What are we listening to? (audiobooks)

[CRussel]

At 2+ hours you've gone further than I would. That's 2 hours you'll never get back.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by CRussel

At 2+ hours you've gone further than I would. That's 2 hours you'll never get back.

I gave it another couple of hours before I finally threw in the towel. It got better, which kept me going a bit longer, but ultimately not enough better.

[astrangerhere]

I've started the 120+ hour experience of Shelby Foote's The Civil War (Vols 1-3). I know Foote had some very obvious blind spots (not talking nearly enough about slavery being the elephant in the room), but his history and portraiture of the men who made it has always been enjoyable to me. And Grover Gardner is an excellent narrator.

[Tarana]

I'm about 8 hours into 25 hours of The Temporal Void (book 2 of 3 book series) by Peter F Hamilton. Great story, but complex plot limits me to listening only when stitching. Narrated by John Lee, who is excellent but has a weird way of ending sentences. If you want to read Hamilton, you should start with the Commonwealth Saga first (2 very lonnnnnng books) or a lot is confusing in later books.

For more complex stuff like washing dishes or driving, I'm listening to book 5 of Extreme Medical Services - The Paramedic's Witch by Jamie Davis. Falls under urban paranormal. To summarize, paramedic to the supernatural. Story is ok, I'm kindof invested in some of the characters, and the narrator, Roberto Scarlato is outstanding. I've wishlisted the omnibus for the final 3 books (don't know if series continues after book 9).

[CubGeek]

Originally Posted by Tarana

If you want to read Hamilton, you should start with the Commonwealth Saga first (2 very lonnnnnng books) or a lot is confusing in later books.

oooo, boy howdy. My first Hamilton was The Dreaming Void and wow was I lost.

[Apache]

Just finished Pacific Glory by P. T. Deutermann. Set during WWII in the pacific. The main character becomes the executive officer on destroyer. The book is great although the narrator's attempt at women's voices is terrible. The book ends up dealing with the Battle Off Samar and the men who fought Battleships with Tin Cans. Four Stars.
Apache

[Catlady]

I've finished my Joan of Arc binge, which started with Katherine J. Chen's novel Joan and continued with Helen Castor's Joan of Arc: A History, as mentioned upthread.

These were followed by

• Kimberly Cutter's novel The Maid, narrated by Rosalyn Landor. I didn't like this much; the way the voices are depicted is annoying.
• Mark Twain's novel The Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, narrated by Michael Anthony. I pretty much hated this one for being far too worshipful and noncritical, not to mention far too long.
• Kathryn Harrison's Joan of Arc: A Life Transfigured, narrated by Cassandra Campbell. I think I liked this one the best, as it dealt with a lot of the symbolism of Joan's story and parallels to the Christ story, as well as how the story has been treated in popular culture.
• Donald Spoto's Joan: The Mysterious Life of the Heretic Who Became a Saint, narrated by Dick Hill. I couldn't resist seeing how someone known for Hollywood bios would deal with Joan; it's a fairly good read.

I also listened to two children's books about Joan from LibriVox (The Story of Joan of Arc by Andrew Lang and A Child's Life of St. Joan of Arc by Mary E. Mannix). These, as expected, were very respectful and stuck to the basics.

Harrison's book made me interested in plays and films about Joan, so I listened to an audiobook version of George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan starring Amy Irving, from Hollywood Theater of the Ear, and watched a TV adaptation of Jean Anouilh's The Lark starring Julie Harris. I also watched four feature-length films about Joan (Ingrid Bergman's Joan of Arc [1948, marvelous performance, especially during the trial and execution], Leelee Sobieski's Joan of Arc [1999, terrific cast; I liked this one best], Milla Jovovich's The Messenger [1999, this Joan seemed demented], and Maria Falconetti's The Passion of Joan of Arc [silent, 1928, extreme closeup after extreme closeup after extreme closeup]), and even found a You Are There TV episode about Joan's trial and execution (Walter Cronkite!).

Unless I can find Jean Seberg's Saint Joan (1957), I am officially DONE with Joan of Arc for a good long time.

[CRussel]

Currently listening to Oliver Wyman's narration of By Schism Rent Asunder by David Weber, the second in his Safehold series, having flown through the first one in the series, Off Armageddon Reef. After several returned KU books that were, frankly, crap, I really needed to be reading something I could just enjoy, and this was a series I hadn't re-read since my first pass through it many years ago. Doesn't hurt that it's WhisperSync'd so I can move mostly painlessly between book and audio.

[WT Sharpe]

I borrowed Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (the Edith Grossman translation narrated by George Guidall) from Hoopla. I knew it was long, but didn't realize it was THAT long. I won't finish it before returning it, so when my next credit rolls around from Audible I'll use it to purchase that edition.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I borrowed Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (the Edith Grossman translation narrated by George Guidall) from Hoopla. I knew it was long, but didn't realize it was THAT long. I won't finish it before returning it, so when my next credit rolls around from Audible I'll use it to purchase that edition.

I got this on audio CD from a library sale, but haven't gotten to it yet. You'll have to let me know how it is!

[WT Sharpe]

Will do, but I won't have my next Audible credit until the middle of next month, so I'm be taking a break for two or three weeks before continuing it. It starts with the focus firmly on Don Quixote but then takes a turn toward the stories of others in a manner similar to The Canterbury Tales.

[Sweetpea]

I've been listening to the Earth Children series by Jean M. Auel, read by Rowena Cooper. It's a series I've loved for ages, the first book "Clan of the Cave Bear" was actually the first book I bought in English (before that I had read it already several times in Dutch as that was the version my parents had). I had some credits left over as I took my time listening to the Sherlock Holmes stories (I really love Stephen Fry as reader)

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I followed that up with Helen Castor's Joan of Arc: A History, narrated by Anne Flosnik. This book spends a lot of time on the historical events and political climate leading up to Joan's arrival on the scene and basically nothing about her early life (which is a major aspect of Chen's novel).

You lit a fire in me with your long Joan of Arc post. I haven’t read anything about her since childhood, so I went off to see what my libraries had on offer.

I’ve finished the Castor audiobook. I liked the premise of setting Joan in her historical context and found it illuminating, but with a hole at the center when dealing with Joan herself. Virtually ever other major character was more interesting. I also don’t like Anne Flosnick; I find her accent irritating, especially the way she says “djook”. And there are a lot of dukes in the book! Still glad to have read it.

I’ve got the Chen novel and the Harrison book on tap, both in text. That’s it from my libraries and I’m not going to give Twain another try. If I’m still interested when done, I’ll go on to Marina Warner’s Joan of Arc: The Image of Female Heroism. I’ve had this on my TBR in paper for years and years, but I’ll treat myself to the ebook if I get this far.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by issybird

I’ve got the Chen novel and the Harrison book on tap, both in text. That’s it from my libraries and I’m not going to give Twain another try. If I’m still interested when done, I’ll go on to Marina Warner’s Joan of Arc: The Image of Female Heroism. I’ve had this on my TBR in paper for years and years, but I’ll treat myself to the ebook if I get this far.

The Warner book looks interesting, but none of my libraries has it, and I've sworn off Joan for a while anyway.

Now I'm on a true crime/fictionalized true crime kick, starting with Leopold and Loeb. I listened to Meyer Levin's novel Compulsion, which I read many years ago--the audiobook is a mess, with lines repeated all through it, enough so that I complained to Audible (it's an Audible exclusive). Then I watched the film, which I hadn't seen in ages. I followed that with Simon Baatz's For the Thrill of It (nonfiction), which is good but overlong, bogging down with some of the scientific/medical data. Now I'm listening to the new account by Greg King and Penny Wilson, Nothing but the Night, which reinterprets some of the standard beliefs about the crime.

Then I'm planning to listen to Looking for Mr. Goodbar (fiction) and Closing Time (nonfiction); and Lolita (fiction) and The Real Lolita (nonfiction).

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Now I'm on a true crime/fictionalized true crime kick, starting with Leopold and Loeb. I listened to Meyer Levin's novel Compulsion, which I read many years ago--the audiobook is a mess, with lines repeated all through it, enough so that I complained to Audible (it's an Audible exclusive). Then I watched the film, which I hadn't seen in ages. I followed that with Simon Baatz's For the Thrill of It (nonfiction), which is good but overlong, bogging down with some of the scientific/medical data. Now I'm listening to the new account by Greg King and Penny Wilson, Nothing but the Night, which reinterprets some of the standard beliefs about the crime.

I liked both the Levin and Baatz books a lot; I read both which was probably for the good. Levin based on your comment above and it helped with Baatz because of skimming the duller bits. I’ll be curious to hear what you think of the Greg King book as I think he’s a dreadful hack.

I don’t feel as if I need to reread Goodbar but I’m going to give Closing Time a shot; thanks for that.