What are we listening to? (audiobooks)

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by taosaur

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that character has been introduced, and I groaned a bit recognizing the super-Hitler trope from Nantucket. The premise of Dies the Fire is that the same moment in 1998 that Nantucket disappeared, electricity and combustion (including gunpowder) stopped working everywhere else, the combination of which strongly suggests some kind of alien test or experiment, but I doubt we'll get an explanation. That said, the non-Hitler characters are great, and Stirling's exploration of the scenario is compelling so far even if he stays well clear of "mind blowing" possibilities.

As for Correia, reading more of his work and learning of his role in Sad Puppies did shed some new light on that fiasco and the likely role of the Dunning Kruger Effect in driving the whole thing (particularly given MHI's semi-autobiographical "We swear he's super smart!" protagonist), but going any farther in that direction takes us into verboten P&R territory. Everything I've read from him so far is solid 3-star pulp, perfectly entertaining, but the idea that it deserves awards in addition to the massive licensing deals (Monster Hunter is a hugely successful video game franchise) is delusional.

Agreed that Oliver Wyman did a great job with the material. The narrator for Dies the Fire is solid overall, but has some odd pronunciations, including RAY-shun for ration or rationing, which comes up often in the early going.

If you are a shooter, you might recognize the protagonist, i.e. accountants carrying a few extra pounds who like to shoot, have fantasies about being the hero and get the girl away from the rich super smarmy guy. The chicks with glasses are hot line was a dead give away. Yea, it's a pulp in the classic sense. Right now, I get the impression that Corriea has Honor Harrington syndrome, in that he's gotten a bit bored with it, but it's a very lucrative franchise and he doesn't know how to wrap it up. The last couple don't quite have that sense of fun that the first ones did.

[Catlady]

I just finished Sarah Langan's Good Neighbors, excellently narrated by Nicole Lewis. Wow.

I've read a couple of Langan's previous horror novels; Good Neighbors is horror of a subtler sort, with a Shirley Jackson vibe. Here, the monsters are the human inhabitants of suburban Maple Street (yes, there's an echo of the notable Twilight Zone episode "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street"), whose new neighbors don't fit in.

Best novel of the 2021 so far, supplanting Sarah Pearse's Sanatorium.

[issybird]

I’m still enjoying Cousin Bette. I’ve added Simenon’s The Blue Room, one of his romans durs, read by Jack Hawkins and it’s terrific. Only four hours and I found that I only let myself listen to so much at a time, so as not to finish it too rapidly.

[SeaBookGuy]

I'm a couple of hours into Louis Bayard's Courting Mr. Lincoln, which is moving slower than I'd like, but the alternating point-of-view between Mary Todd and Joshua Speed looks be be... interesting.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by SeaBookGuy

I'm a couple of hours into Louis Bayard's Courting Mr. Lincoln, which is moving slower than I'd like, but the alternating point-of-view between Mary Todd and Joshua Speed looks be be... interesting.

I ended up abandoning that. Not necessarily for all time, but I also found it dragged enough that it wasn’t the right book at that moment for me.

[SeaBookGuy]

Originally Posted by issybird

I ended up abandoning that. Not necessarily for all time, but I also found it dragged enough that it wasn’t the right book at that moment for me.

I hear you - it's not exactly a slog, but...

[CRussel]

Listening to the latest Liam Campbell mystery from Dana Stabenow, Spoils of the Dead. Narrated by Margarite Gavin, who does her usual superb job. The book is looking like a 3-4 star, but the narration is solid 5 star.

[SeaBookGuy]

Also doing a re-listen to the Flavia Albia series by Lindsey Davis (Ides of April). I recall reading Hesperides in print, as the one-time reader for it was awful. The others are fine.

[issybird]

I’m listening to Yogi by Jon Pessah, read by Oliver Wyman, the recent biography of the baseball great (who else?). This has been on my wishlist since I read a review and I’d rather have read it, but it only finally showed up in one of my libraries and only in audio.

Unfortunately, this would be a better read for me. At over 20 hours, it’s too long for a baseball bio and there’s lots of padding. Reading, I could have skipped the account of D-Day, just as one example. And part of what makes good baseball books good is their perspective of the zeitgeist and this is shallow. The prose is pretty dire. But I always like to read a baseball book during spring training and this is entertaining enough for listening to in bed, mostly because Yogi, who doesn’t like him? But it’s a disappointment overall.

Time to go pour myself some Yoo-hoo.

[WT Sharpe]

Just finished The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera (read by Richmond Hoxie) and a reread of the first two Sherlock Holmes novels (A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four, read by Stephen Fry).

Started The Metamorphoses by Ovid (really liking that one—it's the Horace Gregory translation read by Charlton Griffin), and Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart (read by Christina Moore).

[Catlady]

I listened to Come Fly the World by Julia Cooke, narrated by Andi Arndt. This was a breezy, interesting view of the stewardesses of Pan Am in the jet age, telling the broader story by focusing on a handful of women and their experiences, including flying soldiers in and out of Vietnam and evacuating children as the war ended.

Now I feel like watching the TV series Pan Am again, or maybe reading a Vicki Barr book!

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I listened to Come Fly the World by Julia Cooke, narrated by Andi Arndt. This was a breezy, interesting view of the stewardesses of Pan Am in the jet age, telling the broader story by focusing on a handful of women and their experiences, including flying soldiers in and out of Vietnam and evacuating children as the war ended.

Now I feel like watching the TV series Pan Am again, or maybe reading a Vicki Barr book!

Do you remember Coffee, Tea or Me? which turned out to be written by a man who made it all up?

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by issybird

Do you remember Coffee, Tea or Me? which turned out to be written by a man who made it all up?

Yes, I remember reading a paperback copy; the book is discussed in Come Fly the World.

[Tarana]

I'm listening to The Fine Art of Murder by Donald Bain and narrated by Sandra Burr. I still enjoy this cozy mystery series. Very companionable and excellent to listen to while I sort through stuff.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by issybird

Do you remember Coffee, Tea or Me? which turned out to be written by a man who made it all up?

Originally Posted by Tarana

I'm listening to The Fine Art of Murder by Donald Bain and narrated by Sandra Burr. I still enjoy this cozy mystery series. Very companionable and excellent to listen to while I sort through stuff.

Serendipity! Donald Bain is the man who wrote Coffee, Tea or Me?