What are we listening to? (audiobooks)

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Thanks. But then I guess I'd have to use any new monthly credits immediately and couldn't accumulate more than the six the monthly plan allows, right?

I have eight credits now and a little over two months till my yearly plan expires.

Correct. You can't exceed 6 unused credits on the standard 1 credit/month plan.

[Catlady]

Probably my strategy should be to use two or three credits, switch to the monthly plan, and then pause the membership.

[taosaur]

I kind of shot myself in the foot thinking I needed to use all my credits up, then decided to keep the $10 plan. I got a couple of good impulse buys that way, but also a couple of duds, and I forgot to grab a couple of things I wanted. I'll probably jump back on the two credit plan in a month or two.

[HLS]

I use ebooks as a tool to get thew books faster. Allows me to multi task when I can not sit in one spot to read. I am listening and reading The Andromeda Strain and Red Dragon.

[pwalker8]

Finished up Quest for Lost Heroes. Highly recommended as I've said in the past, the combination of story and narrator really matches each other nicely.

Next up is Revenge of the Damned, book 5 in the Sten series by Alan Cole and Chris Bunch. This is a series that I really liked and book 5 is probably my favorite of the series. Oddly, I had worked my way through the first four books several years ago, then the rest of the series disappeared from audible for a number of years. I'm not sure why, but when I noticed this book was available again, I bought it and it's finally percolated it's way back up to the top of my to be listened to list.

[Apache]

I just started Pacific Glory by P. T. Deutermann. So far this is a very well done audio book. I have read the novel three times and decided to try it in Audio. The action is gripping. Highly recommended.
Apache

[CRussel]

I just finished a complete re-read(listen) to the entire Foreigner series from CJ Cherryh. An amazing series, and really superb narration by Daniel Thomas May. Highly recommended, though it's definitely one of those series where it is best to start at the beginning.

Now reading The Black Wolves of Boston, by Wen Spencer. Unfortunately, the narration of this otherwise fun and funny book uses different readers for each chapter, where each chapter has a different one of the four main characters narrating from their point of view. I understand why four different readers are used, and it was an interesting idea. But ultimately, it doesn't work. It could be that the readers are just not first tier readers, but I think it's just too jarring. OTOH, I'm enjoying the book.

[ElspethB]

I'm about two thirds of the way through listening to Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, narrated by Martin Jarvis. I read the book about 15 years ago and decided to listen to the audio version to refresh my memory before the Amazon Prime miniseries launches.

While the story is as good as I remembered (and the little jokes about Queen seem more timely now than ever), I am disappointed by Martin Jarvis. His regular narrator voice is acceptable, but his female characters are awful. Even worse, his portrayal of Adam Young, the 11-year-old Antichrist, is wretched. As written, Adam is bright, charismatic, and a natural leader of his little gang. Above all, he is a child. Yet Jarvis' stuffy, stilted reading makes him sound like Thurston Howell III. It makes me cringe every time I hear it.

[haertig]

Originally Posted by ElspethB

I'm about two thirds of the way through listening to Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, narrated by Martin Jarvis....

...I am disappointed by Martin Jarvis.

There is a different audiobook version, that is done as a BBC "radio play". Maybe this might be more to your liking? I haven't listened to this version yet, but it's on my list of things to do.

https://www.overdrive.com/media/3032079/good-omens

[issybird]

Originally Posted by ElspethB

While the story is as good as I remembered (and the little jokes about Queen seem more timely now than ever), I am disappointed by Martin Jarvis. His regular narrator voice is acceptable, but his female characters are awful. Even worse, his portrayal of Adam Young, the 11-year-old Antichrist, is wretched. As written, Adam is bright, charismatic, and a natural leader of his little gang. Above all, he is a child. Yet Jarvis' stuffy, stilted reading makes him sound like Thurston Howell III. It makes me cringe every time I hear it.

I loved Martin Jarvis' narration of a Just William book, but I can't remember the particulars.

I've just finished Very Good, Jeeves read by Jonathan Cecil. It was a difficult adjustment but now it's official; Cecil has beat out Frederick Davidson as my favorite Wodehouse narrator. (And in part because his women's voices are not Davidson's strong point.)

I'm coming into the end zone with Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi read by Grover Gardner who's entirely persuasive as the voice of Twain. Twain can certainly turn a phrase, but the book is uneven; interesting segments are interspersed by dull ones and there are too many tall yarns for my taste. But then there are penetrating bits such as the analysis of the damage Sir Walter Scott did to the South that I find entirely persuasive.

[ElspethB]

Originally Posted by haertig

There is a different audiobook version, that is done as a BBC "radio play". Maybe this might be more to your liking? I haven't listened to this version yet, but it's on my list of things to do.

https://www.overdrive.com/media/3032079/good-omens

Thanks, but I prefer listening to unabridged books rather than dramatizations.

I understand that Audible UK has a version of Good Omens narrated by Stephen Briggs. Unfortunately, that one isn't available across the pond.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by issybird

I've just finished Very Good, Jeeves read by Jonathan Cecil. It was a difficult adjustment but now it's official; Cecil has beat out Frederick Davidson as my favorite Wodehouse narrator. (And in part because his women's voices are not Davidson's strong point.)

I just bought two Jeeves books in AudibleUK's 2for1 sale, though I haven't had time to listen to them yet. Both are Jonathan Cecil narrations. Looking forward to it.

Meanwhile, I started reading Wen Spencer's A Brother's Price, narrated by Travis Baldree. I read this in eBook format several years ago, and while I remember the premise, the details are long gone. It will be interesting to listen to it, though so far the narration is only adequate. We'll see if it improves. (FWIW, I often find that with a new narrator it takes a bit to get my ear used to them. So, as long as they aren't awful, I expect it to improve as I get further into the book. )

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by CRussel

I just bought two Jeeves books in AudibleUK's 2for1 sale, though I haven't had time to listen to them yet. Both are Jonathan Cecil narrations. Looking forward to it.

Meanwhile, I started reading Wen Spencer's A Brother's Price, narrated by Travis Baldree. I read this in eBook format several years ago, and while I remember the premise, the details are long gone. It will be interesting to listen to it, though so far the narration is only adequate. We'll see if it improves. (FWIW, I often find that with a new narrator it takes a bit to get my ear used to them. So, as long as they aren't awful, I expect it to improve as I get further into the book. )

I think that narrators can sometimes take a couple of chapters to get into a rhythm.

[Catlady]

I listened to An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen. I mostly liked it, though not quite as much as their previous collaboration (The Wife Between Us). Here, a young woman becomes part of a psychological study on morality; it's told in two voices, the subject and the doctor, and uses two narrators, Julia Whelan and Barrie Kreinik respectively.

The authors did something I'm not sure I've seen before--the sections narrated by the doctor relentlessly use passive voice (e.g, sentences like The coat was put in the closet, rather than I put the coat in the closet). It's annoying as hell, but it does fit the character, who is remote; more than that, she creates situations in which others act rather than taking action herself. So I understand why they did it, but I think the choice hurt the flow of the narrative.

[issybird]

Tom Sharpe is an old favorite of mine, but this is the first time I've listened to him on audio; Blott on the Landscape read by David Suchet. Most enjoyable; the dialogue in particular translates well. As funny as I remember it and an excellent listen.