but there you are.

I'm fascinated that there is a version of "Black Beauty" read by Nathaniel Parker. I really enjoyed his interpretation of the Artemus Fowl series and will be looking forward to your impression of this classic, Leslie.

And as for being an adult and listening to Harry Potter... my count on listening to the entire series read by Jim Dale is over twenty, and there's no better comfort than more time spent in the wizarding world.

Today I started the new release, "Ender's World" which is a set of essays by various people and FAQ's for Orson scott Card and edited by OSC about the book, "Ender's Game". I'm loving the essays and the answers provided by OSC about some aspects of the story. I don't think it will make anyone who didn't get into "Ender's Game" love it any better, but it certainly explains for all to understand why it is that those of us who do love the story love it so much and so deeply.

Well after spending a few minutes web-surfing . . . YES INDEED the Harrison Chandler referred to in this biography was indeed an ancestor of our very own Otis! What a very small world!!

I knew that Otis is related to Harrison Chandler (grandson, right?), but I didn't know that HC proposed to Julia Child. That's an interesting little tidbit.

I started listening to Sanctus. I've wanted to read this book since it was published. I hope it lives up to my hopes.

Still listening to "Ender's World", but I just encountered a totally cool reference. Orson scott card was answering a FAQ about why Ender's surname changed from Wiggins to Wiggin from the short story to novel. While he copped to having a bad memory for names and needed a chart with character names while writing or he would forget, he also noted that in his most recent Mithermages book that it was only as someone listened while recording the audiobook that anyone caught the change of a character's name from Eliuk to Eniuk and drew it to the publisher's attention. Stefan Rudniki was the audio producer on that one--and is one of the narrators for "Ender's World". No one associated with the print version had caught it. Three cheers for audiobooks and those who create them!

I know I'm late to these, as it seems everyone has already listened. But, I just finished The Hobbit, and I'm about to start the LotR Trilogy, as soon as I finish Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks. I enjoy Sparks primarily because there are very few authors of love stories that are men. Back to LotR ... I really enjoyed The Hobbit, especially Rob Inglis singing :-), made me smile every time.

Samyann wrote: "I know I'm late to these, as it seems everyone has already listened. But, I just finished The Hobbit, and I'm about to start the LotR Trilogy, as soon as I finish Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks. I e..."

If you liked The Hobbit you'll love LotR--even more singing. I didn't especially like the character Tom Bombadil when I read it in print, but hearing Bob Ingliss' interpretation brought that character to life and now I look forward to that section every time I listen.

Barbara wrote: "I knew that Otis is related to Harrison Chandler (grandson, right?), but I didn't know that HC proposed to Julia Child. That's an interesting little tidbit."
I'm not sure if he is the grandson . . . maybe a grand nephew. I don't think Harrison had any children . . . didn't marry until late in life. Otis was born in 1977 . . so I guess that would be about right . . . I was looking at an online genealogy site linked to the search page. It had tons of pics of many generations of family members.

It reminds me of the six degrees of separation about Kevin Bacon . . . LOL

It IS indeed a small world . . .

I am listening to Ask The Passengers and going back to my roots with Harriet the Spy

Last night, I started listening to An Inquiry Into Love and Death, read by Rosalyn Landor. Couldn't put it down until almost two hours passed, even though I had only intended just to see whether I'd like it. Same period as Maisie Dobbs.

I keep hearing these good reviews about An Inquire Into Love and Death - I got it as a b-day gift from a friend, so i'll have to check it out

I didn't think I'd like it, Dee. However, the premise is rather interesting, and the characters well done.

I'm normally not a RL fan - mostly because all the books by her i've tried, I had already read and her voice just didn't match what I had pictured - so maybe trying her on a book I haven't read will work

That's the funny thing about this one - from the sample I didn't think RL would be a good fit either, but she is!

Has anyone listened to Infinite Jest on Audio ?. The ratings on Audible pan it due to a lack of end notes but theres a comment on it that states that they will be sent to you in text form. At 57hours its a big commitment just unsure how the switch between spoken and written will work, how do the end notes fit in ?. Are they a reference tool or an epilogue. I think i'm gun shy with notes after my Bring up the bodies fiasco.

Nikki wrote: "Has anyone listened to Infinite Jest on Audio ?. The ratings on Audible pan it due to a lack of end notes but theres a comment on it that states that they will be sent to you in text form. At 57hours its a big commitment just unsure how the switch between spoken and written will work, how do the end notes fit in ?. Are they a reference tool or an epilogue. I think i'm gun shy with notes after my Bring up the bodies fiasco. "

I have the book in front of me and I have to say, I really can't see how the audio would work a) without the end notes, b) with the end notes in a separate pdf or c) with the end notes recorded separately. OTOH, had the footnotes been incorporated in the narrative, it would have broken up the through-line of the story. Some of the notes are one or two lines, while others are a few pages! Hmmm, I would be tempted to stick with the print version on this one.

Really enjoying

The Bone Bed

John wrote: "Last night, I started listening to An Inquiry Into Love and Death, read by Rosalyn Landor. Couldn't put it down until almost two hours passed, even though I had only intended just to see whether I'..."

Glad you liked it John I thought it was a good story much meatier than The Haunting of Maddy Clare which was a good book but not near as good as Inquiry.

Dee I thought Rosalyn Landor was great but then I am a huge fan hers.

I'm only to the point where the detective has appeared, and I'm ready for this to become a series.

John wrote: "I'm only to the point where the detective has appeared, and I'm ready for this to become a series."

Me too!!I said that in my review!

Tanya/dog eared copy wrote: "Nikki wrote: "Has anyone listened to Infinite Jest on Audio ?. The ratings on Audible pan it due to a lack of end notes but theres a comment on it that states that they will be sent to you in text ..."

Thanks Tanya, that was the info I needed. Novel form it is :)

Currently on disk 5 of Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA by Tim Weiner. I don't like the way it is written but the anecdotes are so scandalous it's hard to put down.