What are we listening to? (audiobooks)

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I listened to Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World by Anand Giridharadas, and I think I'm ready for the revolution.

This is a fascinating account of how elites do all they can to help the downtrodden, as long as it doesn't threaten their elite status or create actual systemic change. Make a fortune by exploiting your workers and become a philanthropist, instead of making a smaller fortune by paying your workers a living wage. Do a lot of harm to get rich, then mitigate the harm with charitable contributions. Stay at the top, and kindly toss crumbs to everyone below.

The author performs the narration, and he is excellent. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

Did the author get into any comparisons between now and the gilded age of the late 1800's? I always thought there were a lot of similarities.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by ApK

Ah, so socialist propaganda, then. If I want more of that, I'll just watch the news.

Try this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Equal-Unfair-.../dp/B01D24B4SW

Winners Take All is not socialist, nor is it propaganda. It's more of an indictment of do-gooders whose benevolence extends only so far and ensures their control. It's about a business model view of the world and Carnegie's Gospel of Wealth. It's about public responsibility being off-loaded to foundations, which means that problems aren't hashed out in public but left to the plutocrats to decide.

The book is not a political screed. Giridharadas is a former journalist who uses interviews and anecdotes to build his devastating portrait of elite do-gooders. Your facile dismissal of a book you haven't read is disappointing.

[ApK]

Wait til you hear my dismissal of "journalist" as a credential......

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Did the author get into any comparisons between now and the gilded age of the late 1800's? I always thought there were a lot of similarities.

There's some discussion of the gilded age and how Rockefeller, Carnegie, etc. engaged in major philanthropic efforts as a reaction to populism and a desire for reform. As I mentioned above, Carnegie's Gospel of Wealth is discussed.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

It would be kind of nice if this thread stayed people sharing what they were listening to and why or why not they liked it. Just my opinion.

Agreed. Not the place for political or religious commentary. As much as I might be tempted.

Originally Posted by CRussel

Currently doing a re-read, mostly via Audible books, of some of the Liaden Universe books. (Comfort time reading for me, these are old and valued friends.) I started with Conflict of Honors, and am now on Dragon Ship, having skipped Agent of Change. I must say, I'm quite enjoying them this time around, though the shift in narrators is a bit annoying, though I understand why there were multiple narrators. (Series was released all at once, with 4 different narrators, each focused on one story arc, though I admit at least one of those arcs was a bit artificial.)

Now up to Dragon in Exile. Still enjoying this, though the narrator for this book is Kevin T. Collins, and while he's usually OK, he's not having a good day here.

[taosaur]

I'm about 2/3rds through Empress of Forever by Maxwell Gladstone, which so far is the best wild-ride space opera I've read in recent memory, and narrated with fantastic character voices by Natalie Naudus. It's a bit of a slow start with a protagonist you might not like immediately because she doesn't much like herself, but once it gets going the aesthetic is Heavy Metal (the '70s/'80s magazine & movie) meets Dragonball Z, with a lesbian Mark Zuckerberg as the fish-out-of-water protagonist. The sci-fi elements run decidedly psychedelic, but the narrative overall is character-driven, subverting and mashing up archetypes in ways that create nicely fleshed-out characters (despite several characters having little or no flesh). I'll definitely be digging into more of Gladstone's work.

[Tarana]

I've just finished More Bedtime Stories for Cynics hosted by Nick Offerman. There are several good stories in this, but the negativity got to me after a while. Very well narrated, but just not for me. This was a free offering from Audible for members. If you liked the Simpsons or South Park, I think you are the intended audience.

[Bookworm_Girl]

I’m halfway through Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane and so far it’s worth the hype. The narrator, Molly Pope, does a good job voicing the different characters too.

From Goodreads:

A profoundly moving novel about two neighboring families in a suburban town, the friendship between their children, a tragedy that reverberates over four decades, the daily intimacies of marriage, and the power of forgiveness.
How much can a family forgive?

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

I’m halfway through Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane and so far it’s worth the hype. The narrator, Molly Pope, does a good job voicing the different characters too.

Thanks for the recommendation; I have had this on hold at one of my libraries but considered it iffy.

I am turned off by what I consider weird titles, and I consider this one weird.

[Bookworm_Girl]

The title is weird, and I still don’t know what it means. From what I’ve read it doesn’t make sense until the ending.

I’m not sure if you’ll like this one. It is more about relationships and a reaction to a specific event than a complicated plot line. How much are we defined by who our parents are (with an emphasis on mental illness and alcoholism)? How and why do families become estranged and can that be fixed or should it?

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

The title is weird, and I still don’t know what it means. From what I’ve read it doesn’t make sense until the ending.

I’m not sure if you’ll like this one. It is more about relationships and a reaction to a specific event than a complicated plot line. How much are we defined by who our parents are (with an emphasis on mental illness and alcoholism)? How and why do families become estranged and can that be fixed or should it?

I'm on a long waiting list--several months--so I'll have to see what I'm in the mood for when the time gets closer.

[pwalker8]

Finished up HMS Nightingale a couple of days ago. Definitely an enjoyable listen. The series is basically Aubrey is space. Pretty well done.

I've moved on to The Rose and the Thorn, which is book 2 of the Riyria Chronicles by Michael J Sullivan. I've read all of Sullivan's books as ebooks, but then again, I tend to read a book as an ebook before getting it as an audiobook. Just a quirk of mine, I guess.

[haertig]

I'm currently listening to Runner, written by Patrick Lee. The narrator (I don't know his name) is decent when doing adult voices, but struggles when trying to voice an 11 year old girl. Unfortunately, this young girl is one of the main characters, so you have to listen to the narrator flailing at her voice frequently. It's a good story - starts off with some action quickly, and keeps it up.

I really enjoyed the three book Travis Chase series by this author (The Breach / Ghost Country / Deep Sky). Runner is the first book of his Sam Dryden series and I'm happy to find that so far I'm liking this series too.

[taosaur]

Empress of Forever remained outstanding throughout - great ideas, great characters, cool world building, interesting twists, and a great dry tone in addressing these larger-than-life events. I moved on to the first-published of Gladstone's Craft Sequence (5 books set in different eras of the same magical world, written and published out of chronological order, probably best read in published order), and so far so good: a unique fantasy world with relatable characters working to bridge very different starting goals and world views. The narration was a little bit of a let down after Natalie Naudus' excellent character voicing on Empress, but after settling in it's just fine. Gladstone has a unique and engaging imaginative vision, addressing big, wild ideas and circumstances with matter-of-fact dry humor. He's easily my best random find on Audible - never heard of him or his books before tripping over Empress, just browsing around.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by taosaur

Empress of Forever remained outstanding throughout - great ideas, great characters, cool world building, interesting twists, and a great dry tone in addressing these larger-than-life events. I moved on to the first-published of Gladstone's Craft Sequence (5 books set in different eras of the same magical world, written and published out of chronological order, probably best read in published order), and so far so good: a unique fantasy world with relatable characters working to bridge very different starting goals and world views. The narration was a little bit of a let down after Natalie Naudus' excellent character voicing on Empress, but after settling in it's just fine. Gladstone has a unique and engaging imaginative vision, addressing big, wild ideas and circumstances with matter-of-fact dry humor. He's easily my best random find on Audible - never heard of him or his books before tripping over Empress, just browsing around.

Interesting. Just picked up the first Craft Sequence novel, Three Parts Dead. Only $3 for the kindle book and $8 for the associated audiobook when bought together.

Hum, the kindle book has a blurb written by Jerry Pournelle. Interesting, I wonder what the connection is. Jerry Pournelle wasn't a Tor writer, he was a Baen writer.