Audio books

[SolRaven]

A good place to start looking for well read/performed audio books would be to check The Audies. It's the grammy's of audio books.

[pwalker8]

Actually, well read audible books can be really good. Think of it as someone who is a really good story teller. The good ones have different voices for different characters and put a lot of time and effort into it. I drive about and hour and a half per day and have listened to a lot of audible books over the years. I find that I like to listen to audible books that I have read. It's a different experience and give me a different perspective of the work.

An author who reads his own books that I like is Simon Winchester, who did the Krakatoa book several years ago. He has a great speaking voice. I'm in the middle of Monster Hunters International right now, written by Larry Correia and read by Oliver Wyman. I liked the book when I read it a couple of years ago and it's very well done in audio. Ya got to love a book with red neck elves living in the Enchanted Forest trailer park.

I also listen to a lot of youth books. Let's face it, youth books are written to be read aloud. Jim Dale does a great job with the Harry Potter books. I also like the job that Tim Curry did with the Abhorsen series.

[SolRaven]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

I drive about and hour and a half per day and have listened to a lot of audible books over the years. I find that I like to listen to audible books that I have read. It's a different experience and give me a different perspective of the work.

I like listening to my audio books when I'm doing housework. It's the perfect companion when I'm scrubbing down the shower, doing laundry or doing the floors. Unlike with watching TV, listening doesn't require your visual attention; your mind makes the image from the words.

[SeaBookGuy]

Audible (both UK and US) allow listening to brief samples of all books.

[skypilotpete]

There are some great commercial audiobook production companies, who use different actors/speakers for different characters, and also incorporate music, sound effects etc, making the audiobooks rather like sound dramas, even though they still stick to the original text, word for word. Examples of such production companies are "Full Cast Audio", "Audio Renaissance" and "Defiance Audio".

A really great audiobook done like this is Dune by Frank Herbert, produced by "Audio Renaissance".

A really great example of an audiobook done by a single actor, who does different voices for different characters, is J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. The audiobook version, narrated by Rob Inglis, is a work of genius.

A good lending library, Audible.com and alt.binaries.mp3.audiobooks are the best sources of audiobooks in my experience.

[Rich_D]

I'm a monthly subscriber to Audible (2 books a month) and really enjoy listening to the books on my commute. I've tried some of the free ones on Gutenberg and didn't care for them.

[spaze]

DO the ereaders remember the spot you left off or do you have to manually fast forward to that spot?

[Rich_D]

Originally Posted by spaze

DO the ereaders remember the spot you left off or do you have to manually fast forward to that spot?

In the past, I've used Sansa MP3 players, the audible player app for Palm and currently the audible app for android. All have remembered the spot I left off.

[covingtoncat73]

I just finished the audiobook of Drawing of the Three by Stephen King. I got into it a lot more than I did the first book of the Dark Tower series and really loved it. Also the reader did a great job, with different and appropriate voices for Roland, Eddie, Detta, and Odetta.

[Angst]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Actually, well read audible books can be really good. Think of it as someone who is a really good story teller. The good ones have different voices for different characters and put a lot of time and effort into it. I drive about and hour and a half per day and have listened to a lot of audible books over the years. I find that I like to listen to audible books that I have read. It's a different experience and give me a different perspective of the work.

An author who reads his own books that I like is Simon Winchester, who did the Krakatoa book several years ago. He has a great speaking voice. I'm in the middle of Monster Hunters International right now, written by Larry Correia and read by Oliver Wyman. I liked the book when I read it a couple of years ago and it's very well done in audio. Ya got to love a book with red neck elves living in the Enchanted Forest trailer park.

I also listen to a lot of youth books. Let's face it, youth books are written to be read aloud. Jim Dale does a great job with the Harry Potter books. I also like the job that Tim Curry did with the Abhorsen series.

The narrator is very important!! I listened to A brief History of Time by Steven Hawking, narrated by the author. BIG mistake.

[HarryT]

Another author who narrates wonderfully is Bill Bryson.

But yes, I agree that the narrator can "make or break" an audiobook. Good narrators tend to be professional actors who have the skill to do different voices, accents, etc, for all the characters in the book.

[SeaBookGuy]

Originally Posted by spaze

DO the ereaders remember the spot you left off or do you have to manually fast forward to that spot?

Almost all audio players will resume where you stopped; most decent ones allow you to "bookmark" a file to exit, listen to something else, and return to the book where you left off as well.

[SolRaven]

Originally Posted by Rich_D

In the past, I've used Sansa MP3 players, the audible player app for Palm and currently the audible app for android. All have remembered the spot I left off.

I have 2 Sansa Clips and love them! I gave away my Creative Zen because, unlike the Sansas, when I chose "Shuffle All," it would include audio books in the shuffle. Sansa leaves audio books out of music options.

[emellaich]

I haven't heard anyone mention podiobooks yet. It is a free (donation-orientated) source of podiobooks. I have really enjoyed the trader's share series there by Nathan Lowell.

[Loosheesh]

Originally Posted by HarryT

But yes, I agree that the narrator can "make or break" an audiobook. Good narrators tend to be professional actors who have the skill to do different voices, accents, etc, for all the characters in the book.

So true! I'm generally put off by an audiobook that is monotonously narrated by its author (though I've only come across this with non-fiction books); it's always way better when the professionals do it.

(highlight for emphasis mine)