Audiobooks discussion

I've got a couple of more hours to go with You're Never Weird on the Internet, which it looks like will be a four-star book, and one of the not-so-common better narrated by the author than a professional.

Abt half way through The Alchemist

John wrote: "I've got a couple of more hours to go with You're Never Weird on the Internet..."

I just finished it myself. I second your opinions and add a fangirl squee.

I just finished Death and the Redheaded Woman by Loretta Ross. The reason I bought it--aside from being a Daily Deal--is that Amanda Roncone narrates. Excellent narration as usual and there are some promising elements and likable characters... it seems to be a series but only one book is on Audible right now. It borrows from Robert Galbraith/JK Rowling's Cormeran Strike series with a former military man now working as a PI and dealing with limitations due to a disability--in this case, injury resulting in reduced lung capacity. Still, I really liked Death--pronounced "deeth" and named after Lord Peter Wimsey--and the heroine is quite likeable too. I might not anxiously await each release, but I would pick up the next in the series someday.

For non-fiction fans, I'm finishing up All the Great Prizes : The Life of John Hay, from Lincoln to Roosevelt. An amazing life and part of history for the assassination of 3 US Presidents and negotiated the deal for the Panama Canal.

Dee wrote: "Abt half way through The Alchemist"

I just finished The Alchemist a couple of weeks ago. Very short and quick. Though I didn't like Jeremy Irons narration that much. What do you think about it?

I just finished:
- Fight Club
Currently working on:
- Winter's Bone

Next up:
Can't decide between
- Leviathan Wakes
- or -
- The Final Empire

Adrian wrote: "Dee wrote: "Abt half way through The Alchemist"

I just finished The Alchemist a couple of weeks ago. Very short and quick. Though I didn't like Jeremy Irons narration that much. What do..."

i like it, but then i'm a jeremy irons fan - he isn't my favorite male celebrity narrator, but i think its a solid performance

I started The Name of the Wind today, hopefully will switch between reading and listening.. It's quite long..

I couldn't find an audio book version of Throne of Glass or The Forgetting on Overdrive.. I have the ebooks checked but would've liked listening to them.

Some enjoyable xhoices there Adrian.

Started Egg & Spoon been in my library for a while. Was a daily deal I rhink I only bought it because of Michael Page narrating. Enjoying it so far considering I walked in blind

I love me some Felicia Day. I recently wrapped up 'You're Never Weird on the Internet' too and enjoyed it once I got into the story. I think perhaps I was expecting more geek and less backstory.

Adrian, I think Leviathan Wakes is fantastic.

Just rounding the end of The Distance: A Thriller and it has been a flawless performance by Rachel Atkins of a complex and thoroughly engaging story.

Julie wrote: "Grumpus wrote: "For non-fiction fans, I'm finishing up All the Great Prizes : The Life of John Hay, from Lincoln to Roosevelt. An amazing life and part of history for the assassina..."

Read that one too and recommend them both.

Finished A Child for the Devil and starting on Drama Queen: A Nicky and Noah Mystery.

Julie wrote: "Wow, you are way ahead of me then ! I need to take a look at your audio bookshelf :)"

I'm happy to send you either though Audible's Free One Book. Or feel free to look through my "audiobook" folder and pick anything. Just send me a note with your with your choice and email address.

J. wrote: "I love me some Felicia Day. I recently wrapped up 'You're Never Weird on the Internet' too and enjoyed it once I got into the story. I think perhaps I was expecting more geek and less backstory.

A..."

I felt the same way about Ms. Day's memoir. (Really, it's more like half a memoir. She's only in her thirties.) I would've been interested to hear more stories from conventions and from the sets of the television shows she's worked on. I'm sure she has some good ones. Perhaps we'll hear them in the next installment.

And Adrian, I preferred the Mistborn Trilogy. Take that for what it's worth. If you're more into epic fantasy, Mistborn is top shelf. If you're more into hard sci-fi, Leviathan Wake is okay. It didn't captivate me in quite the same way as other offerings in the genre, but it was good.

I'm really impressed that in spite of her double-major 4.0 and apparent musical virtuosity(?), she's really self-deprecating in a funny way. I'd love to read a book from her about
"Life in L. A."!

John wrote: "I'm really impressed that in spite of her double-major 4.0 and apparent musical virtuosity(?), she's really self-deprecating in a funny way. I'd love to read a book from her about
"Life in L. A."!"

Agreed. She's an extraordinary person. I suspect we'd be hard pressed to find another who fits that mold while lacking a high school diploma.

I have added Seveneves to the books I will be listening to this month. It is a BOTM selection in one of the groups I am in so I figured if I listen to it between an hour to an hour and a half a day I can finish it before the month is out.

Finished The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by,Timothy Egan narrated by, Patrick Lawlor this was a good book and really puts a face to the people who lived through this and Lawlor's narration was very well done.

I was going to start Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland by, Amamnda Berry but not sure if I want another sad book right away so we'll see what I decide to start tomorrow.

I just finished After the war is over by Maureen Lee, which I DON'T recommend, unless you like dull soapy family sagas and have literally nothing else to do with your time. I guess it must have something going for it though, since I finished it.

Anyway, I can't wait for the next book. I think it'll be Eleanor & Park, which I've been saving for when I needed cheering up. And I certainly do after that mess.

So let's see, what have I recently finished? I took everyone's recommendation and listened to Ready Player One which I thought was a lot of fun. It wasn't particularly deep, and I didn't care about the video games, but it's well constructed and well narrated. Definitely involving and the kind of book you could recommend to gamers who don't usually read.

Then I listened to Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty. I'd say it's the least impressive of the four Moriarty books I've listened to, but that doesn't mean it isn't really good. So far this author is batting a thousand for me.

What else? Currently I'm listening to The Selection because I needed a short, fluffy kind of story after all the longer books I've listened to lately.

Just finished - Raising My Rainbow: Adventures in Raising a Fabulous, Gender Creative Son
Currently reading - The Help
Next on my list - Beneath the Stain, Tripwire

I'm listening to everyone's favorite The Martian. Just started but I'm enjoying it quite a bit.

Craig wrote: "Just finished - Raising My Rainbow: Adventures in Raising a Fabulous, Gender Creative Son
Currently reading - The Help
Next on my list - [book:Beneath the Stain|22735..."

Loved The Help... really fantastic narration.

Dave, you should check out Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore if you haven't already. I recommend it to all my friends that enjoyed Ready Player One. It has the same pace and feel.

Briar Rose wrote: "I just finished After the war is over by Maureen Lee, which I DON'T recommend, unless you like dull soapy family sagas and have literally nothing else to do with your time. I guess ..."

I hope you enjoy Eleanor & Park, I was a big fan! Not sure you should count on being cheered up though; I laughed a lot but definitely cried too.

I finished Good Book: The Bizarre, Hilarious, Disturbing, Marvelous, and Inspiring Things I Learned When I Read Every Single Word of the Bible (thanks to John who gifted it via OneBook); I really liked it, and it was interesting to compare and contrast it to Julia Sweeney's Letting Go of God. This sounds weird, but it felt like I finally heard the Old Testament from the Jewish point of view; definitely a different perspective than what I got from Protestant Sunday school as a kid.

Next, listened to Vorkosigan saga #2 (story chronology order), Barrayar, as a buddy read with my husband; loving this series. And today I started a thriller someone mentioned recently, Those Who Wish Me Dead and liking it so far.

Glad you liked it, Donna!

Jan wrote: "I'm listening to everyone's favorite The Martian. Just started but I'm enjoying it quite a bit."

I started reading it a while ago and was not impressed with it, so I stopped reading. Saw all the great comments on
Goodreads and decided to re-read it. I laughed out loud at some points. It was indeed an excellent book.

The Girl in the Spider's WebThe new Lisbeth Salander book, , has been released. It's had a number of complementary reviews, calling it a worthy continuation of the Dragon Tattoo saga, with a new author at the helm, David Lagercrantz.

Steig Larsson's Lizbeth Salander is such an iconic character and of course the 3 books he wrote just before his death were an international sensation, though he never got to enjoy any of it. It's hard to say whether Larsson's rather haphazard writing would have been tidied up had he lived. Some reviewers say Lagercrantz's writing is better in general, but are the stories as propulsive and compelling? I will listen to it next up and see for myself. Simon Vance narrates.

J. wrote: "Dave, you should check out Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore if you haven't already. I recommend it to all my friends that enjoyed Ready Player One. It has the same pace and feel."

I really enjoyed Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore also. It was a lot of fun and not too long.

Did you read the short story prequel, Adrian? I think I may have liked it even more than the original book.

Marilee wrote: "The Girl in the Spider's WebThe new Lisbeth Salander book, , has been released. It's had a number of complementary reviews, calling ..."

I'll be eager to hear your take on this one. I decided to wait to see how others react before blindly getting this continuation.

I finished Murder of an Open Book, latest in Denise Swanson's Scumble River Mystery series. The last one had nailed down the timeline to ten years ago but I had sort of forgotten and so was a bit incredulous when she introduced a social media site and felt she had to describe in detail how people use it and post pictures and every moment of their lives to it. She called it "Open Book" rather than FB. It wasn't the strongest mystery, but I enjoyed this latest stroll around Scumble River.

probably because the term Facebook is licensed and they would have to pay money to use it

Marilee wrote: "The Girl in the Spider's WebThe new Lisbeth Salander book, , has been released. It's had a number of complementary reviews, calling ..."

Looking forward to your review of this book. I loved the first three, and it's always a gamble having another writer continue an iconic series. I thought I heard this writer was approved by the Larsson's estate but not by his wife, or something like that.

I'm glad to see Simon Vance back for narration. If he wasn't back, I'm not sure I'd even give it a chance. I don't always love his narration, but I thought he was perfect for this series.

J. wrote: "Did you read the short story prequel, Adrian? I think I may have liked it even more than the original book."

I did read the novella Ajax Penumbra 1969 after I read the novel. I did not enjoy it as much as the novel but I liked having the supplemental information. It was short and fun (and kind of hard to find).

I'm currently half way through The Girl in the Spider's Web as it came out in the uk last week. I'm actually really enjoying it. much better than I was expecting.

I did go ahead and start Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland it's pretty brutal but as the title says it is about hope and that is why I have continued and to see these girls' strength is amazing.I am about 3 hours in.

Just wanted to say that I gave up on Harold Fry early on. I make that comment in case others didn't get into it either, though it's very popular (see also: Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time and Confederacy of Dunces).

Donna wrote: "Briar Rose wrote: "I just finished After the war is over by Maureen Lee, which I DON'T recommend, unless you like dull soapy family sagas and have literally nothing else to do with ..."

And I have to say that, taken as a whole, I only liked Eleanor & Park. I didn't love it. I got very frustrated toward the end with one character's out-of-character behavior. And I also don't know if I'd call it "light" or "fun." I hope you enjoy it!

Dave wrote: "Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty. I'd say it's the least impressive of the four Moriarty books I've listened to, but that doesn't mean it isn't really good. So far this author is batting a thousand for me"

Truer words have never been spoken. She is a home run hitter and of her books, this one is the "least good."

Jeanie wrote: "I finished Murder of an Open Book, latest in Denise Swanson's Scumble River Mystery series. The last one had nailed down the timeline to ten years ago but I had sort of forgotten and so was a bit ..."

Putting on my grammar nazi hat:

You " cite" a passage from a book, speech, etc.
Open Book would be a "social media site".

Taking off hat...

Jeffrey wrote: "Jeanie wrote: "I finished Murder of an Open Book, latest in Denise Swanson's Scumble River Mystery series. The last one had nailed down the timeline to ten years ago but I had sort of forgotten an..."

Sorry, more of a spelling error than grammar... really, more a mental backfire while typing rather than simple spelling error. I have to admit my particular handicap is also a handicap in proofreading since site and cite sound exactly the same when my screen-reader says it aloud. I try to proof before submitting, but some things that have slipped by the first time are doomed to slip by the second time due to the method I use to proof. Oh well, nobody's perfekt ;)

I am about to finish Redeploymenttoday. I have about an hour to go. Also most likely I'll finish The Same Sky tomorrow since I have 2 hrs left which I will kill driving to work :0)

I've had to stop listening to Sentimental Education a couple of times out of exasperation, not with Flaubert but with the main character, Frederic Moreau. It's so well done that it makes me want to slap him. On the other hand I do need to see this mess he's getting himself into to the very end.

I finished listening to Grover Gardner narrating another Vorkosigan book, Diplomatic Immunity, today. Now I don't know what to listen to next!

John wrote: "Just wanted to say that I gave up on Harold Fry early on. I make that comment in case others didn't get into it either, though it's very popular (see also: Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night ..."

I finished Harold Fry but thought it was just ok. (I did like the other 2 you mention a lot - especially Confederacy of Dunces, though it was the audio that made that book in my opinion). However, I disliked several very popular books - The Storied Life of A J Fikry, Beautiful Ruins, All the Light We Cannot See, and Life after Life. For those last two part of the problem is that I just cannot read any more books about Nazis for a while after too many of them, and I didn't realize how much WWII figured in both books.

I liked Fikry, a lot, but others didn't. It's how things go ... which leads me to a point I have wanted to mention for a while. Apparently, other groups have actual fights over this stuff, where we think to ourselves "You thought that was terrific? Okay ... takes all kinds!" and we move on.