Audiobooks discussion

I'm starting the month off with an Inspector Morse novel The Daughters of Cain, read by everyone's favorite narrator Frederick Davidson (a/k/a David Case).

I have Like You Love Me to finish up (abt 2hrs left) - in KU, passable contemporary romance - it fit a challenge task

Next up is Anxious People and I’m going to slowly make my way through Don Quixote

I'm listening to two audio books as the month starts, Louise Penny's newest book, The Madness of Crowds and The Revolution of Marina M. by Janet Fitch.

I'm slowly getting toward the conclusion of Iron Prince by Bryce O'Connor, read well by Luke Chmilenko. It's almost 34 hours long, so I've stuck with it and hope the ending doesn't leave me hanging too badly. It is, of course, the first in a series, and none of the other books have been published so far. I should have paid more attention before starting this one! :-)

Oops! I meant the book was written by Bryce O’Connor and Luke Chmilenko but read by Luke Daniels. And the end includes a Blooper segment!

John wrote: "I'm listening to Agatha Raisin and the Dead Ringer, which is right up there as one of the worst books I've ever read. Only makes sense if the dying author decided to go out with an over-the-top parody.

flag *

"
Thanks. Actually I am now going to make a "don't read" (listen) shelf, to remember all the books I don't want to any more...

I finished Everything I Never Told You yesterday. I will admit I put in on 1.75 speed to get it done. I didn't love it and I know that's not a real popular opinion. Just not very...likable... in any way for me. Narration was good though so that was a +

Next up is Redeeming Love (for a total change of genre)

Just started The Disappearing Act and am really enjoying it.

Just finished the fourth book in the Murderbot series:
Exit Strategy by Martha Wells - 4 stars - My Review

Kevin R. Free continues his stellar portrayal of the SEC Unit in the audio book (5 stars for the audio).

Starting the month with Taken at Birth: Stolen Babies, Hidden Lies, and My Journey to Finding Home by Jane Blasio, narrated by, Lisa Larsen and the author

Specs wrote: "Thanks. Actually I am now going to make a "don't read" (listen) shelf, to remember all the books I don't want to any more......"

I have a shelf named "Skip This" to avoid these books. Either there were bad reviews or the subject is too dark, etc. Very helpful when I see the book later and wonder if I would like it. LOL

That Agatha Raisin book begins with an English vicar punching his wife because he was "triggered" (for the umpteenth time) by something she said. The story goes downhill from there...

John wrote: "I'm starting the month off with an Inspector Morse novel The Daughters of Cain, read by everyone's favorite narrator Frederick Davidson (a/k/a David Case)."

Just in case there are any new members out there who don't get the joke... frederick Davidson/David Case is very much a love or hate narrator. I tolerated him well enough for several books, but the voice began to wear on me and then grate on my nerves. Perhaps exposure through smaller doses might prevent an eventual aversion by others. Though. for me, after listening to his voice through war and Peace, Donby and Son, and Le Mort D'Arthur... eek! However, to each his or her own and we tolerate all tastes here... not always silently, but always respectfully.

John wrote: "That Agatha Raisin book begins with an English vicar punching his wife because he was "triggered" (for the umpteenth time) by something she said. The story goes downhill from there..."

OMG - are you kidding me?? That is horrible.

I finished Coached in the Act, latest in the Cat and Gilly Life coach Mystery series by Victoria Laurie. This was another good cozy mystery by VL and it was as enjoyable as the previous ones. I could have done with a little more explanation of the victim's behaviors/motivations as well as more about some of the suspects, but that might have mearly dragged it out. I'm still not sure that the main character should have chosen Life Coach as a profession, but that may be more about my bias against the concept of a life coach than her fitness for it.

Jan wrote: "John wrote: "That Agatha Raisin book begins with an English vicar punching his wife because he was "triggered" (for the umpteenth time) by something she said. The story goes downhill from there..."..."

Everyone knows about it, but shrug it off with "If she doesn't leave him, nothing we can do..." The incredibly good looking bishop is into teen girls, but spends a lot of time leading on rich older women for money.

Jan wrote: "Specs wrote: "Thanks. Actually I am now going to make a "don't read" (listen) shelf, to remember all the books I don't want to any more......"

I have a shelf named "Skip This" to avoid these books..."

Even better Jan! I like Skip (this).

I have started A Gift of Time about a man who gets to go back and redo his life with the benefit of what he learned in 80 years. I am a sucker for time travel stories, and I really like the idea of someone trying to do better the 2nd time around rather than get revenge or make a ton of money.

I finished Gunny Rose by Charlaine Harris. I've been reading this one off and on for a while. It's good for what it is, but it's not for me. I'm discovering that an Old West setting or atmosphere isn't really my thing. I'm also not a big fan of alternative realities where things went wrong and now they are coping with the fallout. I think this book was set in an actual alternative early 1900s in the former US, but how far into the 1900s is unclear. No matter, it's not my cup of tea and I won't be continuing the series.

Robin P wrote: "I have started A Gift of Time about a man who gets to go back and redo his life with the benefit of what he learned in 80 years. I am a sucker for time travel stories, and I really ..."

I have this in my TBL pile! Hope it's decent!


Starting the month with Body of Stars by Laura Maylene Walter. Didn't realize it was somewhat fantasy based. Guess I avoided the reviews and "about this book" too much. I'm not against reading fantasy books, just shouldn't known before starting because I was confused for a minute. Too early to tell much anything else right now. :)

I have just finished an incredible, heartfelt, and disturbing debut novel that gives such a perspective of an immigrant family called Home Is Not a Country

This young author knows how to grab you in the beginning and not let go. There are so many important take-aways....being of a different culture, new to the US, shy, afraid. I LOVED the narrator and I probably finished it in 3-4 hours.

I don't rate too many books 5 * but I did with this one.

Hope you enjoy.
Colleen

I'm listening to

A Little History of the World by E.H. Gombrich

Narrated by: Ralph Cosham

Cosham has such a soothing voice.

The book was written in 1935.

Alias Reader wrote: "I'm listening to

A Little History of the World by E.H. Gombrich

Narrated by: Ralph Cosham

Cosham has such a soothing voice.

The book was written in 1935."

A number of us here are ralph Coshem fans and appreciate his special voice. He is missed. :(

My review of Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution by Mike Duncan

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

Whose Body?
by Dorothy L. Sayers
Narrated by Mark Meadows

Read this years ago and when I saw it as hoopla bonus borrow decided to give it a try. I enjoyed it and will be checking for more. I grew up reading books, especially mysteries, written in this time period so nostalgia could be part of my enjoyment.

Warning: If you are upset by books depicting social norms and language of a hundred years ago you may want to pass on this one as it has not been rewritten/updated.

L J wrote: "
Whose Body?
by Dorothy L. Sayers
Narrated by Mark Meadows

Read this years ago and when I saw it as hoopla bonus borr..."

I have enjoyed several books in the Lord Peter wimsey series narrated by Ian Carmichael, but the first book hasn't been available by him... as of the last time I checked, but that seems to change frequently. I'm wondering if the narration you read was good since there are about a dozen versions of this one. Also, I read a note somewhere about how there was a first version "Whose Body" and then another version titled "Whose Body?"... but no explanation of the differences. So... any ideas on the two versions and recs as to currently available narrators?

Started Amira & Hamza: The War to Save the Worlds by Samira Ahmed narrated by, Soneela Nankani Middle grade fantasy.

Jeanie wrote:
A number of us here are ralph Coshem fans and appreciate his special voice. He is missed. :(..."

Yes, when I was looking to see the other books he narrated, I was saddened to see had passed away. :(

Jeanie wrote: "L J wrote: "
Whose Body?
by Dorothy L. Sayers
Narrated by Mark Meadows

Read this years ago and when I saw it as hoopl..."

It didn't take long to get accustomed to the narration because it was well done even though not the voice I expected. Since the US copyright of WB has expired if you don't care for a narrator you can try another.

Two versions of Whose Body? As far as I know there were few changes to this first book in the series. The last book, Busman's Honeymoon, on the other hand was a play first then revised and released a year later as a book.

Tonight I finished Ranger's Oath, first in the Fall of Radiance series by Blake Arthur Peel. I may be in the minority, but I found this to be meh. I've seen so much of this before and feel like I've read every line of dialogue in other fantasy works. While I know nothing about this author, I could believe this was the first work by a young author who read lots and lots of fantasy... and then cobbled together his favorite character types, lines, and scenes. Given how many times I've seen this story, you'd think I'd like it better, but somehow the author just didn't make it work for me. Not even the epic fantasy dream team of Michael Kramer and Kate Reading could pull this one out of cliche land. Fortunately it was relatively short for epic fantasy.

Jeanie wrote: "L J wrote: "
Whose Body?
by Dorothy L. Sayers
Narrated by Mark Meadows

Read this years ago and when I saw it as hoopl..."

Lord Peter is my literary crush. I am rereading all the books this year. It’s true that there are some racial references from 100 years ago that don’t work now but I still am enjoying it. And we have forgotten all the solutions to the mysteries, so they are like new.

I finished The Years by Virginia Woolf early this morning. I enjoyed it a lot, so I am giving it four stars.

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

I have begun another by Isabella Lucy Bird. She has several very good books. I hope this is one of her best. So far I am thoroughly enjoying The Englishwoman in America. Her writing is engaging, personal and interesting. A free download is available here at Librivox: https://librivox.org/the-englishwoman...

I finished Midlife at Midsummer, a novella in the Not Too Late series by Victoria danann. This is a short novella that deals with a wedding... but then gives total short shrift to the wedding itself. Given that the last book had an over the top wedding and gave us every detail, this current wedding was a let down. I do enjoy this series but this one felt like the author got tired of writing toward the end and just summed things up. I'm looking forward to the next full length book and hoping it comes out sooner rather than later.

I'm still reading Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators. It's interesting but I've been watching TV at night so I'm missing my 1.5 hrs/night, not good!

I just looked at my TBR list and all the books I added for "summer reading" none of them I read! So disappointed and embarrassed. I did read like 10 books during summer but that's for my book club and challenges.

Did you guy read any books from your summer reading list? I'm going on a mini vacation by the beach so I hope I can read more (plus I got my new Bluetooth bone conducting headphone too!)

Kaoru wrote: "I'm still reading Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators. It's interesting but I've been watching TV at night...Did you guy read any books from your summer reading list?..."

I made a list of winter setting books to read during very hot weather and have read some but not near as many as most summers.
ETA: I read but mostly for summer library program and impulse reads rather than books on my list.

Kaoru wrote: "I'm still reading Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators. It's interesting but I've been watching TV at night so I'm missing my 1.5 hrs/night, not good!
..."

I read more this summer than usual only because I bought so many books in the Prime Day sale and didn't want to lose ground on reducing my tBR list... I'm now back under the number I had before that sale where I bought over fifty books! Prior to that though I was having a massive reading slump. I can't say why, but it began with the pandemic and has lingered. Rather than read new books I tended to seek out comfort re-reads or light and entertaining new books. It's been an odd year and a half for sure!

Not my cup of tea (set in the early to mid 20th century):
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead - 2 stars - My Review

I listened to the audio book, read by two readers. I liked one (Cassandra Campbell) and did not care for the other (Alex McKenna as Hadley).

Finished the classic The Englishwoman in America by Isabella Lucy Bird. There is a free download of it at Librivox, and it is well narrated if you reduce the speed.

My nose is super stuffed. Therefore, writing a review was difficult, but here it is:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Listening now to The Old Jest by Jennifer Johnston. It is free to Audible Plus members in the UK:

I've been trying to read Monster Hunter Guardian in advance of the release of Monster Hunter Bloodlines by Larry Correia on September 7. I simply hadn't been in the mood for monsters before now and the fact that it wasn't Oliver wyman--the POV is female--also made me wary. But I'm having a tough time with this one because a baby is in peril--that's not a spoiler since it was referenced in the last book and also the Publisher's Summary. Anyway, while I have confidence in the outcome, I absolutely hate books where any child is in peril... HATE! Also, while the narrator isn't bad, she omits the MC's southern accent--better no accent than a bad one I suppose--and I'm thinking I'd rather have had Oliver wyman do the narration despite it being from a female POV... after all, he does her voice in the other books. I'll keep trying on this one and maybe I'l finish before tuesday... okay, maybe not by *this* Tuesday. ;P

Jeanie wrote: "I've been trying to read Monster Hunter Guardian in advance of the release of Monster Hunter Bloodlines by Larry Correia on September 7. I simply hadn't been in the mood for monsters before now and..."

I read the first two or three of this series but quickly lost interest -- it seemed to go downhill with each book. It's interesting to find someone who stuck with it!

Contrarius wrote: "Jeanie wrote: "I've been trying to read Monster Hunter Guardian in advance of the release of Monster Hunter Bloodlines by Larry Correia on September 7. I simply hadn't been in the mood for monsters..."

I stuck with it for two main reasons: I love Earl and really enjoy Oliver wyman's narration... third reason, I like the humor.

My review of The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers

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

Even though I love time travel stories, I was ultimately disappointed in A Gift of Time. It starts out as an adventure, then a large part of the book is about the hero going back to his childhood to fix something that went wrong. This was a lot like 11/22/63 and quite compelling. But then it goes back to the present era where the hero builds a time machine. There’s too much math and physics detail which I found boring. When he gets the machine ready and tries to travel a few days away, he ends up in the Cretaceous period, menaced by multiple dinosaurs - haven’t we seen this movie before? And his companion in all this is an alien brain that chooses to present itself as a 20-year old beautiful woman who never ages and doesn’t like to wear clothes. Aaargh! The narration was good but didn’t redeem the book.

Finished Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett

My Review: www.goodreads.com/review/show/4182173159

Robin P wrote: "Even though I love time travel stories, I was ultimately disappointed in A Gift of Time. ..."

I couldn't agree more, Robin. I felt exactly the same about this one. I still have to try 11/22/63 and have higher hopes for it.

I'm enjoying Blood Red Road by Moira Young, a YA adventure/romance that I would normally avoid, but the dystopian aspects interest me.

I finished The Queen's Gambit which is from the Audible Plus catalogue. I thought it was an okay read. While some people say you don't need to understand chess to read the book, I think it would have helped. I tired after a while of all the chess moves with didn't mean anything to me.

I started The Shadow of What Was Lost.

Janice wrote: "I finished The Queen's Gambit which is from the Audible Plus catalogue. I thought it was an okay read. While some people say you don't need to understand chess to read the book, I thin..."

i haven't read it yet - but I enjoyed the show - it fits a reading challenge maybe I'll try it this month

I watched the first episode of the tv series and thought it was interesting but wasn't inspired to continue. I wouldn't have read the book except it was chosen by our real life book club.

I finished up the final chapter and epilogue of Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents this morning - 5 stars across the board.

Now on to Sense and Sensibility, as narrated by Rosalyn Landor. I fell in love with her reading of Pride and Prejudice last year, her voice is so good for Austen.

Ashley Marie wrote: "I finished up the final chapter and epilogue of Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents this morning - 5 stars across the board.

this was one of my top listens to far this year - I have her other book on my pile, but my library doesn't have it in audio