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.