June is audiobook month. You can find tons of resources and activities here on Twitter. I also like this link with a bunch of excellent resources.
I myself am a big fan of audiobooks and earlier this month I posted here about my favorite type of audiobook.
Today it is your turn. Share with me any favorite audiobooks, memories of listening on long car trips, narrators you've enjoyed, etc... And if you don't read a lot of audiobooks, why not? Audiobook month might be a good time to try one. Leave your comments below.
If you want some suggestions, here is the link to anything I have every tagged audio books, including reviews of ones I have listened to myself.
For past Monday Discussions, click here.
I have never been a fan of audio books with one big (and often overlooked) exception: poetry. Most published poetry was intened to be read aloud anyway, so recordings are so perfect. I particularly like when Hollywood actors are used as an added vocal plus. I wish more poetry was available in that format.
ReplyDeleteThe Night Circus read by Jim Dale is definitely a favorite of mine!
ReplyDeleteOriginally, I only listened to non-fiction because the reader voices often didn't suit my imagined image of some fictional characters. I got over that when I started to have long daily commutes!
ReplyDeleteMy husband had had a very bad year a while back, and lightened all his days by listening to all 21 Aubrey-Maturin books written by Patrick O'Brian while commuting. The trick was finding (thank you ILL) the versions read by the late Patrick Tull. Tull really expresses the characters, and is a great favorite for us both.
Funny you should ask. As I'm listening to book 2, Fatal Grace, in the Louise Penny/Armand Gamache series, it's made me think of the pluses and minuses of the experience. As I don't speak French I'm positive Ralph Cosham's pronunciation is a super plus in my enjoyment of the story. I can listen while I work, take it on a long drive and extend a good walk and a bit of exercise with the audio. I can store several on either my mp3 player or other device of choice. I can even speed up the narration if I wish or slow it down if I'm feeling in need of a slower pace. It's also wonderful to be able to squeeze more reading into my day. So what am I missing? I find it much more difficult to bookmark or highlight passages that bring a smile, explain something, or are just brilliant. Little price to pay I suppose for the convenience of the audio. I'll end up picking up the book to find some of these passages. I'm hoping Ralph Cosham continues the narration throughout the series as this one works for me.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I generally listen to non-fiction when we are on a long trip. We just drove approx 6000 miles and listened to Lost On the Planet China by J. Maarten Troost and Frozen in Time by Mitchell Zuckoff, both with good narration and compelling stories. Bill Bryson has accompanied us on many trips. If we plan a trip out of the US we try to find something that takes place where we are going.
I love audiobooks! (I'm leagally blind so it's audiobooks or ebooks all the way for me.) However, I admit that they can be a crap shoot. There have been books that I know I would enjoy written by authors I love that I've had to return to the library before I've even gotten to chapter 2, because I just couldn't stand the narrator's voice. Thankfully, that is an extremely uncommon occurrence. Generally, they're pretty awesome.
ReplyDeleteSome of my favorites have been Ready Player One by Ernest Cline and read by Wil Wheaton. (There is no better voice for the uber-fanboy, Parzival.) And I love Neil Gaiman reading anything, but his recording of his Graveyard Book was beautiful!
Becky recently showed me how to check out books via Overdrive and I've been listening to audiobooks on my tablet on the train to and from work. It's nice because it leaves my hands free to crochet!