What are we listening to? (audiobooks)

[WT Sharpe]

I listened to the first two chapters of Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich today. It will take a while to complete the book, as I'll only be reading it while on my exercise bike on days the whether is too unpleasant for walking. It's the second book in the Stephanie Plum series, but it will be the third Stephanie Plum adventure I've read (Plum Spooky was my first).

As for my daily walks, I've taken to listening to music on my iPod Nano. It's difficult to concentrate on books while keeping an eye on the kid, and he insists on coming along.

[CRussel]

The Stephanie Plum books are well read. But I maxed out on her at around #10 or #11. Stephanie needed to grow up, and didn't.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by pegasi&prefects

The Inimitable Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse. It was the first Wodehouse I ever read, long ago, and Frederic Davidson is IMO the perfect narrator. He really does sound like Bertie yarning over a cocktail.

Magic.

Frederic Davidson (recording alias of David Case) is an excellent reader, and well fits Wooster. But Hugh Laurie's voice is the one I expect. Still, I enjoy the audio book versions too. Must be about time to do another listen...

[FizzyWater]

Originally Posted by melmac

Then on to something much much better Broken Homes (Peter Grant, #4) by Ben Aaronovitch WOW I'm just a few minutes away from the end and this morning on the way to work Can't wait to finish off the last few minutes and start the next one.
I love t: this series

I just started listening to those. The concept sounds interesting, and even better for an audiobook, I am really liking what I hear so far from the narrator.

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I just listened to the first two chapters of [I]Two for the Dough[/I] by Janet Evanovich today. It will take a while to complete the book, as I'll only be reading it while on my exercise bike on days the whether is too unpleasant for walking. It's the second book in the Stephanie Plum series, but it will be the third Stephanie Plum adventure I've read (Plum Spooky was my first).

Did you notice if the narrator was different? When I first started that series, CJ Critt was reading them. I liked her. Then they switched to someone who sounded very different - and I liked her too. But some folks who started with the second reader (whose name I'm not remembering at the moment) really hate CJ Critt's narration in the first book or so.

I'm with CRussel on this series - I eventually couldn't stand that Steph never grew up. There was a brief stint (one book) where she went to work as a researcher for Ranger that gave me hope, then the next book went back to the "Keystone Cop" Bounty Hunter routine and I gave up.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by CRussel

So, any comments/thoughts on the three different readers? I know they're different books, so not a direct comparison, but still of interest.

I like them all. But I sort of wish I'd listened to the SYNC Great Expectations from a week or so ago--the Naxos version narrated by Anton Lesser. After I finished Great Expectations, I listened to the free Dickens podcast about it by David Timson, which included excerpts of Lesser's reading, and I thought he was excellent. I am definitely going to keep him in mind for future listening.

[Geralt]

Originally Posted by melmac

I should go back to that I've only done the first 2

You really should. They're quick and fun, and Oberon makes me laugh
I personally liked the 3rd book the best so far, so much so that I continued straight to the Tricked: The Iron Druid Chronicles, Book 4

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

As for my daily walks, I've taken to listening to music on my iPod Nano. It's difficult to concentrate on books while keeping an eye on the kid, and he insists on coming along.

Never say never again? Today I continued my reading of F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tales of the Jazz Age by listening to "The Strange Case of Benjamin Button" while walking with Norton. But he was well-behaved today; possibly because I threatened not to take him walking any more after his excursions into many neighbors' flower gardens and front porches earlier in the week. Anyway, "The Strange Case of Benjamin Button" was an interesting story. My first impression was that it lacked any real drama, but I became increasingly impressed with it as I began to realize the wealth of commentary it makes in a few short sentences on age and the complex relationships between people of different ages. It had me going back to my own youth and thinking about the lack of respect young people receive at the hands of those who are older and more experienced and how they are rarely taken seriously. His increasing loss of interest in his wife as she aged while he grew younger was a sad reflection of the value we place on people according to their age.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Now, on to something a bit different - CJ Cherryh's Pride of Chanur, narrated by Dina Pearlman. I'm sure I read this in pBook form years and years ago, but don't remember much if any of it, so I'm enjoying it all anew, and liking Ms. Pearlman's narration.

Finished, and moved on to Magic's Promise, read by Gregory St. John. This is number 2 in Mercedes Lackey's Last Herald Mage series set in early Valdemar. Read in pBook format when it first released many years ago, but enjoying anew in Audible form. It should hold me until the next Liaden Universe book is out in Audible format -- that's Dragon in Exile, and it is read by Kevin T. Collins. Supposed to be out June 4, I believe, though there is no pre-order for it.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Finished, and moved on to Magic's Promise, read by Gregory St. John. This is number 2 in Mercedes Lackey's Last Herald Mage series set in early Valdemar. Read in pBook format when it first released many years ago, but enjoying anew in Audible form. It should hold me until the next Liaden Universe book is out in Audible format -- that's Dragon in Exile, and it is read by Kevin T. Collins. Supposed to be out June 4, I believe, though there is no pre-order for it.

Let us know how you like Magic's Promise. I also read the Last Herald Mage series way back when and have all three in audio book but haven't gotten around to listening to them yet. Amazon has a special price for audiobooks where you have already bought the ebook, typically around 3-6 dollars. I frequently will go ahead and snarf it up at that price, even if I know it's going to be a while before I can listen to it.

[Catlady]

More Dickens. Now it's David Copperfield, which I chose expressly so I could listen to yet another narrator--Ralph Cosham.

I've been telling myself for ages that one day I'm going to revisit Dickens, but I would never quite get around it. Now, suddenly, I'm bingeing on Dickens. Go figure.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Let us know how you like Magic's Promise. I also read the Last Herald Mage series way back when and have all three in audio book but haven't gotten around to listening to them yet. Amazon has a special price for audiobooks where you have already bought the ebook, typically around 3-6 dollars. I frequently will go ahead and snarf it up at that price, even if I know it's going to be a while before I can listen to it.

I'm enjoying the re-read. A lot. These are actually some of the best of Ms. Lackey's books. The characters actually feel more "real" than so much of her stuff. And when you consider _when_ they were written, they were rather groundbreaking for their straightforward treatment of gay characters in what was a "mainstream" fantasy novel. The narration is acceptable, even good, but not outstanding. I'll be buying the third in the series at some point soonish, but I have a bunch of stuff coming before then, I suspect. (I currently have a couple of hundred hours of Audible books backed up, and that's only if I don't count some that my DW got that I might like.)

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Finished, and moved on to Magic's Promise, read by Gregory St. John. This is number 2 in Mercedes Lackey's Last Herald Mage series set in early Valdemar. Read in pBook format when it first released many years ago, but enjoying anew in Audible form. It should hold me until the next Liaden Universe book is out in Audible format -- that's Dragon in Exile, and it is read by Kevin T. Collins. Supposed to be out June 4, I believe, though there is no pre-order for it.

Finished Dragon in Exile, #18 in the Liaden Universe from Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. An excellent book, where many different story lines progress as Clan Korval settles into its new home on Surebleak. The reading is from Kevin T. Collins and while it's better than his reading of Trade Secret, it's still not his best, IMO. His sense of pace has improved, but his sense of narrative "story telling" and dramatic volume is still lacking. Of course, I listened to this in the middle of listening to Patrick Tull's reading of Sharpe's Prey, and there are few better readers ever than Mr. Tull, so that might be influencing my take on this.

[Autonomous]

Originally Posted by Catlady

More Dickens. Now it's David Copperfield, which I chose expressly so I could listen to yet another narrator--Ralph Cosham.

I thoroughly enjoyed Cosham's reading of Watership Down, which I listened to last month.

Over the weekend I finished up Anna Hope's Wake, which is read by the author. I'm considering listening to A Tale of Two Cities but am uncertain which narrator to choose: Simon Prebble or Martin Jarvis. Any opinions?

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Autonomous

I thoroughly enjoyed Cosham's reading of Watership Down, which I listened to last month.

Over the weekend I finished up Anna Hope's Wake, which is read by the author. I'm considering listening to A Tale of Two Cities but am uncertain which narrator to choose: Simon Prebble or Martin Jarvis. Any opinions?

I'm enjoying Ralph Cosham's narration. He sounds a bit like Frank Langella, whose voice I love.

I think I'd be slightly inclined to favor Martin Jarvis, though I've only listened to him once (101 Dalmatians).

[Geralt]

Listening to Dune. Probably the best audiobook I ever listened to. Simon Vance and the rest of the cast are brilliant.