1) NARRATION MAKES A HUGE IMPACT ON THE STORY!
Maybe you already knew this, but wow. My first audiobook, The Help, I luckily stumbled into a narration I loved with sassy southern accents. Then I tried Delerium, because everyone I know has read it and I came to lesson two:
2) SUPER SAPPY YA BOOKS ARE CRINGE-WORTHY WHEN READ SLOWLY OUT LOUD.
Somehow it became too embarrassing for me to handle, and I had to quit. RIGHT away, it hurt, like when you were a kid and there was kissing in a movie and you had to hide under a blanket or run out of the room, expect I was on the highway in my car my hands dashing at the buttons to change back to the radio.(shuddering still). As if Grad Student was reading my mind telepathically up in New England, she sent me this link yesterday "16 Audiobooks Read by A-List Celebrities", and my gosh do I have some new audiobook direction! Huzzah! Here are a few top hits from the list:
1. Graham Greene’s The End of the Affair read by Colin Firth. To quote Buzzfeed "Honestly, I would listen to Mr. Darcy read me the phonebook. So bring on the classic literature"
2. Carson McCullers The Member of the Wedding read by Susan Sarandon.
I will always love her for her role in Bull Durham.
3. Tina Fey’s Bossypants read by… Tina Fey. "Welcome to the best 5 hours and 35 minutes of your life"
Any other suggestions from audio book veterans out there? What are your favorite audiobooks to keep my commute (and chores, and metro riding, and ironing) interesting?
First, I'd like to say that audiobooks got me through a terrible commute for several years of my working life so I am the audibook-loving queen! And I have to agree with you here --- the narration can totally make or break a book. I saw that post on Buzzfeed and was surprised that they left out World War Z, especially because it's narrated by a whole host of famous peeps! So yeah, I recommend that one if you're into the zombie thing. It's incredible and because each character is voiced by a different narrator, it makes for a really eclectic and interesting listening experience.
ReplyDeleteI'd suggest Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama too. While mermaids aren't usually my thing, the reader on this one is FANTASTIC! Her voice is utterly hypnotic and I find myself running out to the car on my lunches just to keep on listening.
And Game of Thrones. I believe the reader made the Guinness Book of World Records for doing the highest amount of distinctive voices in one recording. It's crazy and also so good (albeit long).
I also really liked the reader for The Raven Boys, so even if you've already read the book, I'd still check it out. I find that audiobooks often allow me to experience the book in a whole new light. I catch things I might have otherwise missed. Enjoy!
I WANT TO LISTEN TO BOSSY PANTS
ReplyDeleteI LOVE AUDIOBOOKS SO FREAKING MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG YEP. How are you listening to them? Many apps let you speed up the narrator and I routinely listen to my books at 1.5 to 2 times normal speed. I think Shadow and Bone is GREAT with a great narrator. I LOVED The Cuckoo's Calling on audio (I was tired when I wrote my review and forgot to review the narrator, but he was great, I hope they keep him for the series). Jim Dale is the KING--he does Harry Potter. The Magicians is fantastic, like an American Jim Dale narrator and the story is American Harry Potter as a genius in college on drugs and obsessed with Narnia.
ReplyDeleteI use audible and can't recommend it enough. I pay about 25 a month, but I get two credits. Most books cost one credit. Plus they always have sales and the app is great.
I love Game of Thrones--you NEED to buy it though, because it's long. You won't have enough time to listen to it if you take it from the library and the books get so intense that I routinely cheat on it with other books.