Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion

Annie wrote: "I think I'm going to listen to The Graveyard Book!"

I am listening to that one, too. I also counting it as a horror book and a middle grade novel.

Trinasum1 wrote: "I was excited to see Graveyard Book listed. I've already read and listened to it. I must say Neil Gaiman has great audiobooks. Since I've done that one already, I'm starting my challenge with this ..."

Yes, overlapping is allowed, it says so at the bottom of the page. Some people choose not to overlap though.

Oprah Winfrey narrated the audio for her own book, What I Know For Sure. I'll try that.

Audie Award

The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman
Mandela: An Audio History !!!
The Silkworm
Those Who Wish Me Dead
Euphonia
The Auschwitz Escape
The Hound of the Baskervilles
New York Stories

Listened to The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty this summer and loved it.

This one is gonna be horrible, I read english ok, but have a hard time listening to it. And it is difficult to find swedish translations.

So I need something really short and read with a clear voice and no funny accents.

For this challenge, I've starting listing to The Girl With All the Gifts.

Jeanette (jema) wrote: "This one is gonna be horrible, I read english ok, but have a hard time listening to it. And it is difficult to find swedish translations.

So I need something really short and read with a clear voi..."

How are you with English accents? There are a lot out there with English accents. Try a Young Adult or Middle Grade - they're shorter and easier to follow.

Louise wrote: "Ok, I don't normally listen to audiobooks and looking into this challenge has taught me that 1: they are expensive, and 2: the ones that have won the award don't seem to be widely available in the ..."

Hi from another Brit!

Have a look and see if your library uses Overdrive - it's a free to lend service for ebooks and audiobooks. I'm in Lancashire and we have it as I know Manchester does as well. The surrounding local authorities don't though so it's pot luck. It is a really good service if you can get it and you automatically send back after 21 days so no fine :) You will need a smartphone / tablet / iPad (maybe Kindle fire) or the Web to use the service. If they don't do Overdrive they will have another ebook / audiobook lending service online no doubt. Overdrive is free whereas library audiobooks you pay for. Hope that helps :)

Laura wrote: "Cheri wrote: "I'm going with Yes Please by Amy Poehler. I so often get irritated by the narrators (especially male narrators who do weird things to imitate female voices), but I fig..."

I loved The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

Christie wrote: "I will be reading/listening to The Silkworm."

The narration on all of the books in this series are brilliant.

I am going with this version of Dracula which won an Audie in 2013 for Distinguished Achievement in Production and has an exceptional cast, but is not a dramatisation. I've had it for ages, but never listened right the way through.

I'm listening to The Iraq War and the Aftermath as Seen by NPR's Correspondent Anne Garrels. I think it's a three-fer - Audie winner 2004, set in the Middle East, and about politics.

I could stretch and say it's nonfiction with feminist themes(female war correspondent) and about religion, but I want to read other books for these too - I want to read more, not less for this challenge. :)

Trinasum1 wrote: "I was excited to see Graveyard Book listed. I've already read and listened to it. I must say Neil Gaiman has great audiobooks. Since I've done that one already, I'm starting my challenge with this ..."

If you like listening to audiobooks AND like Neil Gaiman, you should check out the BBC production of Neverwhere . It is fantastic! NOTE: its available on itunes. Its not an audie winner so it won't count for the Read Harder challenge.

I just finished listening to City of Darkness by Ben Bova , read by Harlan EllisonHarlan Ellison. It was pretty good. You could tell the narrator was really into it.

The Bridges of Madison County narrated by Kelli O'Hara and Steven Pasquale from the musical adaptation. It won the 2015 Romance Audie Award

I'm listening to Those Who Wish Me Dead and honestly… I'm struggling. I feel like I wasted my free Audible book (which I had saved for over a year) on this. And I LOVE listening to audiobooks!
I'm going to finish it and cancel out my subscription, then forget I ever did this. I don't know why it won this award.

Alice wrote: "I'm listening to Those Who Wish Me Dead and honestly… I'm struggling. I feel like I wasted my free Audible book (which I had saved for over a year) on this. And I LOVE listening to ..."

If you got something from Audible and you don't like it, you may be able to return it for something else. Members can definitely do this but even for a one-time selection, it doesn't hurt to contact them and ask.

I'm so excited to listen to this book - first because I LOVE this actor and second because I LOVE his voice!!
Not My Father's Son by Alan Cumming :)

so many good ones, will pick from The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Girl with All the gifts, not My Father's son by alan cummings or An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine

Robin wrote: "Alice wrote: "I'm listening to Those Who Wish Me Dead and honestly… I'm struggling. I feel like I wasted my free Audible book (which I had saved for over a year) on this. And I LOVE..."

Thank you for telling me that! I'll certainly give it a shot - I'd rather "spend" it on a book I enjoy reading. LOL

Decided to go for a Sedaris that I already read in paper. He is funny and I can understand him and listen while fishing in WoW

Life - Keith Richards for this one for me.

I listened to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (the entire series won a Hall of Fame Audie). ... Man, I really do not like audiobooks.

Mark wrote: "Life - Keith Richards for this one for me."

The audio for this is SO GOOD. I did the audio and book form for this (alternating) and both were great, but the audio made this more compelling.

Ugh. Finally finished Those Who Wish Me Dead. I don't know if it's the story or the narrator, but it was a long, boring slog for me. Now back to my podiobook authors! :D

SibylM wrote: "I'm going with Alan Cumming's memoir."

I thought it was fantastic last year. Happy listening!

Bonnie wrote: "Mark wrote: "Life - Keith Richards for this one for me."

The audio for this is SO GOOD. I did the audio and book form for this (alternating) and both were great, but the audio made this more compe..."

Glad to hear it!

I'm an audiobook fiend and a huge Neil Gaiman fan, so of course my first choice was The Graveyard Book. It's fabulous. Even in the grand scheme of Gaiman's works, it's one of my favorite. The story is compelling and horror-not-quite-horror. It has all the elements--murder, ghosts, hauntings, mystery. But it's more coming-of-age (in a graveyard, to be sure) and thoughtful humor.

The full cast production was AMAZING. The casting, the music, the performance are all so well done. For you Sherlock fans out there, Andrew Scott (Moriarty) voices the antagonist. Really, I can't say enough good about both the story and the production. A satisfying start to this challenge.

What do you think? Would the Assassination of Margaret Thatcher by Hilary Mantel which won an AUDIE for 2015 SHORT STORIES/COLLECTIONS qualify for the essays too?

Planning on listening to Euphoria by Lily King for this task, since it's been on my to-read list for a while. I'm not usually one to listen to audiobooks, so this is helping me expand my horizons a bit. Hopefully it's a good choice, can anyone weigh in?

Gaurav wrote: "I heard some great things about Bossypants. It's on my TBR.

Not sure if it has won any awards or not."

Gaurav, Bossypants won Audiobook of the Year 2012 at the Audie Awards. It was also the Biography/Memoir winner that year.

Erin wrote: "What do you think? Would the Assassination of Margaret Thatcher by Hilary Mantel which won an AUDIE for 2015 SHORT STORIES/COLLECTIONS qualify for the essays too?"

I don't think so. An essay is different from a short story. Per description The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher is an "innovative story collection".

Jen wrote: "Planning on listening to Euphoria by Lily King for this task, since it's been on my to-read list for a while. I'm not usually one to listen to audiobooks, so this is helping me expand my horizons a..."

I love audiobooks, and this is my pick too! I heard great things about it.

Erin wrote: "What do you think? Would the Assassination of Margaret Thatcher by Hilary Mantel which won an AUDIE for 2015 SHORT STORIES/COLLECTIONS qualify for the essays too?"

I have read the book (not a fan, though I loved Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies) and there are no essays, just short fiction.

I listened to Not My Father's Son: A Memoir by Alan Cumming. I enjoyed it very much. He's such an interesting person.

Even though I've already completed this challenge, I'm also going to listen to Life by Keith Richards. It's been on my TBR list for a while, and well....Johnny Depp narrates it.

I listened to The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. The full cast version won 2015 Audies for Children's Title (8-12), Distinguished Achievement in Production, and Multi-Voiced Production. It is narrated by Derek Jacobi, and there are characters played by Andrew Scott, Miriam Margolyes, and the author. It's so good that it's really not fair to other audiobooks.

Jennifer wrote: "I listened to The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. The full cast version won 2015 Audies for Children's Title (8-12), Distinguished Achievement in Production, and Mult..."

I'd already heard that one. Brilliance on all accounts.

I'm planning on World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. It won the best Multi-voiced performance in 2007. I've read the book before, but I'm hoping that listening to it will be a different thrill entirely.

Dracula with Tim Curry!!! Yes!!! I own it and keep meaning to listen to it

Bonnie wrote: "Erin wrote: "What do you think? Would the Assassination of Margaret Thatcher by Hilary Mantel which won an AUDIE for 2015 SHORT STORIES/COLLECTIONS qualify for the essays too?"

I have read the boo..."

Listened to this for the short story challenge last year. Not impressed, especially with the awful attempt at a Liverpool accent in the title story.

I am using my audible free trial to listen to Yes Please for this challenge. Probably one a lot of people will choose, but that's fine, I've wanted to read this book since it came out and I love Amy Poehler.

Can anyone suggest a short one? I'm not a fan of audio books.

I'm listening to Colin Firth read The End of the Affair. It is 6 hours long with 6 hour-long disks. I don't know if that is too long, but I am enjoying it and I usually find listening to recorded books difficult. Listening to books can be frustrating, but with a good narrator I can pay attention. I get frustrated because I can't go back to verify anything. I also keep falling asleep. I am repeating disk 2 for the third time.

I've never listened to an audiobook before! I've signed up to a free trial of Audible & downloaded The Martian, which won an Audie award for best Science Fiction audiobook. I haven't seen the movie, so maybe I'll also use it for the challenge to read a book then watch the movie.

Maryann wrote: "Can anyone suggest a short one? I'm not a fan of audio books."

I listened to Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems, borrowed from my library's digital collection.
It's a kid's book, but it won the award in 2007. I do not like audiobooks either; they put me to sleep. I actually liked this one. Cool jazz. :)

Jennifer wrote: "I am using my audible free trial to listen to Yes Please for this challenge. Probably one a lot of people will choose, but that's fine, I've wanted to read this book since it came o..."

Mandela: An Audio History is the one I listened to, that won audiobook of the year last year is only a little over an hour.

Last summer I discovered http://audiobooksync.com/
From the website: "SYNC is a program that gives away two complete audiobook downloads — a current Young Adult title paired thematically with a Classic or Required Summer Reading title — each week to listeners ages 13+ while SYNC is in session each summer."

The audiobooks can be downloaded via OverDrive. I don't think all of the books were available internationally, but if I remember correctly, some were. It appears that at least a couple of this summer's books, including Mandela: An Audio History and Egg & Spoon, are Audie winners.

Thanks to the previous recommendations, I chose The End of the Affair. It would be my first ever audio book, so I decided on something not very long, but with great reviews. It also would the first Graham Greene novel I read (listen to), even though I have his "Quiet American" in my to-read list.

Viv wrote: "I've never listened to an audiobook before! I've signed up to a free trial of Audible & downloaded The Martian, which won an Audie award for best Science Fiction audiobook. I haven'..."

I would probably never have read The Martian without the audiobook and I loved it. I found it really funny, suspenseful and inspiring. He does use some strong language but hey, he's the only person within 10 million miles.