Audiobooks discussion

Starting the month with two listens ...

Finishing up The Middle Kingdoms: A New History of Central Europe, which has proved denser than I'd like, but at a chapter a day it's manageable.

Partway through Juvenalia: A Valerius Mystery, second in an ancient Rome series. I liked the first, but this one ... jury's still out. Valerius is a closeted, married noble who's wife knows, and is fine with it for reasons of her own; the cop with whom he solves crimes is his ... main interest (reciprocated). My issue would be that the narrator's delivery makes this seem one of Rome's open secrets. That aside, I'll probably get the next one.

how the bleep is it May already! (or will be in a couple of hours!)

I finished up 2 books on the last day of april
- The Lady Under the Lake - book 3 in quest investigation series, cute lite romance, available in audible plus
- All Good People Here - totally didn't see all the twists in this one

This morning I started:
Ukulele of Death and Under the Jolly Roger: Being an Account of the Further Nautical Adventures of Jacky Faber

The Devil's Bible: A Cotton Malone Novel was a very good book to spend time with.

Recently finished The Madness Pill: One Doctor's Quest to Understand Schizophrenia by Justin Garson. The book worked for me, even the author as narrator.

I have several audios going right now. Still working on The Dark Frontier: Unlocking the Secrets of the Deep Sea by Jeffrey Marlow. Been slow going for me, feels longer than the 14.75 hours that it is.

Also listening to In Trees: A Exploration by Robert Moor. Another author narrator, which is okay. Sometimes it works better in non-fiction when the narrator is the author.

Also listening to Angelica: For Love and Country in a Time of Revolution by Molly Beer. This one is also non-fiction, as a biography. It is less dense as the other two, but I probably should add in a fictional title.

Pamela wrote: "Recently finished The Madness Pill: One Doctor's Quest to Understand Schizophrenia by Justin Garson. The book worked for me, even the author as narrator."

Very appropriate book for the start of Mental Health Awareness Month. I have added it to Mt. TBR.

I finished Stateless by Elizabeth Wein this morning, it was good for a YA historical fiction. Now I have started Pendergast: The Beginning by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.

I finished The Gray Man #14 by Mark Greaney and An Honest Man by Michael Koryta. They were a couple of the better efforts by these authors.

Now I'm hooked on the Jackie Faber series and am working on the second book in the series - Curse of the Blue Tattoo: Being an Account of the Misadventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman and Fine Lady. Fabulous narration that makes the characters borderline cartoonish. I think I have Dee to thank for helping me spend my credits!

I also started Bolívar: American Liberator but I'm enjoying a wedding in Mexico and it's on pause. I just need to be entertained at the moment and not listening to learn.

Fran wrote: "Now I'm hooked on the Jackie Faber series and am working on the second book in the series - Curse of the Blue Tattoo: Being an Account of the Misadventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman and Fine Lady. Fabulous narration that makes the characters borderline cartoonish. I think I have Dee to thank for helping me spend my credits!"

I'm wishing I'd gone back during the last big audible sale because they had all the books in the series for like $5 each and I could have stocked up

I loved Jacky Faber and went through the whole series. She gets all around the world and meets some historical figures.

I listened to Why Q Needs U by Danny Bate
I really loved it, gave it 5 stars and my review is here!

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

Starting The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett Narrated by Jenna Lamia, January LaVoy

MissSusie wrote: "Starting The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett Narrated by Jenna Lamia, January LaVoy"

Oooh, didn't know there was another Stockett book. Put it in my wish list.

Like to hear your opinion when you're done listening!

I pre-ordered Calamity Club - because its like 26hrs long and I didn't want to get stuck waiting on it from the library

The Covenant of Water was worth every minute (and there were ALOT of minutes) that it took to read. What a wonderful book. Scratch another one off the list of "one day reads"!

Nancy wrote: "The Covenant of Water was worth every minute (and there were ALOT of minutes) that it took to read. What a wonderful book. Scratch another one off the list of "one day reads"!"

What Nancy said! Cutting for Stone was also worth every minute.

Dee wrote: "I pre-ordered Calamity Club - because its like 26hrs long and I didn't want to get stuck waiting on it from the library"

I have a handful of credits to spend and think I'm going to spend one on Calamity.

Fran wrote: "Dee wrote: "I pre-ordered Calamity Club - because its like 26hrs long and I didn't want to get stuck waiting on it from the library"

I have a handful of credits to spend and think I'm going to spe..."

one of my facebook book groups is doing it as a group read and i wanted to read/listen to it - and the hold at the library was already 6+ months...i have a handful of credits too

I'm listening to Lonesome Dove read by Will Patton. What a treat! I have been intimidated by this book for so long but it is wonderful. The writing is amazing and Will Patton is one of my favorite readers. 36 hours may not be long enough.

Michelle wrote: "I'm listening to Lonesome Dove read by Will Patton. What a treat! I have been intimidated by this book for so long but it is wonderful. The writing is amazing and Will Patton is one o..."

I'm so glad you brought this up. I think I tried to read it years ago and just couldn't stay with it. With Will Patton as the narrator here goes another one of my handful of credits. Thank you.

Dee wrote: "I pre-ordered Calamity Club - because its like 26hrs long and I didn't want to get stuck waiting on it from the library"

I am 3.7% done and it says I have 1 day 2 hrs and 16 min left haha Luckily it's 2 of my favorite narrators!

I honestly didn't even notice it was so long I just clicked download because its Stockett!

Just finished the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. THe last time I read these books was in 1977, having received the Ballantine box set from my parents for Christmas. They were both fascinating and beautiful.

Fran wrote: "Michelle wrote: "I'm listening to Lonesome Dove read by Will Patton. What a treat! I have been intimidated by this book for so long but it is wonderful. The writing is amazing and Wil..."

I don't think you will be sorry Fran!

Dee wrote: "I pre-ordered Calamity Club - because its like 26hrs long and I didn't want to get stuck waiting on it from the library"

My library had it in, so I grabbed it and devoured it in 2 1/2 days. It was very good I thought, maybe not the same as The Help, but thought provoking, and it gave me a massive book hangover from reading so much every day. I won't spoiler it by revealing plot detail, but just say that I enjoyed it and rated it 4*.

Now to decompress I am reading the new Dresden Files novella Out Law by Jim Butcher (4 hours and some change).

I think I got Swan Light in a recent sale because the setting of Newfoundland and narrator's matching accent were interesting. I was disappointed to find it had the overused trope of a young modern woman going somewhere to investigate a thing/person/event and finding out some long-lost secret, plus of course finding an eligible young man. I found myself speeding up the modern chapters (read by a female narrator) in order to get back to the "real" story.

Michelle wrote: "I'm listening to Lonesome Dove read by Will Patton. What a treat! I have been intimidated by this book for so long but it is wonderful. The writing is amazing and Will Patton is one o..."

I'm rereading it too, I wasn't aware that it was rerecorded. The version I had from Audible before was read by Lee Horsley or someone I didn't recognize, but Will Patton is a favorite of mine and so is this novel, so I bought it again. After reading dime westerns from Kindle Unlimited, like William W. Johnstone, this book has grit and is much more gripping. Think 2 1/2 or 3 stars vs 5 without a question. I can see why this one won Larry McMurtry a Pulitzer, and the performance should win an Audie in my opinion.

Michelle wrote: "I'm listening to Lonesome Dove read by Will Patton. What a treat! I have been intimidated by this book for so long but it is wonderful. The writing is amazing and Will Patton is one o..."

As brutal as it was, I enjoyed Dead Man's Walk by Larry McMurtry. If I did my due diligence I believe this is the first book in the Lonesome Dove series and glad I started at the beginning. Will Patton is the perfect narrator for the book. I'll continue the series now that I'm hooked and will get to Lonesome Dove sometime in the future.

At the moment I think I have a hundreds of hours of listening I seem to have amassed! I've started The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith and that will take care of 32+ hours.

I finished The Shippers . It was just what I would expect from this author - a fun HEA story.

my review of The Shippers

Starting The Lilac People now.

i finished up Death on Denial this morning - to wrap up the series - cute mysteries with a paranormal/ m/m romance theme

nearly done with Bright Young Women - enjoying it more than expected

Fran wrote: "Michelle wrote: "I'm listening to Lonesome Dove read by Will Patton. What a treat! I have been intimidated by this book for so long but it is wonderful. The writing is amazing and Wil..."

I noticed that there were more books in the series. I will have to get around to all of them soon. Those characters are too good to let go.

It took me a while to get into The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi, read by Wil Wheaton. There are a lot of characters and political/business/military machinations going on. The background issue is sci-fi, but the action is almost all personal and political. It's the far future with space travel but government is still by a hereditary emperor, which seems weird. But as the story progressed, there was more explanation of the factions and their plots. There were some great kick-ass women. In fact all the kick-ass characters are women! The men seem to be more sneaky and often weak. The story ends without resolution, so I will have to listen to the next 2 books, which I got along with this one in the recent sale.

Michelle wrote: "I noticed that there were more books in the series. I will have to get around to all of them soon. Those characters are too good to let go."

The original television mini-series was great too, followed by Return to Lonesome Dove which McMurtry had nothing to do with and disapproved of I read somewhere. Hollywood took the characters and started making up different storylines that diverged far from McMurtry's vision. There was even a Lonesome Dove television series featuring Newt that ran 2 seasons, I have on DVD and watched (not very good). There are movies of the other books, but the books were better.

Just finished An English Garden Murder that I picked up cheap at the last sale. Honestly, meh, wouldn't drop a credit on it. Intended for readers obsessed with English village settings.

I finished The Lilac People a couple of days ago and thought it was excellent. I'm now reading The Seed Keeper.

Since my last update I finished Angelica: For Love and Country in a Time of Revolution by Molly Beer. The narration was fine, but I probably should have read this in print as I often found my mind wandering and had to go back… This was a non-fiction biography, with more history of the time than actual biography.

I finished yesterday a lighter title with Mrs. Benedict Arnold by Emma Parry. The first third or more felt frivolous with Peggy Shippen being very consumed by dresses and who to marry and such. For the entire book she is surprisingly quite young. This book is a fictionalized version of events, and a bit too often used modern wordings and actions.

These two books being the same time period did not confuse me listening to both in a day as they felt vastly different. I enjoyed Anglica more.

I’m still working through The Dark Frontier: Unlocking the Secrets of the Deep Sea by Jeffrey Marlow. I’m not a fan of the narrator but I don’t want to switch to the print copy. I will finish this week.

Recently started A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life by George Saunders. The book analyzes seven short stories, none I’ve read before.

I know many of us have enjoyed the Flavia DeLuca series - Alan Bradley, the author just died - https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/new...

New to the group and so happy to be here!

Listened to The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah and Mad Wife by Megan Church so far this month (both of which I gave 5 stars). Loved!

This morning I began This Story Might Change Your Life and so far I'm enjoying it.

Thanks for the news, Dee. Honestly. I don't mind leaving Flavia where she is in the final book.

I finally finished The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett Narrated by Jenna Lamia, January LaVoy This was a fabulous story and for a 28+ hour audiobook I was never bored once! Highly recommend this one!!

Now starting Mad Mabel by, Sally Hepworth narrated by, Hannah Fredericksen & Jenny Seedsman

Just returned from a trip where I had very little time to read, but I am enjoying the non-fiction Sea of Glory: America's Voyage of Discovery, the U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 by Nathaniel Philbrick. Great narration by Scott Brick.

I am on the 13th book in the Marius' Mules series by S.J.A. Turney, about a Roman officer serving under Caesar, this time during the Civil War in 46 B.C. I am trying to stretch out the series because only two volumes are remaining.

Dee wrote: "I know many of us have enjoyed the Flavia DeLuca series - Alan Bradley, the author just died... "

Thanks, Dee. I gave up on Flavia DeLuca a few books ago, and like John, am satisfied. Alan Bradley did not publish his first novel until he was 70! I do hope the upcoming film will be good, though.

Finally finished up The Dark Frontier: Unlocking the Secrets of the Deep Sea by Jeffrey Marlow. I really should have switched to print. The narrator put me off the book, and I try not to let it influence me, but this time it did. There's a lot of great information in this book. Maybe I'll try to read in print at some point, but unlikely.

Then I listened to the short Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz. Some people seem to be quite annoyed by it, but I thought it was ok.

Just started Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë.

MissSusie wrote: "I finally finished The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett Narrated by Jenna Lamia, January LaVoy This was a fabulous story and for a 28+ hour audiobook I was never bored once! Highl..."
Ha, thank you, I'm looking forward to listening this one in the near future!

I finished up The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy yesterday - but I didn’t realize it was part 1 in a duology, now I have to wait until July plus however many ppl have it on hold before me to finish it up…

I finished After I Do, it was full of emotions.

I am listening to Spotlight, a romcom with an athlete. It seems to be a common trope these days, whether MM or as in this case MF. It had a high rating but that might not be relevant because it's the 4th of a series. In any series, the ratings tend to get higher with each book because only the true fans continue.

It is done in "duo". There are alternating chapters with a male and female narrator, which is fine, but within the chapters, when there is conversation, both narrators participate, and any "he said" or "she answered" is left out. Also those 2 narrators jump in to do all the characters of their gender in either narration. I'm not a big fan of this. The actual narrators are good. The story has an improbable meet-cute and a predictable story arc. So it's fine but nothing special.

Ok. I finished The Ink Black Heart and I think I'm finished with the Cormorant Strike series. It was like a long unsatisfying workout plus totally bizarre. I'm just not sure how to give it a rating. I liked the narration and the two main characters, but the plot was weird and too twisted.

Now I've started White River Crossing. It's billed as an historical fiction thriller. In the preface the author talks about using primary sources, but as with any historical fiction there are blanks that need to be filled in. I'd love to know what primary sources the author used. He admits that there aren't many so now I'm also wondering how big the blanks are.

Fran wrote: "Ok. I finished The Ink Black Heart and I think I'm finished with the Cormorant Strike series. It was like a long unsatisfying workout plus totally bizarre. I'm just not sure how to ..."

That one was difficult on audio, because so much of it was online chat, where the narrator has to read each name and who gets on and off. Also the author was obviously replying to personal criticism she has received over her political and social views. By that time I was too invested in Strike and Robin to quit. The next book, The Running Grave is a real thriller, with much more action. The latest one, The Hallmarked Man, seemed to be a setup for another book. I do think the narration is great.

Robin P wrote: "Fran wrote: "Ok. I finished The Ink Black Heart and I think I'm finished with the Cormorant Strike series. It was like a long unsatisfying workout plus totally bizarre. I'm just not..."

Hmm. I have The Running Grave and was going to return it.

Fran wrote: "Robin P wrote: "Fran wrote: "Ok. I finished The Ink Black Heart and I think I'm finished with the Cormorant Strike series. It was like a long unsatisfying workout plus totally bizar..."

The Running Grave is very intense, Robin infiltrates a cult and it's very dark at times.

I finished The Murder at World's End by Ross Montgomery, a first-of-series historical mystery that was a lot of fun. Joe Jameson did most of the narration, with some bits added by Derek Jacobi. I agree with others that the old-fashioned radio interludes were clever but aggravating.

I am now listening to The Arcadian: A Novel, historical fiction by Steven Pressfield via NetGalley. The audio quality is poor, and the narration by George Guidall is really difficult to understand. (Sad face)

I am listening to Judge Anderson: Year One, it's a collection of 3 novellas dealing with the titular character from the universe of Judge Dredd. Pretty entertaining stuff!