Audiobooks discussion

I'm almost finished with the 25 hour opus Jerusalem: The Biography, which is mighty thorough! Would've switched to skimming the print version, but my library has a hold queue on that.

I've started the fourth (final?) in Martha Grimes' series featuring 12 year old Emma Graham: Fadeaway Girl: A Novel. While I like Emma, and the narration, the story is so not a stand-alone that I'm having trouble with the plot, and I've read the previous ones!

Were not in Winter 2012 yet are we? Its still 2011 where I am.

But it will be 2012 before you know it!

Julie C wrote: "Were not in Winter 2012 yet are we? Its still 2011 where I am."

Geez - I started a new thread and still you complain! Most of the (northern hemisphere) winter will be in 2012.

Am starting .

John, when you listen to a very long book, do you ever burn out?
I tried listening to Shadowfever and found myself really not enjoying it - more than that actually, sighing in annoyance, rolling my eyes. Finally just gave up.

I wondered if that's more common with a particularly long book. If so, I might plan to break up a really long listen by interspersing a few others as I go.

For sure, Alief! I could push myself as long as 12 hours or so, if the book isn't too dry, but otherwise I have to stop partway through, sometimes more than once.

I am listening to A Game of Thrones and The Brutal Telling.

I just picked up Bossypants. Should start it early next week. Will be a nice change of pace from the one I"m listening to now (The Hollows #4 - which is way to similar/close to the one I'm reading)

Has anybody listened to Nefertiti. THIS is surely long! And I am worried the names will be confusing or hard to remember. Is it not a good choice?

John wrote: "Julie C wrote: "Were not in Winter 2012 yet are we? Its still 2011 where I am."

Geez - I started a new thread and still you complain! Most of the (northern hemisphere) winter will be in 2012."

Sorry John just thought it was an error. I totally understand and apologise.

No problem, Julie. I had forgotten that internet text has no tone; I hadn't meant that to sound so harsh.

Heidi, don't you just love the reader for the Louise Penny series? I'm eye-reading Bury Your Dead but can still hear the accents in my head.

Heidi wrote: "I am listening to A Game of Thrones and The Brutal Telling."

I found this one very entertaining, although I enjoyed the stories about her time as a professional more than the growing up years.

Nancyboat wrote: "I just picked up Bossypants. Should start it early next week. Will be a nice change of pace from the one I"m listening to now (The Hollows #4 - which ..."

John wrote: "I'm almost finished with the 25 hour opus Jerusalem: The Biography, which is mighty thorough! Would've switched to skimming the print version, but my library has a hold queue on tha..."

I've been looking at this one but I am really unsure. I don't mind long audiobooks but this one sounds a bit overwhelming.

I'd recommend it first as an ebook over audio; the print book would be a rather bulky tome.

Carol/Bonadie wrote: "Heidi, don't you just love the reader for the Louise Penny series? I'm eye-reading Bury Your Dead but can still hear the accents in my head.

Heidi wrote: "I am listening to [bookc..."

Most definitely - love the narrator for this series. I read the first in print and since then I have stuck with audio because I love his narration so much.

Our Thanksgiving travel prompted me to find a book the hubs and I could enjoy together. We listened to The Twelfth Imam by Joel Rosenberg. It combines the current events of Iran developing nuclear capabilities; CIA operatives; the Muslim extremist belief in the coming of the Twelfth Imam and a dash of religion and romance.
The story continues with The Tehran Initiative so we began that immediately. I was a bit disappointed with this one. The story continues and was good, however the author felt that he regularly needed to fill the reader in as if they hadn't read the first book in the series. I found that to be very frustrating. I hope Rosenberg's editor intervenes for this in the next book.

Just finished The Night Circus and I was really, really disappointed. The narrator, Jim Dale, did a very good job for the most part ( some of his accents didn't come off too well), but 95% of the book was comprised of descriptions of the surroundings and only 5% dealt with an actual plot. Highly overrated IMO

I'm currently reading Angelology, and so far its great. It was a little slow, but its kind of a mystery and its fun to piece that together.

Bxrlover wrote: "Just finished The Night Circus and I was really, really disappointed. The narrator, Jim Dale, did a very good job for the most part ( some of his accents didn't come off too well), b..."

That's interesting, Bxrlover. I read The Night Circusand I loved it. I'm very interested in how responses to the same book changes if listened to as opposed to being read. There was so much imagery in this book that I needed to read it more slowly in some parts to visualize the description.
Of course, some people just don't go for lots of description and that may be the case here. However, I wish there was a good way to decide if a book is better listened to or read.

Carol wrote: "Bxrlover wrote: "Just finished The Night Circus and I was really, really disappointed. The narrator, Jim Dale, did a very good job for the most part ( some of his accents didn't come..."

I just bought this book for my son's girlfriend for Christmas because the reviews looked so good. I hope she feels as Carol did. There is a very complimentary blurb on the back from Audrey Niffenegger who wrote The Time Traveler's Wife and we both loved that so I'm hopeful.

Carol wrote: "Bxrlover wrote: "Just finished The Night Circus and I was really, really disappointed. The narrator, Jim Dale, did a very good job for the most part ( some of his accents didn't come..."

I am listening to The Night Circus now and am having a very hard time following the plot, but am absolutely loving every descriptive detail. I think I'd have an easier time with the plot if I wasn't listening.

Bxrlover wrote: "Just finished The Night Circus and I was really, really disappointed. The narrator, Jim Dale, did a very good job for the most part ( some of his accents didn't come off too well), b..."

I'm almost finished with the audio of Night Circus & I wonder if I might have enjoyed it more if I actually read it. Jim Dale is one of my favorite narrators and I think he did a decent job here, I just think the plot for this book was too choppy. Jumping back & forth from the past to the future may have been easier to follow if I was reading & could page back to reread previous sections. I only have about an hour left to listen to & have to admit the last 3 hours have been much more enjoyable but it definitely hasn't lived up to all the hype IMO.

Barbara wrote: "Carol wrote: "Bxrlover wrote: "Just finished The Night Circus and I was really, really disappointed. The narrator, Jim Dale, did a very good job for the most part ( some of his accen..."

I LOVED The Time Traveller's Wife, but if there is any comparison to be made between these two author's work, Niffenegger's second book, "Her Fearful Symmetry" would be a better one IMO.

The Night Circus had soooo much promise, but the author's preoccupation with scene setting overshadowed her ability to tell a decent tale. One can only visualize a scene for so long before you long for something to happen.

Heidi wrote: "I am listening to A Game of Thrones and The Brutal Telling."

Heidi, Is your version of A Game of Thrones from Audible. I'm keen to get it using a credit, but there are lots of complaints on the website that it is split in two and even then some is missing. I was wondering what you thought of it.

I am still working my way through Our Mutual Friend. It is so slow going, and I have to relisten often because I am getting confused with all the characters and I am not used to Dickens style. At all. But, I am really enjoying it.

Up next is The Night Circus, I hope I'm one of the ones who enjoys it!

I had to give up on Our Mutual Friend entirely the first time, and try again from the beginning another time to get into it.

I got 2 credits on Audible today...What to choose, what to choose... :)

Chris wrote: "Heidi wrote: "I am listening to A Game of Thrones and The Brutal Telling."

Heidi, Is your ve..."

Nope sorry. I got the CD's from the library.

I hadn't thought of that, not ordered cds from the library in ages!

Chris wrote: "I hadn't thought of that, not ordered cds from the library in ages!"

I get all of mine from Overdrive or the actual library. I am too cheap for Audible :)

I don't own a CD player, but do sometimes rip library books to listen to later on an mp3 player. Audible credits I try to reserve either for books my library doesn't own (either downloadable ones or CD's), or ones produced by Audible, Inc. that aren't going to be found elsewhere (anytime soon).

My library has such a large Overdrive collection, that I'm scrambling to use up my two credits per month.

My library doesn't have overdrive, only cds, and they don't have this one. Never mind, I'll read it instead! I don't want to waste a credit if the Audible version isn't complete.

Alas, library is small here. I love Audible and the sales. I am sure I will run out of credits each month. I try to hold on to at least one in case a book pops up that I just have to have.

I got 6 @ 3 for 2 sale.

The House on Tradd Street


Chasing Fire


Chiefs


The Rembrandt Affair


The Silent Girl


Still Missing

Chris wrote: "My library doesn't have overdrive, only cds, and they don't have this one. Never mind, I'll read it instead! I don't want to waste a credit if the Audible version isn't complete."

Chris
I can't imagine that Audible has a book that isn't complete. Almost all are part 1 - part ? depending on size this makes downloading more user friendly.

As a side note
Is anyone downloading the free 25 days of holiday music on Amazon? Great singles.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html...

Shirley wrote: "As a side note
Is anyone downloading the free 25 days of holiday music on Amazon? Great singles.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html......"

I have been checking it daily! I have several of them. Itunes also has one free one per week so I have been snatching those up too :)

Shirley wrote: "As a side note
Is anyone downloading the free 25 days of holiday music on Amazon? Great singles.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html......"

I tried but my bad luck, it's only available in the US. :(

Chris wrote: "My library doesn't have overdrive, only cds, and they don't have this one. Never mind, I'll read it instead! I don't want to waste a credit if the Audible version isn't complete."

I hope you enjoy it in any format :)

Just finished Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings I recieved an ARC of this book and couldn't get into it at all so tried the audiobook which was well narrated by, Maggie Mash it was kind of like a textbook and really didn't give me any new info on Mary, parts were extrememly dry but the narration was well done.

I am now starting The Winter Sea by, Susanna Kearsley narrated by, Rosalyn Landor I really need to stop buying books for my nook then ultimatley getting them on audio, but I heard this was really good on audio so at least I am finally getting this read since it was one of the first books I bought for my nook but have yet to read it!

Susie wrote: "Just finished Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings I recieved an ARC of this book and couldn't get into it at all so tried the audiobook which was well narrated by, Maggie Mash it was..."

" I really need to stop buying books for my nook then ultimatley getting them on audio"

Ha ha! :D

John wrote: "I had to give up on Our Mutual Friend entirely the first time, and try again from the beginning another time to get into it."

I'm glad I'm not the only one who stuggled a bit with this! I feel like it's taking me so long. Mil Nicholson's narraration is so good, I honestly don't think I'd be able to tackle this if I had to physically read the book.

I couldn't possibly read ANY of those Victorian classics (Dickens, Trollope, etc.) as print books! Remember that back then they were serialized, not the tomes we know today!

Carol and Bxrlover -- The Night Circus

I read this book first in hardcover and enjoyed it enough to additionally purchase the audio. I feel in love with the book via Jim Dale's interpretation of the characters.

It's interesting how the audio version of a book can either enhance or take away from a person's interest in a book.

John,I've never tried anything produced by Audible but I've got quite a few credits to use up. (Like you, I try not to use a credit for anything my library has.) Is there anything of theirs in particular that you would recommend?

I really enjoyed The Chateau, which I finished recently. I can't think of another one offhand as there haven't been that many. I also use credits for books that my library owns, but have long hold queues; I dropped a credit on The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration recently for that reason, though haven't started it yet.

Yes, a l-o-n-g wait (or a lengthy book with too many discs to rip) may persuade me to spend a credit on a book my library has. And lately, it seems the waits are longer. It seems like my library suddenly has fewer copies available so there is a hold on everything. Hopefully, that's simply my perception.

Yes, ripping lots of discs is a consideration as well - much more than say 10 gets to be kind of tedious.

Do any of you request an audio, when it isn't available? Do you have a link where this should be done?

Is there a site where you can seek an audio version that is lacking and be told when it is made available. Such exists for KInldes and I thought it might ewist for audiobooks too! If it exits, what is the link, please.