What are we listening to? (audiobooks)

[Bookworm_Girl]

I recently listened to The House with a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs. I watched the movie a few months ago, and I think I purchased it as an Audible Daily Deal in January. I don't recall this children's book series in the 70s. I plan to read Book #2. Interesting that the narrator was George Guidall who also read The Left Hand of Darkness (the January New Leaf Book Club selection).

From Goodreads:

Lewis Barnavelt doesn't have time on his side... When Lewis Barnavelt, an orphan, comes to stay with his uncle Jonathan, he expects to meet an ordinary person. But he is wrong. Uncle Jonathan and his next-door neighbour, Mrs Zimmermann, are both witches! Lewis couldn't be happier. What's not to like about seeing his uncle practise spells and eating Mrs Zimmermann's delicious cookies? At first, watching magic is enough. Then Lewis experiments with magic himself and unknowingly resurrects the former owner of the house: a woman named Selenna Izard. It seems that evil Selenna and her husband built a timepiece into the walls - a clock that could obliterate humankind. As the clock can be heard ticking away in the house all the time, sometimes louder, sometimes quieter, sometimes faster, sometimes slower, it is up to the Barnavelts to find where it is hidden in the walls - and stop it. A true race against time...

I also recently finished Come, Tell Me How You Live: An Archaeological Memoir by Agatha Christie Mallowan. It was a nomination in the New Leaf Book Club last month. She calls the book "small beer" and a record of "everyday doings". It is a good description. I had higher expectations for this book and was a little disappointed. It is more about the people and the culture than it is about the places and archaeology. However, I think that with her writing skills she could have had better character development than she achieved. A similar book that I read and enjoyed more was The Road to Oxiana by Robert Byron which was a selection in the Literary Club last year.

From Goodreads:

Over the course of her long, prolific career, Agatha Christie gave the world a wealth of ingenious whodunits and page-turning locked-room mysteries featuring Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, and a host of other unforgettable characters. She also gave us Come, Tell Me How You Live, a charming, fascinating, and wonderfully witty nonfiction account of her days on an archaeological dig in Syria with her husband, renowned archeologist Max Mallowan. Something completely different from arguably the best-selling author of all time, Come, Tell Me How You Live is an evocative journey to the fascinating Middle East of the 1930s that is sure to delight Dame Agatha’s millions of fans, as well as aficionados of Elizabeth Peters’s Amelia Peabody mysteries and eager armchair travelers everywhere.

[CRussel]

Just finished listening to Endgames, by L.E. Modesitt, Jr. This appears to be the last of the Imager series, bringing the back story up to just before the start of the first book in the series, Imager. The series has some annoying features, but is still compelling enough that I kept reading it, and part of that is the excellent narration throughout by William Dufries.

Currently reading Oathbound, by Mercedes Lackey. It's not as good as I remember (not surprising), and the narration is no better than adequate. But it's a good book to swim to.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Just finished listening to Endgames, by L.E. Modesitt, Jr. This appears to be the last of the Imager series, bringing the back story up to just before the start of the first book in the series, Imager. The series has some annoying features, but is still compelling enough that I kept reading it, and part of that is the excellent narration throughout by William Dufries.

Currently reading Oathbound, by Mercedes Lackey. It's not as good as I remember (not surprising), and the narration is no better than adequate. But it's a good book to swim to.

Oathbound isn't really one of the Mercedes Lackey books that I re-read much. She churning out a lot of books over the space of a few years (1988-1991). It wasn't bad, but kind of formula writing.

Have you listened to the Heralds of Valdemar series? That was released last year with the same reader. I thought she was pretty good in those books. Much better than the original reader who did Arrows of the Queen a while back (they redid it with the new reader last year)

Looks like she's making an effort to get her books out as audiobooks. I hadn't realized those books were out. If I recall correctly, the books were more a series of interconnected novella's with each book having a couple of novella's together rather than each book being one continuous story. It does strike me as the sort of listen that would be suited to picking up and putting down.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Just finished listening to Endgames, by L.E. Modesitt, Jr. This appears to be the last of the Imager series, bringing the back story up to just before the start of the first book in the series, Imager. The series has some annoying features, but is still compelling enough that I kept reading it, and part of that is the excellent narration throughout by William Dufries.

Currently reading Oathbound, by Mercedes Lackey. It's not as good as I remember (not surprising), and the narration is no better than adequate. But it's a good book to swim to.

I notice that Oathbound is $8 right now. I assume it's because I bought the ebook at one point via Amazon. Also, the latest Safehold book Through Fiery Trials is the same price. That's cheap enough for me to five Oathbound a shot and to add Through Fiery Trials to my collection as well. The downside to the Safehold book is they have a new narrator, Jonathan Davis. Can't say that I've heard of him.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

The downside to the Safehold book is they have a new narrator, Jonathan Davis. Can't say that I've heard of him.

The reviews have been abysmal for Davis. Apparently there is no continuity of accent or pronunciation. Readers are panning him. So, I've got the book, but I'm not likely to listen to it, but will wait until I can download from the library.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by CRussel

The reviews have been abysmal for Davis. Apparently there is no continuity of accent or pronunciation. Readers are panning him. So, I've got the book, but I'm not likely to listen to it, but will wait until I can download from the library.

Could simply be because Oliver Wyman did most of the other books and he's one of the best, IMPO. Quite a few readers would pale in comparison and anytime you are use to a specific reader, anyone else can sound wrong. Or it could be that the audiobook was $8 rather than $50 because the reader stank.

[haertig]

I just started listening to Storm Front, the first book of The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. The narrator is James Marsters. This is the first book I've tried from this author.

After only hearing the first 5 minutes of this audiobook, I've already formed an opinion that this narrator is great, and that the book will be very enjoyable. I hope I am not disappointed. But my first impressions are very good, even though I don't know anything about the plot or story or characters yet. That narrator grabbed me from his first word!

[SeaBookGuy]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

I'm glad to see you posting again, SeaBookGuy. I have enjoyed your recommendations in the past. I just put this one on-hold at my library and am looking forward to listening to it.

Wow - thanks!

I haven't been reading much in the way of ebooks lately, and when I did it was on my Kindle Fire tablet. However, I finally broke down recently and purchased a refurbished Paperwhite 4, so decided to come back here to learn more about the Kindle scene in general.

Funny you should mention the House with the Clock in its Walls, as I recently listened to a later book in the series The Letter, The Witch and the Ring, which featured Rose Rita (Lewis is largely absent). George Guidall is a great narrator here, but owing to the popularity of the recent Clock movie, the audio book for that one has a significant hold queue. I'm considering using an Audible credit for it, but the cheapskate in me is holding out for now.

I'm also going through John Bellairs' series featuring Johnny Dixon as library ebooks; a bit heavy on the religious aspect, but otherwise entertaining. Tried the first Anthony Monday story, which was okay, but no interest in the others.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by haertig

I just started listening to Storm Front, the first book of The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. The narrator is James Marsters. This is the first book I've tried from this author.

After only hearing the first 5 minutes of this audiobook, I've already formed an opinion that this narrator is great, and that the book will be very enjoyable. I hope I am not disappointed. But my first impressions are very good, even though I don't know anything about the plot or story or characters yet. That narrator grabbed me from his first word!

All I can say is that the Dresden Files is one of my favorite audiobook series and I've listened to most of them multiple times over the years. Marsters is an actor, best knows as Spike on Buffy the Vampire Slayer back in the 90's.

[orlok]

Listening to (and talking at) Collins Easy Learning Audio Course: Complete French. Went to Paris for our anniversary a week ago, and have decided to brush up on my schoolboy French. Wrong way round, I know - should have done the learning before going, but better late than never.

[CRussel]

I have no schoolboy French, and worse, I now live in a country where it is one of two official languages. My French is limited to some basic restaurant menu French, but I've been promising myself I would spend some time at least trying to learn a little more.

[CRussel]

Also, currently listening to Blott on the Landscape, from Tom Sharpe, read by Hercule Poirot. (Well, OK, read by David Suchet.)

So far, positively delightful. I'm quite enjoying it.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by CRussel

I have no schoolboy French, and worse, I now live in a country where it is one of two official languages. My French is limited to some basic restaurant menu French, but I've been promising myself I would spend some time at least trying to learn a little more.

I did wonder, with you living in Canada now, whether you'd learned the lingo. If you are looking for an audiobook, please avoid (like the plague) Learn French Fast for Beginners by Mark Noble, Paul Frobose. I made the mistake of buying this one first - 26 reviews, all 5 star. Here's my (1 star) review that I left at Audible:

This does not teach you how to speak French!

I cannot for the life of me understand all the 5 star reviews for this book, and statements such as “best French lesson ever”. All this audiobook does (for 3 tedious hours) is take random words and repeat them, with their English translation, 3 times in a row, then move on to the next random word. No context. No use of the word in a sentence. That is NOT teaching anyone HOW to speak a language. Might be useful to add to your vocabulary, but it will not help a novice to speak French in any meaningful way. And do I really need to know that Okay spoken with a French accent is Okay in English. Or that Putain means Whore?

Can you tell I’m annoyed by the misleading blurb and reviews...?

I returned that one to Audible for a credit refund very swiftly.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by orlok

Listening to (and talking at) Collins Easy Learning Audio Course: Complete French. Went to Paris for our anniversary a week ago, and have decided to brush up on my schoolboy French. Wrong way round, I know - should have done the learning before going, but better late than never.

I'll be interested to hear if you recommend this. Brushing up on my schoolgirl French is something I'd like to do, but I never get around to committing to it.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by orlok

I did wonder, with you living in Canada now, whether you'd learned the lingo. If you are looking for an audiobook, please avoid (like the plague) Learn French Fast for Beginners by Mark Noble, Paul Frobose. I made the mistake of buying this one first - 26 reviews, all 5 star. Here's my (1 star) review that I left at Audible:



I returned that one to Audible for a credit refund very swiftly.

I have the Pimsler course from an earlier sale on Audible. I might give them a try.

Charlie.