Good morning! It’s Tuesday!!!! Day two of a pretty mellow week! Woo Hoo!!!!
I thought this morning I would chat audio (hang in there Laurel…. I have one for you! 😉 ) I LOVE audio… this is no secret, in fact it seems like the majority of my reviews as of late are audio….
Why?
I can listen to audio while I cook, clean, drive, get ready in the morning… these are all things I can not do while carrying a book. I have come to love the diversity of the narrators and I have learned a narrator can make or break a book – making a good book bad, or even a not do great book, wonderful…. narration is a magical thing 🙂
I talk about this today because audio is a while different level to a book and if you have a favorite book – I highly encourage you to try it on audio for a different experience…. you may be surprised. The Harry Potter books for instance on audio are FANTASTIC – there are two sets with two different narrators, Jim Dale and Stephen Fry – both are EXCELLENT.
Yesterday I started listening to The Martian by Andy Weir, narrated by R C Bray and wow oh wow oh wow!!!! I am seriously loving this audio book… considering at this time gushing about it as much as I gushed about Ready Player One…. which, in two years, I listened to twice, gushing both times…. in 2011, and in 2014.
Ok I have to go… enough with the gush…. just know that if you have not tried audio… you are missing out on another level to the reading experience… and if you tell me you have tried audio and it didn’t work for you…
Try again 😀
Seriously…. dig through my reviews here or ask me for a list of AMAZING titles…. I would be happy to point you in the direction of great audio….
Oh and if you are an audio book person feel free to share the excellent titles you have listened to.
You know… I will talk about this again. 🙂
Have a super day…. work for me… then maybe a bike ride 🙂
Book Journey 
I recently listened to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime on audio… Jeff Woodman did amazing things with narrating that book. Also, the woman they got to narrate the A Discovery of Witches series blew me away as well.
I’ve grown to love audio more and more too. The narrator is all important – I generally don’t like it when the author narrates a book but sometimes they hit it out of the ballpark.
In the past few years I’ve become a big fan of audiobooks and have a few favorite narrators. Most of my favorites are women – wait, I think all of my favorites are because I’ve listened to so few narrated by men. That said, Rob Lowe did an outstanding job with his memoir. Some of my favs are Cassandra Campbell, Karen White, Amy Rubinate, Tanya Eby, Xe Sands, Rosalyn Landor, Robin Miles, Therese Plummer and many more 🙂 Many of the books they narrate (that I’ve listened to) are Women’s Fiction and/or Romance but I know they do many other genres.
I have a rather long commute to work every day and listen to audio books every day to make the drive bearable. I agree that the narration, specifically WHO does the narration makes the whole experience! I have found that some books that I don’t have the stick-to-it-ness to finish reading, I absolutely LOVE on audio. One in particular that comes to mind is “The Signature of All Things” by Elizabeth Gilbert. Having the book read aloud in a soothing English accent gave me time to just listen and appreciate the stunning language used in the book. I am currently listening to “The Invention of WIngs” by Sue Monk Kidd and am loving it. I have also enjoyed “Becoming Bee” and “The Kitchen House”…….all great to listen to! And such a great way to fill in “wasted time”. Thanks for a great blog…..love reading your reviews!
I loved the audio for ‘Juliet, Naked’ by Nick Hornby. It was the first time I had multiple narrators on a disk and I thought it would terrible, but it was amazing.
There is so much to be said for audio but I just don’t like it! Laurel-Rain! It’s you and me against the world!
Yes, indeed! Maybe it’s because I am more easily distracted when listening to something. Also, I don’t commute anymore, now that I’m retired. And I try to do very little housework…LOL
I used to do audio a lot more when I could still drive. I love Armistead Maupin (Tales of the City and Night Listener) but when I put Night Listener on and heard HIM( the author)…that hooked me! (The movie of Night Listener is with Robin Williams)
Like Amy Tan doing her own work, that’s something. Now, I can understand if the author is verbally inarticulate (Robert Fagles comes to mind) or dead, or the reader is so caught up in themselves (get over it already please) that the time listening is wasted.
Agreed! With everything you said. Audio is so versatile. I often have two audiobooks going at once. Something non-fiction or memoir for the car (which is where the Rob Lowe book will be heading when it arrives) and fiction for the mp3 player.
I read an eGalley of The Martian. If the audio had been offered I’d have listened instead. But I couldn’t wait, I had to read it! And loved it btw.
I’m an audio junkie 😉 and yes, I agree the narrator is all important. I have my favourites, mostly male although I enjoy Susan Ericksen (she’s brilliant with the In Death series) and Davina Porter (Outlander series) Luke Daniels and MacLeod Andrews are top of my list.
how amazing you’re talking about Stephen Fry, and I’m watching him on QI. do you watch this programme, great fun
I like how an audio book frees me up to knit peacefully but hooks me in at the same time.
Everyone has said pretty much what I had on my mind. I agree, that if you have a favorite book, try it on audio to get started, hopefully, it will have a wonderful narrator. I have learned, for me, that certain narrators are a character/characters, and I can’t listen to them narrate other books. Susan Erickson is In Death series. Davina Porter is Outlander series. I’ve also learned to not listen back to back books narrated by the same person. Happy listening!
I listened to a few audios in the past, and while they were good it’s just not my thing. Like Laurel, I get distracted too easily. Besides I CHERISH silence. Audio is just too much filling my head when I would prefer peace (and quiet) instead.
I was listening to Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen and the narrator is fantastic! I don’t think anyone else could have done a better job with the characters. It was perfect! Highly recommended!
I agree, audiobooks can be such an amazing way to experience a book! I recently listened to These Broken Stars, which was very well done, and the best audio book I’ve ever listened to is definitely the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. Having different narrators for each character made it so great!
I adore audio books! Of course, it does depend on the narrator as to how compelling they are to listen to, but when you find a good one it’s golden. I’m currently on the fifth book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin, read by Roy Dotrice. Excellent listening.
I read The Martian and then got the audio to reread it. I am looking forward to it!