Audiobooks discussion

I'm starting off with Kindergarten at 60: A Memoir of Teaching in Thailand, which is okay, in small doses (30 minutes or so).

i've been in NYC for the last couple of days - so no listening but my last book I finished up on Friday was Night of the Living Deed - decent paranormal mystery (ghosts) - intrigued enough to want to check out the next book in the series.

Currently listening to Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum and Saint Peter's Fair

I finished Nemesis by Wilbur Smith. Not my favorite. It was a long, violent story of revenge.

I started Corrupted by Lisa Scottoline on the plane home yesterday. It's been a minute since I've read anything by Scottoline.

I finished Unruly: The Ridiculous History of England's Kings and Queens - quite enjoyable. I love David Mitchell's snarky sense of humor. He never disappoints!

Now I'm listening to Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives - which is a current group read in my Nonfiction group. It's... less fun. But much more important. :(

At the end of the month I finished the new Lisa Gardner and I was a little disappointed in it the story and the narration felt lacking, I usually like Hilary Hubers narration but her accents in this one were not up to par.

Now starting the middle grade book The Misfits #1: A Royal Conundrum by, Lisa Yee Narrated by, Cindy Kay

I'm starting Madam, Will You Talk? by Mary Stewart. I love listening to her mysteries!

MissSusie, I've only listened to one Hilary Huber audiobook (The Library at Mount Char) and I didn't enjoy her reading of it at all, so I have steered away from other HH-read audiobooks. What are some of the ones you liked?

Becky wrote: "MissSusie, I've only listened to one Hilary Huber audiobook (The Library at Mount Char) and I didn't enjoy her reading of it at all, so I have steered away from other HH-read audiob..."

When I look back it looks like I like her narration of non-fiction better than fiction. Mostly the Laurie Notaro books.

That makes sense, MissSusie. I can tolerate a lot more in nonfiction than fiction audiobooks, especially since in nonfiction I don't feel any pressure for the reader to properly "voice" anyone.

After a weeklong (or was it two?) cleanse of music and too many reaction videos, I'm back to wrap up Vampires of El Norte - should be finished tomorrow! - and Romantic Outlaws: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Her Daughter Mary Shelley.

Finished The Misfits #1: A Royal Conundrum by, Lisa Yee Narrated by, Cindy Kay This was a great story and a fun middle grade book highly recommend it!!

Now starting Everyone Is Watching by, Heather Gudenkauf narrated by, Brittany Pressley

MissSusie wrote: "Finished The Misfits #1: A Royal Conundrum by, Lisa Yee Narrated by, Cindy Kay This was a great story and a fun middle grade book highly recommend it!!"

Thanks for this recommendation. Reading it now. Liking it so far....leaning towards four stars.

D wrote: "MissSusie wrote: "Finished The Misfits #1: A Royal Conundrum by, Lisa Yee Narrated by, Cindy Kay This was a great story and a fun middle grade book highly recommend it!!"

Thanks f..."

Yay glad to hear it! I am hoping for more books with these characters!

3.5 stars to Vampires of El Norte - excellent atmosphere and I loved the romantic tension, but it needed more vampires!

4.5 stars to Romantic Outlaws: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Her Daughter Mary Shelley

And 4.5 stars to Feed Them Silence - I love Natalie Naudus's narration and I wish this was longer than 4hrs!

Becky wrote: "I finished Unruly: The Ridiculous History of England's Kings and Queens - quite enjoyable. I love David Mitchell's snarky sense of humor. He never disappoints! ..."

I just saw a fun video interview with Mitchell where Dan Snow (History Hit) asks him who his least favorite English monarchs are. The link to the FB video is https://www.facebook.com/reel/1827253.... Hope it works for you!

Meanwhile, I am listening to one of Lucy Worsley's books, The Art of the English Murder: From Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes to Agatha Christie and Alfred Hitchcock. Unfortunately, Lucy isn't the narrator, but the content is still fun.

I am also slogging my way through the huge sci-fi Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton. Not sure I'm going to keep going, as I don't like a single character.

i finished up Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum which I think someone in this group mentioned. I'm not normally a huge fan of author narration but I think in this instance it worked well because she was intertwining her story with the story of a Maryland state asylum - which is actually not far from where I live

Today I’m finishing up The Expectant Detectives by Kat Ailes . I’ve enjoyed this cozy mystery a lot. The narrator is great and I’ve felt connected with the main character on some level.

Next I’ll be listening to The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie

Dee wrote: "i finished up Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum which I think someone in this group mentioned. I'm not normally a huge fan of author narration but I think in this ins..."

That was me - I listened to it recently and really enjoyed it... as much as that kind of story can be "enjoyed". I thought it was really well written and researched and presented.

Becky wrote: "That was me - I listened to it recently and really enjoyed it... as much as that kind of story can be "enjoyed". I thought it was really well written and researched and presented."

it made me violently angry in some places - about the treatment and funding - makes me want to dig some more into JFK's community mental health bill. not at all surprised by some of the politics behind it

Very much agree, Dee. It was really hard to stomach at some points, for sure.

Completed Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou | audiobook read by Will Damron
Elizabeth Holmes, however well-intentioned, hoodwinked a Who’s Who of America’s political, CEOs, scientific, and Silicon Valley’s elites into bankrolling her medical device that never worked.


Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Forty-Year Rivalry That Unraveled Culture, Religion, and Collective Memory in the Middle East by Kim Ghattas | audiobook read by Nan McNamara

How did the present day Middle East find itself in such a mess politically, socially, economically and spiritually? Author Kim Ghattas argues its genesis stems from three events in 1979, seemingly independent of each other: the Iranian Revolution, siege of the Holy Mosque in Mecca, and Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. All three happening within the same year was toxic and concocted a brew which still haunts the Muslim and non-Muslim world today. Eye-opening and leaves much to chew on.


The Spirituality of Fasting: Rediscovering a Christian Practice by Charles M. Murphy | 105 pgs
A genteel reminder that fasting was once a key component to Catholicism and the author hopes to revive the practice and dispel of any notion of self-hatred or self-punishment as a motive.

Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson | IRL book club selection
I enjoyed learning the history of traveling library and the women who dedicated their lives to it, however the story of Cussy Mary Carter didn’t really hold my attention.

Finished The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie . I enjoyed this one more than the first of the Hercule Poirot novels though I’m still not the biggest fan of Captain Hastings. Tomorrow I’m going to start Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum

I've been listening about two hours a day and finishing a surprising number of books. These are some notable ones:

Dawnlands by Philippa Gregory
This is the third book in a series. I very much enjoyed the first book and this one which are seventeenth century historical fictions. She might write a fourth book, but did not initially plan one.

King: A Life by Jonathan Eig
A new biography of MLK. We're listening to it in the car so it will take forever as its over 20 hours long, but it's excellent. The narrator won an Audie for it his performance.

How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair
It's a young poet's memoir of growing up in Jamaica with strict Rastafarian parents. It's shortlisted for the 2024 Women's Prize for Nonfiction.

I wasn't sure about A Taste of Gold and Iron, a fantasy with a M/M romance, because the first part, like most fantasies, had a lot of characters and political machinations. But later the story became more personal and had some humor, which I liked. I would listen to more from that author.

Now I am listening to Kitty Cat Kill Sat: A Feline Space Adventure. A cat is the only survivor of a space station and over time acquires a superior mind and with the help of all the medical devices on the ship is practically immortal. She is in orbit around the future Earth, protecting it from threats. But in spite of her achievements, there are still issues like - lack of thumbs makes it hard to operate equipment. Her system of teaching the AI to understand meows isn't perfect. And food is a series of unappetizing pellets. Clever idea but it seems to go on & on. The whole book is 19 hours and I'm not even half done. I wonder if it is supposed to appeal to video gamers, since much of her work consists of maneuvering, shooting, and evading. I'm not sure if I'll finish it. The cover is delightful, though.

Jan Mc wrote: "Becky wrote: "I finished Unruly: The Ridiculous History of England's Kings and Queens - quite enjoyable. I love David Mitchell's snarky sense of humor. He never disappoints! ..."

I just saw a fun video interview with Mitchell where Dan Snow (History Hit) asks him who his least favorite English monarchs are. The link to the FB video is https://www.facebook.com/reel/1827253.... Hope it works for you!"

Sorry I missed this! I just watched it and enjoyed it quite a lot. David Mitchell just rattling off facts like this will just never cease to impress me, even though I know that he's likely spent an immense amount of time learning them. Is that what having a working brain is like??

4 stars to the newest Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice, which was back to being fun after the minimal enjoyment of the third book.

I started Anna Karenina this afternoon, narrated by Wanda McCaddon. It's already so dramatic and extra and I'm enjoying myself lol

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder just came in for me with a skip the line borrow (7 days only) - so i'm knuckling down on that - but good news is that I have to pick the dog up inboarding tomorrow and then a readathon on Saturday, so I should be able to get it easily done

Dee wrote: "The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder just came in for me with a skip the line borrow (7 days only) - so i'm knuckling down on that - but good news is that I have to pic..."

I look forward to hearing what you think!

My review of The Lehman Trilogy by Stefano Massini

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

The other day I finished The Chalice of the Gods by Rick Riordan. It was good to see the series going back to its roots with Percy, Anabeth, and Grover in the lead roles.

Finished Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum . I liked it well enough though it was easy to get lost during since the narrator tone of voice was the same for every character. Tomorrow I’ll be starting Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach by Kelly Robson

I liked Odd Partners: An Anthology. As with any anthology, some stories were better than others. I enjoyed those from authors I already knew but also discovered a few new writers I want to read more of. There are different narrators for the various stories. They are mostly murder mysteries but not entirely.

i finished up H is for Homicide over the weekend - a good easy listen while i was pulling up flooring in my basement - not my favorite so far in the series, but not horrible

I'm really enjoying The Dark Mirror (The Bridei Chronicles #1) by Juliet Marillier. I have liked everything I have read by Juliet Marillier so far (Wildwood, Sevenwaters, Saga of the Light Isles). A very good fantasy author. This book is well read by Michael Page who also narrated The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch.

It's been a minute since I updated. As usual!

I finished...
Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory
You Sound Like a White Girl: The Case for Rejecting Assimilation
and I'm about 75% done with The End of Policing

From my 2018 backlist shelf:
The Suffering of Strangers by Caro Ramsay ⭐⭐⭐⭐.1 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Finished The End of Policing, then listened to Recitatif (short story by Toni Morrison), and then started The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman's Extraordinary Life in the Business of Death, Decay, and Disaster for my walk tonight.

Hooo boy I was NOT prepared for this one. Not reading the blurb got me again (I assume - I still haven’t read it lol). I was expecting a sort of “waiter rant” type book about different cleans and traumas that necessitated them. I was NOT expecting a story of a trans woman and the horrific abuse and neglect she endured as a child. It literally took my breath away at one point in my walk and I had to stop and regain my composure. 🥺

I finished the first two books in the Edge Cases series by Silver Linings: The Fabric of Reality and The Nature of Magic. This is a LitRPG with four very interesting and likable characters: a lizardkin wizard, a half orc female, a plane-shifting cleric from earth, and a suit of armor who is a former dungeon monster . It is often funny, good natured, and the battles are hihgh-stakes and epic. I look forward to the third one coming out in August.

I finished The One that Got Away with Murder by, Trish Lundy narrated by, Helen Laser & Joshua Quinn this was a good YA mystery/thriller.

Half finished with Swamp Kings: The Story of the Murdaugh Family of South Carolina and a Century of Backwoods Power by, Jason Ryan narrated by, Joe Hempel this one gives more of a family background/History than previous books I've read and shows I have seen on the Murdaughs.

I just started wrong time wrong place

Melanie wrote: "I just started wrong time wrong place"

Wrong Place Wrong Time?

I quite enjoyed that one (if that’s the one you mean!).

I finished The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman's Extraordinary Life in the Business of Death, Decay, and Disaster, which was very good but so hard to listen to at times because of abuse, sexual assault, mental illness, graphic filth and various end of life cleanups.

Now I’m listening to Making It So: A Memoir. Quite good so far!

Highly recommend the outstanding Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Forty-Year Rivalry That Unraveled Culture, Religion, and Collective Memory in the Middle East by Kim Ghattas | audiobook read by Nan McNamara | Review

Completed The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett M. Graff | audiobook read by 45 person cast | review

Personal accounts of that fateful day.

Completed
The House on Biscayne Bay by Chanel Cleeton | read by Caroline Hewitt & Frankie Corzo | Review
Gorgeous Miami setting and a nice mystery early 20th century.


The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith | read by Robert Glenister | Review
What an ending, Heart stopping! Masterfully done.


The Force by Don Winslow | read by Dion Graham | Review
The language, the cadence are true to the city - beautiful and brilliantly written.

Christine wrote: "Completed The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett M. Graff | audiobook read by 45 person cast | review

Personal accounts of that fateful day."

i read this not listened - but is one of the best oral histories i've read

I have had The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 on my library hold list off and on for about 2 years I think. I keep vacillating as to whether I want to listen to it near the anniversary or whether that would be too macabre.

i didn't find it too macabre - its basically small snippets in time order of what people were doing during the day in the lead up - it bounces between the different locations (NYC, Pentagon, PA and then where Pres. Bush was at the time)

I just meant the timing of when I read it being macabre, not necessarily the book itself.