Audiobooks discussion

I'm starting the month with (yet another) Victorian mystery: A Whisper of Death, where so far I agree with a reviewer who said the female narrator should just do the whole thing solo. Still, on sale for half the cost of a credit seems worth it.

Also listening to a novel: The Fortnight in September, definitely worth a credit!

I'm currently listening to The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective. Really enjoying it.

The Witchwood Crown (The Last King of Osten Ard) by Tad Williams is starting out well. You would have to have read the previous series, "Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn", to really get into this one. It is the same narrator as the first series, Andrew Wincott, he does a very good job.

John wrote: " Also listening to a novel: The Fortnight in September, definitely worth a credit!

Sounds a bit like A Month in the Country, another book contrasting WWI and an ordinary setting. I've added it to my Wish List!

Finished up Old God's Time by Sebastian Barry. I listened to about half and read half. The listening was a 2* and the reading was a 5*. IMHO the content and writing are meant to be read.

Now listening to The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen that is capably narrated by Laura Lefkow. It's the first in the Rizzoli and Isles series. I have Angie Harmon in my head and she's not quite matching up to the Rizzoli in the book. All good though!

Robin P wrote: "John wrote: " Also listening to a novel: The Fortnight in September, definitely worth a credit!

Sounds a bit like A Month in the Country, another book contrasting WWI and an ordinary ..."

I've had A Month in the Country on my TBR for a while (as an ebook).

I have a weakness for young men in love, for instance, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe and Red, White & Royal Blue. Heartbreak Boys was in the same vein and the narration was entertaining.

how is it august already? (and yes I know I said the same thing at the beginning of July!)

i'm still listening to Parasite (Mira Grant) - i love her horror because it typically comes from a place of scientific advancements gone wrong

i also started Beaches, Bungalows & Burglaries - because I discovered that the bundled sets are available in the audible plus catalog

Yesterday I finished Martha Peake: A Novel of the Revolution by Patrick McGrath. This is getting a 2-star rating from me. Lots of problems with the book and boy was it over-dramatic. I probably should have dnf it, but wanted to see how it ended as there was a bit of a "reveal". Wasn't worth it.

Still slowly working on A People’s History of the United States: 1492 - Present by Howard Zinn. It's quite depressing, so I can only handle a bit at a time, and it's quite long.

Starting up today Improvement by Joan Silber. Had this on my tbr for a while and heard her books tend to revolve around a theme...how we are all connected, intertwined. Seems like a good counterpoint to Zinn.

I haven't posted in this group in a long time. I thought I'd start being a little more active again.

I'm currently finishing Cilka's Journey. I hadn't intended to read this book after reading the The Tattooist of Auschwitz. But it was selected for my irl book club,

Welcome back, Janice! (From one Janice to another)

I am still working my way through Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America 1754-1766 by Fred Anderson and the fantasy Babel by R.F. Kuang. I've also started a review listen of Sense and Suitability, a historical rom-com by Pepper Basham. I need more hours in a day!

I finished The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective.

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

I'm starting How to Age Disgracefully today.

Thanks Jan. :)

I started The Cursed Wife by Pamela Hartshorne a couple of days ago, but it's going to be a DNF for me! The characters are all so annoying and have absolutely no redeeming qualities! I just couldn't take it any more! 1⭐ I cannot recommend.

I am trying Mrs England by Stacey Halls with hopes that it will be better!

I'm starting The Stone Angel. This was a favourite read from years back in the 1990's or even earlier. I think of it as an all time favourite, yet I don't remember much of the story. This time, I'll listen to the audiobook. Will it remain a 5 star read?

I am listening to Persons of Interest, the 4th book of the D.C. Smith modern police procedural series. The main character has a dry wit and the experience of decades of handling both police matters and administrative fads. The narration is by Gildart Jackson, who covers many kinds of voices well.

I'm starting The Dollhouse by Fiona Davis. The setting is the Barbizon Hotel for Women in NYC. While her books are light historical fiction, they are always set in a historic building and the time period is nicely researched.

I'm bouncing between The Buffalo Hunter Hunter and The View from Lake Como: A Novel, two different genres and emotional journeys.

I just finished TVFLC...relaxing 528-pager, perfect for the last carefree days of summer.

Wow, TBHH is a masterful vampire-revenge horror and as an audiobook, worth every nuanced narrative sound.

I just finished Nate Bargatze's Big Dumb Eyes: Stories from a Simpler Mind. Enjoyed every minute of it. I love his stand up but I appreciate it even more having listened to his book. Very funny!

I just started The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits narrated by Dakota Fanning. Should be fun!

Audrey wrote: "I just started The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits narrated by Dakota Fanning. Should be fun!"

I really enjoyed that one. Hope you do too!

Audrey wrote: "I'm bouncing between The Buffalo Hunter Hunter and The View from Lake Como: A Novel, two different genres and emotional journeys.

I just finished TVFLC...relaxing..."

I've been eyeing the Buffalo Hunter Hunter. Maybe I'll use a credit and get it this month.

Instead of listening to Improvement by Joan Silber I started Dissolution by Nicholas Binge. I'll get to Silber's book next. With Dissolution there is this foreboding sense of things are going to very weird.

The next installment from Graphic Audio of the Mercy Thompson series Frost Burned Dramatized Adaptation (Mercy Thompson #7 by Patricia Briggs, I am really loving these adaptations!

i went back to the beginning of the Campers and Criminals series by Tonya Kappes with Beaches, Bungalows & Burglaries - which was available from the audible plus catalog - in a 3 in 1 bundle that had 1-3 in the series in it - i've only read these kind of piecemeal so going back to the beginning was interesting - they are just good brain relaxing listens

I finished How to Age Disgracefully. It was so good! Such a fun story.

Next up is The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau.

I finished https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...

i finished up Parasite on the commute this am - i'd like Mira Grant's horror because it has a basis in reality - in this instance personalized tapeworms that everyone has for health and those tapeworms going rouge

i'll have to finish up the trilogy at some point - but I know based on previous experience that i'll need ot have both book 2 and 3 ready to go because I get totally sucked in.

Working to finish up The Dallergut Dream-Making District

and then I grabbed Hidden Mountains: Survival and Reckoning After a Climb Gone Wrong and The Janes to listen to

Michelle wrote: "Audrey wrote: "I just started The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits narrated by Dakota Fanning. Should be fun!"

I really enjoyed that one. Hope you do too!"

I really liked the resolution but really hated the gaslighting of Zoe...so much ache. It says a lot about the relentless craving for fame.

Brenda wrote: "I finished https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5..."

What did you think? I like her mysteries.

I just started When We Ride and I would recommend it for middle-schoolers/high-schoolers who are learning about the "ride and die" promise of friends...friends who have different paths when one could lead to the end of your dreams.

Simply one of the best authors alive, Fredrik Backman, I just began My Friends. Only 10% right now, but the dual arcs of foster kid Louisa and Ali, Joar, Kimkim aka C. Jat, and Ted ... and art...well, I'm hooked!

5-stars....and truthfully, my vote for best fiction for 2025.

In July I listened to two excellent audio books that were longlisted for the 2025 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction:

Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin

And

Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age

This book was a good companion to an audio book I listened to a year or two ago

Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings

Also in July, I listened to the first third of Jodi Picoult’s
By Any Other Name and stopped. I rarely DNF a book, but I’m not sure this one is worth 10 more precious audio hours.

Kathleen wrote: "In July I listened to two excellent audio books that were longlisted for the 2025 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction:...
[book:Embers of the Hands..."

Thanks for the recommendation, Kathleen! I gave Children of Ash and Elm four stars in 2023, and this one sounds great, too.

I don't read that many novels, but dropping in to mention that I felt the audio narration enhanced my experience with The Fortnight in September. Driven by character and setting, rather than action, which usually doesn't work for me, but here it did.

I finished The Stone Angel, and have started something light and frivolous, Reel of Fortune. It's always good for a laugh or two.

i took a bunch of audiobooks of my libby holds delay and of course they ALL showed up yesterday lol!

currently listening to:
Return to the DallerGut Dream Department Store (approx hour left)
The Janes

started:
Heavenly Tyrant
All That Life Can Afford

The most recent book from the Vish Puri mystery series - The Case of the Elusive Bombay Duck - is free on Audible Plus. The narration of this series is delightful. In this one, Vish, Rumpy and Mummy-ji try out their detective skills in London.

I had to make a 4-hour drive in my husband's car which has no USB port for audiobook listening. Luckily, I remembered that the library still has books on CD, and there is a player in the car. So I started a series a friend has been recommending for a long time, with In the Woods. It's very well done, though I may switch to print for the rest. I spent years using cassettes for audiobooks, but never liked CDs because if I take the disc into the house, I have to memorize exactly where I was in order to listen to it there.

Both Do Not Become Alarmed: A Novel & Dog Day Afternoon: An Andy Carpenter Mystery
were entertaining for a long car ride.

I recently discovered the Andy Carpenter series. I love his personality of a snarky lawyer who will do almost anything in court but actually has a heart of gold. The dog connection means those who enjoy Chet and Bernie might go for these as well.

I finished Reel of Fortune which I thoroughly enjoyed. I'll go from light, fluffy, and silly to a more serious story about tragedy, The Light Through the Leaves.

I recently finished Burn Book: A Tech Love Story. Astringent yet inciteful.

Finished the time-travel sci-fi thriller Dissolution by Nicholas Binge yesterday. It was enjoyable. I saw some reviews where people were gushing and it wasn't that for me, so maybe my expectations were a bit too high. It was worth the time, got it from the library so time was all I paid. :)

Next started Improvement by Joan Silber. A fairly short book at just over six hours and already over half-way through. (also free from the library.) Enjoying the connections.

My review of The Devil Reached Toward the Sky: An Oral History of the Making and Unleashing of the Atomic Bomb by Garrett M. Graff

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

I finished the first 2 books in the Murderbot Series All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) Dramatized AdaptationArtificial Condition Dramatized Adaptation by, Martha Wells I enjoyed these and started the tv show so am going to wait to read any more until more of the show are out.

Currently reading Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham Narrated by Helen Laser; Karissa Vacker

MissSusie wrote: "I finished the first 2 books in the Murderbot Series All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) Dramatized AdaptationArtificial Condition Dramatized Adaptation by..."

To me, the TV show was more "camp" than the books. All the humans seemed pretty stupid. On the other hand the show was more fleshed out because Murderbot's style is very spare, compared to watching an actual monster or fight happening.

Just finished this 11+ hour 2025 release and I'm vacillating between 4- and 5-stars for What Kind of Paradise. Anybody else tackled this multi-genre fiction by Janelle Brown?

The Triumph of the Lions, the second book in the Florio series, was not quite as good as the first. However, having recently been to Sicily, I did enjoy learning about Sicily's history. I gave it a 4* only because I can't figure out how to give it 3.5 on the website.

Now I've queued up The Personal Librarian narrated by Robin Miles. More historical fiction for me. Yay. I hope I'm not disappointed because I was in awe walking around The Morgan Library.

The Personal Librarian is what got me to visit the Morgan Library. It is quite good and of course about a real person.

I am listening to Playing Under the Piano: From Downton to Darkest Peru by Hugh Bonneville. He narrates and is very funny and self-deprecating about his career.