What are we listening to? (audiobooks) - Page 87

pwalker8 · 07-12-2015, 07:11 AM

Just finished up with Tinker and am now starting Kurtz's The Quest for Saint Camber, the third of the King Kelson books. I liked Tinker, though perhaps it was a bit too much like a romance novel in places for my taste. I'll probably add the next one to my queue at some point. I've got enough audio books to last me through the year and then some right now, but I'm sure that won't keep me from grabbing new ones that come out.

Robert Heinlien's Methuselah's Children is next on the queue. One of the downsides of getting some of the old classics is that they don't always get the top line readers. We will see how it goes.

I've been getting a number of audiobooks in conjunction with Amazon's specials, if you get the ebook, they offer the whisperlinked audiobook for around $5. I picked up Brain Dailey's The Adventures of Hobart Floyt and Alacrity Fitzhugh and many of Barbara Tuckman's audiobooks this way.

Catlady · 07-12-2015, 11:45 AM

Finished Luckiest Girl Alive. Mostly OK; I'll probably try Jessica Knoll's next book. There are two timelines--one in the present, the other in 2001, when the heroine was starting high school. We gradually learn what happened back then to turn her into what she is in the present day. What is extremely jarring, however, is that the high school story begins squarely in the days and weeks immediately before and after 9/11, but that event is never mentioned! Even odder, the setting is the Philly area--a plane went down in Pennsylvania, for goodness' sakes! The author repeatedly mentions that it's 2001, but nary a word about 9/11 even in passing? Seriously? That took me out of the story. It's like setting a story in December 1941 and totally ignoring Pearl Harbor.

Then I listened to The Daughter, by Jane Shemilt. Also OK; held my interest, but the protagonist here--a mother/physician whose teenage daughter has disappeared--is annoying. She's oblivious to anything that challenges her preconceived notions, both at home and at work, and I wish less time had been spent on that and more on her daughter's story.

I had planned to listen next to Anne Frank's Diary of a Young Girl and Miep Gies's Anne Frank Remembered, but I'll put them off until after I listen to Harper Lee's new book.

CRussel · 07-13-2015, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CRussel

Next up, Chanur's Homecoming, read by Dina Pearlman. That should provide a break from Sharpe for a bit.

Finished and thoroughly enjoyed. I'll be reading the 5th in the series soonish, but first, this month's Book Club selection: Waterloo: The History of Four Days, Three Armies, and Three Battles written by Bernard Cornwell, and read by Bernard Cornwell and Dugold Bruce Lockhart.

pwalker8 · 07-13-2015, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CRussel

Finished and thoroughly enjoyed. I'll be reading the 5th in the series soonish, but first, this month's Book Club selection: Waterloo: The History of Four Days, Three Armies, and Three Battles written by Bernard Cornwell, and read by Bernard Cornwell and Dugold Bruce Lockhart.

Let us know how you like it.

melmac · 07-14-2015, 03:13 AM

Recently listened to Foxglove summer by Ben Aaronovitch I really liked it but I missed Nightingale who was barely in it and the ending was a little abrupt. I was excited to find that the next one is due this year so I won't have to wait long

Also if anyone is interested Ben releases a short well its more like a extra scene a piece he wrote but didn't fit anywhere into the books its just a few pages long and is available for free from his website
http://temporarilysignificant.blogsp...advantage.html

Next I started Shadow Woman by Thomas Perry I'm a little concerned that one of the characters is not going to make it to the end of the book I always get worried when couples are overly happy as it usually spells doom for one of them. I am thinking of hitting pause on this one though so I can skip over to Armada by Ernest Cline which is being released any minute now(literally)

CRussel · 07-15-2015, 02:25 PM

Love the Ben Aaronovitch books, and enjoyed Foxglove Summer, though I admit to wanting more Nightingale also.

I've only read the Jane Whitefield books, not listened to them. How do you like the narration by Joyce Bean? (And how do you stand putting them down for even a moment????)

melmac · 07-15-2015, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CRussel

Love the Ben Aaronovitch books, and enjoyed Foxglove Summer, though I admit to wanting more Nightingale also.

I've only read the Jane Whitefield books, not listened to them. How do you like the narration by Joyce Bean? (And how do you stand putting them down for even a moment????)

I didn't like Joyce when I first started the first book however I quickly got used to her. I think that in general I'm more used to male narrators which is why I had issues to begin with. I don't find the Whitefield books edge of the seat stuff perhaps this is because the narration is so paced and calm, if I was reading it I would likely be racing through

I actually didn't end up putting it down only because I don't like to juggle multiple books usually I only ever have 2 on the go one audio and one ebook.

CRussel · 07-16-2015, 12:11 AM

Well, the Jane Whitefield books are very much can't put down books when reading them! If that doesn't come through to the audio versions, then the narration has failed. Not to say it is _bad_, but it hasn't met the basic requirement of the books, IMHO.

WT Sharpe · 07-16-2015, 11:33 AM

I've been listening to another freebie from Librivox: The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. It's a book I first read in paper, and it's a delight. Outside of his persecution of Christians, he wasn't such a bad guy. On the other hand, while I disagree with the hard line he took in that respect, I can see how he might view the new sect as a threat to the empire.

This is a collaborative effort by several readers. Usually I tend to shy away from such efforts, but this one, so far, has been done very well.

victauria · 07-17-2015, 09:31 AM

The Jane Whitefield series was riveting with Joyce Bean's narration. I went from one to the next as fast as I could get them. Loved the stories and thought that the narrator made the perfect Jane (not that I've heard other attempts for her!). I've recommended the series to several people, though I don't know what came of that as I'm one of the few audiobook addicts that I know personally.

I was so taken with Thomas Perry's Jane Whitefield books that I picked up everything else of his that I could find. His Butcher Boy series was another very compelling listen, great stories and great narration by Michael Kramer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CRussel

Well, the Jane Whitefield books are very much can't put down books when reading them! If that doesn't come through to the audio versions, then the narration has failed. Not to say it is _bad_, but it hasn't met the basic requirement of the books, IMHO.

tubemonkey · 07-26-2015, 04:15 AM

The Forever War -- Joe Haldeman

I checked this out from one of my OneClickdigital libraries.

For all the praise this sci-fi classic gets, I'm not impressed. Kinda reminds me of the B movie sci-fi flicks I watched as a kid. I'm nearly half way through and will finish listening to it.

Marrella · 07-26-2015, 04:49 AM

I am finally done with Neil Stephenson's Seveneves. After all, I am not as impressed as I thought I would be. That might be due to the fact that I am not really a Stephenson fan - he is too much in love with detail for my taste.

As an end of the world story though, this is one of the better ones around if you go for realism. And yes, it was interesting, but I needn't to be told about every tiny detail about how they solved the technical challenges to overcome what happened when the moon blew up. There were too many long infodumps in this book that stalled the plot.

As for the narrators, Mary Robinette Kowal did about 20 hours and Will Damron the remaining 12 hours. I must say that I got through his part much faster. Kowal's narration sounded a bit forced when she tried to do male voices, but that is just my personal taste. In my opinion, Will Damron did a much better job, at least I liked him a lot better. I would rate his narration B+ and Kowal's C. The whole book is a B- for me (3.5 stars).

pwalker8 · 07-26-2015, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

The Forever War -- Joe Haldeman

I checked this out from one of my OneClickdigital libraries.

For all the praise this sci-fi classic gets, I'm not impressed. Kinda reminds me of the B movie sci-fi flicks I watched as a kid. I'm nearly half way through and will finish listening to it.

To a great extent, I think the Forever War is best read in the context of the time it was written, i.e. 1974 and the Vietnam War.

Tarana · 07-26-2015, 12:22 PM

Currently alternating listening between Lords and Ladies (Terry Pratchett) and Outlander (Diane Gabaldon).

Marrella · 07-26-2015, 02:03 PM

I started Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman, read by the author. So far, it's rather addictive.

07-16-2015, 11:33 AM	#1299
WT Sharpe Bah, humbug! Posts: 39,072 Karma: 157049943 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA Device: Kindle Oasis, iPad Pro, & a Samsung Galaxy S9.	What are we listening to? (audiobooks) I've been listening to another freebie from Librivox: The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. It's a book I first read in paper, and it's a delight. Outside of his persecution of Christians, he wasn't such a bad guy. On the other hand, while I disagree with the hard line he took in that respect, I can see how he might view the new sect as a threat to the empire. This is a collaborative effort by several readers. Usually I tend to shy away from such efforts, but this one, so far, has been done very well. Last edited by WT Sharpe; 07-16-2015 at 11:35 AM.

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07-12-2015, 07:11 AM	#1291
pwalker8 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,196 Karma: 70314280 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Atlanta, GA Device: iPad Pro, iPad mini, Kobo Aura, Amazon paperwhite, Sony PRS-T2	Just finished up with Tinker and am now starting Kurtz's The Quest for Saint Camber, the third of the King Kelson books. I liked Tinker, though perhaps it was a bit too much like a romance novel in places for my taste. I'll probably add the next one to my queue at some point. I've got enough audio books to last me through the year and then some right now, but I'm sure that won't keep me from grabbing new ones that come out. Robert Heinlien's Methuselah's Children is next on the queue. One of the downsides of getting some of the old classics is that they don't always get the top line readers. We will see how it goes. I've been getting a number of audiobooks in conjunction with Amazon's specials, if you get the ebook, they offer the whisperlinked audiobook for around $5. I picked up Brain Dailey's The Adventures of Hobart Floyt and Alacrity Fitzhugh and many of Barbara Tuckman's audiobooks this way.

07-12-2015, 11:45 AM	#1292
Catlady Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,419 Karma: 52613881 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: Kindle Fire, Kindle Paperwhite, AGPTek Bluetooth Clip	Finished Luckiest Girl Alive. Mostly OK; I'll probably try Jessica Knoll's next book. There are two timelines--one in the present, the other in 2001, when the heroine was starting high school. We gradually learn what happened back then to turn her into what she is in the present day. What is extremely jarring, however, is that the high school story begins squarely in the days and weeks immediately before and after 9/11, but that event is never mentioned! Even odder, the setting is the Philly area--a plane went down in Pennsylvania, for goodness' sakes! The author repeatedly mentions that it's 2001, but nary a word about 9/11 even in passing? Seriously? That took me out of the story. It's like setting a story in December 1941 and totally ignoring Pearl Harbor. Then I listened to The Daughter, by Jane Shemilt. Also OK; held my interest, but the protagonist here--a mother/physician whose teenage daughter has disappeared--is annoying. She's oblivious to anything that challenges her preconceived notions, both at home and at work, and I wish less time had been spent on that and more on her daughter's story. I had planned to listen next to Anne Frank's Diary of a Young Girl and Miep Gies's Anne Frank Remembered, but I'll put them off until after I listen to Harper Lee's new book.

07-14-2015, 03:13 AM	#1295
melmac Wizard Posts: 1,399 Karma: 5573651 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Perth AU Device: Sony PRS650, Sony T3, Kobo Forma	Recently listened to Foxglove summer by Ben Aaronovitch I really liked it but I missed Nightingale who was barely in it and the ending was a little abrupt. I was excited to find that the next one is due this year so I won't have to wait long Also if anyone is interested Ben releases a short well its more like a extra scene a piece he wrote but didn't fit anywhere into the books its just a few pages long and is available for free from his website http://temporarilysignificant.blogsp...advantage.html Next I started Shadow Woman by Thomas Perry I'm a little concerned that one of the characters is not going to make it to the end of the book I always get worried when couples are overly happy as it usually spells doom for one of them. I am thinking of hitting pause on this one though so I can skip over to Armada by Ernest Cline which is being released any minute now(literally)

07-15-2015, 02:25 PM	#1296
CRussel (he/him/his) Posts: 12,296 Karma: 80074820 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast, BC Device: Oasis (Gen3),Paperwhite (Gen10), Voyage, Paperwhite(orig), iPad Air M3	Love the Ben Aaronovitch books, and enjoyed *Foxglove Summer*, though I admit to wanting more Nightingale also. I've only read the Jane Whitefield books, not listened to them. How do you like the narration by Joyce Bean? (And how do you stand putting them down for even a moment????)

07-16-2015, 12:11 AM	#1298
CRussel (he/him/his) Posts: 12,296 Karma: 80074820 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast, BC Device: Oasis (Gen3),Paperwhite (Gen10), Voyage, Paperwhite(orig), iPad Air M3	Well, the Jane Whitefield books are very much can't put down books when reading them! If that doesn't come through to the audio versions, then the narration has failed. Not to say it is _bad_, but it hasn't met the basic requirement of the books, IMHO.

07-26-2015, 04:15 AM	#1301
tubemonkey monkey on the fringe Posts: 45,770 Karma: 158733736 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Seattle Metro Device: Moto E6, Echo Show	The Forever War -- Joe Haldeman I checked this out from one of my OneClickdigital libraries. For all the praise this sci-fi classic gets, I'm not impressed. Kinda reminds me of the B movie sci-fi flicks I watched as a kid. I'm nearly half way through and will finish listening to it.

07-26-2015, 04:49 AM	#1302
Marrella Cambrian crab Posts: 2,918 Karma: 3229927 Join Date: May 2012 Location: Germany Device: Kindle, Pocket Book, Kobo, Sony	I am finally done with Neil Stephenson's Seveneves. After all, I am not as impressed as I thought I would be. That might be due to the fact that I am not really a Stephenson fan - he is too much in love with detail for my taste. As an end of the world story though, this is one of the better ones around if you go for realism. And yes, it was interesting, but I needn't to be told about every tiny detail about how they solved the technical challenges to overcome what happened when the moon blew up. There were too many long infodumps in this book that stalled the plot. As for the narrators, Mary Robinette Kowal did about 20 hours and Will Damron the remaining 12 hours. I must say that I got through his part much faster. Kowal's narration sounded a bit forced when she tried to do male voices, but that is just my personal taste. In my opinion, Will Damron did a much better job, at least I liked him a lot better. I would rate his narration B+ and Kowal's C. The whole book is a B- for me (3.5 stars).

07-26-2015, 12:22 PM	#1304
Tarana Wizard Posts: 4,040 Karma: 38840460 Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Minneapolis Device: PWSE, Voyage, K3, HDX, KBasic 7 & 8, Nook Glo3, Echos, Nanos	Currently alternating listening between Lords and Ladies (Terry Pratchett) and Outlander (Diane Gabaldon).

07-26-2015, 02:03 PM	#1305
Marrella Cambrian crab Posts: 2,918 Karma: 3229927 Join Date: May 2012 Location: Germany Device: Kindle, Pocket Book, Kobo, Sony	I started Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman, read by the author. So far, it's rather addictive.

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