Category Archives: Audiobook
Audiobook Week Discussion – What are you listening to?
Audiobook Week hosted by Devourer of Books continues with a mid-week meme to talk about what we’re listening to now and what’s coming up next.
Current/Most Recent Audiobook:
The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay, read by Candace Thaxton and Kirby Heyborne
Impressions:
I’ve already read (and loved) the book but wanted to experience it in audio. There is dual narration to go with the his-and-her storytelling. The narrators are doing a fine job and I’m immersed in the story. Since I’ve already read the book I had my own expectation of how the readers should sound, and the narrators don’t exactly line up, but they are helping me to process the story in a new way. I’m about halfway into the book now.
Current/Most Recent Favorite Audiobook:
Looking over this year’s audiobooks, If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch, read by Tai Sammons, stands out as a favorite.
Favorite Narrator You’ve Discovered Recently:
I liked Lauren Fortgang’s narration on Out of The Easy, and I’m thinking of picking up the Shadow and Bone series that she also reads. I also like Madeleine Maby/Grace Grant’s narration in the Romance category.
One title from your TBL (To be Listened) stack, or your audio wish list:
I’m looking forward to listening to Gameboard of the Gods by Richelle Mead read by Emily Shaffer. Mead is one of my favorite authors, and I’m interested in checking out her new series.
Until Fountain Bridge by Samantha Young Audiobook Review
Book: Until Fountain Bridge by Samantha Young, Penguin Audio, June 18, 2013
Book Info: Romance, Audiobook received for review from Penguin Audio. Running time: 3 hrs, 4 mins. Read by: Ruth Hopkins. Also available as an e-book from InterMix.
Rating: 4 / 5 Stars
More Info: Goodreads | Audible | Amazon | Facebook
Publisher’s Summary:
From the New York Times best-selling author of On Dublin Street and Down London Road comes a new novella about finding love in familiar places….
Ellie has been in love with Adam Sutherland for as long as she can remember. What started as a childhood crush on her older brother’s best friend soon bloomed into full-blown infatuation. Unfortunately, it also meant full-blown heartache, as Adam refused to fall for Braden’s little sister.
But it took a crisis to make Adam realize he’s wasted too much time denying his feelings for her. Unwilling to waste a second more, he decided to make Ellie his, no matter the consequences. Now happily settled with the woman he’s pined after for years, he’s about to find out what their 10 year courtship was like for her, through the journals she kept during their ups and many downs. And though Adam may have Ellie now, he has no idea how close he came to losing her….
It was such a treat to listen to Down London Road and Until Fountain Bridge back-to-back. Now I feel satisfied enough to be able to wait for the next book in the series. Until Fountain Bridge is an On Dublin Street novella about two of the side characters from the ODS series- Ellie Carmichael and Adam Sutherland.
I liked getting to know Ellie and Adam better in this story. The storytelling device is really sweet and uses Ellie’s journals to give us a peek at the couple’s backstory. Ellie has had a crush on Adam since she was a kid, but he was her brother’s friend and always played the role of the protective older brother. Things changed as they got older, and got a little messy with mixed signals and third parties. Ellie let’s Adam read her some of her journal entries so he can see how he was always on her mind.
The story navigates through Ellie and Adam’s past and present to show us just how far they’ve come. It is fun to revisit scenes through Ellie’s POV and to get her take on the other characters in the series.
It’s hard to say who is my favorite couple in this series, but it’s probably whichever one I’m reading at the time. Ellie is one of the nicest and sunniest characters in the series, and she and Adam are so cute and solid together. I didn’t know that they had such a history and it’s interesting to learn about their rough patches.
I listened to the audiobook, read by Ruth Hopkins. Her voice sounds very much like the narrator of Down London Road, with her great Scottish accent. When I looked up the reader’s name I was surprised the narrators were different! I guess I need to get my ears checked. Hopkins connects well with the characters and conveys Ellie’s state of mind over many years. Sometimes books with diary entries are tricky to listen to in audio format because the transitions from past to present are not always clear. However, I did not have that problem with this book at all. Hopkins brings both Adam and Ellie to life with her reading, and at only 3 hours long I listened to this book in one afternoon.
I recommend reading (or listening to) this book after On Dublin Street to get a more meaningful reading experience. The novella length (about 100 pages) is perfect for this story, and told me all I needed to know about Ellie and Adam. Book three in the series is called Before Jamaica Lane, and is due out in January 2014.
How Do You Choose Your Audiobooks? Audiobook week discussion
Audiobook Week is an annual event hosted by Jen at Devourer of Books. If you love audiobooks or are looking for audiobook recommendations make sure to follow along! There are daily discussion topics all this week devoted to all things audiobook.
Today’s prompt:
How do you choose your audiobooks?
How do you decide what you’ll listen to? Do you mostly listen, or split time between listening and reading? Particularly if you split time, how do you decide what you’ll consume in audio and what in print?
This topic makes me say hmmm. Sometimes I think my audiobooks choose me based on what is available at the library, what new release is out, or if a favorite narrator has a new book out. Or sometimes I’ll feel like re-reading a favorite book and choose to listen to it instead for a new experience. Reading audiobook reviews from my favorite blogs also plays into my decision-making.
My audiobook to print book ratio is about 40/60. Due to the flexibility of audiobooks, I generally choose to listen rather than read all things being equal. When I commit to an audiobook, I usually just listen, though sometimes I have the book on hand so I can trade off listening and reading. It is beneficial to have a print copy to refer to when taking notes for reviews.
I’ll choose to read a print copy of some books if I listen to an audio sample and don’t think it’s a good fit for me. Audio makes certain genres more appealing to me, such as historical fiction, memoirs, and literary fiction. For longer books I prefer audio as well. YA is the genre I usually read in print the most, though I listen to my share of YA audiobooks too.
I am mainly a mood reader, so I can’t plan out what I’m going to listen to in advance. Because something else will invariably distract me from my original plans. I think what I mainly do is rotate by genre. If I’ve listened to a lot of romance lately, then I’ll shake it up and pick up a YA, historical fiction, or memoir so I don’t get burned out on any one category.
How do you choose your audiobooks?
Down London Road by Samantha Young Audiobook Review
Book: Down London Road by Samantha Young, Penguin Audio, May 7, 2013
Book Info: Romance, Audiobook received for review from Penguin Audio. Running time: 11 hrs, 28 mins. Read by: Elle Newlands. Also available in PB, 375 pages from NAL.
Rating: 4 / 5 Stars
More Info: Goodreads | Audible | Amazon | Facebook
Publisher’s Summary:
Johanna Walker is used to taking charge. But she’s about to meet someone who will make her lose control….
It has always been up to Johanna to care for her family, particularly her younger brother, Cole. With an absent father and a useless mother, she’s been making decisions based on what’s best for Cole for as long as she can remember. She even determines what men to date by how much they can provide for her brother and her, not on whatever sparks may – or may not – fly.
But with Cameron MacCabe, the attraction is undeniable. The sexy new bartender at work gives her butterflies every time she looks at him. And for once, Jo is tempted to put her needs first. Cam is just as obsessed with getting to know Jo, but her walls are too solid to let him get close enough to even try.
Then Cam moves into the flat below Jo’s, and their blistering connection becomes impossible to ignore. Especially since Cam is determined to uncover all of Jo’s secrets…even if it means taking apart her defenses piece by piece.
So, I really liked On Dublin Street, the first book in this series, about a different couple, Braden and Joss. That book totally took off as a self-published e-book before the relaunch with Penguin. It came out when there was a flurry of erotic new adult books, and sometimes all of them blend together. But, what I think sets this series apart is the witty writing; great characters, heart and angst, and that there is some plot beyond the sex. I liked Braden and Joss a lot and worried that this book wouldn’t have the same spark without them, but Jo and Cam were just as appealing, and many other familiar characters make appearances as well.
Down London Road is a companion book to On Dublin Street, and works just fine as a stand-alone. Young gets the reader up to speed on the other characters in the book. In fact, it’s been awhile since I read On Dublin Street and I had no problem following along.
Each book in this series centers on a different couple, and all the books take place in Edinburgh, Scotland. Johanna/Jo is Joss’s co-worker at the bar Club 39, so we’re a little familiar with her. She is used to trading on her looks to meet “sugar daddies” to help her financially since she’s already supporting her mom and little brother by working two jobs. There’s more to the story about Jo and her family situation though, and we learn all the nitty gritty details of her life in this installment.
Jo is her own worst critic and has low self-esteem, but she has good intentions and works hard and is a good friend. Cam is the hot, tattooed, part-time bartender/graphic designer who makes some assumptions about Jo and calls her out on it. He comes on strong with his disdain for Jo, but he sees through her facade eventually and becomes someone she can lean on. And of course, their chemistry is off the charts.
The romance is the slow burn type and is touch and go for a while. Both Cam and Jo have issues they are dealing with that keep them apart. I liked that they had to work at the relationship and that made it more satisfying. The pair definitely gives Braden and Joss a run for their money in the hotness category.
I listened to the audiobook, read by Elle Newlands. I read the first book On Dublin Street, and was excited to get the chance to experience the companion book via audio. What’s great about the audiobook is that the narrator was born and raised in Scotland so she reads with a great Scottish accent. It really brings the Edinburgh setting to life for the listener. The character of Joss in the first book is American and Newlands does just fine with that accent as well. I definitely want to continue with this series via audiobook- it’s a book I didn’t want to stop listening to. Newlands really gets inside the core of the characters, and infuses them with personality.
Down London Road is funny, sexy and dramatic and has a wonderful cast of characters. I’m a big fan of Samantha Young’s writing skill and eagerly await her next book. In fact, there’s a novella just out this week called Until Fountain Bridge that centers on Braden’s sister Ellie, and his friend Adam. I’ve listened to it already and should have a review up very soon. Book three in the series is called Before Jamaica Lane, and is due out in January 2014. Looking forward to Olivia and Nate’s story! In the meantime I might have to go back and listen to the audio of On Dublin Street.
Here’s an audio clip from Down London Road with Elle Newlands. Isn’t her voice great?
My Audiobook Year 2012-2013: Audiobook Week discussion
Audiobook Week is an annual event hosted by Jen at Devourer of Books. If you love audiobooks or are looking for audiobook recommendations make sure to follow along! There are daily discussion topics all this week devoted to all things audiobook.
Today’s prompt:
2012-2013, Your Audiobook Year
Are you new to audiobooks in the last year? Have you been listening to them forever but discovered something new this year? Favorite titles? New times/places to listen? This is your chance to introduce yourself and your general listening experience.
I’m not new to audiobooks, but I’d say in the last year my percentage of books read via audio has grown a bit. Since last year’s audiobook week, I’ve listened to 54 audiobooks, and that is about 40% of my total books read, and about 50% more than last year. I sometimes toy with the idea of only reviewing audiobooks since there’s not a lot of us that focus on them so heavily, but I don’t think I’m ready to go there just yet.
I listen to audiobooks during the day, when I’m exercising, doing household chores, anytime really. I tend to read my print books only at night during the week. There’s no way I’d get as many books “read” without audiobooks.
Lately I’m noticing that I’m listening to more Adult Fiction or Romance titles, while I read more YA books in print. I take more chances on books outside my comfort zone via audiobook, from humor, sports and music memoirs to erotica. So, consequently my blog is getting a little more eclectic and I’m good with that.
These are some of my favorites titles by category from the last 12 months:
Fiction: The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer, read by Jen Tullock, Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt, read by Amy Rubinate, and The Best of Us by Sarah Pekkanen, read by Cassandra Campbell.
Romance: Down London Road by Samantha Young, read by Elle Newlands, Beautiful Stranger by Christina Lauren, read by Grace Grant and Jonathan R. Cole, If I Were You by Lisa Renee Jones, read by Grace Grant, and Reckless by S.C. Stephens, read by Rebekkah Ross.
Memoir: Long Shot by Mike Piazza, read by the author and Holter Graham, and Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling, read by the author.
YA: If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch, read by Tai Sammons, Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell, read by Rebecca Lowman and Sunil Malhotra, Out of The Easy by Ruta Sepetys read by Lauren Fortgang, and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, read by Kate Rudd.
Series: Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare, read by Daniel Sharman, and Prodigy by Marie Lu, read by Steven Kaplan and Mariel Stern.
Have you also been listening to more audiobooks this year? What are your audio faves?
The Lucy Variations by Sara Zarr Book and Audio Review
Audiobook: The Lucy Variations by Sara Zarr, published by Hachette Audio, May 7, 2013
Book Info: YA contemporary, audiobook purchased via Audible and hardcover won from DEBtastic Reads. Audiobook run time: 8 hrs, 20 mins. Read by: Sara Zarr. Hardcover is 304 pages from Little, Brown
Rating: 4 / 5 Stars
More Info: Goodreads | Audible | Amazon
The Lucy Variations called out to me for a couple reasons. Obviously I share my name with the title character, but I can also relate to her struggles with her musician identity very much. I have never shared this with you guys but I played the flute for about 13 years. Orchestra, band, rehearsals, daily practices, the works. I wasn’t a famous child prodigy of course like book-Lucy but it did take up a lot of my free time, and yeah, sometimes I resented it, even though I loved the music too.
Sara Zarr’s How To Save a Life is one of my favorite books and I’m slowly making my way through her catalog. I was lucky enough to win a signed copy of The Lucy Variations from Debbi @ DEBtastic Reads, and I also have a copy of the audiobook so I alternated between reading and listening.
In The Lucy Variations, sixteen-year-old piano virtuoso Lucy walks out on an important competition in Prague and abruptly quits playing altogether. Her family keeps a family tragedy secret from her so she doesn’t lose focus on the competition, and this is the last straw for Lucy. Her grandfather and mother totally micro-manage her career and she’s had enough. Eight months later, Lucy hasn’t played a note and now she’s passed the piano bench on to her younger brother Gus. When Gus’s elderly tutor dies during a piano lesson, a new instructor named Will is brought in.
Lucy didn’t think her days of playing the piano were over exactly but since her controlling grandfather washed his hands of her she feels cut off from the piano. Now she has time to explore San Francisco with her friends, hang out with Gus, and decide what else she wants to do with her life. The new piano tutor Will is familiar with Lucy’s career and wants to help her rediscover her love for music on her own terms. And things get a little messy between them.
The Beck-Moreau family is very wealthy and Lucy has a lot of options available to her. I felt for her that it was all or nothing with the piano and I wanted her to get her mojo back. But on the other hand, she’s a little infuriating at times. She can be a pretty bad friend, and her morals are sketchy as well. I cut her some slack due to her horrible parental role models- her grandfather is truly awful and her parents don’t do anything about it. Her mother even gives her the third degree about the elderly piano teachers death as if she was somehow to blame. So in terms of the characters it wasn’t always easy to connect though the story is compelling.
The author, Sara Zarr herself, narrates the audiobook. She’s actually read a few of her books though this is the first one I’ve listened to. One thing that’s very cool about the audiobook production is that short snippets of music are included in the story. So when Lucy is talking about performing a piece of music, the piano parts are overlaid in the story. I get nervous when authors narrate their books since usually their forte is writing, not voice acting. But on the other hand, they know the story inside and out so sometimes it works out. Zarr’s reading is low-key and her voice is pleasant to listen to. She’s subtle with the character voices, but I was actually impressed with how much personality she puts into the characters without overdoing it. She makes the characters come alive but doesn’t sound unnatural doing it, so kudos to Zarr. I think I’ll check out her narration on Story of a Girl next.
The hardcover is really pretty and the different parts of the book are labeled with musical terms like Tempo Regato, and Con Brio, Con Fuoco, as well as their translations. Also, when there are flashbacks in the book they are clearly marked as Intermezzo chapters. This transition is easier to follow in the book than the audiobook. The book is also artfully decorated with musical notes to carry the theme throughout. I was glad to have the book to refer to when I was listening.
I think if you have an interest in contemporary YA with a musical theme you’ll especially appreciate this book. I didn’t love it as much as How to Save a Life, though it did help me work through my own feelings about my musician past and I could relate to Lucy’s struggle for balance.
Check out some behind-the-scenes pictures and background info on the audiobook production of The Lucy Variations from Sara Zarr here.
Beautiful Stranger by Christina Lauren Audiobook Review
Book: Beautiful Stranger by Christina Lauren, Simon & Schuster Audio, May 28, 2013
Book Info: Erotica/ Contemporary Romance, Audiobook received for review from Simon & Schuster Audio. Running time: 8 hrs, 6 mins. Read by: Grace Grant and Jonathan R. Cole. Also available in PB, 352 pages from Gallery Books.
Rating: 4 / 5 Stars
More Info: Goodreads | Audible | Amazon | Facebook
The Beautiful Bastard writing team of Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, aka Christina Lauren are back for more with the sequel Beautiful Stranger. Beautiful Bastard was pure escapist fun, silly and sexy, (review here) so I’ve been looking forward to reading the sequel this summer. In this Beautiful installment the focus is on a brand new couple, and I daresay I liked them even better than Chloe and Bennett. If you’ve read Beautiful Bastard then you know that these books are all about pushing the envelope with their sexual escapades. Beautiful Stranger continues that trend, and the hook for Sara and Max is that they are exploring exhibitionism.
Sara Dillon is Chloe’s friend and the new head of Finance at Ryan Media Group. She’s getting over a bad breakup and is now gun-shy about relationships, preferring something with no strings attached. Enter Max Stella, the sexy British playboy with a different girl on his arm every night. Sparks fly when they meet at a nightclub but due to having mutual friends and interests their one night turns into something more.
Since Sara was burned before she doesn’t want to fall into the same traps with Max. The relationship will be on her terms, and be almost like a business relationship. Sara is smart and nice like Chloe but a little less intense than her. She’s still a little stubborn and guarded but it’s understandable considering her relationship history.
Max Stella is like the anti-Bennett. He’s fun loving and doesn’t take life too seriously. There’s more to him than meets the eye though. In Beautiful Bastard, Bennett kept panties as trophies, while Max collects photos. Gosh I wonder what’s next? Max is friends with Bennett so that way we get to catch up with Chloe and Bennett’s goings on.
In this book again we get both Max and Sara’s perspectives through alternating POV. That format works well for this series, and helps us understand the characters better, when they’re not tearing each other’s clothes off.
The writing is light and witty, with good pacing. As the story progresses we get more insight into all the characters and that kept things interesting. There is a big misunderstanding towards the end that kind of made my interest fizzle-out temporarily, but as a whole the book is a lot of fun.
I listened to the audiobook, read by Grace Grant and Jonathan R. Cole. One of my call-outs with Beautiful Bastard is that I wanted a male narrator for the male chapters. Thanks for listening, Simon & Schuster Audio! I love this audiobook even more with male and female narration. Grace Grant is back from the Beautiful Bastard audiobook, and makes Sara and Chloe’s voices distinct. Jonathan R. Cole sounds very charming as Max, and I can’t imagine the audiobook without him. Both narrators shine the most with the voices for their own gender, and the duo makes a great team. I do think the audiobook makes the book even more fun and gives it more personality, though I’m sure these are good books to bring to the beach too.
Beautiful Stranger is witty, sexy and fun and again doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not. Look for a novella called Beautiful Bitch that continues Bennett and Chloe’s story, due out June 24. And Beautiful Player is Max’s friend Will’s story and due out in late October.
Here’s an audio clip from Beautiful Stranger with Jonathan R. Cole as Max Stella:
