Crossroads discussion

7 views
The Tagged to the Top > Recommendations for audio books

Comments Showing 1-12 of 12 (12 new)    post a comment »
dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Lesley (new)

Lesley Moseley | 717 comments I think I now have the stamina to learn a whole new set of IT in the form of audio books that I can listen to in the car. I have only tried one before on my tablet. Swingtime, but either the tablet sound or the narrator or both , had me turning off pretty quickly. When I eventually got the ebook, my mental picture of the characters didn't match, and I have never tried again.


message 2: by Karin (last edited Jan 19, 2019 06:01PM) (new)

Karin Oh, my goodness, where do I begin? You've already read All the Light You Cannot See-the audiobook is so excellent I gave it 5 stars.

I can't see any on your want to read list that I've listened to, so I'm not sure what to suggest off the top of my head. SO, I'm going to list some audiobooks that I gave 5 stars to that you may like--I'm NOT going to list one or two that I don't know if you'll like, though.

Two of a number of excellent narrators are Jayne Entwistle (does an amazing job of the Flavia de Leuce books if those are up your alley) and Stephen Fry--I just heard him narrate Around the World in Eighty Days and he's a 5 star narrator! Gosh, there are more, but I don't have all of the audiobooks I've listened to shelved as such here. There are also some bad ones that ruin books, of course. I'm only listing good ones.

Fiction:

To Kill a Mockingbird narrated by Sissy Spacek. To me she IS Scout, although some have enjoyed it narrated by the actress from Legally Blonde (can't think of her name of the top of my head)
Anything narrated by Stuart McLean--all stuff he's written, short, both poignant and humour.
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
The Summer Before the War (slow moving and definitely enhanced by being on audiobook)

Nonfiction:
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania


message 3: by Lesley (new)

Lesley Moseley | 717 comments Thanks for the reply. Legally Blonde is Reece Witherspoon, and I could enjoy her voice. I have such an aversion to a certain sharp 'electronic' sounding voices, as well as the 'back of the throat' diction. It will probably be just trial and error. <3

I have read almost all the ones you list. Will now look through Stuart McLeans lists.


message 4: by Lesley (new)

Lesley Moseley | 717 comments Would you pm me on Fb to warn me of any with grating or affected, voices. Thanks


message 5: by Karin (new)

Karin Lesley wrote: "Thanks for the reply. Legally Blonde is Reece Witherspoon, and I could enjoy her voice. I have such an aversion to a certain sharp 'electronic' sounding voices, as well as the 'back of the throat' ..."

Sissy Spacek has the opposite of a sharp, grating voice, I think. I know I've listened to other excellent ones, but didn't' shelve them in the right place here to find them easily!


message 6: by Blueberry (last edited Jan 22, 2019 07:16PM) (new)

Blueberry (blueberry1) I liked both The Alice Network and Push on audio. I don't listen to a lot on audio because I have trouble paying attention and following too fast speech.


message 7: by Lesley (new)

Lesley Moseley | 717 comments Blueberry wrote: "I liked both The Alice Network and Push on audio. I don't listen to a lot on audio because I have trouble paying attention and following too fast speech."

Yes, the talking speed of many people, bamboozle me, and I lose track as I cant go back and see what they said. Even some radio presenters.


message 8: by Lesley (new)

Lesley Moseley | 717 comments I have only ever tried Swing Time by Zadie Smith as an audio book, but gave up pretty soon.

However one of my favourite authors Tim Winton , his book Breath by Tim Winton was recommended by a trusted long-time friend. Easy start-up on my tablet, via Borrow Box, and read by a well-known OZ actor, Dan Whylie, I found the 11 minutes I listened to, quite enjoyable.

Took a bit longer to get started , but succeeded, on the pc, and that too was fine. Thanks for the replies.


message 9: by Lesley (new)

Lesley Moseley | 717 comments Karin wrote: "Lesley wrote: "Thanks for the reply. Legally Blonde is Reece Witherspoon, and I could enjoy her voice. I have such an aversion to a certain sharp 'electronic' sounding voices, as well as the 'back ..."

Is there a link to audio-book readers or some sort of rating systems?


message 10: by Karin (last edited Jan 26, 2019 05:39PM) (new)

Karin Lesley wrote: "Yes, the talking speed of many people, bamboozle me, and I lose track as I cant go back and see what they said. Even some radio presenters.."

I am not a slow talker, and if I drink even white tea, which I do once every 5 or 10 years, I talk so fast almost nobody can keep up (you can see why I don't take much caffeine!). But even though I tend to hear quickly as well, not always! BUT I don't like my audiobooks rushed!

My husband is not the opposite, but talks at a very reasonable speed, and a brilliant man I once dated talks slowly so I am not sure what makes someone a fast talker, but I've always had to work on that.


message 11: by Karin (last edited Jan 26, 2019 05:41PM) (new)

Karin Lesley wrote: "Is there a link to audio-book readers or some sort of rating systems? ."

There are ratings of audiobooks on audible, but I'm not sure about other places. Sometimes there are mixed reactions. While I think Donald Sutherland is a good actor (not brilliant in many categories, but so very good at playing evil people, such as President Snow in the Hunger Games) I couldn't stand him as an audiobook narrator the one time I listened to him and it's a book I like, The Old Man and the Sea.


message 12: by Lesley (new)

Lesley Moseley | 717 comments Karin wrote: "Lesley wrote: "Is there a link to audio-book readers or some sort of rating systems? ."

There are ratings of audiobooks on audible, but I'm not sure about other places. Sometimes there are mixed ..."


Thanks Karin, still loving my EBOOKS but I am working towards getting an audio book to play through the radio in the car. My music is on a memory stick, downloaded from the pc. My trips 'up north' take min 4 hours and I lose the radio reception pretty soon after starting out. Enjoying all the help I get, learning new 'stuff'..


back to top