What are we listening to? (audiobooks)

[Catlady]

Two newly released audiobooks just completed: Megan Abbott's Beware the Woman, narrated by Brittany Pressley, and T.J. Newman's Drowning, narrated by Steven Weber and Laura Benanti.

Megan Abbott is one of my favorite authors, but Beware the Woman missed the mark for me; I appreciated it more than I liked it. It was a departure for Abbott, who started out writing feminine noir, then shifted to the world of teenage girls and female rivalries, and in this book has written a gothic about a pregnant woman and her husband visiting her father-in-law in a cottage in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, without wifi or cell service. Add in an enigmatic Mrs. Danvers-like housekeeper, a roaming mountain lion, and the requisite secrets and lies. I should have loved it, but ...

Drowning, though, was loads of fun: Airport meets The Poseidon Adventure. Soon after takeoff, a commercial plane crashes into the Pacific; most of the passengers meet a fiery death while trying to escape into the water, but a dozen people remain as the aircraft sinks to the bottom, struggling to cope and hoping for rescue. Stock characters in the plane include plucky little girls, a sweet elderly couple, and a troublemaking jerk, and on land we had the one person with a risky rescue plan (who just happened to be the wife of of the the trapped passengers!). It was hokey and derivative and melodramatic, and I enjoyed every minute.

[PlatinumWarlock]

Currently listening to Zero Day Code, by John Birmingham. Narrator Rupert Degas is terrific, and the story is compelling. That said, it's also pretty effing scary... I LOVE (love, love, love) post-apocalyptic, world-is-going-to-hell stories, but this one sounds uncomfortably plausible. It makes me want to build a root cellar in my basement and stock it with gallons of dried beans and rice...

[neil_swann80]

The Eden Paradox

Author: Barry Kirwan
Narrator: Edward Mitchell

Nice little space opera series (4 books).

[Apache]

I have discovered that listening to audiobooks while at work, before I open for business, works better than I thought it would. I am currently listening to The series Corps by W.E.B. Griffin. I am currently on book 7 of 10.
Apache

[DiapDealer]

Finally getting around to listening to Cixin Liu's Three Body Problem. I would have hoped that I might know just the tiniest bit about what's going on by the 6th chapter into Part II, but there's no real worries. It's enjoyable enough. I'm just not picking up on any real impetus behind it all. *shrug*

[ApK]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Finally getting around to listening to Cixin Liu's Three Body Problem. I would have hoped that I might know just the tiniest bit about what's going on by the 6th chapter into Part II, but there's no real worries. It's enjoyable enough. I'm just not picking up on any real impetus behind it all. *shrug*

I read a plot synopsis and got lost halfway through that.

[Apache]

That damn 85% off sale has gotten me in trouble.
Apache

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Apache

That damn 85% off sale has gotten me in trouble.
Apache

I've not gotten in too much trouble (yet), but I'm using the sale to pre-order a few future releases.

[Apache]

It helped a little that I had a $10.00 credit. Damn you now I am going to be looking for my favorite authors for preorders.
Apache

[neil_swann80]

I'm thinking about working through the HP audiobooks again. I've listened to the series narrated by the legendary Stephen Fry, but this time I'll try the "Jim Dale" versions.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by neil_swann80

I'm thinking about working through the HP audiobooks again. I've listened to the series narrated by the legendary Stephen Fry, but this time I'll try the "Jim Dale" versions.

Both are very good, IMO, though I think I slightly preferred Jim Dale. Or would have if he were reading the UK version of the books.

[DiapDealer]

Though it started rather unintentionally, I seem to be on a Pulitzer Prize winning listen as of late. I'm currently reading Trust by Hernan Diaz.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Though it started rather unintentionally, I seem to be on a Pulitzer Prize winning listen as of late. I'm currently reading Trust by Hernan Diaz.

I'll be interested to hear what you think, as I've picked up the ebook but not got to it yet.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by issybird

I'll be interested to hear what you think, as I've picked up the ebook but not got to it yet.

It's early days, but so far so good. Engaging and accessible, with a narrator (Edoardo Ballerini) I've encountered and liked before. There's other narrators listed for what I'm assuming are later sections, but I can't vouch for their skills (Jonathan Davis, Mozhan Marno, Orlagh Cassidy).

[issybird]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

It's early days, but so far so good. Engaging and accessible, with a narrator (Edoardo Ballerini) I've encountered and liked before.

I've liked him, too. Maybe I'll see how long the wait is on OverDrive for the audiobook.

I've just started listening to Thackeray's Barry Lyndon read by Jonathan Keeble, who is new to me. I'm enjoying it so far; I didn't expect it to be so amusing. Oh, and I've also just started Rex Stout's Before Midnight read by Michael Pritchard who does a great job with the Wolfe books. This is my swimming audiobook.