Audiobooks discussion

Starting the month with two Audible Plus titles: Sherlock Holmes: The Definitive Audio Collection, 62 hours of Stephen Fry's excellent narration. Also, a nonfiction God's Hotel: A Doctor, a Hospital, and a Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine, where the author does a good job reading her own material.

In addition, I'm finishing up Kenneth Brannaugh's excellent narration of Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile.

I also finished an Audible Plus book, Shifters in the Night, book 5 in the Mystic Bayou series by Molly Harper and narrated by the fantastic duo of Jonathan Davis and Amanda Ronconi. I always enjoy these trips into the magical bayou and the quirky lovable lives of its characters.

i'm finishing up The Rose Code - i got distracted by a couple books towards end of month that i needed to listen to for a couple reading challenges - so got to finish this up before it returns on thursday

then next on the pile is: Rattlesnake Crossing and Wallace: The Underdog Who Conquered a Sport, Saved a Marriage, and Championed Pit Bulls-- One Flying Disc at a Time

I ended May by finishing The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec, a Norse mythology story about Angrboda, wife of Loki and mother of his three children.

Early this morning, I finished #6 of The Expanse, Babylon's Ashes sci-fi by James S.A. Corey. Another great story in the James Holden universe.

I’m in the midst of two audio books, A House Without Windows by Nadia Hashimi and Clementine: The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill by Sonia Purnell. They are just ok, with mediocre narrators.

I listened to two 19th-century mysteries back to back - The Sculthorpe Murder and Murder at Half Moon Gate. Both were well narrated. I like historical mysteries because there is no technology for the detectives to rely on. I also like the sense of place and time, and I can tolerate much more violence and poverty in olden days than in a modern story.

For a change of pace, I have started Libertie.

I loved Mary Robinette Kowal's narration of Amberlough a few months back, so I ended up starting Armistice yesterday - I can listen at work and read my ebook at home :)

Robin P wrote: "I listened to two 19th-century mysteries back to back - The Sculthorpe Murder and Murder at Half Moon Gate. Both were well narrated. I like historical mysteries beca..."

Bad news on the Sculthorpe front: author has stated that the most recent one will not be available as an audiobook "due to circumstances beyond my control."

John wrote: "Robin P wrote: "I listened to two 19th-century mysteries back to back - The Sculthorpe Murder and Murder at Half Moon Gate. Both were well narrated. I like historica..."

I've enjoyed Murder at Halfmoon Gate and its sequels--looking forward to Murder at the Royal Botanic Gardens coming out in September--but I've never tried the sculthorpe books. And now I'm reluctant to begin if I can't go all the way in audio.

Less by Andrew Sean Greer - 4 stars - My Review

Protagonist Arthur Less is a middle-aged gay novelist living in San Francisco. When he is invited to the wedding of his former lover, he decides to avoid attending by going on a lengthy trip around the world, combining his need to escape with various literary events and opportunities. It flows back and forth in time. The narrator, initially unnamed, creates a slight disconnect for the reader. It is full of literary references, and pokes fun at the publishing industry. It contains flashes of humor. Its theme seems to be that it is never too late for a journey of self-discovery. The writing is clever. The ending is satisfying. I enjoyed accompanying Arthur on his journey.

Audio book narrator Robert Petkoff does a nice job with the many voices and accents. (4 stars for the audio)

Starting the month off with a middle grade own voices book Unsettled by Reem Faruqi narrated by, Ariana Delawari it's a good book so far!

Recently finished two books.

Golden Earrings - An interesting account of Spain's Civil War that included some history on Flamenco. Narrated by Caroline Lee who I enjoy thoroughly when she narrates contemporary books that take place in Australia. This is the second book I've listened to where she uses an accent (in this case Spanish) that is just very hard to listen to.

The Zig Zag Girl - This was an Audible Plus book and first in a series of mysteries that take place in the 1950's in Brighton, England. Not as good as her Ruth Galloway series but I did enjoy it and will give the next one a try (also on Audible Plus). James Langton does a fine job narrating though he does something funny at the end of sentences with his voice. This is my first narration by him I've listened to and am wondering if he does it in all his narrations.

Bought the audio to one of my all time favorite books in the last sale and started it yesterda. It's the second in the Graveyard Queen series: The Kingdom narrated by Khristine Hvam. I am absolutely loving it!!

Now starting The Maidens By: Alex Michaelides
Narrated by: Kobna Holdbrook-Smith & Louise Brealey
Release date: 06-15-21

Grant by Ron Chernow - 4 stars - My Review

Link fixed above

This book provides a thorough biography of Ulysses Grant. It covers just about every aspect of his life – family, marriage, accomplishments, military career, Mexican War, Civil War, Reconstruction, his two Presidential terms, civilian life, travels, and publication of his memoirs. The book separates myths from reality. Chernow points out that Grant was an early leader in Civil Rights, which has been largely overlooked. At around one thousand pages, it requires a significant investment of time, but it is worth it, especially in understanding the Civil War and Reconstruction, and how that particular time period has led to the racial issues we are still facing today. I liked Chernow’s biography of Alexander Hamilton slightly more, but this is excellent non-fiction. By the end, I felt like I had a good grasp on what Grant was like as a person and the times in which he lived.

The audio book is 48 hours in length, and Mark Bramhall does an excellent job. He provides voices for the many people who interacted with Grant. He reads well and his pacing is ideal. (5 stars for the audio)

MissSusie wrote: "Now starting The Maidens By: Alex Michaelides
Narrated by: Kobna Holdbrook-Smith & Louise Brealey
Release date: 06-15-21"

I'll be interested in your opinion on this as I love the narration of KHS in the Peter grant series and wonder if he fits other books as well.

Joy D wrote: "Grant by Ron Chernow - 4 stars - My Review

This book provides a thorough biography of Ulysses Grant. It covers just about every aspect of his life – family, marriage,..."

You’ve given me hope for this audio. It is the last of the 9 biographies I planned for this year, but the 48 hours seem so daunting that I was dreading it. Thanks for your review.

Jeanie wrote: "MissSusie wrote: "Now starting The Maidens By: Alex Michaelides
Narrated by: Kobna Holdbrook-Smith & Louise Brealey
Release date: 06-15-21"

I'll be interested in your opinion on th..."

Oh my goodness I had not listened to him before and wowza what a voice!!

I finished The Sun Down Motel by Simone St James and I enjoyed this mystery dual timeline book. And as soon as the key info was revealed I solved the mystery.

I'm reading A Long Petal of the Sea for my Book Club and I have no knowledge about the Spanish War and its aftermath, so I think this is a good educational read too.

Oh, BTW I purchased a bone conduction headphone and it's very light and has a clear sound. You don't put the earbuds into your ears so you can still hear the ambient noise which is good for running.

Joy D wrote: "Grant by Ron Chernow - 4 stars - My Review

This book provides a thorough biography of Ulysses Grant. It covers just about every aspect of his life – family, marriage,..."

I've been wanting to listen to this for awhile. It's been sitting in the queue for awhile. Summer break is just a breath away so hopefully I'll get to it this summer.

I finished Silver Spells, first in the Midlife Elementals PWF series by Kate Moseman. This book gets my praise for avoiding what I've come to dread--the dragging out of the MC's acceptance of the paranormal. I'm even willing to forgive the author going a bit extreme in the other direction in that the MC seemed to accept her burgeoning magic with all awe and no shock. Her two friends did have more difficulty, so that sort of balances things out. ;) Generally, this was fluffy fun and didn't demand too much of the reader.

MissSusie wrote: "Jeanie wrote: "MissSusie wrote: "Now starting The Maidens By: Alex Michaelides
Narrated by: Kobna Holdbrook-Smith & Louise Brealey
Release date: 06-15-21"

I'll be interested in you..."

If you like Urban Fantasy, the Rivers of London/Peter grant series by Ben Aaronovitch is fantastic. KHS does such a great job narrating what is a great series.

James Langton does a fine job narrating though he does something funny at the end of sentences with his voice. This is my first narration by him I've listened to and am wondering if he does it in all his narrations.
"

I really enjoy Langton's narration. And yes, he does have a sort of turn on sentences. He also narrates a lot of Grace Burrowes books, and also Robin Hobb, amongst others.

MissSusie wrote: "Oh my goodness I had not listened to him before and wowza what a voice!!"

Yeah, he's great! :-)

Contrarius wrote: "James Langton does a fine job narrating though he does something funny at the end of sentences with his voice. This is my first narration by him I've listened to and am wondering if he does it in a..."

I first encountered James Langton narrating the Chronicles of Prydane by Lloyd Alexander. His unique narrative style was perfect for that series in that it was a Whales-like kingdom and the characters spoke with some version of a welsh accent. But with just about every subsequent book I've listened to with Langton as the narrator, his unique rhythms and vocal quality--even when spoken with an English or Irish accent--kept distracting me. Sometimes it isn't too bad, but more often than not nowadays I don't tolerate it as well.

Jeanie wrote: "His unique narrative style was perfect for that series in that it was a Whales-like kingdom and the characters spoke with some version of a welsh accent. But with just about every subsequent book I've listened to with Langton as the narrator, his unique rhythms and vocal quality--even when spoken with an English or Irish accent--kept distracting me. Sometimes it isn't too bad, but more often than not nowadays I don't tolerate it as well. "

Yeah, narrators with a strong style tend to end up as love-it-or-hate-it. For instance, I can't stand Vikas Adams's style, but I know other people like him a lot; and I love George Guidall and Emily Woo Zeller, but I know a lot of people dislike them.

Speaking of narrators, I'm listening to Xe Sands right now. She is SO good -- and sort of the opposite of narrators with idiosyncratic styles. Her narrations are very natural, very much like a real person really telling you what has happened to them. Big thumbs up from me!

Contrarius wrote: "Jeanie wrote: "His unique narrative style was perfect for that series in that it was a Whales-like kingdom and the characters spoke with some version of a welsh accent. But with just about every su..."

Speaking of Xe Sands... she was the narrator for Silver Spells and I really enjoyed it more as a result. Still, Xe herself says her voice is a love it or hate it sort of thing--I love it!--so go figure.

And I'm one of those who loves Vikus Adam, but I also like George guidall and Emily Woo Zeller... so no pattern there. ;) I'm just happy we have so many narrators to choose from and that we all understand no one of them can please everyone--there's no such thing as right or wrong when it comes to personal taste.

Jeanie wrote: "Speaking of Xe Sands... she was the narrator for Silver Spells and I really enjoyed it more as a result. Still, Xe herself says her voice is a love it or hate it sort of thing--I love it!--so go figure."

The first book of hers I listened to was Magic for Liars. She did a great job with it, and I mentioned her in my review. I was tickled when she herself "liked" the review!

I also love Xe Sands, and you're right, it's something about how real she is in every part. On the other hand, I also love the sadly departed Katherine Kellgren who is often deliberately over the top. I will always value George Guidall and Barbara Rosenblatt, who were among the first narrators I regularly found back in the cassette days, at my library.

Home by Toni Morrison - 2 stars - My Review

Story of siblings Frank Money and his sister Cee who grow up in an abusive environment in the small town of Lotus, Georgia. Frank returns from the Korean War suffering from PTSD. Morrison is describing a time of systemic racism, and vividly describes the harsh realities her characters face. There is a lot of disturbing content in this book, such as eugenics experiments, a man beaten to death, killing of a young girl by a soldier. In addition to racism, we find gender inequality, sexism, poverty, and senseless violence.
I loved Morrison’s A Mercy. I could not love this one. It is a litany of atrocities. It is not something I should have ever picked up.

Kathleen wrote: "You’ve given me hope for this audio. It is the last of the 9 biographies I planned for this year, but the 48 hours seem so daunting that I was dreading it. Thanks for your review.."

Fran wrote: "I've been wanting to listen to this for awhile. It's been sitting in the queue for awhile. Summer break is just a breath away so hopefully I'll get to it this summer."

I hope you enjoy it, Kathleen & Fran. It is well narrated. I listened to a set number of hours per day and found it so well done that it went by quickly. You can listen to it at a 1.2 speed to shorten it a bit and not really lose anything. I tend to listen at regular speed but I tried various speeds to see how it sounded.

Jeanie wrote: If you like Urban Fantasy, the Rivers of London/Peter grant series by Ben Aaronovitch is fantastic. KHS does such a great job narrating what is a great series.."

I have had my eye on that series for awhile will be bumping it up on Mount TBR because of his voice!

Robin P wrote: "I also love Xe Sands, and you're right, it's something about how real she is in every part. On the other hand, I also love the sadly departed Katherine Kellgren who is often deliberately over the t..."

Agree 100%

My absolute favorite by Xe Sands is a little known absolutely beautiful book The Silence of Trees by Valya Dudycz Lupescu

Hi, I'm currently listening to The Guncle by Steven Rowley. Think has potential.

I listened to Lily and the Octopus by the same author which was sad but I liked it so much.

I just finished We Keep the Dead Close: A Murder at Harvard and a Half Century of Silence a different take on a true crime story. The author who becomes admittedly obsessed with the story tells not only of her investigations but the lessons she learned from the story and what she thinks we all should take from it.

Robin P wrote: "On the other hand, I also love the sadly departed Katherine Kellgren who is often deliberately over the top."

Would you believe I've never listened to a Kellgren book? I keep meaning to. So many books, so little time!

MissSusie wrote: "I have had my eye on that series for awhile will be bumping it up on Mount TBR because of his voice!."

It's a very good series, especially the first several books, and Holdbrook-Smith is one of the best out there.

Gretchen wrote: "Hi, I'm currently listening to The Guncle by Steven Rowley. Think has potential.

I listened to Lily and the Octopus by the same author which was s..."

I will be curious what you think of the Guncle when you are done I've had my eye on it!

Gretchen wrote: "Hi, I'm currently listening to The Guncle by Steven Rowley. Think has potential.

I listened to Lily and the Octopus by the same author which was s..."


I thought that the author did a good job narrating The Guncle. My favorite book by him is The Editor

Michelle wrote: "I just finished We Keep the Dead Close: A Murder at Harvard and a Half Century of Silence a different take on a true crime story. The author who becomes admittedly obsessed with the..."

I read this in print...it was a good one, and I normally don't like true crime books.

MissSusie wrote: "Oh my goodness I had not listened to him before and wowza what a voice!!"

Best known (to me) from series by Ben Aaronovitch. Excellent series IMO. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith has also narrated other books from other authors too.

For fans of the narrator Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, he is narrating a new fantasy series

Mordew by Alex Pheby

And what have I been reading?

Since the end of May when I finished Oz by Lily Morton (very funny, sweet, lots of sex, good narration with various British accents), I've listened to:

The Last Hellion by Loretta Chase. This was the last Chase audiobook with Kate Reading narration that I hadn't listened to yet. There are several non-Reading audiobooks available, but I don't like the other narrator -- so I'll try to eventually get to the other Chase books in text.

Lord of Scoundrels, also by Chase. I had both listened to and read this one before, but I listened to it again because the hero from The Last Hellion plays a minor part in this book as well and I wanted to refresh my memory about his appearances. This is another rather famous romance, but the most famous scene (where the hero seductively takes off the heroine's gloves in a cafe) is far from my favorite -- that would be the scene where (view spoiler)[the hero has snidely told the heroine to shoot him, and she does! (hide spoiler)]. I bet you'll never see that in another romance book! Excellent narration by Kate Reading, as usual.

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro. This was my first Ishiguro, and it was interesting. Klara is an "artificial friend", a sort of android, and she is purchased to be a friend to a girl who seems to be dying slowly. Complications ensue. This is told very simply, from Klara's POV. Unfortunately I often found it annoying, both in style (for instance, Klara is very intelligent, and she knows how to use the pronoun "I", but in conversation she always uses the other person's name instead of saying "you"; that doesn't make sense!), and in message. It feels like a sort of cross between "I, Robot" and "The Velveteen Rabbit" plus large dollops of "yes, even artificial intelligences can be superstitious". The narration, by Sura Siu, was also moderately annoying, as she was very repetitive in the rhythm and intonation of her delivery.

The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey, with outstanding narration by Xe Sands. In many ways this was an excellent book. For one thing, I always enjoy the way Gailey puts words together. She usually writes shorter work -- I think this is her first novel -- so she has had a lot of practice with economy of words. Also, the story is creepy and ominous and twisty in a good way. The problems were first, that the MC is not a good person, and in fact can be seen as a truly evil person if you think about it enough; and second, that there were several points that broke my suspension of disbelief (plot holes/failures of logic) and one inexcusable fact-checking error that made me want to swear at the editor (we are told that lime makes soil more ACID, which is completely backwards from reality). So it has flaws, but it's a worthwhile read. I have heard that this is being developed for video, and I can see why.

Now I've just started the last book in the Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks, The Burning White. It's going well so far!

Incidentally, I noticed that today's Audible Daily Deal, The Mysterious and Amazing Blue Billings, is written by Lily Morton (see Oz above); based on Oz, I've bought it too. I hope it's as much fun!

Contrarius wrote: "And what have I been reading?

Since the end of May when I finished Oz by Lily Morton (very funny, sweet, lots of sex, good narration with various British accents), I've listened to..."

Sarah Gailey is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns ;)

I finished The Faithful which had been on my to-listen-to shelf for about 5 years. It wasn't worth the wait.

I will start The House in the Cerulean Sea today. It sounds like it will be a fun read, just what I need right now.

The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick - 3 stars - My Review

Pat Peoples has recently been released from a mental institution and is living with his parents. His friends set him up with Tiffany, a woman dealing with mental issues of her own. The plot follows Pat’s efforts to get back together with Nikki, his former love. The momentum is maintained by dropping hints for the reader to follow in figuring out what happened to cause Pat to lose his memory of events that occurred just before he was admitted to the mental facility. I have to admit I found it engrossing, but I felt it an odd mixture of serious topics, off-the-wall incidents, and comedy that I did not find particularly funny.

I listened to the audio book, read by Ray Porter. The audio is outstanding. Porter articulates clearly and reads with enthusiasm. The voices of the characters are particularly well done, and it is easy to distinguish among them. It feels like the main character is talking directly to the reader. (5 stars for the audio)

My review of Light Perpetual by Francis Spufford

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I have been having a rough time. My husband unexpectedly died. (Not Covid!) This explains my absence on GR. I have too much on my plate right now. If I don't respond to messages please forgive me.

I have in the last month pushed myself to read one book. It gets me out of my life into someone else's.

My review of The Riders by Tim Winton: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I began today A Dance to the Music of Time: 1st Movement by Anthony Powell.

Chrissie, I am so sorry for your loss. I hope the time you spend listening and the few minutes you can spare on here bring you at least some moments of respite. I'll keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

That's horrible, Chrissie! I'm so sorry to hear that. Hang in there!

I'm so sorry Chrissie. I hope your reading can help you.