Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon discussion

I listen to a lot of audiobooks. I mean a lot. In the first three months of this year, I've listened to over 40 audiobooks. I used to hate audiobooks. I just couldn't get into them. And then I finally discovered what the problem was. I was listening to all the wrong narrators. If you can't stand the person reading the book outloud, then you are going to hate the experience and hate the books. So this readathon, I thought I would create a thread where we could share who our favorite audiobook narrators are or what our favorite audiobooks are. I find that with all I do in the readathon, the only real way I get any reading done is by having audiobooks running in the background the whole day. Sometimes it needs to be books I've already listened to, but sometimes new books is fine.

For me, the best narrator hands down is Michael Kramer. I love him. If you haven't listened to the Stormlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson, I highly highly recommend it. I am honestly, not really a fan of Jim Dale and the Harry Potter audiobooks (don't throw things at me), but Michael Kramer... man, let me go dig out The Way of Kings because he is perfection. lol

I found I was falling asleep listening to audiobooks and lately I've been playing them on 2x speed on my Kindle Fire and that keeps me more alert. Kathryn, I agree, I love Harry Potter books but not Jim Dale's narration. I will be anxious to read some of your other favorite narrators and will post mine here.

Narrators are an absolute make or break for me. A few of my favorite narrators are Edward Herrmann (Richard Gilmore!), Juliet Stevenson, Bahni Turpin, Davina Porter, Simon Vance, and Simon Prebble. Many love Scott Brick but he doesn't work for me. Ditto Hillary Huber.

One of the narrators I am enjoying right now is Kate Mulgrew reading Joe Hill's NOS4A2. I haven't listened to any other of hers.

Lorraine, I also like Simon Vance. I will have to check out the others.

Oh I forgot ... Stephen Fry does a wonderful narration of Sherlock Holmes.

I am currently listening to Anna Kendrick narrate her own "Scrappy Little Nobody." I am glad she did the narration herself.

I love memoirs read by the writer. I've recently listened to Kate Mulgrew's Born with Teeth, Trevor Noah's Born a Crime & Carrie Fisher's The Princess Diarist. All were fantastic. I'll also listen to anything narrated by voice I love, such as Benedict Cumberbatch & Tom Hiddleston.

I listened to Lauren Grahams book that she narratorated and it was really good.

I listen at 1.25 speed on Audible or those portable preloaded audio books from the library. I have way too many favorite audio narrators to mention. Scott Brick is fantastic. I love Rene Auberjenois (sp?) on Preston and Child's Pendergast series, Davina Porter. Another one I like I can't think of her name at the moment but she does a lot of audios for some of my favorite authors who self publish now. They use this narrator (it's Holly something I think, I have to look it up) a lot. I also like Phil Gigante, Luke Daniels, Jennifer Van Dyck, Tanya Eby, Joyce (I am completely blanking on her last name and I've done a ton by her!)

Karen B. wrote: "One of the narrators I am enjoying right now is Kate Mulgrew reading Joe Hill's NOS4A2. I haven't listened to any other of hers.

Lorraine, I also like Simon Vance. I will have to check out the oth..."

This book is on my Audible account and i keep forgetting I have it!

I have lots of narrators I enjoy - but there are ones everyone loves that I'm not a fan of and ones who I like for certain genres and not others (love Tanya Eby in some stuff, I HATE her Jeanine Frost narrations - her Bones just irks me).

Lin-Manuel Miranda narrating Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe made my heart so happy.

Kelsey wrote: "Lin-Manuel Miranda narrating Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe made my heart so happy."

OMG mine too.

A recent favorite audiobook of mine is Miniatures: The Very Short Fiction of John Scalzi by John Scalzi. It has a voice cast and they do an EXCELLENT job with the various stories. I've listened to this book (it's only about three hours long) three times this month so far. I just really love it. :-)

Another, longer, favorite of mine is The Martian by Andy Weir. R.C. Bray does a really fantastic job of the narration. :-)

Karen B. wrote: "One of the narrators I am enjoying right now is Kate Mulgrew reading Joe Hill's NOS4A2. I haven't listened to any other of hers."

Her narration of NOS4A2 annoyed me; I was not a fan. But I'm glad you like it!

Almost forgot, another audiobook I enjoyed, thanks to a Full Voice Cast, is The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.

And I thought Dan Stevens did a really great job on the narration of And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. He was able to give each of the few characters in that book a distinctive voice, and he stayed consistent with them, too. :-)

The best narrator I have encountered is Rebecca Lowman. She puts so much subtle emotion into her reading; I've actually found myself listening to books just because I enjoy her narration so much!

Memoirs read by the author are great, too. Some recent ones I've enjoyed are Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl and Year of Yes.

came across a narrator I haven't listened to in a while - Kristine Hvam - she did Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone series; I just finished listening to Blood of the Earth - Faith Hunter/urban fantasy/mystery - wow - blew me away with her narration...I can't wait to listen to more in the series

The narrators for Terry Pratchett's Discworld books are excellent. The characters' voices are distinctive and the intonation in the inbetween bits is that of a good storyteller, which is easy to focus on long-term. The narrator on the Mrs. Pollifax books is also quite good.

Thanks everyone for tips about narrators. I am taking advantage of it. Interestingly enough I read a bit of cozies and some have audio versions. Those narrators are always good.

I've only listened to one audiobook but I got really lucky with the narrator. I highly recommend Robert G Slade - he narrated Emma and Otto and Russell and James, my fave read from last year and it gave me a chance to revisit my review! https://spinesinaline.wordpress.com/2...

I'm not really into audiobooks but i really enjoyed them during the weekly challenge.

I really enjoy Jenny Lawson reading her books. Also I couldn't get into the Cormoran Strike series until I listened to Robert Glenisters narration, so good. I second The Martian audio being really good as well.

I'm a huge fan of authors narrating their own autobiographies. I just finished Lauren Graham's Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls, and Everything in Between. Such a great story, and I loved listening to her speak. Love all of the tips from everyone! I have a long commute so I love to listen to audiobooks while I'm driving.

I love James Marster's narration of the Dresden Files books, there is one that you can only get his narration on Audible. I have read the hard copy/e-books of the series before, and I almost skipped the book he only did the Audible version for before I knew about that version.

I actually often book audiobooks based on the narrators, because they're make or break for me. I have a (short so far) list of favourite narrators and most of the time when I'm looking for something new to listen to, I go searching through what they've done that I haven't read yet.

Avid Reader and Geek Girl wrote: "I love James Marster's narration of the Dresden Files books, there is one that you can only get his narration on Audible. I have read the hard copy/e-books of the series before, and I almost skippe..."

I love James Marster's narration too, although I have to admit it totally threw me at first that he doesn't use the accent he uses as Spike in Buffy (which makes sense since that isn't how he sounds in real life...)

I also like:
- Wil Wheaton (Lock in by John Scalzi & Ready Player One by Ernest Cline are my favourites)
- Luke Daniels (Magic 2.0 series is great)
- Macleod Andrews (Reckoners series by Brandon Sanderson)

I've also recently started the Wolf Brother series which is narrated by Sir Ian McKellen which is good too.

for science fiction/fantasy:

Just finished Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America read by Scott Brick. I loved it.

Simon Prebble's narration for Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is amazing.

I also like Steven Crossley's narration for To Say Nothing of the Dog

Ramon De El Campo is one of my favorites (I may have mispelled that because I'm going off of memory).

Steve West (An Ember in the Ashes, very deep rich voice)

Holter Graham

Bahni Turpin

The woman who does Outlander is amazing. There are a lot of female narrators I like, but don't know their names as well.

Cloud wrote: The woman who does Outlander is amazing. There are a lot of female narrators I like, but don't know their names as well.

Davina Porter does Outlander

Jen wrote: "Almost forgot, another audiobook I enjoyed, thanks to a Full Voice Cast, is The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.

And I thought Dan Stevens did a rea..."

Neil Gaiman does great narration of his own books (the ones not in full cast) WONDERFUL!

That's good to know, Sheryl. Thanks! :-)

I absoultely love Robin Miles as a narrator. She does The Fifth Season by N.K Jemisin (which I seriously recommend) among MANY.

Lynette wrote: "I absoultely love Robin Miles as a narrator. She does The Fifth Season by N.K Jemisin (which I seriously recommend) among MANY."

YES -- she read Roxanne Gay's novel An Untamed State which was a difficult novel, but brilliant and her reading of it was masterful.

My favorite narrators are farrr to many to name but a few - Simon Vance, Noah Michael Levine, RC Bray, Karen White, Xe Sands, Davina Porter

Karen B. wrote: "I found I was falling asleep listening to audiobooks and lately I've been playing them on 2x speed on my Kindle Fire and that keeps me more alert. Kathryn, I agree, I love Harry Potter books but no..."

I always listen to them on 1.20 or high speed, as well! Have to slow it down to 1.20 when my husband is listening in but it's still a fine speed for me. I hate when the narrators speak too slowly.

I listen on 1.5 or 2 times speed. I found that made me enjoy the books more. At normal speed they read it just so dang slow. lol

Kathryn CA wrote: "I listen on 1.5 or 2 times speed. I found that made me enjoy the books more. At normal speed they read it just so dang slow. lol"

Yes - most books I listen at 2x. With the occasional faster-paced narrator I might drop to 1.5. The problem is that now, regular speed DRAGS, which means listening to loaned audiobooks on RBDigital (my library's only audiobook app) is unpleasant.

Sheryl_at_Ubookquitous wrote: "Kathryn CA wrote: "I listen on 1.5 or 2 times speed. I found that made me enjoy the books more. At normal speed they read it just so dang slow. lol"

Yes - most books I listen at 2x. With the occas..."

I know the feeling. Luckily my library uses Overdrive so I can crank that speed right up. Sometimes if I haven't listened to a book in a while, I have to start at 1.5 to acclimate myself, but then as soon as that starts to sound normal, I speed it up. My boyfriend doesn't understand how I can understand what they're saying. But it's all about getting used to it. Normal speed is so painful now.

Kathryn CA wrote: "Sheryl_at_Ubookquitous wrote: "Kathryn CA wrote: "I listen on 1.5 or 2 times speed. I found that made me enjoy the books more. At normal speed they read it just so dang slow. lol"

Yes - most books..."

Lucky your library uses Overdrive. Mine only uses that for ebooks. :-(

interesting that it only uses for ebooks - since it started out as an audiobook platform wayyy back when...what about hoopla?

Dee wrote: "interesting that it only uses for ebooks - since it started out as an audiobook platform wayyy back when...what about hoopla?"

Yes, a bit strange. Overdrive for ebooks, RBDigital for Audiobooks and some Ebooks. No Hoopla. I tried listening to The Lord of the Rings on audio but it was such a slow slog that I gave up and read it on ebook (The narrator was a slow speaker on top of the long books...)

Karen B. wrote: "Oh I forgot ... Stephen Fry does a wonderful narration of Sherlock Holmes."

His narration of HP is also excellent.

Melissa wrote: "Karen B. wrote: "Oh I forgot ... Stephen Fry does a wonderful narration of Sherlock Holmes."

His narration of HP is also excellent."

Stephen Fry does a narration of HP?

Juliet Stevenson is really great at narrating the Classics. Her narration of Persuasion is my favorite. Additionally, Rosamund Pike's narration of Pride and Prejudice is really good.

Kate Winslet's narration of Matilda is perfection (and only 4 hours, so a great one for the readathon).

I concur that Carrie Fisher, Trevor Noah, and Anna Kendrick are fantastic narrating their memoirs. So is Amy Poehler.

I've only just started with audio books; my first one that I'm listening to right now is Black Beauty...and Dee, Karen B and Lorraine - I most certainly like Simon Vance since he narrates this one; I find that he is very pleasant to listen to.

Kathryn CA wrote: "Melissa wrote: "Karen B. wrote: "Oh I forgot ... Stephen Fry does a wonderful narration of Sherlock Holmes."

His narration of HP is also excellent."

Stephen Fry does a narration of HP?"

yup - he did the UK version (I believe) and Jim Dale did the US version

Dee wrote: "Kathryn CA wrote: "Melissa wrote: "Karen B. wrote: "Oh I forgot ... Stephen Fry does a wonderful narration of Sherlock Holmes."

His narration of HP is also excellent."

Stephen Fry does a narratio..."

And even thought I am US-based, I still managed to acquire the Fry narrated version, bc they are just better.

You're one of the few I've heard say they like Kramer. They seem to be a loved, or hated, pair for Stormlight. I haven't tried them yet, I should at some point.

I'll always be a Jim Dale fan, but Stephen Fry's version was enjoyable as well.

I LOVE talking about good narrators, quite a few of my favorites are really unknown, while others are pretty well known.

Here's some of my favorites, along with a favorite book/series they did:

         Jim Dale ~ The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern
         Gildart Jackson ~ Whodunnit duology by Anthony Zuiker
         R.C. Bray ~ The Martian
         Nick Podehl ~ The Land series by Aleron Kong
         Zara Ramm ~ Chronicles of St Mary's series by Jodi Taylor
         Sean Mangan ~ The Great Zoo of China by Matt Reilly
         Jeffrey Kafer ~ Chess Team series by Jeremy Robinson
         Luke Daniels ~ Iron Druid series by Kevin Hearne
         Rupert Degas ~ some of Skullduggery Pleasant
         Julia Whelan ~ most Nora Roberts books

I thought Jim Dale was the only narrator.

Oh my gosh, I just found a clip of Stephen Fry doing the reading. SOOOOO much better. I have endured Jim Dale (because I only really have time for audio books these days). Why aren't his available via US audible? I need to track these cds down (although CDs suck). :( Sad day.

Melissa wrote: "Juliet Stevenson is really great at narrating the Classics. Her narration of Persuasion is my favorite. Additionally, Rosamund Pike's narration of Pride and Prejudice is rea..."

I'm in a cross stitching and reading group. We are reading all of Jane Austen's books this year and cross stitching on Jane Austen related projects. I'll have to remember these narrators.