# How do you like your audiobooks narrated?



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

I used to listen to audio books and enjoyed several, but stopped listening a while ago. I tried getting back into them with the HP books, which I love, but the audio put me to sleep.

Everyone raved about Davina Porter reading the _Outlander _series and I listened to the sample on Amazon. Porter is definitely wonderful. On the other hand, the audio book Alan Rickman did bored me to tears and I do love Rickman's voice.

So, I'm wondering if my problem with them is the way they are read. Do you prefer a straight read or acting out of the characters?

The reason I'm asking is I don't have a lot of time to read anymore and I'm thinking audio books might be the answer for me.


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## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

Mostly I prefer a straight read because I listen in the car.  With the road noise, various voices or too much inflection means I miss words.  I think it's a case of "a little works well" too much just detracts.


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## 1131 (Dec 18, 2008)

I've been listening to audio books for a couple of years now. I have found some narrators I like and others I stay away from. The ones I like tend to change voices. I find them easier to follow. Since I listen in the car a lot I end up missing some things and the changes in voices helps me keep track of who's talking with less rewinding. In nonfiction books it's different. There isn't much reason to change the narration and I'm not fond of those who do. Davina Porter is one of the narrators I enjoy. There are a few others like Barbara Rosenblat and Grace Conlin.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

I used to listen to self help books in the car and I'm guessing they were a mixture.

Thanks for the recce. I'll check out those two.


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## 31842 (Jan 11, 2011)

I'm new to audiobooks after being scared off by some really bad ones a few years back, and find I really like narrators who do character voices.  I'm currently listening to Rufus Sewell read the James Bond books and he is a master.  Inflection, pacing, plus switching in and out of accents like nobody's business... absolutely brilliant.  I am completely hooked on his words.


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## Cappy (Sep 6, 2011)

I think 'doing voices' does add some variation and can help avoid confusion.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

For fiction, some sort of voice change really helps keep the characters straight. An audible version of the way animator s give each character a distinctive clothing item or physical trait in most animated cartoons.


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## 1131 (Dec 18, 2008)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> I used to listen to self help books in the car and I'm guessing they were a mixture.
> 
> Thanks for the recce. I'll check out those two.


Well sometimes Barbara Rosenblatt sounds like she just ran 5 miles but she does really good men and accents. There are a few others. One thing I've discovered is I like women narrators speaking like men more than men speaking like women.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

imallbs said:


> Well sometimes Barbara Rosenblatt sounds like she just ran 5 miles but she does really good men and accents. There are a few others. One thing I've discovered is I like women narrators speaking like men more than men speaking like women.


I couldn't find any of Barbara's on Amazon to listen to a sample.


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## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

I haven't listened to many audiobooks, but I'm in the process of getting my books into audio so I'm listening to a lot of auditions. I had someone audition the other day that I stopped listening after about thirty seconds. His voice was so low-pitched and monotone, I feared it would put me into a hypnotic trance!   The auditions I liked were the ones when the narrators used proper inflection, but not overly dramatic. 

The thing is, I think my tastes must be weird because the audition I mentioned above is from an ACX approved narrator, and they were one of the narrators in a poll here on kboards the other day posted by a different author. Almost everyone loved his voice and it was a close race between him and another narrator. And both sounded very low-pitched to me.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

MaryMcDonald said:


> I haven't listened to many audiobooks, but I'm in the process of getting my books into audio so I'm listening to a lot of auditions. I had someone audition the other day that I stopped listening after about thirty seconds. His voice was so low-pitched and monotone, I feared it would put me into a hypnotic trance!  The auditions I liked were the ones when the narrators used proper inflection, but not overly dramatic.
> 
> The thing is, I think my tastes must be weird because the audition I mentioned above is from an ACX approved narrator, and they were one of the narrators in a poll here on kboards the other day posted by a different author. Almost everyone loved his voice and it was a close race between him and another narrator. And both sounded very low-pitched to me.


I voted for that guy in the other thread because his voice gave me goosebumps. I think his kind of voice was good for the excerpt he was reading, but I don't know how I'd feel about listening to him read a different genre.

I know what you mean about being put in an hypnotic trance! That's how I've felt about audiobooks in general for awhile. That's why I'm asking what other people like.

I know many people love them. I had a friend, an attorney, and the only time he had was in the car. He bought audio books off ebay and when he was finished, resold them.

I know I don't do enough driving to listen in the car, but maybe I could listen while I was doing something that didn't require concentration, like dusting, or something I needed distraction from, like cleaning the garage (a never ending task, I think).


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## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> I voted for that guy in the other thread because his voice gave me goosebumps. I think his kind of voice was good for the excerpt he was reading, but I don't know how I'd feel about listening to him read a different genre.
> 
> I know what you mean about being put in an hypnotic trance! That's how I've felt about audiobooks in general for awhile. That's why I'm asking what other people like.
> 
> ...


The only audiobook I ever listened to was years ago, and I only listened because it was narrated by Kyle Chandler.  I could listen to his voice all day! Sadly, the book he was narrating wasn't to my taste.


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## 1131 (Dec 18, 2008)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> I couldn't find any of Barbara's on Amazon to listen to a sample.


You can listen to samples on Audible. Two from my library are Crocodile on the Sandbank and Catering to Nobody. I'm reading and listening to Heirs and Graces right now. Katherine Kellgren is narrating. I rather like her. Originally I couldn't stand Orlagh Cassidy but I've grown to like her as well.


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## TRGoodman (Jul 9, 2012)

Cappy said:


> I think 'doing voices' does add some variation and can help avoid confusion.


Especially if the author tends to not tag the dialog until the end or skip the tags completely.

My favorite narrators (aside from Noah James Butler, who did a great job on Michael Bishop) are Martin Jarvis, who did the Neil Gaiman/Terry Pratchett book _Good Omens_, and Jim Dale, who did the _Harry Potter_ books. Both of them acted out the characters and did wonderful work.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

imallbs said:


> You can listen to samples on Audible. Two from my library are Crocodile on the Sandbank and Catering to Nobody. I'm reading and listening to Heirs and Graces right now. Katherine Kellgren is narrating. I rather like her. Originally I couldn't stand Orlagh Cassidy but I've grown to like her as well.


Wow, Barbara is very expressive. She reads Crocodile on the Sandbank just like I hear Amelia Peabody in my head. I listened to another sample with an American accent and that was good, too.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

TRGoodman said:


> Especially if the author tends to not tag the dialog until the end or skip the tags completely.
> 
> My favorite narrators (aside from Noah James Butler, who did a great job on Michael Bishop) are Martin Jarvis, who did the Neil Gaiman/Terry Pratchett book _Good Omens_, and Jim Dale, who did the _Harry Potter_ books. Both of them acted out the characters and did wonderful work.


By tagging, do you mean say who is speaking?

I tried to listen to Jim Dale and he didn't work for me. I think I was disappointed that they chose to do an American version and not just use Stephen Fry.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

MaryMcDonald said:


> The only audiobook I ever listened to was years ago, and I only listened because it was narrated by Kyle Chandler.  I could listen to his voice all day! Sadly, the book he was narrating wasn't to my taste.


Yeah, very nice voice.


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## TRGoodman (Jul 9, 2012)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> By tagging, do you mean say who is speaking?


Yup, that's what I meant.



> I tried to listen to Jim Dale and he didn't work for me. I think I was disappointed that they chose to do an American version and not just use Stephen Fry.


I forgot about Stephen Fry. His versions were great too.


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## 1131 (Dec 18, 2008)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> Wow, Barbara is very expressive. She reads Crocodile on the Sandbank just like I hear Amelia Peabody in my head. I listened to another sample with an American accent and that was good, too.


She is amazing. She narrated the 1st book I listened to which set a very high standard for other narrators. She has narrated over 200 audible audio books. 
I liked David Marantz narrating Boyd Morrison's Tyler Locke books. Still the male doing the female voice thing wasn't that good but better than other's I've listened. I wonder if men have the same difficulty with women narrating men.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

imallbs said:


> She is amazing. She narrated the 1st book I listened to which set a very high standard for other narrators. She has narrated over 200 audible audio books.
> I liked David Marantz narrating Boyd Morrison's Tyler Locke books. Still the male doing the female voice thing wasn't that good but better than other's I've listened. I wonder if men have the same difficulty with women narrating men.


I'm sure we do.


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## Garrard Hayes (Aug 30, 2013)

I've been listening to audio books using Audible.com for many years and now my library has racks of books on CD. I listen in the car everywhere I go and on the train when I commute or walk in the city. I even got the family to listen to books with me when we go visiting. Some of the best narrator are Gerard Doyle for Stuart Neville and Adrian McKinty, Will Patton for James Lee Burke. There are many actors that read and put on such great performances its almost like theater. Some awesome narrators are: Frank Muller, Richard Poe, Tom Stechschulte, Gerry O'Brien and Ray Porter. There's tons of others, listen to a sample, I've had some real sleepers too. If they don't use a slightly different voice for each character it can be very boring.


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## zzzzzzz (Dec 6, 2011)

I like subtle differences between characters - inflection, etc.


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## lmroth12 (Nov 15, 2012)

I like a variety of voices to keep the tempo moving. One voice can get dull after a while, especially if the book is very long.

And I think British actors do a fabulous job because of their elocution and the theatrical training that so many of them have. They can convey nuances of emotion and character because they have learned to vary the pitch of their voices and let the inflections reveal what the character is feeling. I'm not saying that an American actor can't do the same; it's just that so many of them have no theater background and never learned the art of diction.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

lmroth12 said:


> I like a variety of voices to keep the tempo moving. One voice can get dull after a while, especially if the book is very long.
> 
> And I think British actors do a fabulous job because of their elocution and the theatrical training that so many of them have. They can convey nuances of emotion and character because they have learned to vary the pitch of their voices and let the inflections reveal what the character is feeling. I'm not saying that an American actor can't do the same; it's just that so many of them have no theater background and never learned the art of diction.


That's something I hadn't thought of but it's very true. So many of the Brits are classically trained.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

I am still having a really hard time getting into audiobooks and I am sure part of that is the narration. But I am totally clueless to what I would like. I get taken out of the story every time a reader makes the voices for others. I get thrown back to my childhood when I had tapes of fairytales. Its just so cartoonish to me a lot of times. I know that makes no sense, but when I read a book, I don't hear voices in my head. 
Its all very internal and so when I suddenly hear a made up voice all made by the same person, its jarring. 

On the other hand the monotone voices put me to sleep. So I continue to struggle with them. I have my reasons for trying to get them work and I was hoping that I would get used to them over time. 

I do think though I prefer british narrators over those that are american. Partly because I read a lot of historial stuff based in europe. And I just like the sound of it.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

When time allows (hopefully this decade), I'm going to browse around audible and I'm sure I'll find some narrators I like.


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> By tagging, do you mean say who is speaking?
> 
> I tried to listen to Jim Dale and he didn't work for me. I think I was disappointed that they chose to do an American version and not just use Stephen Fry.


But Jim Dale is British too. I thought he did a great job with all those voices. I liked him on Alice in Wonderland too.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> By tagging, do you mean say who is speaking?
> 
> I tried to listen to Jim Dale and he didn't work for me. I think I was disappointed that they chose to do an American version and not just use Stephen Fry.





Meemo said:


> But Jim Dale is British too. I thought he did a great job with all those voices. I liked him on Alice in Wonderland too.


By golly, I did not know that. I think I'll listen to the sample. Of course, if I buy the audiobooks, that'll mean I have HP in hardback, paperback, ebook, and audio. That might just be going overboard ... just a teensy little bit.


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## Garrard Hayes (Aug 30, 2013)

I'm listening to Stuart Neville's Collusion, Narrated by Gerard Doyle... He does an incredible performance. Its gripping. I listened to a couple of books narrated by Jin Dale and didn't love it. Once you find a few narrators you like you'll have a good time.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Garrard Hayes said:


> I'm listening to Stuart Neville's Collusion, Narrated by Gerard Doyle... He does an incredible performance. Its gripping. I listened to a couple of books narrated by Jin Dale and didn't love it. Once you find a few narrators you like you'll have a good time.


Thanks. That's what I'm hoping.


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## 1131 (Dec 18, 2008)

Gertie, If you have some reading time in addition to listening time, you might try out books that have whispersynce for voice. When I 1st heard of it, I though it would be stupid. I now use it a lot. You also get the reduced price on library books once they are in your Kindle library as a loan.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

imallbs said:


> Gertie, If you have some reading time in addition to listening time, you might try out books that have whispersynce for voice. When I 1st heard of it, I though it would be stupid. I now use it a lot. You also get the reduced price on library books once they are in your Kindle library as a loan.


My problem is that I don't have reading time, or very little anyway. I mostly read on my phone when I'm at the bus stop waiting for GD or in a checkout line. Other than that, reading time is strictly in the "reading room." And there's only so much time I can spend even there without the phone ringing with somebody needing something or a shout from another room from somebody needing something.

I have no life. 

But, this can't last forever (wanna bet?) and I will definitely keep that in mind. Does whispersync work on the Fire. My Kindle is Gen1.


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## 1131 (Dec 18, 2008)

I haven't tried it with my K1. I didn't know whispersynch didn't work with it. It works well on the fire. You can listen to the audio book on it as well. The last book I read and listened to was mostly a listen with a few minutes here and there reading. It's now one of the reasons (not that I needed one) I insist on having 3g.


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## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

they did american versions of the audio because the print versions of the first hp books had differnt slang.
and gertie i own the british and american hps in hard cover, pb e book and audio...

i was a bit of a completist


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

telracs said:


> they did american versions of the audio because the print versions of the first hp books had differnt slang.
> and gertie i own the british and american hps in hard cover, pb e book and audio...
> 
> i was a bit of a completist


Ah, justification to go out and buy more versions of the HP series!


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## mom133d (aka Liz) (Nov 25, 2008)

After finishing Wheel of Time via audiobook, I can say that I really enjoy listening to Michael Kramer and Kate Reading. Brandon Sanderson must have liked them as well, because I was pleasantly surprised to hear them reading his "The Way of the King". DH has an audible account so I've listened to what he has. So far, I have only had to stop listening to one title because the narrator was putting me to sleep.  DH says that James Marsters (Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayers) does a fantastic job reading Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series.


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## Daniel Harvell (Jun 21, 2013)

I'm perfectly fine with a straight reading of the book as long as the narrator sounds like the lead character. I haven't listened to any of the Stephanie Plum novels in a long time, but Lori Petty's voice absolutely made the entire experience for me. When they changed voice actors, I was pretty bummed and eventually fell off listening to the series.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Daniel Harvell said:


> I'm perfectly fine with a straight reading of the book as long as the narrator sounds like the lead character. I haven't listened to any of the Stephanie Plum novels in a long time, but Lori Petty's voice absolutely made the entire experience for me. When they changed voice actors, I was pretty bummed and eventually fell off listening to the series.


That's interesting. I stopped reading the series when the ebooks got so expensive. I'll check out the audio, though.


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## elaineorr (Mar 18, 2012)

I've always listened to audio books. Before they were commercially available my mom had them (from the Library of Congress program) because she had almost no vision. Once they became available through the library I started reading them, mostly in the car, first on tape and now on CD. I'm trying to get used to digital audiobooks, especially since some of mine are in that format. The thing that most influences whether I like a book is what I call the narrator's volume control. It's pretty consistent when the narrator is reading, but when they try to "act" the parts too many narrators raise and lower their voices because they think they should whisper or yell if the text says that's what the character did at that point. Narrators could take lessons from Jim Dale (Harry Potter series) about consistent volume. I just stopped reading a very popular book because I had to turn it up to hear the low voices and then I would get blasted because two lines later the narrator would yell. 

It's interesting to see how a narrator evolves with a series. The woman who reads the Stephanie Plum books (Lorelei King) initially read them with a much "younger" voice, and now portrays Stephanie with a decidedly more edgy voice. My guess would be author and narrator had the audio character grow.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Another Jim Dale fan. Really must check those out of the library.


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## Vivienne Mathews (May 7, 2013)

mom133d (aka Liz) said:


> DH says that James Marsters (Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayers) does a fantastic job reading Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series.


What James Marsters has done with the Dresden series can only be described as art. Acts them to the nines, he does.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

imallbs said:


> I haven't tried it with my K1. I didn't know whispersynch didn't work with it. It works well on the fire. You can listen to the audio book on it as well. The last book I read and listened to was mostly a listen with a few minutes here and there reading. It's now one of the reasons (not that I needed one) I insist on having 3g.


I took the day off and pulled up a couple of old favorite books and they had the whispersync sample at the beginning. Interesting. So I checked the price of the full whispersync version and it was only $3.99 because I'd already purchased the book.

Anybody know if there's any restriction on the number of books you get the discount on? Or is it like Matchbook that's coming up and it applies to all your purchases?

This might work well for me. I can listen to the sample at the beginning of the book (about nine minutes) and get a good feel for the narrator before I think about buying the audio.


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## elaineorr (Mar 18, 2012)

I know if you are an Audible member and you bought the Kindle book, the audio book is very cheap. So far, all the ones I've seen have been $1.99.
Elaine


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

elaineorr said:


> I know if you are an Audible member and you bought the Kindle book, the audio book is very cheap. So far, all the ones I've seen have been $1.99.
> Elaine


I saw one at $3.99 (Nora Roberts) and another at $12.49 (Rex Stout). I like $1.99 better.


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## 1131 (Dec 18, 2008)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> Anybody know if there's any restriction on the number of books you get the discount on? Or is it like Matchbook that's coming up and it applies to all your purchases?


I have not seen a limit to the # of books you can get at a discount. Whispersync for Voice started in January so I looked at this year. I have 27 ebook/audiobook combinations. I have another 20 audiobooks I got after I got the library book. Not only does whispersync work with library books but you also get the discount. It doesn't work for books borrowed through Prime. The most I would have paid for an audio book is 12.99 but my credits are about 10.00 so I used a credit for those. The lowest I've spent is 1.99. The usual is 3.99.

The 2nd part of the Mark Twain biography comes out at midnight - whispersync not available. I couldn't get into the ebook but enjoyed the audio book. I think Grover Gardner was a great choice as narrator. In fact he was one of the reasons I gave the audiobook a try. I really liked his narration of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

imallbs said:


> I have not seen a limit to the # of books you can get at a discount. Whispersync for Voice started in January so I looked at this year. I have 27 ebook/audiobook combinations. I have another 20 audiobooks I got after I got the library book. Not only does whispersync work with library books but you also get the discount. It doesn't work for books borrowed through Prime. The most I would have paid for an audio book is 12.99 but my credits are about 10.00 so I used a credit for those. The lowest I've spent is 1.99. The usual is 3.99.
> 
> The 2nd part of the Mark Twain biography comes out at midnight - whispersync not available. I couldn't get into the ebook but enjoyed the audio book. I think Grover Gardner was a great choice as narrator. In fact he was one of the reasons I gave the audiobook a try. I really liked his narration of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.


I take it you're an Audible member?

$3.99 seems pretty reasonable to me.

I listened to a couple of Nero Wolfe books and they're a straight read. I'll pass, thanks.

I listened to _Northern Lights_ by Nora Roberts. One of the characters had a Texas drawl and the narrator gave it his all. I nearly snorted up my tea. But then he didn't do so well with Nate's dry wit. I like being able to listen on my Fire, but I think I'd better try a few from the library first to see how I like the narrators before I spend even $1.99.


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## 1131 (Dec 18, 2008)

I am an audible member. But only after getting started at the library. The interface of the library apps was just so inferior to the audible app (at the time) I found myself paying for books I could have listened to for free. The apps have improved (my libraries use different providers) so I've gone back to the library for a few books the last couple of months.
I'm on the 24 books a year plan with audible. I pay for books that are less than $10 because that's about my cost with membership. They have lots of sales in addition to the whispersynch sale price. But at the rate I was going, I would have run out of credits in 3 months. 
They do have some classics that are available for free in ebook/audiobook form so you can try it out for free.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

imallbs said:


> I am an audible member. But only after getting started at the library. The interface of the library apps was just so inferior to the audible app (at the time) I found myself paying for books I could have listened to for free. The apps have improved (my libraries use different providers) so I've gone back to the library for a few books the last couple of months.
> I'm on the 24 books a year plan with audible. I pay for books that are less than $10 because that's about my cost with membership. They have lots of sales in addition to the whispersynch sale price. But at the rate I was going, I would have run out of credits in 3 months.
> They do have some classics that are available for free in ebook/audiobook form so you can try it out for free.


Good info. Thanks. They have a 30 day free trial membership, right? I'll be checking that out this weekend.


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## 1131 (Dec 18, 2008)

If you do decide to go for an audible membership check for deals before signing up. They often run better than the free audio book promo.


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> Good info. Thanks. They have a 30 day free trial membership, right? I'll be checking that out this weekend.


Also if you use Overdrive from your library check there. Most libraries have a good selection of audiobooks.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

imallbs said:


> If you do decide to go for an audible membership check for deals before signing up. They often run better than the free audio book promo.





Meemo said:


> Also if you use Overdrive from your library check there. Most libraries have a good selection of audiobooks.


Will do. Thanks for all the advice, everyone. I'm getting excited about trying this.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

DD gave me money to buy an MP3 player for my birthday. Also had to buy the petite earbuds since I can't fit the regular ones in my ears.

It came yesterday (YAY) and I've spent a lot of time this morning figuring out the silly thing, but (double YAY) I'm now listening to Outlander. I'm absolutely loving Davina Porter. At 33 hours and probably only listening while I walk the dog, it's going to take me all month to finish.


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## mom133d (aka Liz) (Nov 25, 2008)

Meemo said:


> Also if you use Overdrive from your library check there. Most libraries have a good selection of audiobooks.


I just started using Overdrive and have found many books I've been waiting for the price to drop on.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

mom133d (aka Liz) said:


> I just started using Overdrive and have found many books I've been waiting for the price to drop on.


It took me quite a long time this morning to get a book from Audible onto my Sansa Clip. I don't think I'm ready to tackle Overdrive, yet.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

I listened to a sample of Tavia Gilbert reading _A Perfect Christmas_ by Debbie Macomber. She's fantastic. Great expression. I won't listen to a Christmas book until after Thanksgiving, but I'm really looking forward to this one.


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## Mark E. Cooper (May 29, 2011)

I think my favorite narrator right now is Renee Raudman. She is very good with both male and female protagonists and narrated the Kate Daniels series written by Ilona Andrews. I'm waiting to get the 6th book but it seems to be taking ages to come out over at audible.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

markecooper said:


> I think my favorite narrator right now is Renee Raudman. She is very good with both male and female protagonists and narrated the Kate Daniels series written by Ilona Andrews. I'm waiting to get the 6th book but it seems to be taking ages to come out over at audible.


Had to go listen to a sample. Yes. She is very good. I'll add her to my list.


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## Amyshojai (May 3, 2010)

I'm an audible member but don't have much chance to listen. Signed up when there was a good deal, and it also allows me to give audio books as gifts, so that's a great deal.

Narrated my own books (in another life I'm a stage actor) and for me, I prefer the VO artists who do voices and act the story...but without the sound effects. THAT is a radio play, not a book. *shrug*


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Amyshojai said:


> I'm an audible member but don't have much chance to listen. Signed up when there was a good deal, and it also allows me to give audio books as gifts, so that's a great deal.
> 
> Narrated my own books (in another life I'm a stage actor) and for me, I prefer the VO artists who do voices and act the story...but without the sound effects. THAT is a radio play, not a book. *shrug*


I listen when I walk the dog but I discovered I can't listen while loading/emptying the dishwasher or cooking because they are two very noisy activities. At least walking the dog gives me an hour a day. I've been taking him for much longer walks so I can listen and he loves it.


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## Amyshojai (May 3, 2010)

Great idea re: walking the dog. My problem is Magica-Dawg doesn't want to be walked, he wants to be entertained with Frisbee throws, etc.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Amyshojai said:


> Great idea re: walking the dog. My problem is Magica-Dawg doesn't want to be walked, he wants to be entertained with Frisbee throws, etc.


Angelo likes to be entertained with squirrel chasing.


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## elaineorr (Mar 18, 2012)

I generally like audio books to be read rather than acted. There are few narrators who do all voices well. The other advantage of a straight read seems to be that the volume doesn't vary as much. There's nothing more irritating than turning a book up because a voice is soft and then getting blasted because a reader thinks they need to "yell" because the text says a character yells.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

elaineorr said:


> I generally like audio books to be read rather than acted. There are few narrators who do all voices well. The other advantage of a straight read seems to be that the volume doesn't vary as much. There's nothing more irritating than turning a book up because a voice is soft and then getting blasted because a reader thinks they need to "yell" because the text says a character yells.


Hmm, hadn't thought of that. Luckily, I haven't had that happen to me.

On the other hand, I'm listening to _The Good Earth_ narrated by Anthony Heald and he's very expressive. He does all the voices beautifully and draws me right into Wang Lung's world just as the book has done many times.


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## C.A. Bryers (Dec 10, 2013)

I do most of my reading by audio books, so had to swing through here. I prefer the narrator to adapt their voices to different characters. It gets a little monotonous to me without that sometimes. For example, I loved Jim Dale's work on the Harry Potter books, although the repeated "Weasley is out King!" chants on one got a bit obnoxious after a while.


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