Sunday, June 13, 2021

Need Recommendations, Please!

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I never thought I'd see the day, but I'm actually enjoying listening to an audiobook! (I'll give you a moment to pick your jaws off the floor because I know you remember how many times I've said I hated the things.) Of course, it took some work to figure things out. I can't just listen to one because that's a guarantee that I'll go to sleep. Nope. I have to have other parts of my brain engaged at the same time.

So I've been sitting here in my living room nest in the late afternoons listening to an audiobook while I knit. It's working out perfectly... evidently because I chose the right audiobook to experiment with. I'm listening to Stephen Spotswood's Fortune Favors the Dead narrated by Kirsten Potter.  Potter does a fantastic job and really hammers home the fact that the narrator has a lot to do with an audiobook's success. I spent some time last night listening to Audible samples of books at Amazon, but I thought one of my best sources of information is right here.

Okay, all you audiobook fans-- which narrators would you recommend? (Primarily for mysteries and non-fiction.) Inquiring minds would love to know!

Thanks for your help!
 
PS-- If you're wondering about that Bloglovin' link at the very top, Feedburner is going away, which is the way readers have always been able to sign up for Kittling: Books by email, so I am being forced to find alternatives. *sigh*

10 comments:

  1. The three I mentioned to you on Twitter are ones I've never been disappointed by. And I find that a lot of the best narrators tend to do whole series - or lots of standalones by the same author - because they have such a great fit with that type of writing.

    I have listened to a lot of mediocre narrators...the bulk of them...a very few really awful ones, and a handful of wonderful ones. I think you'll grow to enjoy the experience more and more if you can just stay awake. LOL

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    1. Well, I've finally found the answer to staying awake: knitting or doing needlepoint. Always before, I wanted to relax and concentrate on the book, especially when I was going through multiple procedures on my eyes and couldn't read or do needlework, but the narrator's voice would drone, and that was the kiss of death.

      Thanks for the recommendations on the good'uns!

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  2. I'm glad you're finding audiobooks to work for you, Cathy. I don't usually listen to them, but if you like C.J. Sansom's Matthew Shardlake series, those are good ones on audio. At least that's my view.

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    1. Oh! I do like Matthew Shardlake, and this may be what gets me back to reading the series. Thanks, Margot!

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  3. I haven't gotten into audiobooks either - they seem too slow compard to how quickly I read! - but I have sern multiple comments about the good job done by the narrator (George Guidall, I think) for the Longmire series, so those could be worth a try.

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    1. Oh, thanks for reminding me of George, Kate! I have heard nothing but praise for his Longmire narration. By the way, if you're listening while doing something like knitting, you don't notice it being so slow. It reminds me of my mother reading me stories when I was very small.

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  4. I like Simon Vance, John Lee, Marguerite Gavin, Gildart Jacckson, Saul Reichlin and many more. I believe narrators are a matter of personal preference. I've read hundred of audio books. There are many more excellent narrators I could mention.

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    1. Terry, I think you're spot on with saying that narrators are a matter of personal preference. A voice that I love may grate on your ears and vice versa.

      Thanks so much for stopping by and giving me so many narrators to check into!

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  5. I've only recently been listening to more audio books and don't really have a wide knowledge of narrators, but I really liked Kevin R. Free who narrates the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells!

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