Audio book problem - did I just get bad books or am I not cut out for being read to?

[OriginalGeek]

We recently drove to Virginia and back and, for a change from fighting over music, we decided to get a couple of audio books to listen to on the trip. Zoo by James Patterson and the latest Stephanie Plumb book by whats-her-name. Both authors we have all read (me, wife and daughter) and enjoyed even if they aren't high art and fine lit-ra-chure.

I can't figure out if these were just bad examples of the author's writing or if the readers just did terrible voice acting or if it's just better when I can imagine the voices in my head. The lady that did the Stephanie Plumb book was flat-out annoying. Not one single voice she did sounded like what I hear in my head when I read those books myself. And it went so slowly..I must read faster than I can be read to because I found the pace of both books exceedingly slow and it dulled my experience.

I know Lula is a black character in the SP books and a former street walker and should sound "urban" but I was absolutely uncomfortable listening to the voice actor's "black" voice. I am sure I would have preferred the whole thing just be read straight. For comparative purposes, I LOVE the Boondocks and never once felt uncomfortable watching even though they use the N word a lot. Maybe that's the whole thing right there - Boondocks is a story told by a black man about black characters voiced by black actors while SP was read by a white lady speaking words written by a white lady for a black character. It was inauthentic. I never noticed it before when reading but it was terrible to listen to.

Zoo was a little better but not by much. I think with that one I just didn't buy the story. I wanted to but there were too many times the character just said something dumb that seemed like it came out of left field for that character - especially towards the end. The voice-actor who read it was OK but the story was just dumb. Yet I'll still probably watch the mini-series. And again, I wonder if I would have liked it better if I had read it myself.

Are audio books just not for me? Or have I just not found the right combination of interesting material and voice-acting. My daughter also got Harry Potter as read by Stephen Fry and she got so annoyed with Stephanie Plumb she listened to that instead and remarked that Fry was exceptionally good. I don't find that hard to believe at all - I love that guy.

I'll probably give a few more audio books a try but if it doesn't start getting better pretty quickly they can just count on me using my library card more.

[Phentex]

1. Oh yeah the voice makes a difference for me...

I listened to one read by the author (and I am not going to name names) and I was annoyed initially. I think she even mispronounced words! But I kept with it and got used to it.

With others, I have fallen in love with the sound of the voice to the point of not even caring about the story.

[OriginalGeek]

3. Then there's hope!

that's good news. I am travelling more and more for work and have often lamented the diminishing quality reading time of late. I thought listening to books by car would be a grand solution.

Thanks!

[trof]

12. Same here. I've been turned off by the narrator.

And when I here a mispronounced word it's REALLY annoying.
Don't these people have audio editors?

Having said all that, we love audio books on long road trips.
Really make the miles fly by.

I tend to like non-fiction, like biographies, and humor.
ANYTHING Garrison Keillor does.

[F4lconF16]

2. I think you've pretty much nailed...

Why audio books, and hell, even movies are not for me.

They always sound/look/smell/feel much better in my head

[OriginalGeek]

4. I find it hard to believe but

Last edited Thu Jun 4, 2015, 06:47 PM - Edit history (1)

perhaps I am a terrific actor in my head lol. I could never do it onstage in front of actual people but I must be an incredible interpreter of the written word in my own mind.


My wife will tell you I am great at a lot of things in my own mind so there is precedence!

[seveneyes]

5. I got the same old blues. Try this ...

[OriginalGeek]

10. I would HAPPILY Listen to that for 1500 miles

but I'm almost positive I would have to turn it way up to drown the complaints from the other seats in the car.


Which is fine as I listen to loud music and to music loudly all the time. But I'd pay for it in extended tours of antique shops at our destination.

[pokerfan]

6. The voice makes a huge difference

[OriginalGeek]

8. lol, I don't think I could listen to a whole book read by George Costanza

But I think I COULD listen to Jerry Stiller read stuff all day. And by "read" I probably mean "shout".

[frogmarch]

7. The only use I've ever had for

audio books was to keep mountain lions away when I lived in the country. I played a book full blast narrated by a man with a deep voice whenever I took my bichon and shih tzu outside to pee, especially at night. Worked good. So did a lighted tiki torch after sundown.

[OriginalGeek]

9. I'm fascinated by deep voices

I never had one. But I like listening to them. If I was mountain lion I would have been glad you came along with a loud book for me every night.

[frogmarch]

11. :-)

Well, I am glad you weren't one of our frien... make that, one of our neighborhood mountain lions. :-D

[surrealAmerican]

13. I generally prefer when the reader doesn't try to imitate the characters' voices.

A straight reading allows you to hear the voices the way you would when you read it yourself.

[avebury]

14. The narrator can make a huge difference in

an audio book. I love audio and books and have listened to a large number of them, some purchased, some downloaded as audiobooks from the library and some that are on CDs.

Here is a suggestion. If you are trying to decide which audiobooks to listen to, go on the audible dot com website and and just look around. Their books have an audio sample that you can listen to and it might give you an idea of if you really want to listen to a particular book.

A really good series is the Cotton Malone series by Steve Berry. The narrator is Scott Brick who is a great narrator. Another good series is Daniel Silva's Gabriel Allon series.

Some really good narrators: Scott Brick, Johanna Parker, Lorelei King, Jim Dale (his narration of the Harry Potter series is awesome even if they are "childrens" books), and Tavia Gilbert. If I find a narrator I really like I will look for their other works. On the audible website you can search by narrator. Like amazon, audible can be a good research tool.

[Avalux]

15. I have a problem with them too.

Like you, when I read I hear 'voices' in my head. I am an avid reader and I guess I'm just accustomed to reading to myself in my familiar voices.

When I listen to an audiobook no matter who is reading it, I can't seem to stay interested, it just doesn't hold my attention.