What are we listening to? (audiobooks) - Page 216

ApK · 09-13-2021, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CRussel

Dana Stabenow, read by Marguerite Gavin
Martin Walker (Bruno, Chief of Police), read by Robert Ian MacKenzie
Elizabeth Peters, read by Barbara Rosenblat
Jaqueline Winspear, read by Orlagh Cassidy
Michael Connelly, read by several depending on series
Georges Simenon, read by Gareth Armstrong

I've read one of Stabenow's SF books, and I just finished one of the Kate Shugak books. The Shugak wasn't bad, I may try another soon.
Connelly, well, yeah, this is all to slake my Harry Bosch thirst until the next book comes out in, I think, November! I'm also caught up on his Renee Ballard books. I might try one of his non-cop series.

Never heard of the others, I'll check them out.

I also was thinking of starting "Dog on It: A Chet and Bernie Mystery" by Spencer Quinn, which I found in my Audible Library, likely also from some deal posted here on MR. Unless the story proves otherwise, I won't count a dog as narrator as "fantastical or unrealistic."

CRussel · 09-13-2021, 04:30 PM

The Shugak books (and to a lesser extent, the Liam Campbell books) tend to build over time. While I've enjoyed them all, the one I am most likely to re-listen to is Breakup, number 9. It still has me laughing uncontrollably in spots, even though I know what's coming.

Martin Walker's Bruno, Chief of Police is the antithesis of Harry Bosch. (And, fwiw, I love both.) He's a village cop who's as much village social worker and chef as he is cop, but the flavour of the Dordogne is everywhere.

Simenon's Inspector Maigret is one you'll either like a lot, or not at all. Very French.

The Elizabeth Peters Amelia Peabody series are historical and quite amusing, while you'll learn a good bit about archeology.

The Jaqueline Winspear books are also historical, though all post WWI.

Another one you might consider are the Peter Robinson Inspector Banks series has several different narrators. My DW loves them, I've had problems getting too far into the series for some reason. Robinson is Canadian, but the books are set in the UK.

ApK · 09-30-2021, 11:45 AM

I just finished "A Gift of Time" by Jerry Merritt, narrated by Christopher Lane.

It was surprisingly good. It made time travel technobabble, including use of the word "quantum", sound plausible, and it was a remarkably sweeping and varied plotline. I was also very impressed with the narration.

My library has "Bruno, Chief of Police" via Hoopla, so I might give that a shot next.

ETA: I also finished "Dog on It: A Chet and Bernie Mystery." It was adorable. I was frequently quoting some cute dog-ism from the narration to my family. The mystery itself was light and felt like a "B plot." In that sense it reminded me of the movie "Benji," where the kidnapping (or whatever the movie was ostensibly about) was clearly secondary to just watching Benji be smart and adorable.
I will probably try the next next book in the series if it comes my way, but I am concerned that if it sticks to a formula, it may wear thin pretty quickly. I hope Chet isn't a one-trick puppy.

ApK

WT Sharpe · 09-30-2021, 12:57 PM

Here are the last four audiobooks I read:
• Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol (obtained from Hoopla, read by Nicholas Boulton). This book’s ending reminded me of a cross between Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment and Frank R. Stockton’s The Lady and the Tiger. A little strange, but good.
• I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life by Ed Yong (an Audible selection narrated by Charlie Anson). Read this book and you’ll never be lonely again.
• Micromegas by Voltaire (Audible Original: Bedtime Story read by Prentice Onayemi). Micromegas was a repeat of a story I first read in an ebook collection. Love the story, but the narrator’s delivery made it difficult to stay awake. I can't complain, considering that it’s part of an Audible collection of stories meant to help people sleep, but I got it because it was a free Audible Plus selection and wasn’t interested in the sedative effects.
• Murder by Misrule by Anna Castle (a 99¢ Chirp bargain when I bought it, read by Joel Froomkin) was a quite fun whodunnit featuring a team of amateur sleuths led by none other than Sir Francis Bacon. A few liberties were taken with the actual history of the period, as the author herself reveals in the postscript, but not so many that it spoiled the story.

ApK · 09-30-2021, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Frank R. Stockton’s The Lady and the Tiger.

AAAAARRGH! I remember my first encounter with that story in grade school. It revealed how much I hated ambiguity at the time, and I've hated ambiguity ever since. It traumatized me. It's probably why I don't even like cliffhangers.
I need endings to my stories. Preferably happy ones.

taosaur · 11-09-2021, 10:16 PM

After Children of Ruin, I dove a little deeper into Adrian Tchaikovsky's work with his 10-volume Shadows of the Apt series, which is entirely different. This guy knows how to dig into a premise. The setting is steampunk-adjacent, with the author's usual entomological fascination: various "kinden" with powers and ethnic features derived from their arthropod totems face a Nazi-ish threat from the expanding wasp-kinden empire, leading to an alliance of the technologically gifted "Apt" with the fallen masters of the "Age of Lore," which has largely faded into myth.

It's epic fantasy, fellowship and all, with gunpowder, ornithopters and airships (and also various bug-powers which don't count as magic, because who believes in magic?). Ben Allen's narration is excellent with the increasingly sprawling cast of characters.

I'm in book three now, and thoroughly hooked on the characters and how magic and technology will come to terms in this world.

CRussel · 11-14-2021, 02:41 PM

Currently listening to Rick Mercer's memoir, Talking to Canadians, narrated by the author. This is definitely going on my "Best books of 2021" list. Funny, even if you aren't a Canadian, and often laugh out loud even though you're in a public place with earbuds in funny. While also giving the listener a good understanding of the forces that shaped him. Unlike previous books, this is NOT just a re-hash of his Rick Mercer Report rants, but an actual memoir. Highly recommended.

issybird · 11-18-2021, 09:25 AM

I ran across audiobooks for Dorothy Gilman’s Mrs. Polllifax series at Hoopla. I’d read some of these back in the day; I remembered them as charming, but lost interest after a few. It struck me as a good late night listen and it was. Barbara Rosenblat does an excellent job of the narration, with one caveat: no 63-year old (or older) woman I know talks in such a quavery old lady voice. It was particular annoying in that an explicitly 63-year old male character sounded hale and hearty. Sigh. Still, it didn’t spoil the fun and I shall listen to more.

Catlady · 11-18-2021, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by issybird

I ran across audiobooks for Dorothy Gilman’s Mrs. Polllifax series at Hoopla. I’d read some of these back in the day; I remembered them as charming, but lost interest after a few. It struck me as a good late night listen and it was. Barbara Rosenblat does an excellent job of the narration, with one caveat: no 63-year old (or older) woman I know talks in such a quavery old lady voice. It was particular annoying in that an explicitly 63-year old male character sounded hale and hearty. Sigh. Still, it didn’t spoil the fun and I shall listen to more.

Overdrive has a dozen of the Mrs. Pollifax audiobooks in its catalog.

issybird · 11-18-2021, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Catlady

Overdrive has a dozen of the Mrs. Pollifax audiobooks in its catalog.

I should check OverDrive for books like this. Hoopla has the allure of the instantly accessible as I toss and turn in the wee hours, but the OD app is better. In any case, it’s good to know there’s another source; I can check for current availability and for titles Hoopla doesn’t carry. Thanks.

Catlady · 12-03-2021, 12:52 PM

The Vixen by Francine Prose was a HUGE disappointment. I had expected to like a novel about a young man tasked with editing an awful bodice-ripper based on the case of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. I didn't.

Supposedly parts of The Vixen were wildly funny. I must have missed them, though perhaps I did smile halfheartedly a few times. The hero was annoying (the tone adopted by the narrator, Tristan Morris, may have emphasized that quality), as was every other character, with the possible exception of his parents.

I would have preferred to read the book within the book--the bodice-ripper entitled The Vixen, the Patriot, and the Fanatic--as the excerpts from that were at least interesting.

The only reason I do not totally resent the time I spent listening to The Vixen is that I prepped for it by listening to Anne Sebba's new biography Ethel Rosenberg, which was excellent.

Catlady · 01-04-2022, 07:13 PM

First book of 2022 finished, and it was a wow: Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead. I almost want to read it all over again immediately, because I don't want to leave the characters and their world. This is a terrific book.

WT Sharpe · 01-04-2022, 11:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Catlady

First book of 2022 finished, and it was a wow: Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead. I almost want to read it all over again immediately, because I don't want to leave the characters and their world. This is a terrific book.

You've convinced me. I just downloaded it, but I have a long TBR list, so I don't know when I'll get to it.

Catlady · 01-05-2022, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

You've convinced me. I just downloaded it, but I have a long TBR list, so I don't know when I'll get to it.

I hope you like it. FYI, there's a Maggie Shipstead short story, "Angel Lust," in the Audible Plus catalog. I don't recommend it; if I'd read this story first, I might have passed on her wonderful novels (the others are Seating Arrangements and Astonish Me).

Catlady · 01-06-2022, 10:04 AM

I mostly enjoyed Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers, narrated by Karen Cass. I listened to this because of its intriguing premise: In 1957, a spinster reporter on a small newspaper is assigned to investigate a woman's claim that her 10-year-old daughter is the result of a virgin birth (there actually was such a claim and a serious scientific investigation). How could I pass that up? The book is not sensational, but has something of a Barbara Pym vibe, with its descriptions of the aging reporter's dull, restricted life in the English suburbs, dutifully caring for her house-bound mother.

09-30-2021, 11:45 AM	#3228
ApK Award-Winning Participant Posts: 7,316 Karma: 67862884 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: NJ, USA Device: Kindle	I just finished "A Gift of Time" by Jerry Merritt, narrated by Christopher Lane. It was surprisingly good. It made time travel technobabble, including use of the word "quantum", sound plausible, and it was a remarkably sweeping and varied plotline. I was also very impressed with the narration. My library has "Bruno, Chief of Police" via Hoopla, so I might give that a shot next. ETA: I also finished "Dog on It: A Chet and Bernie Mystery." It was adorable. I was frequently quoting some cute dog-ism from the narration to my family. The mystery itself was light and felt like a "B plot." In that sense it reminded me of the movie "Benji," where the kidnapping (or whatever the movie was ostensibly about) was clearly secondary to just watching Benji be smart and adorable. I will probably try the next next book in the series if it comes my way, but I am concerned that if it sticks to a formula, it may wear thin pretty quickly. I hope Chet isn't a one-trick puppy. ApK Last edited by ApK; 09-30-2021 at 03:41 PM.

11-18-2021, 09:25 AM	#3233
issybird o saeclum infacetum Posts: 20,210 Karma: 222235366 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: New England Device: H2O, Aura One, PW5	I ran across audiobooks for Dorothy Gilman’s *Mrs. Polllifax* series at Hoopla. I’d read some of these back in the day; I remembered them as charming, but lost interest after a few. It struck me as a good late night listen and it was. Barbara Rosenblat does an excellent job of the narration, with one caveat: no 63-year old (or older) woman I know talks in such a quavery old lady voice. It was particular annoying in that an explicitly 63-year old male character sounded hale and hearty. Sigh. Still, it didn’t spoil the fun and I shall listen to more. Last edited by issybird; 11-18-2021 at 09:43 AM.

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09-13-2021, 04:30 PM	#3227
CRussel (he/him/his) Posts: 12,157 Karma: 79742714 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast, BC Device: Oasis (Gen3),Paperwhite (Gen10), Voyage, Paperwhite(orig), Fire HD 8	The Shugak books (and to a lesser extent, the Liam Campbell books) tend to build over time. While I've enjoyed them all, the one I am most likely to re-listen to is Breakup, number 9. It still has me laughing uncontrollably in spots, even though I know what's coming. Martin Walker's Bruno, Chief of Police is the antithesis of Harry Bosch. (And, fwiw, I love both.) He's a village cop who's as much village social worker and chef as he is cop, but the flavour of the Dordogne is everywhere. Simenon's Inspector Maigret is one you'll either like a lot, or not at all. Very French. The Elizabeth Peters Amelia Peabody series are historical and quite amusing, while you'll learn a good bit about archeology. The Jaqueline Winspear books are also historical, though all post WWI. Another one you might consider are the Peter Robinson Inspector Banks series has several different narrators. My DW loves them, I've had problems getting too far into the series for some reason. Robinson is Canadian, but the books are set in the UK.

09-30-2021, 12:57 PM	#3229
WT Sharpe Bah, humbug! Posts: 39,073 Karma: 157049943 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA Device: Kindle Oasis, iPad Pro, & a Samsung Galaxy S9.	Here are the last four audiobooks I read: • *Dead Souls* by Nikolai Gogol (obtained from Hoopla, read by Nicholas Boulton). This book’s ending reminded me of a cross between Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment and Frank R. Stockton’s The Lady and the Tiger. A little strange, but good. • *I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life* by Ed Yong (an Audible selection narrated by Charlie Anson). Read this book and you’ll never be lonely again. • *Micromegas* by Voltaire (Audible Original: Bedtime Story read by Prentice Onayemi). Micromegas was a repeat of a story I first read in an ebook collection. Love the story, but the narrator’s delivery made it difficult to stay awake. I can't complain, considering that it’s part of an Audible collection of stories meant to help people sleep, but I got it because it was a free Audible Plus selection and wasn’t interested in the sedative effects. • *Murder by Misrule* by Anna Castle (a 99¢ Chirp bargain when I bought it, read by Joel Froomkin) was a quite fun whodunnit featuring a team of amateur sleuths led by none other than Sir Francis Bacon. A few liberties were taken with the actual history of the period, as the author herself reveals in the postscript, but not so many that it spoiled the story.

11-09-2021, 10:16 PM	#3231
taosaur intelligent posterior Posts: 1,562 Karma: 21295618 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Ohiopolis Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2, Samsung S8, Lenovo Tab 3 Pro	After Children of Ruin, I dove a little deeper into Adrian Tchaikovsky's work with his 10-volume Shadows of the Apt series, which is entirely different. This guy knows how to dig into a premise. The setting is steampunk-adjacent, with the author's usual entomological fascination: various "kinden" with powers and ethnic features derived from their arthropod totems face a Nazi-ish threat from the expanding wasp-kinden empire, leading to an alliance of the technologically gifted "Apt" with the fallen masters of the "Age of Lore," which has largely faded into myth. It's epic fantasy, fellowship and all, with gunpowder, ornithopters and airships (and also various bug-powers which don't count as magic, because who believes in magic?). Ben Allen's narration is excellent with the increasingly sprawling cast of characters. I'm in book three now, and thoroughly hooked on the characters and how magic and technology will come to terms in this world.

11-14-2021, 02:41 PM	#3232
CRussel (he/him/his) Posts: 12,157 Karma: 79742714 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast, BC Device: Oasis (Gen3),Paperwhite (Gen10), Voyage, Paperwhite(orig), Fire HD 8	Currently listening to Rick Mercer's memoir, Talking to Canadians, narrated by the author. This is definitely going on my "Best books of 2021" list. Funny, even if you aren't a Canadian, and often laugh out loud even though you're in a public place with earbuds in funny. While also giving the listener a good understanding of the forces that shaped him. Unlike previous books, this is NOT just a re-hash of his Rick Mercer Report rants, but an actual memoir. Highly recommended.

12-03-2021, 12:52 PM	#3236
Catlady Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,345 Karma: 52398889 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: Kindle Fire, Kindle Paperwhite, AGPTek Bluetooth Clip	The Vixen by Francine Prose was a HUGE disappointment. I had expected to like a novel about a young man tasked with editing an awful bodice-ripper based on the case of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. I didn't. Supposedly parts of The Vixen were wildly funny. I must have missed them, though perhaps I did smile halfheartedly a few times. The hero was annoying (the tone adopted by the narrator, Tristan Morris, may have emphasized that quality), as was every other character, with the possible exception of his parents. I would have preferred to read the book within the book--the bodice-ripper entitled The Vixen, the Patriot, and the Fanatic--as the excerpts from that were at least interesting. The only reason I do not totally resent the time I spent listening to The Vixen is that I prepped for it by listening to Anne Sebba's new biography Ethel Rosenberg, which was excellent.

01-04-2022, 07:13 PM	#3237
Catlady Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,345 Karma: 52398889 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: Kindle Fire, Kindle Paperwhite, AGPTek Bluetooth Clip	First book of 2022 finished, and it was a wow: Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead. I almost want to read it all over again immediately, because I don't want to leave the characters and their world. This is a terrific book.

01-06-2022, 10:04 AM	#3240
Catlady Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,345 Karma: 52398889 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: Kindle Fire, Kindle Paperwhite, AGPTek Bluetooth Clip	I mostly enjoyed Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers, narrated by Karen Cass. I listened to this because of its intriguing premise: In 1957, a spinster reporter on a small newspaper is assigned to investigate a woman's claim that her 10-year-old daughter is the result of a virgin birth (there actually was such a claim and a serious scientific investigation). How could I pass that up? The book is not sensational, but has something of a Barbara Pym vibe, with its descriptions of the aging reporter's dull, restricted life in the English suburbs, dutifully caring for her house-bound mother.

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