Book Journey

Saturday Snapshot : TORNADO

Published on June 21, 2014June 21, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)54 Comments

This morning,I was going to go a completely different direction with Saturday Snapshot. As I walked my yard, I was taking pictures of trees… I love trees and we have quite the variety, silver maples, apple, cherry, plum, oak, and even walnut. But – that one will have to wait. As I looked around the yard I love so much, I went somewhere else.

Last Friday June 13th marked the 13th anniversary of the tornado that destroyed most of our property, Al (hubby’s) business, and not only changed our lives forever – but those of our neighbors too. This morning as I walked the yard I started taking pictures of the “now” and then came in the house and took pictures of the pictures I have in an album of the “then”.

On June 13th, 2001, I had come home from work around 5:30. I remember all of this because I documented the day, and the days and weeks to follow, in a journal. The sky that night, I need no journal to remind me of. It was a thick sort of green and looked cartoonish. In fact, I thought it was so unique that I went outside and took pictures of the sky with my camera at the time. The pictures never did the sky justice, but one of the pictures I took from our back deck was this one of our neighbors farm:

The picture is much better in my album, but as you can make out this is a large farm.

The next morning – I stood in the same spot on my deck and took a picture of their farm, or what was left of it, again.

So what went down?

Al had just left to go and do a bid for a guy on the south end of town. I was on the couch reading after dinner and the boys ( at the time they were 10 and 12) were watching tv. The tv came through with a tornado warning in the area. This is common for June in this area and I barely even flinched. Then, Al came running in the house telling us to all get in the basement. He had been driving and seen the wall of the tornado south of us, turned around and raced home.

We all went to the basement, us and our two dogs. We sat under the stairs and we could hear the wind pick up. The house started to shake and dirt from between the floor boards above our head started to fall. I remember I was sitting cross-legged and then thought better of it thinking if we did become trapped in the house how uncomfortable that would be to be stuck that way.

After a while – it just went quiet.

Al decided to go upstairs and look around. I was envisioning that scene out of Twister where the dad opens the door to the cellar and is whisked away. Upstairs I could hear him walking around saying “Oh no, no…” I told the boys to stay put and I joined Al upstairs. We had no electricity then – in fact we did not have electricity, or running water for the four days following. Through the flashes of lightning we could see our home, plants turned over, our bedroom door was ripped off the hinges and was now in the living room, our windows had exploded and shards of glass had embedded itself in the walls across from the windows. Outside we could see trees down everywhere and large chunks of our yard torn up.

I kept repeating, “We were hit. We were hit.”

Even as I type this I kind of tear up because it was a scary time for us. Al had just finished putting up his 40 x 80 building for his business out behind our yard, and the electricity had just been put in the week before. It was gone.

Here are some pictures from that night… to this morning.

Left – our home this morning. Right – that morning after the tornado. The tree that is down was a large crab tree, really the center focus of the front yard. It broke my heart to see that tree split and dying.

Left: The back of the house this morning. Right: The back of the house the morning after the tornado. The large tree still in today’s picture split in half and landed on our roof. This tree is the reason we did not lose our home entirely, the weight of the tree still attached to the deep roots help our roof on. The front of the houses roof lifted 5 inches, but never came off. LOVE that tree. 🙂

Left – the garage area this morning. Right – where our garage had stood before the tornado. At the time the garage was not attached to the house (perhaps a good thing) and the tornado completely took it. The red jeep and the white truck were parked in front of the garage as you see them here. My jeep was untouched and Al’s truck had a hairline crack in the windshield. The garage must have went straight in the air and left the yard intact. The remains from it was found across the road behind a neighbors back yard.

Left: A tree in our back yard this morning. Right: That same tree the day after the tornado. What is wrapped around it is the roof from Al’s shop. What is crazy is that if the roof had not been stopped by becoming caught on this tree, it would have hit our house at a speed of over 100 miles per hour. Al wanted to cut this tree down after the tornado but I said no. Then all the branches off the backside of it had been seared off, but today it is healthy and whole again.

This is a shot of our back yard after the tornado. The plastic white things are to put calves in from our neighbors farm. We pretty much had all of their damage in our yard and the neighbors across the street had all of ours.

More of the yard. We lost about 40 trees after all was said and done.

Friends who came to help with the clean up.

It is the pictures of the friends who came to help afterwards that brings the tears back to my eyes but this time with a smile. We worked for days afterwards, cutting up the trees, hauling away debris, repairing the house. It took over a year to bring the house and yard back to some sort of normalcy.

Here is what happened during the tornado:

all windows on the back side of the house were blown out
the back and sides of the house had the wood siding ripped off
we lost our garage entirely
Al lost his shop entirely
40 trees lost
garden was destroyed
another garage on the property was bowed in back like a “C”
Basement flooded the day after the tornado
bedroom (along back side of house) was destroyed

When all was said and done we resided the house with an aluminum steel siding. We replaced the large bay window in the bedroom with a smaller one. We saved the tree on the deck, he is half the tree he used to be but that is ok. 🙂 We have since remodeled the basement (2004) to now be a second level to our home – family room, a bedroom, storage and laundry. Al rebuilt his business with the insurance money and is now thriving. Our home has been remodeled, we built a new garage to go on the house, and our yard – while not as many trees as I would like…. has sort of a park look to it now and I like it.

This morning, I had to look hard to find it, but I did. This is a piece of metal that was driven into this tree in our yard during the tornado. It is a good 6 inches into the tree and will never come out. A reminder of what was….

This final picture was taken last night. I love my back yard. And if you look way out you can see the trucks of Al’s business, 13 years later doing well, rebuilt after that night that rocked our world forever.

Check out other Saturday Snapshots here. 🙂

Beyond Books by Narrator Karen White

Published on June 20, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)46 Comments

I recently had the opportunity to meet Karen White at a narrator luncheon. We sat right across from each other and I suddenly had 20,000 questions I did not know I had until we were there chatting. 🙂 Thankfully, she gracefully and patiently answered all my questions… and now she is about to answer some more. Please welcome to Book Journey, Karen White. ~ Sheila

Hi I am Karen White and I started narrating books in 1999. Some of the books I have narrated would be:

Beachcombers by Nancy Thayer

Roots of the Olive Tree by Courtney Miller Santo

The Four Ms. Bradwells by Meg Waite Clayton

The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

Here and Again by Nicole Dickson

Not The Killing Type by Lorna Barrett

It Happened One Wedding by Julie James

My favorite literary fiction books i have narrated this past year are Here and Again, What I Had Before I Had You, and Sea Creatures. My favorite memoir this year (and very sad as this inspiring woman just recently passed away last week) Until I Say Good Bye by Susan Spencer Wendell.

Although the industry conventional wisdom is that it takes 2 hours in the studio to record what we call a “finished hour” (an hour after the recording has been edited and readied for release), for me it’s really closer to 2.5 or 3, depending on the complexity of the writing. I am pretty meticulous and I try to avoid recording many “pickups” (re-recording bits where mistakes were made). Not including breaks, I spend about five hours recording, about five days a week. I usually fill in the rest of my workday with preparing upcoming books, engaging in social media, and looking for work.

When I am not narrating,

I have two kids, a husband and a dog, so much of my time is spent hanging out with and doing things with them. I go to my girls’ soccer and softball games (and try not to yell too loudly so as to save my voice but am not always successful!). My husband and I like to cook and give dinner parties. He’s great with the grill and various fancy French recipes, I’m a pretty good baker and try to be creative with the veggies. We all like to make pasta together!

Karen White, Fruit Galette, Book JOurney, Sheila DeChantal — a fruit galette (one of my favorite things to bake)

Karen White, Book Journey, Narrator — a beautiful evening at the softball field

We live near the beach in NC, so in the summer we make trips to the water. There’s an island across the inter-coastal waterway only reachable by boat – it has a gorgeous, uncrowded beach – and we are slowly learning the ins and outs of getting there (you need TWO anchors to make sure your boat doesn’t float away while you’re swimming, you need flips flops to get across the island unless you want 2nd degree burns on the bottoms of your feet, etc.)

Karen White, narrator, Book JOurney — Both my girls on the boat heading out to the island

When looking for good audio when traveling, we are huge fans of the Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series, narrated by Katherine Kellgren. It is hilarious and unique and kept us awake driving across the country last summer.

Favorite movie and movie snack?

I am definitely a popcorn and a coke kind of gal. No butter.I just saw THE FAULT IN OUR STARS and that’s my favorite (I have a short-lived memory). I love movies that make me feel a LOT, whether I’m laughing or crying – and this had both. Besides all the obvious great moments, my girls and I really loved the casting and original song by the guy who led the support group – what is that guys name? See I already forgot. He was spot on, I remember that.

Bonus question – a funny narration happening

This is a little embarrassing, but I burp a lot when I am recording. I’ve directed other people quite a bit, and while everybody inevitably has interesting stomach noises, usually before and after lunch, I think I am the most prodigious belcher. I think it’s a combination of the fact that I drink a lot of Xiao’s Blend tea which has peppermint, which I learned relaxes the esophageal sphincter and the fact that when I’m reading, my diaphragm is just jumping up and down on my stomach as I’m breathing! I self edit as I go now, but I used to feel bad for the poor editor who had to hear all my loud burps. Now I just yell at my body in between takes when it burps too much or makes weird stomach noises (“Seriously!? Shut UP!”), often in the middle of a really good take… 😉

Karen White, narrator, Sheila DeChantak, Book JOurney — Prepping a book by reading it on my IPAD

Please watch this site for June audio book related posts, like this one. For every post you comment on in June that has this audio book symbol:

I will put you into a drawing for a $25 book certificate for each comment (Barnes and Noble or Amazon – your choice). Winner will be drawn in July.

Then and Always by Dani Atkins

Published on June 19, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)27 Comments

Version: Unabridged
Publisher: Random House Audio
Audible.com Release Date: May 20, 2014

Rachel Witshire’s life is going better than she could have imagined. She has a wonderful group of friends including an attentive boyfriend, and she has been accepted into the college she had hoped for. Then, right before she leaves for college a terrifying accident changes everything.

Five years later Rachel still wears the scars of that day, both on the outside and the inside. When she returns to her hometown for her best friends wedding she is filled with uncertainty of what it will be like to encounter the old friends that were part of that overpowering and sad memory. Then a fall puts Rachel in the hospital and when she is able to leave she discovers things are not as they were… her scars are gone, her job is different, and the guy she loves….

but is this a case of amnesia? Head trauma? Or is this a reality that Rachel can cling to, no longer knowing what is truth and what is fiction… and not sure which reality she really wants to hold on to.

In a word… powerful. I have read several books over the past year with the “amnesia theme” but this one takes a little different path. At one point I thought the book felt predictable, and in some ways it was. Then the air was literally forced out of my lungs as I became fully engrossed as the book reached a conclusion that literally made me say “no way,” with a sense of awe and appreciation.

I listened to Then and Always on audio. Narrator Susan Duerden was well-chosen for this book. Thoroughly enjoyable at 8 hours and 45 minutes, a perfect length for a summer listen.

Please watch this site for June audio book related posts, like this one. For every post you comment on in June that has this audio book symbol:

I will put you into a drawing for a $25 book certificate for each comment (Barnes and Noble or Amazon – your choice). Winner will be drawn in July.

Morning Meanderings… So. What Has Happened To Me?

Published on June 19, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)59 Comments

It’s raining this morning. Hard. And that’s ok. I just finished mowing our yard yesterday evening and I was afraid that the lawn was too dry. I am in the office all day so this puts no damper on my plans of typing and filing and working on the annual report.

What I wanted to talk about this morning is blogging. It amazes me that about a year ago I wasn’t sure if I was going to continue on and that kind of scared me. Last June I felt in an entirely different place. I felt too busy to keep up on book reviews and book chats and I posted maybe once or twice a week. Maybe. I usually missed writing a Morning Meandering. I was hardly reading a thing so there was nothing to talk about there, and for a while I took a real look at wondering if my season had passed.

Since my time in blogging, a lot of great bloggers have come and gone. A few that really inspired me in the beginning of this crazy chatting about books, are hard to find now…. occasionally popping up on Twitter or on Facebook… but nothing on their site – if the site is even still there. All that time – typing, talking books, chatting, sharing…

gone.

And I had started to think I was too.

So what did happen?

I fought for it. I wasn’t ready to let go of my love of talking books, or my chats with all of you. I accepted that it was ok to step back and do life and not completely let go. So that is what I did and slowly throughout late fall and winter I came back…

but really it was the book expo this year in New York that sealed the deal for me.

I love the expo. I love my bookish relationships that I have made here talking to book lovers on this screen, and then meeting them in real life, and still chatting books with them. I LOVE talking to authors, and publishers, and the heads of publishing houses about what makes them tick. When at the expo, my mind flows with blog post ideas…

topics of publishing houses

connecting with narrators

audiobook week

blogiversary

meeting ~~bloggers~~ (I actually don’t like that word) meeting like-minded Book lovers

events

amazing books coming soon

author events

I literally started making a list of ideas on the plane home.

Soon I will be reaching a mile stone post. I see it coming and I am excited about it because it is crazy to think that for the past 5 years I have chatted books and life to you and I am as energized now as I was when I started. How crazy cool is that?

I can’t imagine going anywhere any time soon. This post was to hopefully inspire any of you out there that are on the edge of deciding, “do I go on?”…. its ok to take breaks. This is supposed to be fun – not a chore.

And I….

am having fun.

If you are a book reviewer/lover/chatter… ok ok, blogger, how long have you been doing this? If you have been doing it for a while are you surprised how long you have been doing it?

What energizes you to keep going?

Oh yeah – and don’t forget – it is audiobook month (I wont let you forget!) GIveaway here for a $25 gift card. An entry for ever comment you have on an Audiobook related post that I have up this month. To help you out… here is what they are:

Intro to Audiobook Month

The Acting Of Narration with Johnny Heller

Delicious by Ruth Reichl

A Day In The Life Of Narrating by Narrator Therese Plummer

The Beginning of Narration by Narrator Allyson Johnson

The BEST audiobooks according to the listeners

If I Can’t Have You by Gregg Olsen and Rebecca Morris

Top 5 audiobooks according to narrator Tavia Gilbert

Look Ma! NO hands! Audiobooks MY Way!

Things To Look For When Picking Your Next Audio by Narrator Xe Sands

Things To Look For When Picking YOUR Next Audiobook by Narrator Xe Sands

Published on June 18, 2014June 18, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)38 Comments

I admit, there are not a lot of narrators that I recognize by name on the audiobooks I listen to. Xe Sands is the exception. Xe Sands is also (so far) the only narrator that I have looked up and picked audio not by book title or author… but because she narrated it. Please welcome to Book Journey, Xe Sands. ~Sheila

Hello! My name is Xe Sands. I started narrating in 2010 and just passed the 100 audio books I have narrated mark. Oh gracious! Let’s cull that a bit. LOL!

Most recently I have worked on literacy and historical fiction including Wonderland, by Stacey d’Erasmo, Euphoria (with Simon Vance) by Lily King, The Transcriptionist by Amy Rowland, and The Witch of Truro (from Blackbird House) by Alice Hoffman. I have also just completed Vision in Velvet (6th in the Witchcraft Mystery Series) by Juliet Blackwell, Motherless Child by Glen Hirsberg, Something Sweeter by Candis Terry, Forged by Jacqueline Frank, and Never Marry a Viscount by Anne Stuart.

I do also enjoy listening to audio. I spent years listening to them with my daughter during our morning/afternoon commute. These days I find them especially wonderful to listen to while I am doing something I *really* don’t want to do, such as dishes, exercise, folding laundry… well, CHORES of any type actually. 🙂 I find them incredibly distracting in the very best of ways. There have even been times that I’ve dragged a chore out just so I could finish a particularity well-delivered scene.

I find audiobooks incredibly distracting in the very best of ways. ~Xe Sand

My topic today – is to tell you what I think a listener should pay attention to when choosing audiobooks.

First, I think a listener should figure out what type of storytelling they enjoy. Do they enjoy a full storytelling experience, with differentiated characters and appropriate rise and fall in emotion, or an “audio theater” type of experience with sound effects and different voice actors, or perhaps a more straight forward read, naturally delivered, but with little variation of voice?

Then, within that preferred type of experience, they might think about how enunciation is to them vs. a very natural delivery, whether or not they can tolerate shifts in volume, etc. For example, Neil Gaiman, one of my favorite authors and narrators, tends to be a fairly quiet and intimate narrator, and that suits his books perfectly. So although I might fiddle with my volume control while listening, I wouldn’t have him deliver it any other way – it’s perfect for the material. However, having to tweak the volume can prove frustrating for some listeners and adversely affect their experience. Good to know what you can tolerate going in.

Sometimes it is also helpful to consider whether the material is going to be appropriately served in audio. There are books that simply work better in print, or that lose something in the translation to audio… books with extensive charts, graphs, etc., or those with very clever or entertaining illustrations or maps. Those types of books are excellent candidates for a tandem read – having the print version handy for reference as you move through the audio.

Next, listen to the first chapter (or at the very least the full sample available – better yet, several) to get a feel for the delivery style and cadence of the narrator. Are you able to sink into the story and essentially forget the narrator, as a separate entity? Do you find their voice pleasing (you’ll be spending a good number of hours with it!). If yes, then it is a good sign that you’re in for an enjoyable ride. Basically you are listening for a delivery that melts away and leaves just you and the story.

Basically you are listening for a delivery that melts away and leaves just you and the story.

If you have a few narrators who have led you into amazing journey’s in the past, you can always start to look for books based on the narrator.

Sheila asked me what makes for good (and great) listening. That’s such a tough question to answer in a broad sense because each listener brings their own preferences to the listening experience. So I’ll just offer what makes a listen compelling to me. Here’s what I’m looking for: a natural delivery. I want narration that makes me believe that if I closed my eyes, it would be just me and the narrator, sitting somewhere, them telling me this really odd/cool/weird/amazing series of events that happened. Just that. I don’t give a fig about their enunciation – I just want them to sound like they do when they’re talking to me in person, telling me a story, with dialog that sounds as if I was in the room when it was originally exchanged, and with emotion that feels real to me, as if I was witnessing the scene myself. That’s what makes great listening for me – natural, connected to the emotion, PRESENT. The rest, such as enunciation or consistent volume, etc? That can all go by the wayside if the storytelling is solid and they are truly present with it.

Please watch this site for June audio book related posts, like this one. For every post you comment on in June that has this audio book symbol:

I will put you into a drawing for a $25 book certificate for each comment (Barnes and Noble or Amazon – your choice). Winner will be drawn in July.

Look Ma! No Hands! Audiobooks My Way!

Published on June 18, 2014June 18, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)66 Comments

So…. you probably know that this is audiobook month. I am having a blast sharing with you audio reviews, narrators thoughts, and now – I will let you know how I do like to do audio.

In my car…

Some people think that you do not listen to audio in the car unless you have LONG commutes or on road trips… not true. Audiobooks actually work on short commutes as well… it’s true. They don’t blow up in your cars CD player or anything if they play for less than 30 minutes. Urban legend people… its not true.

I listen to audio in my car almost everywhere I drive to. Work may be only ten minutes away – but round trip that is 20 minutes more into a book than I was before. I love turning on the car and getting into the story. When choosing car audio, I like the book length to be around the 7 -9 hour mark. I reserve longer audio books for longer road trips so I can listen to it in large chucks of time.

In my CD player in the house…

This is probably the “old school” version of audio listening but when you have many delicious audio’s on CD around and you want to listen to them, you do what you have to do. I have trouble downloading audio onto my computer, so instead I listen to the DVD’s. This is great for when I am working on a craft project, cooking, folding clothes, painting.. I love listening to audio in the house while I am doing other things that require use of my hands.

On my Phone…

What has turned out by fr to be my favorite way to listen to audio, is my phone. I use Audible.com which I LOVE LOVE LOVE for downloading great audio directly to my phone. I have used Audible for three years now and yes I am kind of a living breathing walking advertisement for them. The audiobooks are reasonably priced, they have great sales a few times a year, and your first one is free. If you try an audio and don’t like it you can exchange it. No kidding.

When mowing the lawn or gardening, or even biking – I pop my ear buds in and can listen to my Audible audiobooks. My phone is easier to move through the house then the CD player so I use it when I am on the move from one area to another. I even use it at work when I am alone and working on filing. I sit it on my desk and listen as I work.

My brilliant purchase that I made about 6 months ago to go with my listening to books on my phone was:

An external speaker. This, when turned on will pick up the Bluetooth in your phone and amplify the audiobook. This makes it easier to move around an area and say, leave the phone on the counter and still be able to hear it.

These cute little external speakers come in all shapes and sizes and start around $9.96 and can go up to $99. Don’t knock yourself out. Mine was $14.96 and works wonderfully. It’s cute, shaped like a clam shell and its orange. What’s not to love?

I usually have three audiobooks going at once and that works for me. For you – If you are new to audio I recommend audible’s free trial. You have seen many posts on great audio here this month – choose wisely and enjoy. I absolutely want to hear about your experience.

For those of you who do do audio (yes… I said do do), please share here what ways you like to listen. Remember, this is an audiobook post so comments qualify for the giveaway for this month.

Please watch this site for June audio book related posts, like this one. For every post you comment on in June that has this audio book symbol:

I will put you into a drawing for a $25 book certificate for each comment (Barnes and Noble or Amazon – your choice). Winner will be drawn in July.

That Night by Chevy Stevens

Published on June 17, 2014June 17, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)29 Comments

Toni Murphy was your typical 18 year old teenage girl. She quarreled with her parents, had drama at school, and had the boy the in turn had her heart; Ryan. By far the worst of it – were the group of girls at school who were set on making Toni’s life a living hell. (Think mean girls on steroids). As the girls became meaner, and bolder, Toni’s life begins to unravel, and when they become friends with her younger, innocent sister Nicole… the battle really begins.

One night at a party that Toni, Ryan, and Nicole are attending, Nicole turns up dead. Her body found in a nearby lake with appearances of a struggle. As Toni and Ryan were the last to see Nicole, the two teens are pinned for the murder.

Now at 34, Toni is released on parole with the knowledge that she in never to be in contact with Ryan again who also should be released around that same time. As Toni makes her way back to her home town to try to piece together what is left of her life, clues start coming together to what really happened…

That Night.

It is no secret that I adore Chevy Stevens. When I listened to Still Missing on audio I was floored at how engaged I became with her well written story of a missing girl. Since then I have eagerly awaited each release of her books.

That Night was a twisted read that hits hard on the hot topic of bullying. The girls in the book made Toni’s life unbearable and I could not imagine being in her shoes. As you will find out if read the book, things are not much easier for her in prison; it’s just a different level of mean girls.

There were aspects of this book I really enjoyed – and some not so much. Toni is not an easy protagonist to like, but you will find yourself rooting for her anyway. In the end author Chevy Stevens breaks through with another “WHOA.” from me. Just when you think you have it all figured out.. you will discover that you know nothing… NOTHING, about That Night.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press Publicity for sending me a

copy of this book for an honest review.

Morning Meanderings… Two Book Events Missed (Poo!)

Published on June 17, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)14 Comments

Since June began, every Monday we have had a Minnesota Author at the Library sponsored by our Friends Of The Library. I love these events as it is an author event that takes place three miles from my house, and it is a wonderful way to be able to listen to an author and hear about their writing and their books.

Two Mondays ago, June 9th, I missed Rhonda Foch’s, author of Minnesota Lost Town’s Northern Addition because I was at Camp. This Monday I missed Peter Geye, author of The Lighthouse Road because I was speaking instead at the same time for a local volunteer group about the Friends Of The Library, an opportunity I could not pass up… but really wanted to hear Peter. On the bright side, I was able to meet both authors before I ran to my other commitments.

Peter Geye, Rhonda Fochs, Lighthouse Road, Book Journey, Sheila DeChantal — I did manage to pick up both of their books at these events.

Next week we have Jess Lourey with her book January Thaw. Should be fun and YAY, I can be there 😉

SO…. audio book month. I am having a BLAST and I hope you are too! I appreciate all the comments on the audio related posts and I really appreciate those of you who are dabbling in audio for the first time, or trying it again after perhaps unsuccessful attempts previously.

Please remember that all the audio book related posts this months have a giveaway for a $25 gift card to either Amazon or Barnes and Noble. To enter – just comment on the audio posts… one entry per comment. Here is a recap of all the audio book related posts so far:

Intro to Audiobook Month

The Acting Of Narration with Johnny Heller

Delicious by Ruth Reichl

A Day In The Life Of Narrating by Narrator Therese Plummer

The Beginning of Narration by Narrator Allyson Johnson

The BEST audiobooks according to the listeners

If I Can’t Have You by Gregg Olsen and Rebecca Morris

Top 5 audiobooks according to narrator Tavia Gilbert

Please watch this site for June audio book related posts. For every post you comment on in June that has this audio book symbol:

I will put you into a drawing for a $25 book certificate for each comment (Barnes and Noble or Amazon – your choice). Winner will be drawn in July.

Top 5 Audio Books… according to Narrator Tavia Gilbert

Published on June 16, 2014June 16, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)37 Comments

I began narrating in the fall of 2007, so I’ve been a full-time narrator for almost seven years and have recorded close to 300 books. I have so many beloved projects, including Let Me Stand Alone — the journals of Rachel Corrie, many books of non-fiction by the brilliant Annie Dillard, several wonderful Carlotta Carlyle mysteries, Kate Christensen’s memoir, thrillers by Allison Leotta, science fiction by John Scalzi, young adult fiction by Katherine Paterson, children’s stories like The Wizard of Oz and the Velveteen Rabbit...and more. If you visit TaviaGilbert.com/full-audiography, you’ll see my complete audiobook listing, with my personal favorites highlighted in blue. I’m fortunate to have been given great books to voice throughout my career the years, and have some more fantastic book projects on the horizon.

Five amazing audiobooks? It’s very hard to choose just five, but here’s a list of a few favorite audiobooks!

The Fault In Our Stars, by John Green, narrated by Kate Rudd (young adult)

Kate inhabits this story, which has been such a smash hit in the last couple of years. I couldn’t stop listening to this book, and at the same time I couldn’t bear for it to end. I’ve never listened to an audiobook twice, but this might be the first multiple-listen experience. Kate was exceptional in her performance, fully bringing the characters to life, capturing every bit of wry humor, creating such a nuanced reading that I was absolutely captivated.

Rise & Shine, by Anna Quindlen, narrated by Carol Monda (contemporary fiction)

I love listening to Carol Monda’s narration, and this is a great performance of a compelling story. I’ve told Carol how I feel when she begins a story — I totally and completely trust her. I relax in her masterful presence, because I know that she will not make a wrong turn anywhere along the path. Her pacing is perfect, her characterizations spot on, her dialogue true to life, her heart completely open and her work completely in the moment. I’m a better narrator because I’ve listened to her work.

The Sunday Philosophy Club Series, by Alexander McCall Smith, narrated by Davina Porter (literary fiction/philosophy)

I adore Davina Porter’s narration of Isabel Dalhousie’s stories. Alexander McCall Smith is a captivating, charming, contemplative writer, and this series is just fantastic. Davina creates soulful, heart-felt, fiercely intelligent voice performances — she’s the perfect medium for the compassionate and thoughtful characters Smith writes. This team of writer and voice actor is unparalleled, and I luxuriate in the listening experience.

Call the Midwife, by Jennifer Worth, narrated by Nicola Barber (memoir)

I fell in love with the British television series, Call the Midwife, and later equally delighted in Nicola Barber’s narration of the memoir by Jennifer Worth. Nicola’s characterizations and accents are spot on, and I was riveted by the story. Call the Midwife fans will be pleased to hear story lines that they recognize from the TV show, but those unfamiliar with the series will quickly become devotees of the young British midwives and Catholic sisters whose lives make this a wonderful listen.

The Millennium Trilogy, by Stieg Larsson, narrated by Simon Vance (thriller)

You cannot go wrong with a performance by Simon Vance, and the dark, terrifying, thrilling Swedish series is excellent. Simon is a master story-teller, and he was perfectly cast for this series. His characterizations are never over the top but always differentiated, the suspense horrifying with his subtlety and nuance, the timing and delivery impeccable. These books are not for the faint of heart, but they’re even better with Simon’s performance.

And a bonus question….

And this isn’t a funny narration story, but a sweet one:

Years ago, years after I graduated from Seattle’s Cornish College of the Arts, one of my most beloved college voice and speech teachers, Stephanie Kallos, left full-time acting and teaching to concentrate on her writing.

Her first novel, Broken For You, was beautifully narrated by Anna Fields, one of the best narrators in the history of audiobooks.

Anna died tragically when she was trapped in her Seattle recording studio during a flood; the loss to the audiobook community was enormous.

When Stevie’s second novel, Sing Them Home, was published, I was very new to the narration art-form, but because it was the novel of a dear friend, I wanted the opportunity to do the project, and I campaigned for it.

Being told that the novel was mine to voice came with a feeling of great responsibility, because I so wanted to make Stevie proud, I wanted to reach the bar that Anna Fields had set, and the story was long and complex and crazy challenging — multiple dialects, Welsh language, and singing, as well as several distinct main characters and about 100 characters in total, including a very young child, and a 100-year-old man — who sang in Welsh!

It was a daunting project then, and it would be a daunting project now, six years and hundreds of books later.

But I had a fantastic director, and we worked very slowly and carefully on the performance, and it won my first Earphones Award.

Most importantly, Stevie loved the work, and I felt that I had, in fact, honored Anna Fields by taking everything I’d learned from listening to countless books she’d narrated, and doing the very best work I was capable of.

Stevie is publishing her third novel next year, and we are both so hopeful that I will be invited to narrate the project. Her writing is extraordinary, and it’s so special voicing a story that someone I love carefully crafted, so I’d be thrilled to work with her again. Our fingers are crossed!

Please watch this site for June audio book related posts. For every post you comment on in June that has this audio book symbol:

I will put you into a drawing for a $25 book certificate for each comment (Barnes and Noble or Amazon – your choice). Winner will be drawn in July.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on June 16, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)14 Comments

Hey there! Welcome to It’s Monday, What Are You Reading!

I love being a part of this and I hope you do too! As part of this weekly meme I love to encourage you all to go and visit the others participating in this meme. Fair warning… this meme tends to add to your reading list!

Oh my gosh I am late posting! Remember that procrastination I spoke of earlier today? Well… I just finished up the last of it about 5 minutes ago. With church, Fathers Day lunch with our son, company, cleaning, writing the bee article, chatting with hubby over dinner, and then works out the Friends application for the award…. it literally took ALL DAY.

So let’s get this post going -here is a review of the past week:

Intro to Audio Book Month: Narrators Reviews, and Giveaways

The acting of narration by narrator Johnny Heller

The Day In The Life of a Narrator w/ narrator Therese Plummer

The beginning of narration by narrator Allyson Johnson

the BEST audio books according to the listeners

My week at Camp Benedict

Her – The Movie…. my thoughts on relationships with electronics 😛

If I Can’t Have You by Gregg Olsen and Rebecca Morris

I am going to skip what I have going on this week mainly because it is late – and I want to get this posted. There will be more narrator reviews, more audio book reviews and more chances to be entered into the giveaway 🙂

How about you? How was your reading this past week? What is on deck for this week? Please share your Monday What Are You Reading posts below where it says click here: