Good Morning everyone! Happy Sunday!
As you may have guessed by the
heading of this post, I am going to be completing a series of Audio Book reviews.
I took to listening to Audio Books during the pandemic, in particular
when working alone at home to stave off the quiet - I'm used to working in an office for my day job - and having an Audio Book playing in the background became quite theraputic for me. It also meant I could listen to books that I may have read a dozen times
over (as you'll see by the titles), but in hearing the books rather than reading the words, getting a better idea of the characters portrayed and the stories being told.
I don't need to say that some of the lines spoken by some of the characters that I thought were funny when I read them turned out to be even better when heard in the audio version of the book.
I also discovered something else when listening to the books - the narrator makes all the difference. I have found myself drawn to the books read by certain people, not because I don't like the other
books, but because I like how a certain narrator sounds. Trust me, I have outright deleted from my existence 3 Audio Books that were good on paper, but in reality were absolutely terrible because hearing the books read by the particular narrators just ruined
it. Either the narrator sounded like they were trying too hard, or not hard enough to sound like they were enjoying the book they were reading and if the narrator sounds bored reading the book, how are you meant to enjoy hearing the book?
I know, that sounds like I'm being harsh, but I am purely being honest. In that vein, I will also say that some of the narrators I have listened to have made me laugh because of
the accents that they have given the characters. In fact I have just finished listening to a Jessie Donovan book with a Welsh main character (I will do a review soon, I promise) and the way the narrator gave the character his voice made him sound exactly like
a late great welsh actor who happened to star in one of the "Carry On" movies (one of my faves, 'Carry on England'.) I'll let you guess who I mean. The voice was brilliant and made me smile every time I heard it, though I did laugh at some of the lines delivered
though they weren't meant to be funny because of the voice also.
Right now I am happily 67% of the way through the 46th of 48 Audio Books that I have on
my files and enjoying it to no end. As you will see from the reiews when I begin to post them is that I have a real theme to the books that I have been listening to. With the exception of 3 or 4 of the books, I have already read the books, either in paperback
or e-book format and therefore have a knowledge of the book and characters/plot etc. This hasn't reduced my enjoyment of the books, in fact I have listened to one or more of the them more than once because I've enjoyed it so much.
If you feel you don't have time to pick up and read it - we're all busy, right? Maybe Audio Books are for you. I get mine through the store on my machine, but online retailers will
have them also, or you can by Audio Books on disc from good bookshops too.
A downside? The cost involved. I am not going to sugar coat it - the audio versions
of the books can cost almost double the cost of the paperback or e-book version, but this will depend where you get it from so shop around. There are bargains to be had and in fact on the books I listened to was actually a free book I was able to download
from the store.
So yes, while I do normally review the actual paperback/hardback books that I have my happy little hands on, I am going to review the ones
I have been listening too and give you a little change from the norm. Of course, if there's any you think I would like to listen to, or you'd like me to review then please let me know using the contact me page on this site and I'll be sure to check it out.
In the meantime, this is me signing off. Have a great Sunday, enjoy the rest of your weekend and I'll see you next time.
Stay safe, look after each other and as always, Keep Reading! x