Around the World discussion

I have about 9 hours a week when I can listen to an audiobook without being too distracted but I feel as though this would be cheating as I'm not actually reading...
what do you think?

Nicola wrote: "I have about 9 hours a week when I can listen to an audiobook without being too distracted but I feel as though this would be cheating as I'm not actually reading...
what do you think?"

A lot of people use audio books. It's not cheating. Go for it! :)

I hope audio books don't count as cheating b/c I will probably listen to about a dozen of the books on my list as opposed to reading them. Don't think of it as cheating, think of it as multi-tasking :-)

Why would it be cheating? It's the same words, presented in a different medium. If we had Socrates here, he'd argue that it's writing that's cheating.

Do audiobooks count? Absolutely!
Is it cheating? Absolutely not!

OF COURSE!!!!!!!!! We make our own rules of what is on our lists.

The only group rule is that we must use book links!

Thank you everyone. I downloaded The Help last night to listen to next week - I did give myself a rule, that audibooks need to be unabridged so I get the full text, but otherwise I'll be listening to about one a month.
Only thing is they ruin my reading sequence as I was trying to go round the world along my mapped path, but never mind....

Gaeta1 wrote: "Bahni Turpin-I love her. She's my favorite audio book narrator."

Good to know, Gaeta. The narrator makes such a difference. I'm going back and forth between book and audio on Dr. Zhivago. The narrator confuses me when he speaks in a woman's voice. It often sounds just like the main protagonist. Very confusing.

I find that audiobooks take longer to listen to than actually reading the book, and as Gaeta said, it's impossible to skim audiobooks. After a long 'listening' break, I'm really enjoying listening again - especially with the fantastic narrator of The Power of One

Dion Graham is my favorite.

Thank you Sho and Gaeta. I'm writing down your favorite narrators. I'm new to audio and see that it makes a huge difference.

On Audible you can listen to an excerpt. This is really a good idea.

Thank you, Sho. It is a really good idea, as you say. Gaeta mentioned that to me just a couple days ago. The funny this is that I listened to a sample of an audio book from my library and the whole sample consisted of the narrator reading the copyright and a long Chaucer poem. There wasn't a sample of the narrator actually narrating the book. Pretty funny.

Barry wrote: "by the way:
Audiobooks = cheating..."

Those are fighting words, Barry! LOL!

Gaeta1 wrote: "Bahni Turpin-I love her. She's my favorite audio book narrator."

I read that this narrator did a great job with The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, which I have not yet read so I am considering it again. What other books do your recommend that she has narrated?

Gaeta, thanks so much for your help. I am keeping track of good narrators.

So you do not recommend long audiobooks! How many hours is too long?

I just signed up with audible.com and would like to try an audio book. I plan to just sit here and catch up on some sewing and listen so length is probably not a factor right now. (I have a lot to catch up on) Does anyone have a suggestion for a book or two with great narration to start off with? I am curious to see how it goes.

You can listen to a short segment of each book on the Audible site, which helps a lot. What genres do you prefer? That might help us narrow it down. For what it's worth, I'd listen to Simon Vance read just about anything. I thought these were well-narrated:

The Challenge for Africa (Kenyan author)
There Is No Me Without You: One Woman's Odyssey to Rescue Africa's Children (takes place in Ethiopia)
Half of a Yellow Sun (takes place in Nigeria/Biafra, author is Nigerian)
Infidel (takes place in Somalia, author is Somali)

More later if you like; I have to go help my partner wrap shrimp with prosciutto for a non-kosher taste treat.

I have an audio shelf you are welcome to peruse. I've listened to and enjoyed quite a few.

Gaeta -- I am trying really hard to resist the urge to give Bring Up the Bodies a go. I must confess, I listened to Wolf Hall not long ago and did NOT enjoy it, and yet I am still drawn to this new one. I will be interested to hear what you think of it.

My Life in France (France)
Last Night I Dreamed of Peace: The Diary of Dang Thuy Tram (Vietnam)
Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure (India, American author)
The Motorcycle Diaries: Notes on a Latin American Journey (Argentina, etc.)
Owls Do Cry (New Zealand)
A Case of Exploding Mangoes (Pakistan)
When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa (Zimbabwe)
Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight (Zimbabwe)
I Curse the River of Time (Norway)
Oaxaca Journal (Mexico, British author)
They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky: The Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan (some of the narrators are better than others)
River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze (China, PCV author)
English: A Novel (China)
Burmese Days (Burma)
Kafka on the Shore (Japan)
Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea (North Korea, ?author)
Inferno (Italy)
King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa (Congo, ?author)

Here are some of my favorite audiobooks:


Memoirs of a Geisha (Japan)
Cathedral of the Sea (Spain)
The Forgotten Garden (Australia, England)
Faithful Place (Ireland)
Peony in Love (China)
The Pillars of the Earth (England)
The Blood of Flowers (Iran)
People of the Book (Bosnia)
The Bells (Austria)

I haven't read a lot of audiobooks, and for hte most part I don't like them too much. But my favorite of all, by far is: Anansi Boys MP3 CD: Anansi Boys MP3 CD(England). The narrator is fantastic!

Judy wrote: "A few of my favorite audiobooks are:

In a Sunburned Country (Australia)
Mistress of the Art of Death (England middle ages)
Our Man in Havana (Cuba)= short!
Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of..."

I AGREE - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society Audiobook is the best I've ever heard - the characters come alive in a way they never would have done in a book.
I recommend it to everyone...