AudioSynced: October Edition

November 1, 2011 |

Welcome to another edition of AudioSynced, a monthly round up of all things audiobook, hosted by STACKED and Abby (the) Librarian. I think it’s fair to say that October was one heck of a listening month, as we have a ton of reviews to share. And if you’ve got any audiobook reviews or news from the month of October, drop a comment to be added to the roundup!

Audio Reviews

Let’s kick off this month’s AudioSynced with the reviews from the folks at Earphoria reviews. They’ve talked about a ton of different audiobooks, including The Night Circus, Around the World in Stilettos, The Age of Wonder, The Lies of Locke Lamora, Hero, and Poor Miss Finch.

Erica at The Book Cellar reviewed Lisa McMann’s The Unwanteds.

Shelf Employed brings a review of Vespers Rising, the 11th book in the 39 Clues series.

Beth at A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust reviewed Alyson Noel’s Dreamland, Libba Bray’s Beauty Queens, and Gabrielle Zevin’s All These Things I’ve Done.

Amanda at A Patchwork of Books offers up a selection of mini audiobook reviews this month, ranging from adult to children’s titles. Check them out.

Sarah at YA Librarian Tales brings us her take on Marcus Sedgwick’s Revolver.

Alli at Reading Everywhere has a review of One Day and One Amazing Morning on Orange Street.

As usual, Lee at Reading with my Ears brings a ton of thoughtful audiobook reviews across a spectrum of genres and age groups. Check out reviews of Dennis Lehane’s Moonlight Mile, Cynthia Voigt’s Young Fredle, Jack Ferraiolo’s Sidekicks, Cecelia Galante’s The Patron Saint of Butterflies, Andrea Davis Pinkney’s Bird in a Box, China Mieville’s The City & The City, Jennifer Richard Davidson’s Small as an Elephant, Libba Bray’s Beauty Queens, Molly Gloss’s The Hearts of Horses, and Yann Martel’s The Life of Pi. I envy how many audiobooks Lee listens to and reviews in a month!

Abby offers up a review of Jack Gantos’s Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key.

Drea at The Book Blather also talks up Lisa McMann’s middle grade novel The Unwanteds.

Carin at Caroline Bookbinder offers up a review of The Circus Fire. This sounds like a really interesting non-fiction listen.

Audiobook News & Other Adventures

Meg at writemeg! talks about her first experiencing trying out an audiobook, and it looks like it was a good one.

Have a favorite audiobook from 2011? Drop a comment on PW’s Listen Up Audiobook blog.

Neil Gaiman now has his own audiobook space at Audible. What does that mean? He’s hand selected a number of favorite audiobooks and he’s had a hand in helping select the readers for these titles.

Let’s talk apps for a second. I’m not a big app user, but I know some folks are, and what better way to reach audiobook listeners with smart devices than through an app? Check out what AudioFile has to offer, along with Overdrive for those who have access to that line of audiobooks via their library, Audiofy (still in beta and, as it looks, a good opportunity to listen to some front list titles for free), and Audible.

Want a chance to win an audio copy of The History of the World in 100 Objects? Viking Books and AudioGo are teaming up for a book/CD giveaway today (11/1/11) and tomorrow. All you have to do is follow the respective Twitter accounts, @VikingBooks and @AudioGo.

Mini-Reviews: A few of my recent reads

October 18, 2011 |

A few of my recent reads, mini-review style:

The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan: No one can deny that Rick Riordan can write. His scenes are humorous, his characters are vivid and flawed, and his research is impeccable. This book even featured the return of Percy Jackson, who finds himself at Camp Jupiter, Camp Half-Blood’s Roman counterpart, strangely without his memory. However, this book just seemed a bit too slow and bloated for me–too long by about 100 pages.

Habibi by Craig Thompson: A gorgeous melding of illustration, story, history, religion, identity, guilt, repentance, and love. Two refugee slaves are separated, then find their way back together, navigating their unique relationship in a world of corruption, desperation, and poverty. Stunning illustrations and a multi-layered tale. I’m looking forward to picking up Thompson’s Blankets soon.

Circle of Fire by Michelle Zink: A lush, beautifully written conclusion to the Prophecy of the Sisters trilogy. Zink has the ability to make both the assumed villains and the supposed heroes multi-layered, and her depiction of the Lia/Alice relationship is brought to a satisfying close. Zink’s prose is gorgeous and her words truly evoke the novel’s Gothic setting.

White Cat by Holly Black (narrated by Jesse Eisenberg): I first picked this up in print last year and couldn’t get into it. Yet Jesse Eisenberg’s narration truly pulled me into this original story of Cassel Sharpe, teenage con-man and the only member of his family who isn’t a curseworker (persecuted and feared members of society who can alter your emotions, luck, or even form with a single touch). Yet he does suffer from the guilt of knowing that he killed his childhood best friend, Lila. He can’t remember anything about the murder, but just recalls looking down at her body, at the blood. But when a white cat shows up, Cassel starts to suspect that he is part of something bigger than himself—that he is the one being conned. Eisenberg’s voice is the perfect mixture of knowing, awkward, and sheepish, and Black’s plot is original and inventive, with plenty of memorable characters, twists, and turns.

September AudioSynced

September 1, 2011 |

Welcome to another edition of AudioSynced, hosted by Abby (the) Librarian and us here at STACKED. If you have audiobook news or reviews you’d like to share, leave a link in the comments and we’re happy to share.

Reviews

Beth brings us a review this month of Catherine Gilbert Murdoch’s The Dairy Queen. She writes that, “And what made the novel even more pleasurable was the audiobook narrator, Natalie Moore, who sounded so much like DJ that you thought she WAS DJ. Right down to the impeccable Wisconsin accent.” I agree!

Beth also reviewed Jacqueline Woodson’s After Tupac and D Foster.

Emily reviews Kenneth Oppel’s This Dark Endeavor, writing, “a good narrator should add to the story, and I felt like listening to the audio brought me a little closer to the characters and allowed me to drink in the darkness of it.”

Amanda talks about her experience listening to The Help, writing, “I got a whole lot more out of this listening experience than I have with any other audiobook and I fell totally in love with Stockett’s writing at the same time.”

Lee brought us a couple reviews this month, including Judy Moody and Stink: The Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Treasure Hunt, Kate Atkinson’s One Good Turn, and John Stephens’s The Emerald Atlas. If you want more, she also reviewed The Lodger Shakespeare, LA Meyer’s Rapture of the Deep, The Wolves of Andover, The Complaints, and The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher. I’m always impressed with Lee’s reviews and the range of books she listens to and reviews.

Sarah shared her first ever audiobook review, talking about Blue Balliett’s Chasing Vermeer. She wasn’t impressed, but I’m curious how the visual elements of the book translated onto audio.

Abby posted a review of Laurie Halse Anderson’s canonical Speak this month. She writes, “First-person narration lends itself to the audio format anyway, but Ms. Siegfried simply becomes Melinda, making the story all the more heartbreaking.”

Check out Lanea’s review of George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones: A Song of Fire and Ice. For those intimidated by the lengthy tome, perhaps listening to it is the way to go. She writes, ” I generally enjoy fantasy audiobooks because the novels themselves tend towards the narrative, mythic style I think is best read aloud. This series is a great example of that.”

Mel shared a review of Swati Avasthi’s Split, in which she writes, “While the story does a good job of propelling you through the novel, there are times when it was just too easy for me to put down. Thankfully the audio got me through those parts.”

News & Miscellany

Jessica shared an interesting post about her first audiobook experience. For those of you who have yet to try out an audiobook, check this out to see what worked and didn’t work for her in her first listening adventure.

In more technical news, here’s an interesting report about the world of audiobook publishing in the rise of the digital world. We’ve heard a lot about how the digital landscape has changed print publishing, but how has it impacted audiobooks? Take a look. In short: there’s actually been an increase in demand!

At YALSA’s The Hub, Kate talks about her experiences with celebrity narrators. I don’t think I’ve ever listened to a book with a celebrity narrator — have you? I prefer to stick to audiobook narrator celebrities.

AudioSynced, July Edition

July 4, 2011 |

Welcome to another edition of AudioSynced, the monthly roundup of audiobook news and reviews from around the blogosphere hosted by Abby (the) Librarian and us here at STACKED. Apologies for the slight delay in this month’s edition, but it’s been busy! June is Audiobook Month, and there have been a ton of wonderful submissions of reviews, posts, and more all about audiobooks.

If you’ve posted an audiobook review or otherwise blogged about audiobooks in June, leave a comment in the links and we’ll add your link to the post.

Audiobook News & Fun

Here’s a quick overview from Beyond Her Book (A Publisher’s Weekly blog) about June is Audiobook Month, how it started, and why it matters.

For the second year in a row, Sync, the Young Adult Audiobook Community, is offering up free downloadable audiobooks of a current popular YA title and a classic title. Each week, they share a new title, through August 17. This week, they’re offering Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother and Franz Kafka’s The Trial. The schedule of downloads is available here, and you can get the books by clicking here.

YALSA’s The Hub blog gives a rundown of the Odyssey Awards dinner at the annual American Library Association conference. Abby also gives her quick reactions over on the ALSC blog.

The Audio Publishers Association posted their 2011 Audie Award Winners. You can even listen to clips of the winning titles.

Booklist named their Voice of Choice this year, and it’s Katherine Kellgren. Check out the links about her career and why she’s such an in demand audio narrator.

This is probably one of the most fun things I’ve seen in a while! Becky at RA for All and the earlier-linked Beyond Her Book blog both shared a link from acclaimed audiobook narrator Scott Brick, who has been tweeting how audiobooks are created. And they filmed the tweets. Check it all out. Talk about an inside look at audioobook creation.

I admit to not blinking an eye about the drama surrounding the children’s book meant for adults Go the Bleep to Sleep, but when I heard it was being narrated by Samuel L Jackson? Yep, I downloaded it. It’s available for free download, if you’re as curious as I was.

Nicole at Linus’s Blanket shared her rules for audiobook listening, following audiobook week. Helpful hints and ideas for both the new listeners and seasoned listeners. I don’t know about you, but I love reading about people’s reading/listening experiences.

Celebrating Audiobook Week

Tons of bloggers took advantage of the week of June 11-18 to celebrate Audiobook week, and it’s worth your time to check out these links!

Lee at Reading with my Ears shared some of her favorite audiobook resources. She talks about how she chooses what to listen to and how non-listeners can dive into the world of audiobooks.

Jen, host of Audiobook Week at Devourer of Books, shared an interview with Susan, audiobook guru and co-founder of Audiobook Jukebox. This is a fantastic audiobook resource!

Check out the midweek meme to see what bloggers are enjoying in their audiobook listening.

What are your thoughts on sound effects in audiobooks? Jen, along with over 35 other bloggers, weigh in on the topic.

Over 45 bloggers talked about their year in audiobook listening.

Of course, I’d suggest looking through the entirety of Audiobook Week posts at Jen’s site, as she links up tons of reviews (hers and others). What a ton of work to put something like this together!

I’m a little ashamed how little I’ve listened to, but with no more commute in my life, it’s been hard to fit it in. Perhaps I should revisit some of the Audiobook Week posts from last year and try some of those techniques.

Audiobook Reviews

Since so many reviewers shared their links during Audiobook week, it’s likely I’ll miss a link or two. I’m trying to spice this up with new names, too, so if you’re a new audiobook reviewer, don’t be shy! Just drop a line in the comments and I’ll add it to the list.

“I still learned a massive amount and it was thoroughly enjoyable,” says Carin in her review of David McCullough’s John Adams.

“I absolutely love when the narrator did his voice. Such a loud, hilarious man and almost always in the liquor,” says Kristen in her review of L. A. Meyers’s Mississippi Jack.

“I also really appreciated that the book was tailored to the listener, not the reader. By this I mean that whenever the text read “If you’re reading this,” it was changed to “If you’re listening to this.” It’s a nice touch that iced the experience for me,” says Kim in her review of Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything.

“Narrator Stephen Briggs, who has also narrated a number of Terry Pratchett’s other books, was an ideal choice for this production. His deep commanding voice perfectly agreed with the heavy themes of faith, gods, and survival that Nation covers, and, in fact, it often seemed like he was issuing an edict from on high,” says Jen in her review of Terry Pratchett’s Nation.

A short review by The Brain Lair on Tina Fey’s Bossypants, “It was a hoot since it’s read by Fey herself.”

“I appreciated Cristin Milioti’s somewhat husky voice that’s different from the typical teen girl voice that a lot of narrators use in YA audiobooks. She does a nice job of keeping characters separate, although she does make some odd choices as far as accents,” says Abby in her review of Kathy Reichs’s Virals.

Abby also shared a review of Walter Dean Myers’s Lockdown, which she says, “Walter Dean Myers does a nice job of presenting details of prison life that realistically show what it’s like. I enjoyed the audiorecording as well.”

Sarah, in her review of Clare Vanderpool’s Moon Over Manifest says that, “I loved that the audiobook featured different narrators for different aspects of the book. This added to the richness of the story and made the whole book really come alive.”

This is a new blog to me, and there are a ton of wonderful audiobook resources linked on the right side (add them to your reader!). But, The Guided Earlobe says of Buried Secrets by Joseph Finder that, “Holter Graham has a great voice for narration and he uses it well here. Graham captures the character of Nick Heller perfectly, giving him a bit of snark when needed, as well as allowing us to hear the pressures of the case piling on his shoulders.”

This month, Lee offers up reviews of Attica Lock’s Black Water Rising, Lauren Oliver’s Before I Fall, Walter Dean Myers’ Here in Harlem, Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and more!

Melissa offers a review of one of my favorite books, Kirby Larson’s Hattie Big Sky, saying that, “I was a big fan of the narrator in this audiobook (listened on the drive to Arizona while I was moving). She really captured the character and spunk of Hattie.

Audiobook Review: Nation by Terry Pratchett

June 14, 2011 |

Mau is thirteen-years old, in the midst of the boyhood ritual that will transform him into a man, according to the beliefs of his island nation. All he has to do is cross the ocean in a canoe, return to his own island, and undergo the ritual and tattooing that will mark him as a man. He has already shed his boyhood soul and just needs to make it home to be granted the soul of a man. But just as he sets off, a vicious tsunami hits, wiping out the population of Mau’s home, called the Nation, and devastating the surrounding islands. While Mau is lucky enough to make it home, he soon finds that he is the sole survivor of his people. Well, just Mau and a girl, the daughter of a British governer, whose ship, the Sweet Judy, was shipwrecked on the island. Ermintrude, or Daphne, as she prefers to call herself, as she despises her given name, and Mau soon form an alliance and a friendship, realizing that they have only each other (and a foul-mouthed parrot) for both company and any hopes of survival. And as trickles of other shipwrecked seagoers and island-folk arrive at the island, bit by bit, seeking salavation, somehow the Nation, a new Nation, is born again.

My brother-in-law is perhaps the biggest Terry Pratchett fan (perhaps the biggest fan of any author) that I have ever met. He has been dogging me for years to try Pratchett out, and I am so, so grateful that I finally did. Nation was an absolute marvel, well-deserved of all the honors and awards that it garnered. What seems on the surface a story about re-populating an island and finding a community is enhanced by Pratchett’s exploration of some key life questions: what happens when two (or many) cultures collide? And what is the role of religion in our lives, especially in a world where the gods can warn the birds and beasts about an impending tsunami, but neglect to alert the human who worship them so ardently?

Mau is a fully developed protagonist, one who is absolutely open with the reader about his hopes, fears, doubts, and anxieties about the future. We see his trepidation and casual arrogance as he goes about the ritual to become a man. Then witness his absolute disassociation as he goes about the necessary business of weighing down the dead bodies on the Nation (dead bodies who could easily be his family or friends) with coral, so that they will sink into the ocean for their final rest. We see his gratitude when he finally meets Daphne, gratitude for having someone, something, to give him a reason to stay alive. And then, in perhaps the most powerful scenes of the book, we witness Mau questioning his faith. Why are the grandfathers, the revered spirits of his ancestors, nagging at him to restore the god stones? Why should he, if worshiping in this way before only brought death and destruction?

As Mau and Daphne also begin to navigate this new society they are building, with the “soulless” Mau as its chief, they also have to navigate the nature of gender roles. Daphne, born into a civilized family, with a grandmother with rules and standards for every possible occasion, is soon called upon to help birth a baby, learns to make beer, and eventually, in the heat of the island, sheds the layers of clothing that have been stifling her for her entire life. Mau has to venture into the “women’s place,” previously forbidden to him, as he knows this is necessary to save his new people.

But Nation does not just involve the exploration of these theological and philosophical issues. Pratchett seamlessly weaves in these themes through a fairly fast-moving plot that includes a mutinous crew, a murder, hastily re-patched cannons, scientific discoveries, and a character coming back from the dead.

Narrator Stephen Briggs, who has also narrated a number of Terry Pratchett’s other books, was an ideal choice for this production. His deep commanding voice perfectly agreed with the heavy themes of faith, gods, and survival that Nation covers, and, in fact, it often seemed like he was issuing an edict from on high. The tribal music interspersed between scenes and chapters also helped greatly in establishing atmosphere. In fact, this production of Nation won ALA’s 2009 Odyssey Honor Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production.

I will definitely be seeking out more books by Sir Terry Pratchett in the future.