Audio books revisited: Why they read so stupid?

[OriginalGeek]

SO I've finally figured out how to make my Android Auto read books to me in the car. I love the concept. I have almost an hour drive each way every day to and from work so I could get a lot of books "read" using time that would just be wasted otherwise. (I don't like commercial radio and my NPR station recently changed their programming so the times I'm most often in the car are no longer the times they play the shows I liked - and more and more I don't even really like those shows. I still love Wait Wait but I can catch that on weekends)

I listen to my 40k song music server all day at work so I'm wanting something different for the ride home and back.

I've found an app (Libby) that is compatible with Android Auto and connects directly to my county library system. I can check out audio books for free and listen to them, "return" them and then get more.

I'm on my third book and I am wondering if it's for me. I WANT to listen to books but so far everyone reading to me is annoying as hell. I HATE when they try to do voices and it might even be worse when they don't (because it's hard to keep track of who is talking or whatever). I tried it once before several years ago and stopped for the same reason. I was hoping readers had improved.

I don't know why they can't keep me interested in books I know I should be interested in. My mind wanders as I drive and listen. Maybe I'm just getting the right books. I tried starting with familiar authors from genres (sci-fi, crime/mystery, etc..) I enjoy but maybe they just have bad readers or I am expecting too much. I loved when my mom and dad read me stories when I was little. I then graduated to reading stories to my younger brothers every night (it was really our "sneaky" way of getting to stay up later lol).

So why can't anyone read me story now? Have I lost that sense of wonder? I am cynical in my older age but I thought I still enjoyed a good yarn. I don't read real books as often as I did when I was younger although I do love my Kindle and read on it occasionally - especially on planes.

I almost wish they would hire a crew of voice talent to do all the voices for real but then it starts to become a play doesn't it?

I dunno. I'll try a few more but I'm becoming disillusioned.


And yes, feel free to recommend good books, good authors, good narrators of any genre, fiction or non. Maybe I just haven't taken a big enough sample size to form a valid opinion.

[hlthe2b]

1. Yeah... Audio books are a crapshoot, but if the content is interesting, I'll grin & bear it through

a poor "reader."

I actually have more complaints about podcasts on that score. There are some that I really want to listen to because the hosts have the content-related experience I really respect. But if the voices are hard to listen to it probably isn't worth the time. There are a couple of MSNBC hosts that grate on my nerves too though I'd bet it is not the ones that most might mention.

Funny how those issues can impact. I honestly can't stand my own voice either.

[OriginalGeek]

9. Ha! yeah i figured out podcasts the same day as books lol

So far the only one I can stand is Rachel Maddow but I loved her already anyway. I tried a few sports and other special interests of mine and bleah.

[enough]

2. I use Audible and Libby, and I listen to a lot of books.

The one thing I've noticed about readers is that authors are usually AWFUL readers of their own books. It's so bad that I will rarely download a book read by the author, even if I really want to read the book.

Other than that, I guess it's really a matter of taste. Keep trying.

[dewsgirl]

4. Rick Wilson is a excellent narrator, as is Rachel Maddow.

[dewsgirl]

3. Rick Wilson's Everything Trump Touches Dies, is a great

book, made even better by his narration. His new book Running Against the Devil, is also great made even better with his narration.
I have had an Audible membership for the last 5 years, I could list great audio books all day. Is there a certain subject you are interested in?

[OriginalGeek]

10. I'm up for anything

but I'm limited to what my local library has available (or coming soon - I can reserve books for when they become available)

I just finished The Girl In the Spider's Web (a continuation of the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo but not by the original author) and it was OK. At least I finished it lol. I just started the 1st book in a Sci-Fi series by an author I never heard of but liked the description but I'm not even out of chapter one and already irritated by production values. Lots of buzzing that I can't get rid of that doesn't happen anywhere else (radio, music, other books).

I grew up reading sci-fi and fantasy and horror and I love all that stuff still. I read all the Game of Thrones books as they were released. I love Stephen King and and that other guy who isn't SK but writes similar scary books. (Not Straub - the other guy). But I've read all my favorite authors books so I need to branch out. I liked John Grisham novels and Sherlock Holmes novels and Agatha Christie books and Douglas Adams, Anne Rice, Robert R. MacGammon, Poppy Z. Brite, Brian Lumley, Charles Dickens, Isaac Asimov, Robert Jordan, the Dune series, and hundreds more BUT I would be interested in non-fiction too.

I read Hawkings' A Brief History of Time so I could say I read it but I'm not gonna pretend I understood it lol. I might should try some Neil Degrasse Tyson and Carl Sagan.

We do have Amazon Prime so I think I get Audible with that and I have the app but haven't looked at what I can get through it. I keep my free books full on my Kindle but ya can't read and drive - or so my wife keeps angrily telling me.

I remember in high school I really enjoyed some historical books like PT-109 so I think I wouldn't mind learning though listening too.

thanks!

[dewsgirl]

15. Have you read Gone Girl? I think the book was better than

the movie. I know what you mean about production quality.
I read mostly political books, when I don't, I enjoy non fiction. Midnight in Chernobyl and Radium Girls are both very good books.
I don't know how closely you follow the Trump administration, A Warning by Anonymous was pretty good, alarming book. Right now I'm reading A Very Stable Genius, by Phillip Rucker and Carol Leonnig it is excellent.

[genxlib]

16. Info on Prime and Audible

Having prime does not get you audible.

At best, you can get a preliminary subscription as an introductory offer. But ultimately, it is a separate monthly subscription service that I have not found to be worth it. Especially if you can check them out for free from Libby.

What Prime offers is one free e-book a month from a limited selection. I usually wait to the end of the month to see how they are being reviewed. But here is the little known trick I use. I don't have a lot of time for e-book reading so I usually convert them from ebook to audio book for a nominal price. Often times, they offer them for $1.99 which is actually a pretty good deal. The selection is limited but I use it as a way to try out new authors (which is really the point of why they offer it)

[enough]

18. You're right, I should have made an exception for authors who speak professionally.

I haven’t listened to Wilson’s book, but he’s a great talker. And Maddow did a great job reading Blowout.

[dewsgirl]

19. Crappy narration ruins the experience.

I have usually find the author does well, but I'm speaking strictly from a political genre point of view.

[demigoddess]

5. I agree with the bad reading style. I tried a few audio books but...

when they read a line like 'She walked down the walk' and they put the accent on it like it is the most important thing. It just irks me so much. Couldn't take it.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

6. My experience with audio books has generally been very good.

However, I only get them when I'm going on one of my long driving trips, and those I get from the library. My current car has a CD player, which is what I'm listening to.

Still, it is a bit of a crapshoot, and I recall one audio book that I just hated the narrator. Other than that, they've mostly been quite good.

So it might be that the service you're using just doesn't get very good readers.

[Salviati]

7. Finding a narrator you like is like finding an author you like.

It's not easy work, so you've got to admire the people who do a great job.

If you like sci-fi, and haven't yet, check out the Expanse series. IMO the narrator of that, Jefferson Mays, is just fantastic. He does do voices for each character, but it's not overdone and seems effortless and believable.

[OriginalGeek]

11. IS that the TV show on right now?

Yes I think I very much want to try that one. I will see if my Library has it or if it's on Audible I might consider buying it lol - but I do love my library letting me borrow books for free...

thanks!

[Salviati]

13. Yes, and the books are different enough from the show that it's enjoyable to experience both

There are the usual adaptation things that happen when taking a story from books to television/movies. There's a lot of extra stuff in the books that had to get cut for time, e.g. we spend a lot more time with "Melba" in the books seeing the early parts of her plan. A lot of the adaptations have actually IMO made the story better, I think the show version of Ashford is a lot more interesting then the book version, but it's fun to see the original version as well.

[OriginalGeek]

14. Awesome, I'll find it for sure

I've only seen the first season of the show so I look forward to "reading" the books. But we plan to catch up on the show too - it's just hard to get everyone one in the same room to watch and then people who get left out are mad we watched without them and so on and so on lol.

[matt819]

8. I've been listening to audiobooks for almost 40 years

From cassettes to CDs to digital.

Probably thousands.

After a while, you get a sense of who's a good narrator, who's an ok narrator, and who's an absolutely lousy narrator, and once you get going you tend to steer toward the narrators almost as much as the author. A good narrator can't make a bad book good, but I can say that a bad narrator can make a good book awful.

There is an art to narration, which is way the intro notes that the book is "performed by," not "narrated by," which is, if memory serves, how it was years and years ago. Many good narrators are actors. The good narrators can do the characters' voices - male and female - so that they are mostly believable. Those who can't don't even try, and that's fine, as long as they're consistent. It can still work.

A good place to start is on Audible. When you find a book that you think you might like, check out the reviews of the narrator. Then go to your local library and see if they have it via Overdrive (Libby). Another option is the app, Chirp. I wasn't nuts about their selections, but the prices are good and the selections might appeal to you. I do have an Audible account, and everyone in the family uses it. I haven't checked lately, but there are probably hundreds of books in my library.

BTW, the cast approach to narration doesn't always work. You think it would, but only when it's done really, really well. I generally prefer a single narrator, or perhaps 2 or 3 if it's critical that male and female voices/characters are critical. But, again, a superb single narrator can usually do fine.

If you have specific questions about particular books or narrators, post them here, and I'm pretty sure that readers/listeners here can offer a thought or two on what works.

You can't go wrong with narrator Simon Vance.
Rene Auberjonois (who just died) is good (Pendergast series).
In the middle of book by a narrator new to me, Steve Carlson, and I like him.
Johnny Heller.
Xe Sands.
Antony Ferguson (Will Thomas's Barker and Llewelyn series).
George Guidall and Scott Brick can be a bit difficult to take, but between them they've narrator more than 1,500 books. My wife just skips the book if either of these two are the narrators. I'm a tad less discerning, but they can be hard to take.
Robert Glenister has narrator Robert Galbraith books (JK Rowling) and others. He's a British actor and is a good narrator.
Henry Leyva has narrated the Mike Bowditch series by Paul Doiron. Good listens.
Stephen Shanahan has narrated the Jane Harper novels (Australian). Liked him
Jeff Gurner has narrated some of the novels by Daniel Suarez. Also good.
Kobna Holbrook-Smith, Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch. British actor. Superb narrator.
David Chandler, William Kent Krueger and CJ Box novels. I've only listened to one of the Krueger novels and liked it.

Basically, find an author you like and give it a try. Again, if you have any question about specific narrators of book you think you might like, try one and find out, or ask folks here.

[OriginalGeek]

12. thank you Matt!

I didn't even know Rene Auberjonois narrated books - I might cry a little on the first one but then I should get into it. I loved everything I ever saw him in.

That's a great list to get me started - thanks again!

[FakeNoose]

20. Yes I agree with you - the narrator does make a difference

I'm retired now and I'm no longer driving my 30 minutes-each-way commute on weekdays. So I'm guessing my audiobook days are numbered. However for about 20 years I was hooked on audiobooks, and I was almost never without one.

I found that I gravitated to certain talented narrators just as you have done. Also I tended to select celebrity memoirs (autobiographies) that are frequently narrated by the authors themselves. It adds a nice dimension to the experience since these are read by actors or people who are trained in the performing arts.

I'd also recommend trying your local library, and you'll be amazed at the range of choices and high quality of audiobooks (mostly on CDs) that the public libraries offer these days.

[genxlib]

17. One suggestion

I don't get audio books from Audible but they do have a good review system for deciding what to get. Conversely Libby is terrible at the reviews.

The one thing that Audible has that could be of use to you is that it breaks down the review into categories including a rating for the performance alone.