What are we listening to? (audiobooks)

[Tarana]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I am listening to the long-awaited John Bolton book, The Room Where It Happened (from the library, as I do not wish to enrich an author for whom I feel active contempt), narrated by Robert Petkoff. It's a whopping 21 hours, and I've managed to get through only about 3 so far. Bolton comes across as quite sanctimonious and self-righteous, though I am probably unable to be objective. The writing isn't exactly snappy, either. I do want to get through it as quickly as I can because of the long library waiting list.

My Mom is about 1/2 way through the book and says so far she hasn't read anything that hasn't already been in the public venue already. Put together though from an insider is interesting. I probably won't get to it before it's released back to the library as you can only have it out for 7 days.

I am currently listening through Myrtle Clover cozy series by Elizabeth Spann Craig. I read the first book (which was not available in audio) and have been picking the others up from either Whispersync or sales. I love the stories and the characters but find the narrator way too slow. I've speeded it up and that helped. I just can't get my head around scifi or detective novels right now. Currently on book 4 Body In the Backyard where her yardful of gnomes get center stage.

[taosaur]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

I thought that the 2nd volume was the weakest of the three volumes. Basically, when significant sections of the book went away from Royce and Hadrian, it just didn't hold up as well. That's a complaint I have of his Age of series. He has a real tendency to spend a lot of time on characters who drift into the story, then drift out, never to be heard of again.

I don't mind the time spent on the Princess, but the scenes in the Imperial Palace do drag a bit.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by taosaur

I don't mind the time spent on the Princess, but the scenes in the Imperial Palace do drag a bit.

I've found that I'm a lot less tolerant in sections that drag with audio books than I am with eBooks (or paper). It's a lot harder to go into scan mode with audio books. I've also noticed that I notice sections that drag a lot more. For example I'm listening to Smoke Bitten by Patricia Briggs right now. I notice the "romancy" (to coin a word) parts a lot more than I did when I was reading the eBook.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Tarana

My Mom is about 1/2 way through the book and says so far she hasn't read anything that hasn't already been in the public venue already. Put together though from an insider is interesting. I probably won't get to it before it's released back to the library as you can only have it out for 7 days.

I'm only about halfway through as well. I'm trying to get done as quickly as possible because of all the people waiting, but it's slow going. I'm tired of Bolton's smug self-righteousness and self-justifications, especially in light of the external factors we all know.

[Paperbackstash]

I just listened to The Butterfly Garden as a free ad-on for being a Kindle Unlimited subscriber. That one turned out great. My friend just gifted me with his Audible trial a free audio of Dracula with a full cast including Tim Curry. I'm excited to listen to that one

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Paperbackstash

I just listened to The Butterfly Garden as a free ad-on for being a Kindle Unlimited subscriber. That one turned out great. My friend just gifted me with his Audible trial a free audio of Dracula with a full cast including Tim Curry. I'm excited to listen to that one

That Dracula's a good one. The book structure is perfect for a multicast recording, and that version has a top-notch cast.

[Paperbackstash]

Originally Posted by Catlady

That Dracula's a good one. The book structure is perfect for a multicast recording, and that version has a top-notch cast.

I'm excited about it! It was a free gift too, which was sweet. I have the paperback, and the Kindle-In-Motion version, now this.

[sun surfer]

Originally Posted by ApK

I notice the near-hidden quote in your sig. I didn't know those two characters had a crossover:

A bit late but LOL! It's also a clickable link if you want to see where it's from (unless you already know!).

[sun surfer]

After finishing A Room of One's Own, I listened to The Likeness by Tana French, the second in her Dublin murders series. The plot is absurd- a policewoman resembles a murder victim that no one knows died yet so exactly that she goes undercover as if the person had never died to live with her grad student best friends and roommates in a grand old house that one of them inherited. However, I liked it despite its preposterousness, mainly because I like uni novels, I like novels about odd cliquish groups and I like novels about big old houses, so it hit a sweet spot for me. It was quite different from the first in the series which was a more straightforward type of procedural whereas this one immersed the reader into the small secluded world of the victim and her friends. It reminded me a bit of The Secret History in feel. While I thought the mystery in the first in the series was too easy to solve, this one wasn't as clear cut but the mystery here also fell a bit by the wayside because the book was a lot about this group just living together.

Now I'm on Owls Do Cry by Janet Frame which I'm closing in on finishing soon. It's a mid-century New Zealand drama drawing on the author's own life about a group of siblings in childhood and as adults, one with mental problems causing her to be admitted to an institution. So far it's very good and the first book I've ever read from the country.

[SeaBookGuy]

For those interested in things Japanese, I'm listening to A Man by Keiichiro Hirano. Excellent narration by Brian Nishii (unlike Emily Woo Zeller, who can do the Chinese stuff, but poor as a reader, he'd great beyond just fluent Japanese). Got it as a good Whispersync combination price.

[Catlady]

I listened to Riley Sager's new book, Home Before Dark. This was a fun book-within-a-book, with dual narration--the author of a "true" account of living in a haunted house, and his daughter who inherits the house 25 years later.

It had a bit of a Haunting of Hill House (Shirley Jackson) vibe and also reminded me a little of A Head Full of Ghosts (Paul Tremblay). There was nothing especially original, but it was engrossing and well-done and held my interest throughout.

The narrators were good; both of them are soap opera veterans--Cady McClain (All My Children) and Jon Lindstrom (General Hospital).

[CRussel]

Finished The Shooting at Chateau Rock, the latest from Martin Walker in his Bruno, Chief of Police series. Excellent, as always, and the narration from Robert Ian MacKenzie is also excellent.

Now listening to Barnburner, an early Sharon Lee mystery featuring Jennifer Pierce. Narrated by Traci Odom, a new one for me. There were only two of these Maine mysteries from Sharon Lee, and I've read them in eBook format ages ago, but it will be interesting to listen to them. So far, Ms. Odom sounds like a Mainer when she should, so that's a generally good thing.

[Tarana]

Finished Diplomatic Immunity by Lois McMaster Bujold and narrated by Grover Gardner. He is perfect for this series. Vorkosigan series mostly follows Miles and the unusual ways his life follows.

Currently listening to the Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury narrated by Scott Brick. I've never been as much of a fan of Bradbury's writing as I have of his screen plays. Lack of action, I think. This book is a series of short stories with the same theme. Skip the first couple of minutes of Bradbury's name dropping.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by Tarana

Finished Diplomatic Immunity by Lois McMaster Bujold and narrated by Grover Gardner. He is perfect for this series. Vorkosigan series mostly follows Miles and the unusual ways his life follows.

Grover Gardner does an excellent job with this series. Recommended.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Grover Gardner does an excellent job with this series. Recommended.