What are we listening to? (audiobooks)

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Now reading the last (so far) of the Safehold series, Like a Mighty Army, read by the original reader of the series, Oliver Wyman. I must say, I definitely prefer his reading to all the others who have been involved in this series.

I'm also reading the first (in pub order) of the Recluse series, The Magic of Recluse, by L.E. Modisett. Read by Kirby Heyborne. This will be a slow read, since I'm restricting myself to reading while I swim.

Finished off Like a Mighty Army, and thought it somewhat better than the last couple in the series. Still working on the Modisett, but for the car and around the house, I'm now reading the first of the Lord Peter Wimsey novels by Dorothy L. Sayers, Whose Body, read superbly by Nadia May. What a delight this book is. This is hardly the first time I've read it, and I know what happens, but that's really the least important part of the book. I'm going to spend the summer re-reading all the Sayers books, I think.

[Hampshire Nanny]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Speaking of To Be Read list (at least I assume that is what you are talking about), I'm a bit frustrated with the current situation with managing audible books. I tend to be a list oriented person. For example, I listen to audiobooks a lot in my car and like to keep them in a playlist on my iTouch. Of course, since audible audiobooks don't come from Apple, you can't see them in a playlist if you use iCloud. I solve that by simply not using iCloud on my iTouch. That works well enough for that specific purpose, but I do use iCloud on all the other devices that I might use to listen to audio books. I really, really wish that the audible app supported the concept of playlists and was better able to handle syncing between devices. Well, maybe we will see something when the new iOS comes out.

I don't understand the problem here. The audible app in my iPhone and iPad downloads the audiobook directly from Audible.com. The book used to come to the phone in two parts but recently, they've sent the books in a single part. So there's no need for a playlist.

What I'm struggling with is to understand how to work with the free audiobooks from SYNC (which are currently in the Overdrive application on my PC) to the iPhone -- which app to use to listen to them, how to transfer them, and how to construct a playlist since these are multiple MP3 files. I'm assuming that iTunes (on the PC and/or on the iPhone) will play a part, but so far I have not figured out exactly what to do.

I also have a "classic" iPod -- the first model which supported video, even though it had a 2.5-inch display. 'Twould be an interesting challenge to put an audiobook onto it and then just leave it sitting on the treadmill. I definitely don't want to carry it around with me since the iPhone works so well, but I had to have a piece of unused gear around.

Still listening to The Map That Changed The World by Simon Winchester. Now in the middle of chapter 5 (of 9), so I've crossed the 1/2 way mark. This book has long chapters -- each one is over an hour long!

[Hampshire Nanny]

I thought I'd bring an audiobook review site to everyone's attention. Author Jonathan E Feinstein reviews audiobooks on his blog at http://jonathanfeinstein.wordpress.com/

I read through several pages of his blog, and realized that he's posting one review each week. Each week! It often takes me a couple of months to finish an audiobook, so I'm impressed at the rate he's been posting. And these are not trivial reviews. He spends quite a bit of time/space reviewing the book itself, highlighting significant points about the plot or the characters. Then he reviews the recording itself.

He seems to have a decent mix of free audiobooks from Librivox and more contemporary recordings, and I found his critique of the volunteer readers at Librivox to be particularly interesting. When he points out a particularly competent reader, it makes me want to look for additional books which that volunteer may have produced.

[WT Sharpe]

I just finished listening to The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton. The ending left me feeling like I'd missed something. This was surely one of the strangest of his books that I've read. Thinking it was an espionage thriller, I assumed there would be less of the intrusion of the author's religious sentiments than in his Father Brown series, but found instead that it was filled not only with Christian allegory, but hints of oriental mysticism. (I learned after reading it that it was one of his earlier works, written while he was still a Protestant.)

Spoiler:

The identity and exact purpose of the mysterious man called Sunday was never made clear, but he appeared to have been very ancient indeed.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Hampshire Nanny

I don't understand the problem here. The audible app in my iPhone and iPad downloads the audiobook directly from Audible.com. The book used to come to the phone in two parts but recently, they've sent the books in a single part. So there's no need for a playlist.

...

The basic issue is two fold. First, in the car, I don't want to have interact with my iTouch when a book ends, I want it to go directly to the next book. If I use the audible app, then I have to wait for a light, or pull over and then find and select the next book to read. Second, as I say, I'm a list oriented person. I will organize my listening list, trying to arrange the audo books in a specific order. Normally, I try not to listen to two books in a row by the same author. Instead, I try to alternate between styles and moods of books. If one book is a David Weber's latest, then the next book might be a light, slightly comic book. I find it's a lot easier to do this via a list than try to do it on the fly in the car.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I just finished listening to The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton. The ending left me feeling like I'd missed something. This was surely one of the strangest of his books that I've read. Thinking it was an espionage thriller, I assumed there would be less of the intrusion of the author's religious sentiments than in his Father Brown series, but found instead that it was filled not only with Christian allegory, but hints of oriental mysticism. (I learned after reading it that it was one of his earlier works, written while he was still a Protestant.)

Spoiler:

The identity and exact purpose of the mysterious man called Sunday was never made clear, but he appeared to have been very ancient indeed.

I should add that I'm giving this a big thumbs up. It's very much off the beaten track. I had to re-read the last chapter online after composing the post above to get the full impact of this metaphysical mystery.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I should add that I'm giving this a big thumbs up. It's very much off the beaten track. I had to re-read the last chapter online after composing the post above to get the full impact of this metaphysical mystery.

This is going on my list. One reason I'd like an audiobooks subforum is that I'd appreciate Librivox recommendations, as Librivox must be a very mixed bag.

While swimming, I've started listening to The Mauritius Command, the fourth in the Aubrey/Maturin series, narrated by Simon Vance and it's wonderful. Among other sterling aspects, these books are so witty; I'd say lol-funny except for the swimming bit. *glug* A friend made me promise to try these books and I enjoyed the first enough to buy the whole shebang at 95% off; then when I saw the second book available immediately in audio on Overdrive I thought I'd give that a try. Those remaining 20 books will never be read. They're an even better listen than read.

While driving/walking I'm listening to Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernières, narrated by John Lee and equally terrific. I've bumped up the speed to 1.25X as Lee's narration is a tad slow; just the same I will look out other books by him as he's a marvelous reader.

Speaking of narrators, I'm fairly new to audiobooks and I think it's notable that so far, Simon Vance and Nadia May have provided close to two-thirds of my listens (fiction and non for both). I think they're both great, but I admit that I recently cued up another Nadia May only to realize I needed a break from her.

I love how I can consume more content with audiobooks! I'm on my 12th and 13th books since becoming a convert in March.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by issybird

...
I love how I can consume more content with audiobooks! I'm on my 12th and 13th books since becoming a convert in March.

Yep, I love it also, but it sure can get expensive! I'm up to around 400 unique titles in my library now.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Yep, I love it also, but it sure can get expensive! I'm up to around 400 unique titles in my library now.

I've only got about a hundred audiobooks, but what astonishes me is that it's cost me a trivial amount of money. What with Whispersync prices, including on library books, free Audible credits and free "cash", I've had to spend next to nothing accumulating it. And that's not counting Overdrive.

Just this year, I've picked up $45 in promotion credit. I spend my free cash on Whispersync titles for books I borrow, and yes, size matters! I've also got three months' credits at $1.95/month, following on two two-month freebies. I always quit before my membership would convert to paid. I figure I'll sign up for the Amazon Unlimited trial and get another free credit. Honestly, I don't know how Audible makes money.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by issybird

... Honestly, I don't know how Audible makes money.

From me! I generally scan the new books (usually SF&F) once a month or so and put the books that I'm interested in into my wishlist. Then went I buy a book, I scan through the wishlist to see if anything is on sale, or if there are any books in a series where I'm ready to buy the next.

[Hampshire Nanny]

Originally Posted by issybird

I love how I can consume more content with audiobooks! I'm on my 12th and 13th books since becoming a convert in March.

Oh my! It usually takes me 2 months to finish an audio book. That's because I only listen when I'm alone in the car -- and that doesn't happen very much.

I'm still listening to The Map That Changed the World by Simon Winchester. I have about a dozen unread books purchased from Audible, and I've been downloading the free audio books offered by SYNC.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Hampshire Nanny

Oh my! It usually takes me 2 months to finish an audio book. That's because I only listen when I'm alone in the car -- and that doesn't happen very much.

Well, I have a 45 minute commute, alas. Also, for books I listen to while driving or walking I use an iOS app that lets me bump up the speed; depending on the book that could be up to 1.5X.

My finishing rate has gone way down lately, though, as I've been working at home more and I'm swimming instead of walking and my waterproof MP3 player just plays at the standard rate.

[issybird]

Having finished The Mauritius Coomand, I'm now listening to Jordan County by Shelby Foote while I swim. The southern lit tropes are a little stale, but Foote spins a good yarn with beautiful prose and it keeps me in the water.

Just the same, the urge to cue up the next Aubrey/Maturin book is powerful indeed, but I'm trying to pace myself.

[CRussel]

The temptation to binge read the Aubrey/Maturin books must be huge. I know I did that with the first four or five when I discovered them. But then had to wait for the rest to be written. A kind of enforced spacing.

[pwalker8]

Finished up Codex Born, Jim Hines 2nd Libriomancer book. It was ok. I like the narrator, but there were some sections that I would have liked to fast forward through. That seems to be a theme with Jim Hines series. I really like the first one or two of a series, then it starts to lose steam. It's a lot more noticable in audiobooks than it is in ebooks (or paper for that matter). I guess it's just a lot easier to skim through the slow parts with ebooks.

Just started Larry Correia's latest Monster Hunter book, Monster Hunter Nemesis. I read the ebook when it came out as an ARC on baen. Loved the book and they got the same reader for this one as they did for the first several. Good stuff!