Top Ten Tuesday | Top Ten Audiobooks

Sep 15

Top Ten TuesdayTop Ten Audiobooks

I’m so excited for this week’s freebie Top Ten Tuesday, guys. I LOVE listening to audiobooks, mostly because it means that I can read while I drive to and from work so it’s BONUS READING TIME. I’ve been listening to audiobooks now for a few years, but I was hesitant at first to start listening to them because I had some meh experiences with full cast audiobooks. Once I discovered single-narrator audiobooks, however, I was ALL OVER IT and have had the good fortune of experiencing some of my favorite books by listening to them. These are ten of my favorites–not just because I love the books themselves, but because the narrators are top-notch.

TTT_notw audiobookThe Kingkiller Chronicle series | Narrated by: Nick Podehl

Guys. Nick Podehl is an AMAZING audiobook narrator. His voice is his like honeyed smoke; it has a great timbre. I could listen to him narrate almost anything. (I say “almost” because I did listen to one book he narrated, but it was boring. Not his fault.) I’ve never actually read Patrick Rothfuss’ Kingkiller Chronicle in print, and that’s thanks to the stellar narration of Nick Podehl. He’s been the only voice of Kvothe that I’ve ever known, and I hope you all know how much I heart Kvothe.

TTT_night circus audioTHE NIGHT CIRCUS | Narrated by: Jim Dale

Sooo…Jim Dale is probably best known for narrating the Harry Potter audiobooks. Which I have never listened to. I know, I know. It’s a THING that I really want to do soon. But I ESPECIALLY want to do it now because of the magical, mysterious vibe he brought the the audiobook of THE NIGHT CIRCUS. He made the Cirque du Reves real to me, and made it sound like a fairy tale.

audiobookTHE SCORPIO RACES | Narrated by: Steve West and Fiona Hardingham

I’m not sure if people know this, but THE SCORPIO RACES is probably one of my favorite books. I don’t really talk about it. *sarcasm* I’d already read this book a few times in print before some friends told me that the audiobook was FANTASTIC and so I checked it out. They were soooo right. Steve West has maybe the best voice I’ve ever heard, and Fiona Hardingham is a great Puck. They make this amazing book even better, which is hard to do as far as I’m concerned.

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The Raven Cycle series | Narrated by: Will Patton

Maggie Stiefvater gets the good narrators, guys! I know that not everyone likes Will Patton’s narration of this series, but I dig it. Henrietta is such an atmospheric place, and the creepy country vibe goes perfectly with Will Patton’s rough drawl. I’m a big fan.

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Mistborn series | Narrated by: Michael Kramer

I’ve got one book left in this original trilogy, but I’m not slacking because of any fault in the audiobook. I’m surprised at how many books on this list are books that I’ve never read in print because I always had this impression that the bulk of my audiobooking was for rereads, but this series is yet another that I’ve only ever listened to. Michael Kramer has this really deep, powerful voice. It’s really perfect in tone for this series. Strong, clipped, epic.

audiobookLeviathan series | Narrated by: Alan Cumming

OMG Alan Cumming is one of my favorite narrators. FAVORITE. His narration of this series is AMAZING. The voices he does are wonderful, his inflections are wonderful, EVERYTHING IS WONDERFUL. I was hesitant to dive into this series because sometimes me + steampunk does not equal love. But Alan Cumming hooked me in from the very beginning, and now this series is one of my favorites. Can’t recommend this one enough.

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HEIR OF FIRE | Narrated by: Elizabeth Evans

I’m listening to this right now, and the only reason that I don’t have the whole series listed here is because I’m listening out of order and haven’t heard books 1 and 2 yet. But they’re all narrated by Elizabeth Evans, who’s got a great, clear voice. Her accents are sometimes a joke, but she’s eminently listenable. I’m going to enjoy listening to the other books in this series.

audiobookELEANOR & PARK | Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman and Sunil Malhotra

SIGH. These two do such an outstanding job narrating the voices of Eleanor and Park. They’re completely captivating and intense. This story is so, so special and so starkly lovely, and Rebecca Lowman and Sunil Malhotra bring all of that to their narration. It’s excellent.

audiobookDaughter of Smoke and Bone series | Narrated by: Khristine Hvam

This is one of my favorite series, and an example of my reread via audio trend. Khristine Hvam has a clear voice that isn’t too–excuse, because this is going to sound SO GROSS–wet (VOM), which is really important to me. Because, like I said, IT’S GROSS. I’ll take Karou and Akiva in any format I can get them, and the audiobook is fantastic. I especially love her Zuzanna. GREAT accent.

audiobookThe Bone Season series | Narrated by: Alana Kerr

This series was a little daunting to me, so I held off on reading it for a while, but I’m glad that I went with the audiobook. I really like Alana Kerr. I like her accent; it’s Irish, just like Paige Mahoney’s would be. She just has a really captivating voice.

audiobookGentlemen Bastards series | Narrated by: Michael Page

I LOVE Michael Page’s narration of this series. The humor in these books is one of my favorite things, and whenever Locke and Jean swear vibrantly at one another, Michael Page really conveys the joy these characters find in being vulgar. I just really love the way he narrates the dialogue and brings Locke and Jean in particular to life.

What are your favorite audiobooks? Who are your favorite narrators? SHARE!!

Filed Under: Top Ten Tuesday Tagged With: ,

Hear Me Out

Sep 24

Some Early Thoughts From an Audiobook Newbie

I have just recently hopped on the audiobook bandwagon, friends, and I’m pretty excited about it. So far I’ve listened to four books–THE NAME OF THE WIND, THE WISE MAN’S FEAR, and AMY & ROGER’S EPIC DETOUR, which was a reread, and THE GOLDEN COMPASS–and they were all mostly stellar. I’m in the middle of listening to THE SHADOW OF NIGHT, the sequel to A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES, and it’s really good, but in my early days as a book listener, I’ve noticed a few things and I thought I’d share them with you.

1. I think I like single narrators better than full casts

So this one actually goes back to an assignment I had in library school to compare listening to a book and reading it. I picked the audiobook for GRACELING, and didn’t even finish listening to the first chapter. It was a full-cast recording, which I thought sounded kind of scattered or inconsistent. Fast-forward to THE NAME OF THE WIND, which was just one OUTSTANDING narrator, Nick Podehl. BIG difference. Big, awesome difference. It’s way easier for me to follow the thread of the story if I only have to listen to one voice. It helps me with continuity. Plus it seems less schizo.

2. The right voice can TOTALLY make an audiobook

Nick. Podehl. But also Suzy Jackson, the narrator for Amy & Roger. She was very listenable. I haven’t yet come across a book whose narrator(s) was annoying to listen to, but I’m sure they’re out there, and I can imagine that ruining an otherwise enjoyable book for me.

3. I hate not knowing how to spell things, like names of people or places. It keeps me from understanding what/who/where, etc.

This happens lots with the fantasies. THE GOLDEN COMPASS has tons of names of people and places that were strange or invented and I had trouble keeping track of some things because I couldn’t understand the words, because they were made up, and I couldn’t look at them to puzzle them out. Same with the Patrick Rothfuss books. Also, this is just plain annoying to me.

3a. On the flip side, I LOVE having a better idea of how to pronounce names/places/things.

Obviously. I NEVER would have known how to pronounce Pantalaimon (seriously had to look up the spelling) or Amyr or a ton of other things, although I could have guessed. Still, nice to hear.

4. Not being able to see a map, if there is one, sucks.

Not being able to see a map ALWAYS sucks. I don’t like not having a picture of the world I’m reading, especially when people are moving around a lot in the book. I always wind up feeling lost. This is obviously heightened when listening to a book. Checking a map isn’t even an option.

5. HEAVY BREATHERS ARE THE WORST.

So, ok. THE GOLDEN COMPASS–which I will be reviewing very soon–was a full-cast recording, but one of the guys did the voices for two characters, and you could hear him inhale before every word. WORST. It was icky sounding. Like, step away from the mike for a second.

6. Awkward pauses are awkward. And annoying.

This is a weird thing that has more to do with the production of an audiobook than the reading, I’d imagine. The book I’m listening to right now, THE SHADOW OF NIGHT, has this all over the place. Weird pauses in between words sometimes; weird pauses between the end of a chapter and the beginning of the next ALWAYS. It’s crazy inconsistent. Sometimes there’s a pause of a few beats, sometimes it’s a few whole seconds. I’m always checking to make sure that something didn’t go wrong with my iPod. ANNOYING.

Guys, I’m LOVING audiobooks right now. They’re the perfect way for me to pass the time on my commute. I’m not so good at listening to books when I’m at home, though. Too many other things to distract me, and I wind up not really listening. But in my car, I can pay more attention, and it makes the drive to and from work something I can look forward to. I’m officially in the fanclub, friends! So tell me: do you listen to audiobooks? What’s your favorite one to listen to?

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