Audiobooks

Welcome old friends to the 2021 Audiobooks thread. This is our 3rd year discussing what we love to listen to. Thank you for coming along for the ride.

What are you looking forward to listening to?

At the moment, I've been waiting (on hold at the library) for The Crossing Places / Elly Griffiths. Waiting for a couple of weeks but had hoped whoever currently has it out would finish with it sooner. Sigh. (I did listen to a short 3 hour one for a couple of days, but am - once again - currently without.)

"The Crossing Places" will fit a January challenge for me, anyway, but I hate being in between audios!

I recently started Dickens' Little Dorrit, read by Simon Vance. This will be a long project, as there are 25 CDs.

I will be listening to An American Marriage soon.

I've cued up A Legacy of Spies, by John le Carré, read by Tom Hollander.

I received an Audible gift card for Christmas, so I purchased the following and am anxious to choose my next "listen":

The Librarian of Auschwitz
Cold Mountain
The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris
The Book of Eels
Owls of the Eastern Ice
The Personal History of Rachel Dupree

I'm currently listening to The Once and Future King, it's a big listen so I'll be continuing through the New Year.

I'm going to start the year off with listening to Enter Three Witches by Caroline Cooney. This is a YA story based on Macbeth.

Happy New Year everyone! I'm currently listening to The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande. I'm about three quarters through it. I like it. I have requested Peace Talks by Jim Butcher from the library. I also have from the library, Fierce, Free and Full of Fire by Jen Hatmaker. It's a book club read and I'm lukewarm about it right now.

Hey everyone. Hope the new year will be better for all of us.

Currently listening to The Long Way Home by Louise Penny. Well read as always by Ralph Cosham.

I'm listening to Battle Ground by Jim Butcher, narrated by the fabulous James Marsters (for Buffy fans, he plays Spike!).

I've listened to An American Marriage, Over Sea, Under Stone, and In a Free State. Off to a good start for audios this year.

>11 Crazymamie: Mamie: I love Marsters, but hearing him without the fake British accent weirds me out. Now, if he were to play Spike reading novels to me, well, that's...another story. *sigh*

I'm listening to Silas Marner just now and should be finished in the next couple of days.

I am currently listening to The Son by Phlipp Meyers. The narrators are Will Patton, Kate Mulgrew, Scott Shepherd, and Clifton Collins, Jr. Audio book is 17 hrs 48 mins. It's a Western. Author is trying to capture the "mythology of the creation of America". He believes that the cowboy is our creation myth. It is really a family saga covering 3 generations.

>13 scaifea: This made me laugh! I would pay for those audiobooks, and listen to them over and over again.

>13 scaifea: Mamie: I love Marsters, but hearing him without the fake British accent weirds me out. Now, if he were to play Spike reading novels to me, well, that's...another story. *sigh*

LOL! I kind of have to agree with this! It's just not the same without the accent!

>16 LibraryCin: Right!? It's the same for me with Alexis Denisof (he played Wesley on both Buffy and Angel, as you likely know): his actual American accent sounds *so* strange.

>17 scaifea: Oh, I don't know if I've heard him speak without the British accent! Did I know he's American!? I'm not sure I did - LOL!

I hope everyone's new year is going well. I had Peace Talks in from the library via Overdrive and I missed it. They skipped me and I have one more chance at it. Now, I'm checking everyday. I decided to DNF the Hatmaker book. She is too much for me right now and I have enough non-fiction on my plate that I want to listen to. I'm about 3/4 of the way through Driven to Distraction by Ned Hallowell. It's a slog in places but I suppose that is necessary. There are multiple tables, lists, criteria and symptoms to discuss relevant to ADHD. It is mostly helpful. He has a new book out. I saw his YouTube video about it. He says it is much more concise. I may give it a listen to, but I want to listen to a book on sleep before that. I borrowed The Earl I Ruined by Scarlett Peckham from Hoopla. I listened to the first book The Duke I Tempted during the summer when I had Audible Romance. I don't like the main character very much, but we will see. I wanted some brain candy to balance out the non-fiction and school. This should still do.

Hoping you get Peace Talks soon, Roberta, and be ready to want to go right into the next installment. I finished Battle Ground by Jim Butcher, narrated by James Marsters. Oof. As the title suggests, there is lots of battle going on. A little too much battle for me, but the story is good and I am excited to see where Butcher takes us next with Harry Dresden.

Next up on audio will be Dead I May Well Be by Adrain McKinty, narrated by Gerard Doyle. I absolutely LOVE McKinty's Sean Duffy series on audio, so I have decided to try another of his that is narrated by the same narrator. Both series are crime fiction set in Ireland. Seriously, if you have not read any of the Sean Duffy books, and you are a fan of crime fiction, give them a try. The first is The Cold, Cold Ground - police procedural set in Ireland in the time of the Troubles. I dare you not to fall in love with the main character.

>20 Crazymamie: Dead I May Well Be and the other two titles in the trilogy are a couple of my all-time favorites in audiobooks! They are a bit grittier but also much more poetic than the Sean Duffy series... and yes, Gerard Doyle absolutely nails them! :-)

>21 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I am very excited to read this!

>20 Crazymamie: Mamie my copy of Peace Talks came in today. I'm still on nightshift. I will start on Sunday when I've had a day to recover and switch back to days. I took your advice and requested a copy of Battle Ground. Library says 10 weeks. I imagine it might be sooner, but at least it's requested. I love a good police procedural and I haven't really read one in a long time. I will look into this series as well as the Sean Duffy series. Thanks for that!

>21 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Good to see you here! It feels as if the 2021 thread is official now.

>23 luvamystery65: Hi! It's good to be back! I had been a little freaked out that my listening mojo had been damaged after 2020; so I'm taking it slow on my "road to listening recovery"! Unfortunately, I started Ministry for the Future in audio and oh, boy. I adore Kim Stanley Robinson for his intelligent writing and this is no exception. KSR takes the concept of "ideology" as a tool to shape the topic of climate change. The book is speculative fiction: Climate change has now reached the point of climate crises and we see how idealogical approaches to resolve the issue are working... or not. But man, the audiobook is terrible: The narrator voicing the main character of Mary Murphy performs with such and exaggerated Irish accent/brogue, it would be comical if it weren't embarrassing. The only place you hear an accent like that is in noir-y B-movies where the cops all sing Danny boy in their beers. Then too, the other narrators (this is a multi-voice audio) are so un-differentiated in style and tone that you have to pay very close attention to the material to denote a change in the section or POV. You aren't going to get an auditory cue otherwise. And finally, the mispronunciations are egregious: "recognizance" is pronounced "recognize ants", "Army Corps" as "Army Corpse", "diaspora"... and so many others. I'll finish up the audio because I'm too cheap to buy yet another edition of the book, but I would recommend the title strongly-- just in print.

I just finished Furiously Happy / Jenny Lawson (4 stars - I laughed out loud!).

Have just started a book for one of my Feb challenges already: The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter / Theodora Goss.

After that will be Helter Skelter / Vincent Bugliosi (a reread for me... from decades ago! First read in high school, this time will be via audio).

I also hope to get to (in Feb), another reread from high school, this time on audio: The Stranger Beside Me / Ann Rule. I may or may not get to this one, though.

>25 LibraryCin:, I read The Strange Case of the Alchemist daughter last year and really liked it. Look forward to your thoughts.

I finished my “hate-listen” of Ministry for the Future (by Kim Stanley Robinson). I loved the book but the audio was one of the worst professionally produced audiobooks I’ve encountered in decades of listening. I’m just stunned that a title with such a high profile wasn’t handled better.

Finished listening to Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake, read by Simon Vance. He did a great job. This is a fantasy, gothic novel.

I'm still listening to A Legacy of Spies but wanted to pop in to mention that a new audiobook of The Hobbit is available, narrated by Andy Serkis! I bought it on my Libro.fm subscription :)

I’ve started So Cold the River (by Michael Kortya; narrated by Robert Petkoff). I picked this up a couple of years ago on the recommendation of an audiobook blogger. We were exchanging all-time personal favorites... Anyway, I got it without knowing anything about it other than it was in their “Audiobook Pantheon”. For whatever reason, I thought this was a mystery/thriller but it seems to have a supernatural, perhaps even a horror element to it! A failed filmmaker heads out to the West Baden hotel & casino where the subject of his next film assignment ostensibly grew up.
Robert Petkoff sounds much younger, smoother and blander than I remember; but it’s been a few years and, it’s not a deal-breaker by any measure (I think I was just surprised not to hear his “bark & growl”!)

I have a lot of audios on the deck for February. Currently listening to The Glass Bead Game by Herman Hesse narrated by David Colacci. And A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum.

Have I mentioned lately how much I love Luke Daniels and Simon Vance as narrators? Gosh, they both do a great job of differentiating characters. Currently listening to Simon read The Blinding White.

>32 majkia: I love Luke Daniels narration of the Iron Druid Books!

>25 LibraryCin: And I repeat! (Ugh!) Well, not sure if I've ever said it here (but it's possible) - why do they bother to abridge audio books!?

"Helter Skelter" came in for me and it turns out is abridged. I checked and so is "The Stranger Beside Me".

I'm probably going to listen to them both, anyway, since I'm certain I won't have time to read the (e)books. I guess this way, I'll get to them both (I had assumed I'd probably only have time for one).

However, it may still mean I reread the actual book at some point, as well.

>34 LibraryCin: In complete agreement regarding the 'ugh' for abridged audiobooks. Especially if the unabridged version isn't really that long - I'm glaring at you, Boston Public library abridged Georgette Heyer audiobooks!

I finished Muriel Spark's The Bachelors narrated by Nadia May. Dark humor (as expected from Spark) - good but not one of best books. 3.5* for the book & 4* for this audiobook edition.

>7 avatiakh: I have the audiobook narrated by Neville Jason- I loved the book when I'd read it a couple years ago, so this might be a good way to revisit it! I hope you had a nice new year's :)

What are we listening to?

Checking in with everyone. I finished Peace Talks by Jim Butcher and have my library copy of Battle Ground by Jim Butcher. I liked Peace Talks. I think it moved Harry's story forward. I made a note on my thread that I was surprised James Marsters changed Carlos Ramirez accent in Peace Talks, but it looks like we are back to the Spanish accent in Battle Ground. Why James? Carlos is from California! That's my nitpick, but otherwise, Marsters is stellar in his narration and choices. I've also started Dust and Shadows by Lyndsay Faye, narrated by Simon Vance. I will follow that up with The Five by Hallie Rubenhold. It's about the victims of Jack the Ripper. I've been wanting to read/listen to this and since Dust and Shadows is about Sherlock Holmes and the Ripper murders, it seems like a good time.

>32 majkia: Another fan of Luke Daniels and Simon Vance! I met Luke Daniels at one of Kevin Hearne's signings. Such a treat. I actually met them at the bar across the street from the bookstore. I had not realized he was meeting Hearne in Houston for the signing since he was doing a play in Austin. They were both really nice and chatted with me and my friend.

>35 leslie.98: Every time I see Nadia May's name I immediately hear her as Queen Lucia. She was perfection as Lucia.

>37 luvamystery65: lol - I listened to that audiobook too but I have now heard May narrate such a variety of books that she no longer reminds me of Lucia.

Finished the audio of The Glass Bead Game by Herman Hesse narrated by David Colacci. Now listening to Sherlock Holmes by: Arthur Conan Doyle , Stephen Fry - introductions, narrated by Stephen Fry. I switched to The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes narrated by Derek Jacobi because I discovered that the one read by Fry was not the one I needed to read for 1001 Books.

I'm still working on A Legacy of Spies but am also listening to One Game at a Time, written and read by Harnarayan Singh, one of the commentators on Hockey Night in Punjabi. Apparently hockey memoirs are my new thing, even though I don't really watch hockey.

I was in the mood for a soothing comfort read and so I have started to listen to Miss Clare Remembers by Miss Read. The narrator, Gwen Watson, is perfect for this book, and I am enjoying listening to Miss Clare's memories.

I finished up So Cold the River (by Michael Koryta; narrated by Robert Petkoff) - Ultimately, it is a solid story, just not a great horror story. Lots of local lore, history and, weather; but despite the presence of ghosts and other supernatural elements, it just isn't very creepy.

I've started The Good Girl (by Mary Kubica; narrated by Lindy Nettleton, Johnny Heller and Tom Taylorson). -This book came out a few years ago when Gone Girl (by Gillian Flynn) was all the rage. I didn't read either at the time, but thought I would knock this one out this week. It's about a young woman who was kidnapped and returned, but without her memory. The story is told from three points of view: The mother, the investigating police detective and, the kidnapper. It's keeping my interest at a solid "4-star" level; but the final rating will depend on how it wraps up!

>41 DeltaQueen50: I should see if the Miss Read books are available in audiobook at my library. They would make great listens with a good narrator. I've been thinking I'd like to re-read the Fairacre and Thrush Green books.

>43 thornton37814: There are a number that have been released as audios so I hope your library has some, Lori.

>44 DeltaQueen50: Looks like I have access to 3 of the Thrush Green titles and one Fairacre in audio.

I've been listening to The Burning White a tome indeed. Simon Vance is, per usual, wonderful.

I finished up The Good Girl (by Mary Kubica; narrated by Lindy Nettleton, Johnny Heller, Tom Taylorson and Andi Arndt) - I knew going in that this book probably had an unreliable narrator; but I spent so much time trying to figure out who was "lying" that I didn't see the end coming! There's a part of me that's hung up on the logic in the denouement but overall, the story left me with a bit of a book hangover-- so a solid four-star rating! I wasn't crazy about Lindy Nettleton's and Johnny Heller's performances. Seemingly perfect for their respective roles as the older characters (British-born mother of the kidnapped girl and the lead detective from Chicago), they still somehow don't fully inhabit their characters and in the latter case, don't seem to be as gentle in nature as the writing indicates. Tom Taylorson and Andi Arndt however, feel pitch perfect in their roles of kidnapper and "kidnappee". Maybe one of these days I'll grab a print copy of the book, take another look at the end and, bump up the rating another half-star if the niggling question I have is satisfactorily explained.

>47 Tanya-dogearedcopy:, read that last year (listened). Nice review.

I am just about finished Pale Rider / Laura Spinney. It's about the Spanish Flu.

Next up will the The Tao of Martha / Jen Lancaster.

Hello everyone! I'm listening to False Value by Ben Aaronovitch and The Five by Hallie Rubenhold.

What are we listening to?

I hope everyone is well. I have been listening to the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. They are narrated by Kevin R. Free. The series is delightful and Free is perfect for this series. I decided this year that I would peek into the various CAT and Kits to see if I found some fun new reads and I'm glad I did. Also, I finally started Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker.

Currently listening to the boring:
The Richest Woman in America / Janet Wallach

Am almost done.

After that will be a book club book:
A Piece of the World / Christina Baker Kline

I am currently listening to Uprooted by Naomi Novik. Enjoying it!

Finished One Game at a Time, by Harnarayan Singh, read by the author. I particularly enjoyed the glossary of common terms on Hockey Night in Punjabi. I did find I had to up the speed to 1.25x, which I've never done before! But the book was good.

Next up in audio will be good old Doctor Who: The Fourth Doctor: The Lost Stories, by Robert Banks Stewart and Philip Hinchcliffe, performed by Tom Baker and Louise Jameson.

>53 Kristelh: I have the print book, but I'll also be reading it this month!

I recently finished the audiobook edition of Red Rising by Pierce Brown, narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds. Now I am rereading/relistening to John Lee's narration of The Three Musketeers - one of my favorite books!

>56 leslie.98: I just listened to The Three Musketeers, narrated by John Lee a few weeks ago and loved it! I'm now thinking about some more Alexandre Dumas but haven't quite settled on one yet. Perhaps, The Man in the Iron Mask?

>57 Tanya-dogearedcopy: That is a good one! A shorter book that I liked was The Black Tulip narrated by Rosalyn Landor.

Well, i I need to do a little buit of catching up!

Beau Geste (by Percival Christopher Wren; narrated by Geoffrey Howard). When I started this one for the GenreCAT March Challenge, "Action & Adventure", I only dimly recalled a parody version from the 1970s, ‘The Last Remake of Beau Geste‘ but I‘ve always wanted to read this Classic tale of the French Foreign Legion. This edition is narrated by the late Geoffrey Howard and opens with a rather macabre scene at the outpost and with a double mystery: What happened at this fort in the middle of the desert? And who stole the Blue Water? Sadly, as intriguing & action-packed as it is, and as wonderful as the narrator is, it is also a dated tale where honor & chivalry look like snobbishness, racism and misogyny now.

I also listened to "Unspoken" (written and narrated by Luke Daniels for Audible). This is a three-hour-or-so recording of a piece the narrator wrote about the short (21-months) life of his son. I learned a little about the narrator, what happened to his son and, I cried. It's not the best structured story and you can feel how lost the narrator still is five years later, but I'm glad I took the time to listen.

After much back-and-forth dithering, I've decided to start A Slanting of the Sun (by Donal Ryan; narrated by Wayne Farrell) - This is a short story collection that take space in Tipperary, Ireland. When I started, I forgot that is was a stand-alone collection of shorts, so my brain was in overdrive trying to make connections not only to each story but to two other novels that Ryan has published. Once I did a quick check though, I'm above to just let the author's words soak into me. The narrator takes on all voices/POVs; but doesn't get in the way of the way of the story as you might suspect (i.e. when he tells the story from a female POV). Beautiful writing, but about tragic topics. I should wrap this one up in a couple days and it's probably net 4+ stars from me.

I just went on a bit of a credit-spending binge at Audible, surprising myself when I saw that I had loaded up on NF biographies:
• Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson (by Robert Caro; narrated by Grover Gardner - All three parts!
• King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa (by Adam Hoschshild; narrated by Geoffrey Howard)
• Henry V: The Warrior King of 1415 (by Ian Mortimer; Narrated by James Cameron Stewart)
• Henry IV: The Righteous (by Ian Mortimer; Narrated by James Cameron Stewart)

And, one that's a mystery that I listened and loved a few years ago, went off of Audible and is now back in the offerings:
• Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter: A Novel (by Tom Franklin); narrated by Kevin Kenerly). The review I wrote ten (!) years ago:

Larry Ott is a total loser: a weirdo, a loner and really, really creepy. Then his date "disappears" on him and, while no one can prove it, you just know he's guilty of something nasty. Thirty years later and another local girl disappears and everyone in the small town of Chabot, MS is out for blood. That the Stephen King-reading pervert is still breathing is an injustice...

But everything is not so black-and-white, either figuratively or literally. The concretized legend of Larry Ott is deconstructed, not though a basic linear narrative; but by peeling back the layers of time, attitudes and people to get at the truth. The keel of this story, the line upon which the narrative hangs, is the relationship between Larry Ott, a poor white trash mechanic and; Silas "32" Jones, a black deputy sheriff. Erstwhile childhood friends who allow racism and self interest to divide them, they are forced to confront themselves and each other after a thirty-year estrangement. Courage is required from both men to broker a difficult entente and confront the devil they don't know. This is not a traditional mystery in terms of structure or content. While a straightforward whodunit or police procedural might have been an easy way to tell the story; the sifting of fact from fiction in Chabot, MS is more realistically presented within the context of real time and people's morally complex natures.

Kevin Kenerly narrates Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter with an amazing facility for both white and black characters, and with rich vocal legacies for all. Whether it's the slow and easy cadence of "32," the relatively more nasal qualities of a redneck or, the emotional rhythms of 32's romantic interest, Tom Franklin's characters resonate from the page to the speakers with a lushness that reflects the heat of Mississippi and the tensions of the South.

I hope that when I get around to it, it is as good as I remember!

I'm listening to the third book of Dance to the Music of Time and am not impressed,alas.

>60 majkia: I was reading that for the group read. I struggled through the first and second books. I stopped part way through the third. I won't be continuing with the rest of the 12 books.

And speaking of stopping part way: I was listening to Utopia Avenue. I just wasn't able to get into it; partly due to the story and partly the narrator. Two DNFs in one month. That's a record for me.

>60 majkia:, >61 VioletBramble: Alas, these posts reinforce my idea about why I abandoned reading this series. I did detect some dry humor but mostly my memory of the books was of being bored.

I have been listening to the audiobooks for the trilogy of Red Rising by Pierce Brown. Tim Gerard Reynolds does a wonderful narration but the series was only good, not great. 3* overall now that I have finished the first 3 books... but I will say Brown is a master of the cliffhanger!

>63 leslie.98: I listened to Red Rising a few years ago, but I had a really difficult time imagining the characters. For instance, I thought Darrow was a lot older than he turned out to be and, when I figured it out, I had to drastically re-imagine quite a bit in my mind! Also, I'm not sure if it was the way it was written or the way the narrator performed it, but I also found the plot full of ups and downs, but no overall structure. I always thought I would try again in print and maybe continue, but if the whole of the trilogy rate only a three-star rating from someone who was really into it, I think I'll wait a while!

A couple of days ago (or was it just yesterday?), I finished A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline. (I wasn't a fan.)

Today, I started Bloody Jack / LA Meyer.

Other audios this month:
The Sound and the Fury William Faulkner read by Grover Gardner
The Lost World Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, read by Glen McCready

I listened to A Slanting of the Sun (by Donal Ryan; narrated by Wayne Farrell) this week and started another of the author's titles, From a Low and Quiet Sea (narrated by Vikas Adam, Alana Kerr Collins, Gerard Doyle, Tim Gerard Reynolds and, Alan Smyth). The first is a collection of twenty short stories set in Tipperary, Ireland. At first, I thought the stories were connected both within themselves and to previous Donal offerings, which left me a bit confused. But after double-checking, I saw that the stories are standalone individually and collectively. After that was cleared up, I was able to really get into the stories, each with a tragic note couched in the beautiful, almost lyrical prose. Two stories had me gasping out loud and, the last story, "A Slanting of the Sun" was stunning. Wayne Farrell, who has narrated the author's books in the past, returns to voice multiple POVs of varying ages and genders without dropping into caricature. There were only two stories, both from the POVs of females, where this was surprisingly jarring. (In the past, the narrator had been able to deliver a performance effectively without getting in the way of the text.) Still, an overall strong performance. Four stars easy!

I'm mid-way through From a Low and Quiet Sea and I'm not as taken with this as I was with "ASOTS". It's four short stories and while the first, "Farouk" is capably narrated by Vikas Adam, the second story, "Lampy" is poorly done. I'm not sure which of the narrators tackled this one, but clearly, they had no sense of the poetic quality of the writing or the measured pace of the author. It's just wildly thrown out there! I'll wrap this one up today or tomorrow and see if the other narrators can save this from a three-star rating

>66 Kristelh: LOL, I went though a Southern Gothic phase when I was pregnant all those many years ago and, listened to this recording! I remember starting The Sound and the Fury, stopping, reading the Spark Notes, and then starting over and listening through! I loved it and, as a side note, after listening to this, Absalom, Absalom! and some Shelby Foote fiction and so on, I was half-expecting my daughter to be born with a Southern Accent :-D )

>68 Tanya-dogearedcopy:, I really think Absolom, Absalom is my favorite Faulkner.

I ended up listening to

A Slanting of the Sun (by Donal Ryan; narrated by Wayne Farrell) - This is a collection of twenty short stories set in Tipperary, Ireland. Two stories had me gasping out loud and, the last story, "A Slanting of the Sun" is stunning. There are only two stories, both from the POVs of females, where the audiobook narrator doesn't quite rise to the occasion of preforming female POVs and, it is a little jarring considering how well he has handled this in the past. Still, overall strong writing and performance. Four stars easy!

From a Low and Quiet Sea: A Novel by Donal Ryan; narrated by Alana Kerr Collins, Gerard Doyle, Alan Smyth, Vikas Adam and, Tim Gerard Reynolds) - This is a collation of four short stories that, at first seem separate from each other and oddly without that elegiac note that seems to be Ryan‘s signature. Then that last story wraps it all up and delivers the shiv to you where you stand! There is a slight connection to “A Slanting of the Sun” (short story in the collection of the same name) but you don‘t need to read either to enjoy the other. I love the writing, but the narrators range from "Just Okay" to downright awful.

Finished The Lady in the Tower by Jean Plaidy, narrated by Anne Flosnik. The book is in first person narrative so we are given the history of the Tudor period of England through Anne Boleyn. Anne tells us about French Court, the politics of the times and the life at court but also the Catholic church and the birth of the Church of England. Good historical research.

Just finished "Bloody Jack" (fun with the Cockney accent!), and started:
What's a Dog for? / John Homans

>68 Tanya-dogearedcopy:, >69 Kristelh: I loved Faulkner back in my college days - maybe I should check into finding audiobook editions for rereading them... btw I could never decide whether I liked The Sound and the Fury or Absalom, Absalom better.

Having loved my time with The Three Musketeers audiobook, I gave into my desire to reread The Count of Monte Cristo via unabridged audiobook, also narrated by John Lee. It was wonderful - so much so that I found I couldn't stop listening to it several nights in a row! Now I am suffering from sleep deprivation thinking about what I should read next...

I know we often have favorite narrators and seek out the audiobooks they read. I recently had the experience of having trouble adjusting to listening to an audiobook narrated by Jayne Entwistle, The witch's heart by Genevieve Gorbachev. I have so identified Entwistle's voice with Flavia DeLuce's that I had trouble adjusting to her voicing a different world and characters. Anyone else ever have this issue?

Hmmm -- I might have had that problem with Grover Gardner years ago but since I have gotten over it, I'm not sure. He narrates several series that I have listened to (Inspector Montalbano by Andrea Camilleri, Lew Archer by Ross MacDonald, Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold for example) and was wonderful in all of them. But I do seem to have a vague recollection that my first experience of the audiobooks of the Vorkosigan series was a little unsettled by hearing the voice of Lew Archer... but if so, it quickly wore off.

>75 markon: Jayne was perfect as Flavia!

>76 leslie.98: Grover is the perfect Montalbano.

>77 thornton37814: Indeed though I think my favorite is his voice for Sargeant Catarella & all his malapropisms!!

I just finished the audiobook of Dead or Alive, the 13th Jack Ryan book by Tom Clancy. Lou Diamond Phillips narrated & was excellent, especially with various foreign accents for some of the characters.

I’m currently listening to The Canterbury Tales (by Geoffrey Chaucer, translated by Burton Raffel and, performed by six narrators— but not an audio drama!) There is bit of introductory matter and the chapters aren’t aligned with the actual tales, but these are minor quibbles. I learned something from the Introduction and am really enjoying the stories 🙂 I’ve always heard these were “bawdy”, and I’m far from being a prude, but I still wasn’t prepared for some of the crudities, cynicism and amoral/relative-moral behavior! This a 22-hour audiobook which I started earlier this week and will probably finish by mid-next week/beginning of April. Looking like a solid 4-star title!

I've caught up on the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. Network Effect was good. I'm waiting on the next one in the series coming out in May.

I listened to What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear by Danielle Ofri. This is a reread (or listen) for me. I find a lot of the information helpful to me at work as I deal with patient complaints, staff complaints, doctor complaints and general public inquiries. I get a lot of the "I don't know, I'm going to transfer you to the Supervisor/OA" calls. Much of the time, I don't know either, but I know who or how to find out. The trouble is at that point, many of my callers have been transferred numerous times and are frustrated or livid. I have to convince them to trust me enough to hang up and let me get back to them or have whoever needs to get back to them do that. This book has some good tips. It's geared to physicians, but I've found some valuable information in it. It's one I plan to reread every few years as long as I'm working in healthcare.

I listened to Hex Life: Wicked New Tales of Witchery edited by Christopher Golden and Rachel Autumn Deering. There was 18 short stories and I really enjoyed them all. Some standouts for me were, Widows' Walk by Angela Slatter, Bless Your Heart by Hillary Monahan, The Debt by Ania Ahlborn, Last Stop on Route 9 by Tananarive Due, Haint Me Too by Chesya Burke and How to Become a Witch Queen by Theodora Goss. The last one was a retelling of the Snow White story. Loved it!

I'm slowly listening to Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens narrated by Simon Vance. I'm reading on Serial App, but I need it to come alive so since it is available on Hoopla, I just reborrow and listen at my own pace.

Audiobooks completed; rating narration.
The Lady in the Tower by Jean Plaidy Read by Anne Flosnik okay
The Girl with Seven Names by Hyeonseo Lee, read by Josie Dunn okay
Normal People by Sally Rooney, read by Aoife McMahon good
Red Rising by Pierce Brown, read by Tim Gerard Reynolds very good

Currently listening to The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith, narrator David Thorn and supporting cast. okay. Having difficulty maintaining my attention.

>81 luvamystery65: I read Danielle Ofri's When We Do Harm, about medical error, and thought it was fascinating and very well done. I'm looking forward to reading her other books.

Today, I started listening to an audiobook for the first time in a whole year!

I downloaded Gut Greifenau - Abendglanz by Hanna Caspian, which takes place on an estate in Eastern Germany and has a Downton Abbey feel to it.
I prefer audiobooks that are a little easier to listen to so that it doesn't matter if I miss a few sentences.

Now I'm listening to The Witch Elm by Tana French

>84 rabbitprincess: I also would like to read more by Dr. Ofri, next for me will be When We Do Harm.

>86 LibraryCin: Listened to that the year before last with my book club. The discussion was lively. I love the way she portrays group dynamics. It's one of the strongest things about her writing. This story has more twist than her previous works, but some of the reveals just peel back slowly. I'll be interested to know your thoughts when you are done.

>87 luvamystery65: This story has more twist than her previous works, but some of the reveals just peel back slowly. I'll be interested to know your thoughts when you are done.

I like the sound of this! I'm about a third of the way in now.

I have finished several audiobooks since my last post here - 1 very long one & one quite short.

The Other Boleyn Girl narrated by Vanessa Kirby (22+ hours; 4*)
The Way of Kings narrated by Michael Kramer & Kate Reading (45+ hours; 4*)
Thirty-Three Teeth narrated by Clive Chafer (6+ hours; 3.5*)
Alone with the Stars narrated by Hillary Huber & Emily Baur (2+ hours; 3.5*)

Time to catch up a bit!

The Canterbury Tales (by Geoffrey Chaucer, translated by Burton Raffel and, performed by six narrators) - Was enjoying this quite a bit until the last story, The Parson's Tales. This is an extremely long sermon about penitence, atonement, the seven deadly sins and the venial ones as well--- all in excruciating detail. If I ever decided to return to TCT, I think I'll just read selects-- and obviously, The Parson's Tale will not be one of them! The six narrators (who are listed in the audio but not on Audible) are okay, imbuing each storyteller with a unique voice, though it doesn't sound effortless.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (by Anonymous; translated by Simon Armitage; narrated by Bill Wallis - This starts with an introduction about the translation itself which is well worth the time and, then the story itself: A mysterious all-green knight shows up at King's Arthur's Christmas festivities and issues a challenge and nothing goes as you would expect! There are plot twists, amazing feats of alliteration, and; then in the second have of the audiobook, you can hear the story in the original Early Middle English! Since I had just heard the story and I could pick out a few word/phrases here and there, I got the general sense of things this time around, but for the most part, I just enjoyed the flow of the language. It's been years since I've added a title to my Personal Pantheon of All-Time Great Audiobooks, and this one is it! :-)

I got my J& J coronavirus vaccine a couple weeks ago. For the first three hours or so, I was okay, but then I started to get super tired-- and then the next week I was a wreck with one thing or another, not as bad as I've heard others have had it, but enough to keep me down for a couple days. During that time, I listened to a couple audiobooks:

• The Professor and the Madman (written and narrated by Simon Winchester - This is a double biography of the men who compiled the Oxford English Dictionary and really about the OED itself. Fascinating topic, though I find the author's narration a bit condescending in tone and it dampness my enthusiasm for the topic or rather the listening experience.

• Convenience Store Woman (by Sayaka Murata; translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori; narrated by Nancy Wu) - This is a quirky novella about a Japanese woman who has spent half of her life working in a convenience store, much to the disappointment of her family and friends. She doesn't fit into the norms os Japanese culture and while it is not specified, the implication is that she falls somewhere on the Austism spectrum. There are a couple of moments of very dark humor, but it is overall a charming story. Nancy Wu nails the POV1 taler perfectly.

• The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom (The League of Princes #1; by Christopher Healy and Todd Harris; narrated by Bronson Pinchot) - This is a fractured fairy tale in which the Princes Charming band together to save a princess. Aimed at a target audience of children (9-12yo), this is nonetheless wildly entertaining for adults as well! Funny, adventurous and, masterfully performed by Bronson Pinchot (one of those times where you marvel that it is just one voice). Looking forward to the next two books in the trilogy!

I'm currently listening to Agent to the Stars (by John Scalzi; narrated by Wil Wheaton) - John Scalzi has written yet another story which becomes meta when Wil Wheaton performs it: In this case, there's a discussion of popular mainstream SciFi (Star Wars vs Star Trek) but nothing as overt as Redshirts. In this story, an alien race has decided to task a talent agency tp represent them as they try to break into, not show business, but humanity in in general. The problem is, they are blobs who smell bad, really, really bad. Sharp as the agent repping the aliens and as face paced it all is, for some reason, the humor isn't coming through as strongly as I had expected. Still entertaining, but it's looking to fall between three and four stars at this point (I'm a little past a third of the way through)

>90 Tanya-dogearedcopy: The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom (The League of Princes #1;

Glad you enjoyed this one! It's a fun series, especially the audio!

I just finished When Breath Becomes Air on audio, and have started Braiding Sweetgrass

I finished up Agent to the Stars (by John Scalzi; narrated by Wil Wheaton) and it's "perfectly okay" or "just okay" depending on what your expectations are. I was hoping for something with sharper wit & humor. It was still fun, just not laugh-out-loud funny. I would say it's me, but I've been laughing at The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom and Murderbot so... Three stars.

I also took the half hour to listen to the Audible short/original, The Neil Gaiman at the End of the Universe (by Arvin Ethan David; narrated by Neil Gaiman & Jewel Straite). This was an extraordinarily self-indulgent bit of audio: A man, voiced by Neil Gaiman and with the same name, finds himself alone in space with Neil Gaiman's books. Sorry, I love NeilHimself, but this was a bit much.

I've started listening to Outlander (Outlander #1; by Diana Gabaldon; narrated by Davina Porter). I read this book in 1991(!) when it first came our and have re-visited it every few years since. This is my first time in audio....

I've read a few audibles since I last posted;
The Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill. Narrator Stephan Lang
The Children's Book by Byatt, narrator Rosalyn Landor
Piranesi by Clarke, narrator Chiwetel Ejiofor
All Systems Red by Wells, narrator Kevin R. Free
Mustaine by Mustaine, narrator Tom Wayland
Eugenia Grandet by Balzac, Jonathan Fried
Kokoro byNatsume Soseki, Matt Shea

Currently listening to The Illustrated Man by Bradbury, produced by Blackstone audio, narrated by Paul Michael Garcia

What are we listening to?

Last day of May. I hope everyone had a good month. I'm currently listening to The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse, narrated by Elizabeth Knowelden. I'm also slowly reading/listening to Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens, narrated by Simon Vance. This is a slow reading for me. I dip in and out.

May saw me DNF Perfume by Patrick Suskind. Yuck!
1984 by George Orwell, narrated by Simon Prebble.
Notes on Nationalism by George Orwell, narrated by Peter Noble - Orwell is at his best writing essays.
Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells, narrated by Kevin R. Free - I'm loving this series.
Think Again by Adam Grant, narrated by the author. 3 month read for work group read.
Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor, narrated by Zara Ramm - been on my TBR forever. Glad I got to it.
The Very First Damned Thing by Jodi Taylor, narrated by the author.

I should be finishing up Naked and Marooned in the next day or two. Not sure yet what it next. I have a few holds and I'm hoping one will come in!

>95 luvamystery65: My mum just read Think Again and I will have to read it as well!

I have Harvest of Time earmarked for reading next, but I might pick up a different Doctor Who instead.

Currently listening to Deception on His Mind. I really enjoy this series.

Finished "Naked and Marooned" today. Either tonight or tomorrow will start: Mrs. Mike by Benedict Freeman.

Audios for May
Kokoro by Natsume Soseki narrated by Matt Shea
I Feel Bad About My Neck: and other thoughts on being a woman by Norah Ephron, read by author
Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury, read by Paul Michael Garcia
I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, Voice from the Edge, vol 1 by Harlan Ellison, read by author
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab, narrated by Julia Whelan
Hope Nation: YA authors share personal moments of inspiration by Rose Brock editor, various narrators/authors.
Monkey by Wu Ch'eng-en, read by Kenneth Williams

Outlander (Outlander #1; by Diana Gabaldon; narrated by Davina Porter - I dutifully hung in there for two weeks before I said, "Enough!" I love this story but the audio wasn't doing it for me. Instead of a sweeping epic of a Post-War nurse falling though a time portal and (falling) in love with a young Highlander in the 1740s, I got a querulous young woman going through episode after episode of situations owing largely to her own stupidity. The audiobook narrator sounds much older than the main character, Claire and I was never sold on the male character vocalizations. And too, the audio itself is old (recorded in 1997) so there's the tape hiss from the old masters, booth noise and even, in Chapter 17, someone coughing in the background! When I want to return to Jamie & Claire, I'll be going back to my print copy!

So, I moved on and listened to The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle (Hero's Guide #2; by Christopher Healy; narrated by Bronson Pinchot). This is a fractured fairy tale geared for MG-ers; but it's so much fun! In this story, the Princes Charming and their Princess counterparts re-group to retrieve JJDG (Jeopardous Jade Djinn Gem). The audiobook narrator seems to have had a lot of fun recording this too; but maybe a little too much? There were a couple character voices that were so extremely rendered I couldn't tell what was being said! Still, looking forward to book three!

I'm currently listening to Henry IV: The Righteous King (by Ian Mortimer; narrated by James Cameron Stewart) - This is a biography of probably the most undocumented ruler in English history since the before the arrival of William the Conquerer, so the author is having to make a meal out of thin gruel. But working with what he has (invoices and court records), paints the interdependent relationship between Richard II and Henry IV. It's Not as exciting as the author's Edward III: The Perfect King (narrated by Alex Wyndham) either in content or delivery, but interesting enough that I'll finish it mid mid-June.

>101 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I also tried "Outlander" (book 1) on audio, but then switched to print. A lot of people love the audios, but I wasn't as excited about it.

Glad you're enjoying the "The Hero's Guide..." series on audio. I also thought it was a lot of fun!

finished Descendant of the Crane by Joan He, narrated by Nancy Wu. It was entertaining. YA novel, obtained from AudioSyncFile summer program.

Finished Crimes Against Magic which was great fun. Now listening to The Moonstone

I have just completed Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly and found it an excellent audio story. We follow three main characters through WW II and the horrors of Ravensbruck. Each of the three characters was read by a different voice which made it very easy to figure out who was speaking. Based partially on real women, this was a gripping story.

What are we listening to?

I hope everyone is doing well. I finished Think Again by Adam Grant. I've been listening to The Chronicles of St. Mary's by Jodi Taylor. The story goes all over the map! It's still fun and the narrator, Zara Ramm is perfect for the characters. I finished The Last Flight by Julie Clark for my book club. I started The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse but had to stop because I kept rolling my eyes at the main character. I started How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith who is also the narrator and it is very good. I'm also listening to an Audible short by Amor Towles The Didomenico Fragment narrated by John Lithgow.

It took me 3 weeks to listen to it all but I finally finished, Henry IV: The Righteous King (by Ian Mortimer; narrated by James Cameron Stewart)! If your only exposure to Henry IV is via Shakespeare's plays, this is a must-have as the author tries to get at the character of the early 15th-century English monarch. That said, I would get the print copy as the audiobook narrator sounded bored and stilted. There were days when listening was a chore and, if I hadn't booked my print reading time up so heavily, I would have switched.

I then listened to The Russia House (by John le Carré; narrated by Michael Jayson) in preparation to reading The Secret Pilgrim. TRH deals with the operation that determines the credibility of information that has passed during the waning days of the USSR into the West. Ned, the British head who is running the show is something of a secondary character in this book, but is the narrative voice in TSP (hence by refresher listen before I had back to The Circus!) Michael Jayston couldn't quite nail the word, "Potomac"-- which brought be out of the story a bit every time he was read; but not really a deal-breaker.

The Faith Healer (by Brian Friel; performed by Ciaran Hinds, Michelle Fairley and, Toby Jones - An Audible Original production of one of my favorite plays! It’s a three-monologue/POV story about the fateful night when an itinerant faith healer comes back to Ireland… There were some slight abridgments to the text, but not so much as to hurt the sense or flow . Not as lyrical in delivery as the performance I once saw in Galway; but far better than the mess that was on Broadway in 2006.

A Shot in the Dark: A Constable Twitten Mystery (by Lynne Truss; narrated by Matt Green - A cozy mystery set at the British seaside resort of Brighton, this has a lot of cleverness packed into its relatively short length of 6+ hours. It moves fast and you may need to rewind a bit if you've become distracting the littlest bit; but lots of fun. I'll probably re-listen to this one before I queue up the next one in the series

The Only Good Indians: A Novel (by Stephen Graham Jones; narrated by Shaun Taylor Corbett - This is a horror story about six Blackfeet who poach a small herd of elk and are haunted by the Elk Woman. At times a bit graphic, it nonetheless engenders the tension and fear the hunters face as they are in turn hunted. Both the author and the narrator are Blackfeet and so it's no surprise that STC is able to emulate the reservation inflections when required (compare to the author-read acknowledgements at the end of the audio). One quibble though, is that the narrator mispronounces the word, "hearth" (as \heerth\) in a section where the word comes up a lot! For some reason, this annoyed me more than is probably reasonable.

I just started The Hero's Guide to Being an Outlaw (The Hero's Guide #3; by Christopher Healy; narrated by Bronson Pinchot) and I expect it to be as entertaining as the first two in the series! The Prince(s) Charming(s) find their names and faces plastered on Wanted posters across the thirteeen kingdoms!

I took advantage of Audible's site-wide sale last week and bought something like twenty titles and picked up a few more from the Audible+ catalog that caught my eye! I've since returned one, I Can't Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Family, Race, and Other Reasons I've Put My Faith in Beyoncé (written and narrated by Michael Arceneaux). I tried a couple times, but this is a perfect example of why some/many authors should not narrate their own words. The delivery is too fast and indistinct. It has a decent number of ratings, averaging at 4.5 stars though, so what do I know!

I am just about finished with Maisie Dobbs (I do not believe I will continue the series), and soon will start The Sun Down Motel. Looking forward to that one! Hoping for some creepiness there!

I just finished A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking which was fabulous and imaginative fun. Highly recommended, and I loved the narrator.

I read a bunch of audios in June and I know I did not list them here. I actually got some old AudioSync File Summer program books from (Overdrive before they switched to Sora) read.

Now I am listening to The Shining by Stephen King and narrated by Campbell Scott.

I also read The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. Narrator Bernadette Dunne.

Currently listening to The Sun Down Motel / Simone St. James.

Next up will be The 9th Judgment / James Patterson

Finished The Shining by Stephen King. It was good. Glad to finally have read it.

I finished up The Heroes Guide to Being an Outlaw (by Christopher Healy; narrated by Bronson Pinchot) earlier this week :-) - The last title in this fractured fairy tale trilogy finds the Prince(s) Charming(s) and their friends on Wanted posters across the thirteen kingdoms! As they fight on to exonerate themselves, friendships change and tensions rise, but because this is a fairy tale, it does end HEA-- though probably not in the way you might expect! A seafaring adventure at heart, this was a lot of fun. Bronson Pinchot brought all the character voices back seemingly effortlessly, though I could not understand what the blue fairies (?) were saying. I might get a copy of the books, not only to discover the missing dialogue from books 2 & 3; but because the illustrations by Todd Harris also look like they would be something special.

I've started The Lords of Discipline (by Pat Conroy; narrated by Dan John Miller with an introduction read by the author) - In 1960, the Citadel is about to admit its first Black cadet. In the first few chapters, we get a sense of Charleston, SC and its people-- setting up a sense of foreboding about The Military College of South Carolina's decision. The audiobook narrator is performing with a Southern drawl. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but onwards...

Just read The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, narrated by Carey Mulligan who does a good job.

Hello everyone! I hope all are well. I have been listening to some John Scalzi and Jodi Taylor this month. Last month I listened to Toxic by Lydia Kang, Rolling in the Deep by Mira Grant and A House at the Bottom of a Lake.

>113 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I remember reading The Lords of Discipline years ago. That was a rough book. I don't know that I would finish that book if I started it now.

>114 Kristelh: I read that late last year and I enjoyed it. Just what I needed after a rough year. It's the pick for my book club this month so I will be listening to it again this week. Carey Mulligan did do a nice job on it.

Earlier this month I finally finished Harvest of Time, and I think for novels I prefer full-cast productions, or at least multiple narrators. The single narrator in this book did a great job of The Master, and did well with the Doctor and the Brig, but being an older man he was less good at doing female voices. I think at least a two-handed narration would have been better.

Next up in audio is Because Internet, written and read by Gretchen McCulloch. I've been hankering for a re-read and she was recently talking on Twitter about her experience reading the audiobook, so now seemed like a good time.

Oh, hello! I'm a couple of audios past it now, but I really liked The Road to Jonestown by Jeff Guinn

I just finished Where She Went by Gayle Forman. And today started Notorious RBG by Irin Carmon.

>115 luvamystery65: I technically ended up DNF-ing it. I couldn't take the audiobook narrator's fake Southern accent and massive mispronunciations (hearing "implacable" pronounced as "im-PLACE-able" in a non-ironic way nearly broke me...); but more than that, even though Conroy is a remarkable writer for this novel alone, I'm not in the right headspace for it right now. I was avoiding it-- so I knew it was time to call it after two months. I looked up a plot synopsis for the remaining bits...

I've been on a Stephen Fry kick lately. I listened to Stephen Fry's "Victorian Secrets" (podcast available on Audible); "Edwardian Secrets" and, am now listening to the Sherlock Holmes collection for which he wrote some Forewords and which he narrates. :-)

What are we listening to now?

I'm listening to Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland. It's the sequel to Dread Nation an alternative history, post Civil War, with zombies called shamblers. I've also started White Trash Warlock by David Slayton. I plan to listen to Frankenstein the 1818 version which I prefer but have had difficulty finding an audio of. I finished Daughters of the Lake by Wendy Webb. I listened to it with my niece Victoria. We share spooky reads every October. Now that she lives in New Hampshire, I treasure our shared reads even more.

>118 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I listened to Stephen Fry narrate Sherlock Holmes year before last. It was so enjoyable.

I just wrapped Horrorstör (by Grady Hendrix; narrated by Tai Sammons and Bronson Pinchot) - Set in a big box, IKEA-rip off retail space, this story is about the odd goings-on after the customers have left for the day. Part horror, part satire, I found myself engrossed in the original story, but paradoxically not feeling like either of the narrators were particularly great in their respective performances (Ms Sammons reads the bulk of the text (POV1) while Mr Pinchot reads the chapter breaks-- ads for various offerings from the store.) I also got a print copy of the title and love the design that went into the layout. Usually, I rate downwards when I have mixed feelings, but in this case four-stars doesn't feel wrong.

I've started Locke & Key (by Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez; narrated by Haley Joel Osment, Tatiana Maslany, Kate Mulgrew and a full cast) - Two juveniles invade a home, looking for a key and the situation goes sideways quickly when the father is fatally wounded. The surviving Locke family members move to East to Lovecraft, MA where there are paranormal shenanigans afoot! This is an adaptation of the graphic novels (which I have admittedly not read) and is overall okay, if a bit confusing in parts (i.e. there are parts where there will be action sound effects but I have wait for the exposition to figure out what I just heard). Not as slick of a production as the Sandman audios, but interesting enough to keep me on the hook and finish.

I just finished listening to Over the Gate by Miss Read. This is part of the Fairacre series and is narrated by Gwen Watson whose voice is perfect for these timeless books about English village life.

What are we listening to now?

I finished Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland. I also finished White Trash Warlock by David R. Slayton. I enjoyed it so much. The second book, Trailer Park Trickster, came out this week and it is available to borrow on Audible. I borrowed the first book from Hoopla. If they go on sale I will snag them. I definitely want to re-listen to this series. I'm listening to Frankenstein narrated by Nico Evers-Swindell. I picked it because it is the 1818 version, but I am not enjoying the narration as much as the Dan Stevens narration.

Finished the historical novel The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee.
Now well into Badlands, thriller by C.J. Box.

Currently listening to Lilac Girls / Martha Hall Kelly for my book club.

What are we listening to now?

I'm about to start A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. I have already listened to this, but I want to re listen since it is my book club's choice for this month. I really loved it and I hope I still love it as much as I did before. I think I will also dip back into St. Mary's. I will definitely revisit the Murderbot series for the SFFKit this month.

I finished listening to Locke & Key (by Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez; narrated by a full cast starring Haley Joel Osment, Tatiana Maslany and Kate Mulgrew) - This is an audio drama about a family who survives a home invasion in which their father is killed. At the heart of the story is a ghost/soul/something that wants a certain key that will unlock a hell gate... I suffer for not having read and/or been familiar with the comic books upon which this is based as it's not always clear exactly what is going on in the audio. The next time I visit a comic book store or section, I'll probably grab the first trade volume. :-)

I'm still listening to the Sherlock Holmes Collection (by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle with Forewords written by Stephen Fry; narrated by Stephen Fry)! I'm wrapping up The Return of Sherlock Holmes stories and will start The Valley of Fear by the end of this week, finishing up the whole 60+ hours of entertainment by the end of next week!

I listened to Riot Baby written by and read by Tochi Onyebuchi, American author of Nigerian parents.

And I listened to Treasure Island read by Frederick Davidson from audible "play" program.

Just finished listening to The old ways: a journey on foot by Robert MacFarlane, a perfect marriage of text and the narrator Robin Sachs' voice.

Currently listening to Squire by Tamora Pierce (almost finished).

Next up after that is Murder with Peacocks by Donna Andrews.

Gwendy's Button Box by Stephen King
This is a short story of coming of age of a young girl, Gwendy. Gwendy is going into middle school and she has decided to make some changes in her life. The magic and horror in the story are really built around the things that young people deal with as they are coming of age. The story is set in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine. The story was written in collaboration with Richard Chizmar. And the audio was read by Maggie Siff.
By: Stephen King, Richard Chizmar
Narrated by: Maggie Siff
Series: The Button Box Series, Book 1
Length: 2 hrs and 42 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 05-16-17
Language: English
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

>126 Tanya-dogearedcopy: If you have access to Hoopla Locke & Key is available. I've read on a Kindle Fire and iPad.

This is a collection of short stories by various authors;
The Palmist by Andrew Lam (new to me), read by James Naughton
The Veldt by Ray Bradbury (reread) read by Stephen Colbert
The Monkey's Paw W.W. Jacobs (reread) performed by John Lithgow
The Occasional Garden by Saki, new to me performed by Daniel Gerroll
The Balloon by Donald Barthelme, new to me, performed by Maria Tucci
The Year of Silence, Kevin Brockmeier new to me, performed by Anthony Rapp
The Sixth Borough by Jonathan Safron Foer new to me performed by Jerry Zaks
Drunken Mimi by Aimee Bender new to me performed by Bernadette Quigley
The Little Green Monster by Haruki Murakami (new to me), performed by Dana Ivey
Swept Away, T.C. Boyle (new to me) performed by Rene Auberjonois
These were performed live at the New York's symphony Space.

There is a lot of authors familiar to me, new authors were Andrew Lam, Saki, and Kevin Brockmeier. All of these have a magical element, some are funny, some are horror, some a bit romantic.

I just finished the Sherlock Holmes Collection (by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle with Introductions by Stephen Fry; narrated by Stephen Fry) last night and; earned the Mount Everest badge on Audible for listening to a 50+ hour audiobook! "The Last Bow", which is the last story in the collection of the same name, features Sherlock and Watson doing the duty for John Bull in 1917. It is a touch sentimental and I admit I teared up a little bit; but Sherlock is with ius always in many incarnations :-)

I haven't decided on what I'll be tackling next. The Mythos series (written and narrated by Stephen Fry) is tempting; but I think I'll wait until after the US Thanksgiving holidays to start anything. Plenty of time to think about what to cue up next! :-)

I hope everyone is doing well. Currently I'm on a St. Mary's and Time Police kick.

Let us know what you're listening to right now.

What was you favorite discovery of 2021? Book? Series? Narrator?

I'll start up the new audiobook thread after Christmas.

Currently listening to Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson.

Overall, my audios this year have not been stellar. I think most rated no higher that 3.5 stars (which is still "good" for me, but not great). It was someone in my book club who first commented because many were book club reads!

So far, "Just Mercy" is likely to be rated higher, however. :-)

After a couple of "false starts" with a couple of audiobooks after the US Thanksgiving Holiday, I listened to On Blueberry Hill (by Sebastian Barry; performed by Niall Buggy & David Ganly). I love Irish theatre and Sebastian Barry-- so this was a good pick-me-up that I ironically made me a little teary-eyed. Two long-term prisoners in Mountjoy tell their stories...

I've started The End of the Affair (by Graham Greene; narrated by Colin Firth) - This is a semi-autobiographical piece about an author's affair with a married woman. It's brutally honest and, at the same time, beautiful writing that is equally well-narrated. I've often shied away from celebrity narrations in the past; but this is just lovely and well-deserving of its accolades.

Two audiobooks that I listened to this year made my five-star list and the second one made my Personal Pantheon of All-Time Favorite Audiobooks!

⭐ The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom (Hero's Guide #1; by Christopher Healy; narrated by Bronson Pinchot) - A fractured fairly tale ostensibly for 9-12 year olds, this is a fun adventure story about the Princes Charming who band together... Giants and ogres and trolls and witches and, of course, princesses and a dragon! The audiobook narrator clearly had a lot of fun voicing the characters and, whoever did the final mix effectively combined a couple of phrases where more than one character is speaking. I laughed out loud and, yes, teared up a little bit in one part!

🌟 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (by Anonymous; translated by Simon Armitage; narrated by Bill Wallis) Beautiful translation that honors the alliteration of the original and, beautifully performed by the audiobook narrator! The first half of the audio is the translated part and, the second half is the original. In regard to the second part, knowing what what the poem is about and even able to pick out a phrase here-and-there in the Early Middle English helped a tiny bit; but for the most part, I just enjoyed the flow of the words. I loved this all so much I actually bought a hard back edition of the translation, with illustrations by Clive Hicks-Jenkins :-)

>136 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Colin Firth was the main reason I picked up that book :)

I've been listening to Christmas themed audios; Christmas Eve 1914, Christmas Hirelings, and Kissing Christmas Goodbye.

I also listened to Nana by Zola, and The Hunger by Katsu.

I just finished The End of the Affair (by Graham Greene; narrated by Colin Firth) and now I need a moment to let all the feelings settle in and take their place before I start anything new. I've only read a couple things by Graham Greene before but each time I've finished one of his books, I always rave about his writing: the poignancy, the word-smithing, that distinctive war and post-war style that remind me of Evelyn Waugh. Colin Firth narrating was simply amazing. I'm putting the 1955 film version on my "To watch" list (Deborah Kerr, van Johnson, John Mills) for this weekend :-)

>137 rabbitprincess: I had heard that he lost out to Ralph Fiennes for the 1999 film adaptation of this book... But now, and forever more, I think I'll always "see" Colin Firth in it after having listened to him read it!

ETA: Definitely adding this one to my 2021 Five Star List!

Currently listening to Justine by Lawrence Durrell, read by Nicholas Boulton.

I unexpectedly finished The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike #1; by Robert Galbraith; narrated by Robert Glenister) in four days! YAY insomnia and long lines for COVID booster shots! :-p

Cormoran Strike, ex military police has set up shop in the London, England area as a private detective. Robin, a young temp, is thrilled to be assigned a secretarial position despite the rundown conditions and low pay. When John Bristow, an upper class attorney approaches Strike in regard to a suspicious suicide, Comoran & Robin work out their professional relationship as they resolve whether or not the suicide was actually murdered or not; and if murdered, by whom. The narrative arc, scenes and, characters are all solid; but as a mystery that fully or actively engages the reader, it falls a little short in the last 10% of the novel. Cormoran Strike knows what has happened before the reader does, extrapolating from evidence that is not shared with the reader. It feels like a bit of a cheat to bring the reader along for the ride, but then deny the epiphany. The audiobook narrator, Robert Glenister does well with character delineation even if I don't personally agree with the choices made for various characters (e.g. a character described as "Byronic" in the text was rendered with a rather nasal, grating voice). The audio itself seems to run a bit fast-- so much so that I slowed it done a touch. Overall, I was pleasantry surprised with this mystery, being richer in atmosphere and character than I was expecting from the author of the Harry Potter series; but I am not hooked enough to proactively seek out other titles in this (Cormoran Strike) series.

I'm currently re-listening to The Strangler Vine (Avery & Blake #1; by M.J. Carter; narrated by Alex Wyndham. I only gave it 3.5 stars in 2019, but my rating will probably be upgraded this time around. A couple years ago, I was consuming books and audiobooks like a glutton (waaay to much time on my hands as my freelance career was stagnating) and as a result, a number of titles did not get the time & energy they deserve. This time, I'm listening more carefully and I picking up things I had forgotten or more likely missed...:
The British East India Company was set up as a trade organization between Great Britain in India; but quickly evolved in an extremely powerful multi-national company with strong colonial might & force. Avery, a young "Lobster Coat" officer has been sent to extend an invitation to a man-gone-native, Blake. Blake's presence is requested at the Company's political department over a matter that should interest the recalcitrant Blake... Alex Wyndam is the British narrator performing the story from Avery's point-of-view. There's a certain unpolished aspect to Wyndham's narration that I like; so if you're looking for a "BBC read", he is not that.

Finished Less by Andrew Sean Greer. Very good.

Oh, wow, the COVID booster shot laid me out for a day! My first round was the adenovirus-based Johnson & Johnson shot and while, I felt "off" for a day or two, it wasn't a deterrent to my moving through the world. This time, I took the MRNA-based Moderna shot and I am grateful that I had the time off from work! I spent the day dozing, eating a little bit, and listening to The Strangler Vine (Avery & Blake #1; by M.J. Carter; narrated by Alex Wyndham). I'm glad to have taken the opportunity to have re-listened to this title as I was able to pick up much more detail and nuance in this story about British Colonialism in India and Thugee culture/propaganda as well as the melodramatic overtones of the adventure itself (tiger hunts, a Raj, fabulous jewels...)! This is a spy thriller/mystery featuring a young, naive officer in the employ of the British East India Company who, together with with the older "Inquiry Agent", Blake, set out to find a controversial poet whose work has been adding to the tensions between the Indian natives and the British. Alex Wyndham reigns in his usual exuberance in narration, but does a nice job in telling the story and embodying the characters. I was about to queue up the second in the series, hoping it would take place in Afghanistan, but a peek at the publisher's summary tells me it is set in Victorian London. I'm not quite ready to return there myself, so I've started Kim (by Rudyard Kipling; narrated by Sam Dastor). I've just started so there isn't much to tell yet: Kim is an English boy raised in India as an Indian. Right now, he's eavesdropping on a conversation between a Buddhist lama and a museum curator...

I just finished listening to Kim (by Rudyard Kipling; narrated by Indian-born British narrator, Sam Dastor) and, despite a false start and a certain ambivalence about the beginning chapters (eponymous character as a rather glib and sly street urchin), I ended up marveling at how it all the worked out. Aforementioned street urchin becomes attached to a Buddhist Lama on the streets of Calcutta and so begins the spiritual journey of the Lama to find a river and, the bildungsroman of a Eurasian child into a spy taking part in "The Great Game". Some of the voice characterizations that Dastor rendered seemed a little over the top and it was easy to miss the humor in a couple of situations, but the same character delineations were strong and he kept the pace steady throughout to the end. Still, I think that if I were to re-read or recommend, the print version might be the way to go if only to see some of the Hindi & Afghan words and/or make some passages a bit clearer.

Next up: The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia (by Peter Hopkirk; narrated by Alex Wyndham). I happen to have purchased this a few months ago on the strength of the narrator and the fact that it was a steal during one of Audible's sales-- kismet! It's eighteen hours though so I don't think I'll finish before 2022 rings in. See you all in 2022! :-)

Audiobook thread for 2022 is up

https://www.librarything.com/topic/339289