Hear all about it – audio books – yay or nay?
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme where every Tuesday we look at a particular topic for discussion and use various (or more to the point ten) bookish examples to demonstrate that particular topic. Top Ten Tuesday (created and hosted by The Broke and Bookish) is now being hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and future week’s topics can be found here. This week’s topic is:
Audio Freebie
Audio is still a relatively new experience for me and in fact I really need to get into the habit of carrying my earphones around with me and pressing the play button more often on my phone – I’m pretty sure I could listen to an audiobook at least once a week when I’m cooking or shopping or walking the dog! Anyway, each book I’ve tried has taught me different lessons and I’m still on a learning curve. I think one thing that I have spotted, and this is a major flaw on my part, is that out of the ten books below I’ve only reviewed three of them. Of course these were my own books and not review copies but I’d still like to have reviewed them! I think because these were books that I fit into my schedule unexpectedly I just never got round to posting reviews for them. That’s something I need to fix in the future if I intend to listen to more and in fact I really need to leave reviews for the other seven books – perhaps mini reviews – but here’s my audio experience so far:
Borderline, The Arcadia Project by Mishell Baker – I really enjoyed this, it was my first audio experience and it was so good. I thought I’d drift off and miss chunks of information if I was listening to a book, like you can do with music sometimes – you relax and switch off but that didn’t happen here. This was a great first book to listen to and made me want to try more. In fact I went on to buy the second in series (Phantom Pains) on audio which was just as enjoyable.
Thunderbird by Chuck Wendig. I love the Miriam Black series but I think buying this on audio, mid series, was definitely not a good idea for me and was one of those things I’ve had to put down to experience. I think because I’d read the previous books in series, well, I guess I had an idea of how the people would sound inside my head and then hearing a totally different voice (voices) just threw me for six. As it is, I ended up not really enjoying Thunderbird and I’m not sure if that’s because of the book or because I started listening to the audio mid-series – it’s not something I would do again. I think the lesson here was that if I’m planning on listening to a series I need to pick up the audio from the start so there are no contradictory voices running round inside my head – does this sound insane? Of course, once I’ve listened to the first I don’t think it would be a problem to read the second or third book in a series.
How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf by Molly Harper – I have to confess that this was a lot of fun. I wanted to try audio from the library and this was a sort of trial run. It was so easy to listen too. I was actually decorating at the time and actually listened to virtually a full book in one sitting (or standing, painting) – which made the work just fly by. The message here, if you’ve got something mind numbingly easy to do then definitely break out an audio book – it will make the work and the time fly by.
American Gods by Neil Gaiman – this is a book that I’ve owned for ages – the physical copy, but something stopped me from picking it up, even though I love so many books by this author. I think I was scared somehow. Don’t ask me to explain. Then I decided to buy the tenth anniversary audio book which has quite a few narrators including Gaiman. I loved it. The narration is just amazing and seems to really bring the book to life. What a rush.
The Boy on the Bridge by MR Carey. I felt a little bit wary going into this book. To be honest I always thought The Girl with All the Gifts was a standalone so I was surprised to find another book set in the same world. I really didn’t need to worry – I admit that it took me a little longer to get into this one and I really had to pay attention to the cast but once I got into it it was great. And the ending!
Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse. This book is perfect for audio. Just perfect. The narration is fantastic and what I really enjoyed was listening to somebody give all the names and places the correct pronunciation – it just made things seem much more authentic in my head than the botched up version I probably would have come up with. I do have the second book waiting to be read which I’m very excited to start – it’s not an audio book but as I already experienced the first book in that format I think the switch round will be easy and hopefully all the names and places will just flow.
The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso. I enjoyed this book, the audio was good, but, I think this might have been a book that I would have enjoyed reading – only in that sometimes I like to make notes and kindle makes it so easy to either highlight text or make reference points – perhaps you can do this on audio but I have no idea how to? Anyway, I’m going to pick up a copy of the second book at some point but think I’ll go for the print version and see how the experience compares.
Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers – now you may be thinking ‘hang on, didn’t you say you couldn’t jump into audio mid-series’ and yes, yes I did. But, all the Becky Chambers books are separate stories and so I think the earlier ruling doesn’t apply. Or I’m just making things up as I go along and cheating with my own rules. Regardless, I enjoyed this, it did take me a little while to get into and maybe sci-fi is going to be something that I have more of a struggle listening to – it’s not my comfort zone after all so that makes sense in some ways.
An Easy Death by Charlaine Harris. This was the perfect book for audio. Seriously. Light, fun, plenty of action, great narrator. I loved this from start to finish. This sort of book just makes audio seem like a doddle and makes me wonder why I’m not listening to so much more. Give me more of this.
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor. I don’t know why but I really struggled with this one and I just can’t put my finger on what the problem was. I think it was ‘me’ to be honest. So many people love this book but for some reason I was unable to find myself really absorbed in the listening experience. Laini Taylor has such a wonderful way with words and I think maybe I wanted to see some of the sentences on the page – to go over them once or twice and linger a while. There were a number of occasions where I was really struck with the particular way something was phrased and yet in spite of this the audio version left me unfulfilled. I think I may have to try again with this one but on the kindle.
That’s my audio experience so far – how about you??
The Dollmaker by Nina Allan
The Dollmaker is s book that I have struggled to write a review for, on the one hand this is a complex story with beautiful writing that contains a series of fascinating smaller stories within, on the other hand it didn’t really work out well for me. I confess I have a strange fascination for books and films with dolls – probably because they scare me a little – and we all like a good scaring every now and again – well I do anyway. I think that this probably gave me unreasonable expectations of what this story would eventually become and that is totally my own fault – check out the synopsis below which is a very apt description and in no way whatsoever misleading. Basically, I led myself down the garden path with this one and so, to be absolutely clear, this is definitely a case of ‘it’s me not you’. If this sounds like your cup of tea then please don’t be put off by the fact that this wasn’t quite what I wanted it to be.
Stitch by perfect stitch, Andrew Garvie makes exquisite dolls in the finest antique style. Like him, they are diminutive but graceful, unique, and with surprising depths. Perhaps that’s why he answers the enigmatic personal ad in his collector’s magazine.
Letter by letter, Bramber Winters reveals more of her strange, sheltered life in an institution on Bodmin Moor, and the terrible events that put her there as a child. Andrew knows what it is to be trapped, and as they knit closer together, he weaves a curious plan to rescue her.
On his journey through the old towns of England, he reads the fairy tales of Ewa Chaplin–potent, eldritch stories which, like her lifelike dolls, pluck at the edges of reality and thread their way into his mind. When Andrew and Bramber meet at last, they will have a choice–to break free and, unlike their dolls, come to life.
A love story of two very real, unusual people, The Dollmaker is also a novel rich with wonders: Andrew’s quest and Bramber’s letters unspool around the dark fables that give our familiar world an uncanny edge. It is this touch of magic that, like the blink of a doll’s eyes, tricks our own.
This is a story of two people (Andrew and Bamber), both struggling a little, both lonely, who find each other through a personal ad in a magazine and become close following the exchange of many letters. Both are collectors of dolls and this shared interest creates a bond between the two. This is a story of self discovery for both.
Firstly, the things I really enjoyed about this book.
The writing is gorgeous. It’s evocative, it’s clever, it’s impressive. I loved that parts of the story were told through letters, I love this way of telling a tale.
The setting. Cornwall, I love Cornwall and have spent a lot of time there and so the settings were so interesting for me to read about.
The short stories within the main body. These were great – and very unexpected for me as I don’t make a secret of the fact that short stories are not really my thing so the fact that I couldn’t wait for the next one was something of a revelation. The short stories themselves are a collection of dark fairy tales written by a famous dollmaker, each of them seems to resonate personally and in fact share strange parallels with Andrew as he makes his way across Cornwall on his mission to rescue Bamber. I loved these stories and could easily have read more.
So, why didn’t this quite work out for me. I haven’t got any real criticisms as such. I think this is a strange combination of unrealistic expectations coupled with a story arc that ambled just a little too much for my own liking. I think the latter third of the book picked up the pace but reaching that point felt like it took quite a while and by that point my interest had waned.
I certainly don’t want to put anybody else off. This is a beautiful piece of work that unfortunately, and maybe it’s a mood thing, didn’t quite work out for me.
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
Weekly Wrap Up : 24/03/19
Another week flies by and March is rushing past in a hurry. I didn’t have much time for reading this week unfortunately but I did manage to read Holy Sister – which was an excellent conclusion to the series and I’m almost half way into Aching God. So here’s my weekly wrap up:
My books:
- Holy Sister by Mark Lawrence
Next week’s reads:
- Aching God (Iconoclasts #1) by Mike Shel
- The Sword and the Dagger by Robert Cochran
- Sowing (The Purification Era #1) by Angie Grigaliunas
- Aching God by Mike Shel
Upcoming reviews:
- The Dollmaker by Nina Allan
- Holy Sister by Mark Lawrence
I’d love to know what you’re reading this week.
#SPFBO Author, Cover Share: The City Screams by Phil Williams (An Ordshaw novella)
23 March 2019
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Blue Angel, Cover Share, Phil Williams, The City Screams, Under Ordshaw
Today I’m really pleased to share with you the cover for a forthcoming novella written by Phil Williams. The City Screams is a standalone novella set within the Urban Fantasy world that I first read of in Under Ordshaw. You can find out more about the book below but first here’s the cover:
Tova’s getting her hearing back. She’s going to wish she wasn’t.
Alone in Tokyo for experimental ear surgery, Tova Nokes is finally shaking up her life. But when she starts to hear things she shouldn’t, all she wants is to make it home alive.
There’s a voice saying it’s where she comes from that makes her special.
If she can only survive violent stalkers, and the terrible screams, she might figure out why…
The City Screams is a stand-alone thriller in the Ordshaw urban fantasy series.
This sounds great and it’s due for release on 9th April.
Goodreads link provided here.
And, here are the first two books in Phil’s UF series and my review for Under Ordshaw:
The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins
22 March 2019
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Sara Collins, The Confessions of Frannie Langton
The Confessions of Frannie Langton was an impressive debut and an intriguing read. Ultimately it’s the rather sad story of one young woman’s life. Born into slavery, Frannie Langton spent her first few years on a Jamaican sugar plantation, ironically called Paradise, before being taken by her master to London and given away as a house servant.
I enjoyed this read, it was certainly told in a compelling way and in spite of a few issues I think it was an impressive debut.
Frannie is in prison. She’s accused of the murder of her former employers and due to stand trial. With very little hope of being found innocent she decides to write down her own story. She takes us back to her earliest memories on the plantation and slowly but surely gives us her account of the events that led up to the murders. What makes this account so intriguing is that Frannie is well spoken and can read and write. She was an experiment of sorts, her master at the plantation wishing to see how far he could take her education. Her sharp mind and ability to learn land her in difficulties, she becomes invaluable to her master as a scribe, taking down notes of his experiments which unfortunately are of a very grim nature. One thing leads to another and Frannie is taken to London and left as a servant in the Benham household.
I would say that this story has two aspects to it. There’s the mystery of the murder and events leading up to it and there’s the mystery of Frannie’s past and the links between her former master and her new employer Benham and the hideous experiments they undertook together. Personally, I felt like this story would have worked better if it had focused more on Frannie and the murder mystery. For me, the experimentation side of the story felt like it was added in to create a sensation or maybe to come up with new territory but I didn’t really feel like it added anything to the murder/mystery aspect of the story and in a way the mystery behind the experiments and the build up to the revelation felt like it stole some of the thunder from the events that led up to the murders.
What I really enjoyed about this was the writing and the ease in which the author depicts life, either at the plantation or in the Georgian home that Frannie is taken to. Frannie has a lovely narrative voice and is very easy to read. She’s maybe not always her own best friend, she certainly doesn’t make friends easily but I can’t really fault her for sticking up for herself even if others think her headstrong.
This is at heart a sad tale. Things were never really going to work out well for Frannie. She becomes addicted not only to laudanum but also to the love of her new mistress. Marguerite is trapped in an unhappy marriage. In a way she’s almost like a slave (although a very pampered, indolent and privileged one). She practically lives in one room of the house, brought out as little more than decoration when it suits her husband. To be honest I didn’t really like Marguerite. Of course I felt sorry for her in a loveless marriage, she was trapped to an extent but I also felt like she also played with the lives of others with little regard for their welfare.
Frannie meanwhile has become something of an Eliza Doolittle. With her well spoken manner and ability to read and write she’s definitely out of place. She doesn’t fit in with the downstairs staff and she doesn’t fit in with the upstairs quality. She quite literally becomes besotted with Marguerite which eventually leads to petty jealousies and a rift that sees her banished from the household.
I won’t elaborate on the story. There’s a mystery to be uncovered here that is best discovered whilst reading.
Overall, I thought this was a good read. I think the pacing was a little slow in the first half but it wasn’t something that really bothered me too much as I was enjoying Frannie’s account. Personally, I think there’s a little too much going on in terms of the two different storylines but I enjoyed this even if, as I mentioned above, it’s a sad tale.
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
Books and travelling with Lynn 