I'm looking for something new to read via audio books. I've got an audible subscription and credits to spend. Any suggestions on things I should look into? Thanks in advance.
I'm looking for something new to read via audio books. I've got an audible subscription and credits to spend. Any suggestions on things I should look into? Thanks in advance.
I've used audible, mostly through sales, to "read" a little bit outside my field rather than really for fiction. So here goes:
I found Chernow's Alexander Hamilton really good, though it's a tad hagiographic even by my standards and I'm a Hamilton fan from before the musical. His Washington biography, read by the same guy, was just ok. I think a lot of that is down to Washington just having a pretty boring life, though. Yes he had a temper, but he so was the dude
Tim Wiener's Legacy of Ashes is great and horrifying, though a few times the reader chose to give historical figures accents that didn't really work. A Kissinger impression or a fake southern accent are just distracting. I've actually listened to it straight through twice in the past six months and bought the dead tree (used) because I wanted a reference copy.
Avoid John Ferling's Jefferson and Hamilton: The Rivalry That Forged a Nation. The content is fine, but the narration is remarkably bad. At points it sounds like they hired a guy who has limited English proficiency and were editing around his worse gaffes. Random emphasis, abrupt changes in tone, weird pauses. I really don't know what's going on there and am seriously considering returning it. But it's making me loathe Jefferson even more and that's always fun.
As a not-so-subtle plug, all (or most, at least) Pathfinder Tales novels are on there now. ;)
As a not-so-subtle plug, all (or most, at least) Pathfinder Tales novels are on there now. ;)
I've read a few and liked them. However, Audible doesn't indicate series very well.
Any particular Pathfinder tales that are especially good?
Its really hard to recommend books when I have know idea what you have read or liked in the past.
Its really hard to recommend books when I have know idea what you have read or liked in the past.
Fantasy and magic. I prefer if the main character or at least close secondary characters are in some way fantastic. Casters or fantastic creatures.
Having a fighter, for example, as the main character in a fantasy book is fine, but extended descriptions of swinging a sword just doesn't do it for me.
I like:
Dresden
Aeronaut's Windlass (Jim Butchers non-Dresden steampunk foray)
Wheel of Time
Cycle of Arawn
Salvatore (Drizzt, but also one called Archmage)
Nearly anything set in Forgotten realms
Game of Thrones (the books and the show)
Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunger (the book, not the movie)
Markus Heinz (Nearly finished "The Dwarves")
Vicious
Raw Power
Several Pathfinder Tales, but I like Nightglass and it's follow up Nightblade
Non Fantasy:
Bossy Pants (Tina Fey)
Yes Please (Amy Pohler)
That should be a pretty good starting point. I've been reading a long time the above list are just the most recent that come to mind.
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I just recently finished listening to The First Fifteen Lives Of Harry August, and it was a transcendent experience. The book is amazing and the narrator pitch perfect.
Depending on your listening habits, I would generally advise against really long books. It's tempting to get more bang for buck, but since I listen in 30-60 minute intervals about 2-3 times a week, listening to a 40 hours book takes forever, and I always get tired of it, and it feels like nothing ever happens in the books because in any given 30 minutes episode the plot doesn't really move forward.
I just recently finished listening to The First Fifteen Lives Of Harry August, and it was a transcendent experience. The book is amazing and the narrator pitch perfect.
Depending on your listening habits, I would generally advise against really long books. It's tempting to get more bang for buck, but since I listen in 30-60 minute intervals about 2-3 times a week, listening to a 40 hours book takes forever, and I always get tired of it, and it feels like nothing ever happens in the books because in any given 30 minutes episode the plot doesn't really move forward.
I listen often. Usually whenever i'm doing something else that requires my hands, such as cleaning, running, or driving.