What are we listening to? (audiobooks)

[orlok]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Oh, this sounds like fun! I'm going to add it to my wish list!

Me too. Sounds like fun.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

...On the iPad I'm still listening to the Blackstone audio app of It's Superman! by Tom De Haven. It's a rather lengthy book with a 16 hours and 42 minutes running time, which isn't too surprising given that the paperback weighs in at 432 pages, but I guess a book about a super man deserves a super length. It's very good, and the author's frequent insertion of real people and brand names common to the 1930s instills the feeling in the reader of being right there in the midst of the depression era in which the story unfolds. Like Siegel and Shuster's original creation, and unlike recent incarnations, this Clark Kent is not a god. When hit by a bullet, he is bruised. When caught in an explosion, he is dazed and bleeds from a minor wound. I can't wait to get back to it. If there were only more hours in a day!

This review is for the Blackstone audio iPad app of It's Superman! by Tom De Haven. Scott Brick was the narrator, and he did a most excellent job.

I love the fact that when hit by a bullet, Clark is bruised, and I love that when he's caught in an explosion, he's dazed and bleeds, but there were some aspects of this Clark I didn't like. The moral development of this stereotypical country bumpkin was painfully slow. Although a "B" student, he acts at times like a "D" student. He wishes he was smarter; as smart as he is strong. And most troublingly, he didn't stop being a bumpkin when he put on the tights.

I do like the fact that he employed a major voice change when being Superman. It reminded me of Bud Collyer's radio portrayal.

I really did not like the way Lois was portrayed in this book. She was shallow, mean, and callous. What Clark saw in this woman who wouldn't give him the time of day was beyond me.

All in all this was a very enjoyable and adult take on the legend that drew it's inspiration from the more believable Superman of the late 30s/early 40s.

[pwalker8]

Started listening to Blue Moon Rising by Simon Green and Ringworld by Larry Niven before settling into Swordbearer by Glen Cook. Both Blue Moon Rising and Ringworld are good books, but I found the audio book lacking. In Blue Moon Rising, the character voices were inconsistent and in both books, the readers lacked energy.

Swordbearer is one of my favorite Glen Cook books and so far the reader has been pretty good.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Finished. A masterful reading by Patrick Tull of an excellent start to one of my all time favourite series. I'm going to move straight on to the second in the series, Post Captain. Fortunately, I have this already in my Audible library, since it appears to no longer be available from them in the Patrick Tull version.

Finished Post Captain, and moving now to read #9 in Michelle Sagara's Cast series - Cast in Sorrow. This is read by Khristine Kvam. I've mostly been reading this series over the years in pBook format, but decided it would be a good choice for an audio book. After this one, I'll jump back to the Aubrey/Maturin series for H.M.S. Surprise.

Meanwhile, in the pool, I've started Call the Midwife, the first of the memoirs of Jennifer Worth on which the BBC series is based. These are compelling memoirs of life in London's East End dockyards during the 1950's as told by a young nurse and midwife working for the NHS and living and working with a convent of nursing sisters. The books are rather grittier than the TV series, but both are excellent, and I'm looking forward to reading the original.

[issybird]

I finished the sixth A/M, The Fortune of War, read by Simon Vance, another terrific listen although I did catch Patrick O'Brian in an error. It's 1813 and one of the American characters makes a reference to going to the state of Maine, but Maine didn't become a state until 1820. In 1813 it was part of Massachusetts.

I've started the first of Philip Kerr's Berlin Noir books, March Violets, read by John Lee. The story is entertaining enough but I don't like Lee's narration; print is better. Lee is just too slow! I recently finished his narration of Birds Without Wings and it was one of my best-ever listens, but I bumped up the speed to 1.25X which I can't do on my MP3 player.

@CRussel: In perusing the A/M offerings at Audible, I've noticed that Patrick Tull reads the books at a much slower rate than Simon Vance. Fortune of War, for example, takes 10½ hours for Vance but 13 hours for Tull, a very significant difference. I really have to check out Tull and see if speed is a factor in my liking.

[CRussel]

It's true, Patrick Tull is slower. That's because he "tells the story" rather than reading straight through it. I think it makes for a better listen. But then, I've always preferred the Tull narration.

ETA: I just checked Post Captain, the book I just finished. The Tull version is 19 hours. The Vance version 15.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by CRussel

It's true, Patrick Tull is slower. That's because he "tells the story" rather than reading straight through it. I think it makes for a better listen. But then, I've always preferred the Tull narration.

ETA: I just checked Post Captain, the book I just finished. The Tull version is 19 hours. The Vance version 15.

You've really piqued my curiosity about the difference in styles. I need to give Tull a try soon so I can have an informed opinion.

[silverraven]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Meanwhile, in the pool, I've started Call the Midwife, the first of the memoirs of Jennifer Worth on which the BBC series is based. These are compelling memoirs of life in London's East End dockyards during the 1950's as told by a young nurse and midwife working for the NHS and living and working with a convent of nursing sisters. The books are rather grittier than the TV series, but both are excellent, and I'm looking forward to reading the original.

I read (not listened to) the first in the series before I watched the series. I thoroughly enjoyed it. What a difference between England and American experiences with pregnancy/child birth during that time period! Real eye opener.
S

[Tarana]

I finished Asssassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb. I really liked the book, but couldn't 5 star it. However, I DO want to finish the trilogy. Most of the problem was that I was listening to the audiobook (well done) and had trouble keeping all the characters straight.

Since I can't immediately begin the next book, I started Ringworld by Larry Niven. I'm already halfway through. This one is hard to put down and the narrator does a great job. Scifi story of a motley crew that goes to a world near a sun with a ring around it.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Tarana

I finished Asssassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb. I really liked the book, but couldn't 5 star it. However, I DO want to finish the trilogy. Most of the problem was that I was listening to the audiobook (well done) and had trouble keeping all the characters straight.

Since I can't immediately begin the next book, I started Ringworld by Larry Niven. I'm already halfway through. This one is hard to put down and the narrator does a great job. Scifi story of a motley crew that goes to a world near a sun with a ring around it.

Interesting. Well, different strokes for different folks as they say. It would be a boring world if we all liked the same things.

[Catlady]

I just listened to The Manchurian Candidate, by Richard Condon, narrated by Christopher Hurt. I'd seen the movie multiple times, but never read the book, and was quite surprised by all the black humor and the satirical edge. Very enjoyable!

[issybird]

Originally Posted by issybird

I've started the first of Philip Kerr's Berlin Noir books, March Violets, read by John Lee. The story is entertaining enough but I don't like Lee's narration; print is better. Lee is just too slow!

OK, I gave up on the audiobook halfway through. Lee gave too much emphasis to the poorly written bits of dialogue in what I came to realize was a pretty lousy book overall. I finished it in print as I was just curious enough to see how it played out and reading was faster. But I can't blame John Lee for what was a bad book.

I was looking for a quickie and picked One Man's Initiation by John Dos Passos, narrated by Jeff Woodman. I think Woodman does a terrific job actualizing Dos Passos's fictionalized account of his experience as an ambulace driver in the Great War.

[Gronk]

I am listening to The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. It is moving so agonizingly slowly that I'm not sure I can continue much longer.

[Catlady]

I just finished Jennifer McMahon's Dismantled. This is the third of her books I've read, and I have mixed feelings about all of them. She includes a supernatural element that I just don't care for, but still I get drawn into her stories.

[CRussel]

Reading Cast in Sorrow, by Michelle Sagara. I think I'm pretty much done with this series. I really enjoyed the earlier books, but this one is getting way too weird, as the last couple were.

Next up, Carousel Sun by Sharon Lee, read by Elizabeth Rogers. This is the second book in the Archer's Beach series, and I'm very much looking forward to it. I've read the eBook, but the Audible book just became available, and it's the same reader as the first book, so should be excellent.