Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion

Melanie wrote: "I really am having a hard time with this challenge. My attention keeps fading when I am listening and I've had to back track by a chapter twice already. Audio books just really aren't for me. I ..."

Some people like to listen to an audiobook while following along in the actual book. This seems extra costly to me (paying for both versions), but maybe this will get you through the challenge?

I listen to a lot of audiobooks for my job as a youth services librarian, and I chose Please Ignore Vera Dietz to accomplish this task. The book is awesome! Audio was great; I highly recommend it!

Melanie wrote: "I really am having a hard time with this challenge. My attention keeps fading when I am listening and I've had to back track by a chapter twice already. Audio books just really aren't for me. I ..."

The first audio books in our house were the "Harry Potter" series. The Jim Dale versions are absolutely fantastic!! They opened up a whole new world to us and started a love for many audio books, but also spoiled us a bit because now we compare every other audio book to his work. Jim Dale was amazing on stage during his acting career, and because of his training the dialogue is done very well in so many different characters. I know there are other readers out there who do voices as well, but they pale in comparison to his abilities. He has even won awards for his work in the HP series. (You can check out his page at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Dale if you have time.)

If you are already familiar with the HP series, try HP # 4, 5, or 6 on audio. Those are the favorites in our house.

Good luck!

I did finish Atlantia, but I guess the core is I don't want to pay twice fore a book. So I could get the book and the audio companion or just get the book and use the voiceover feature of my iPad for moments when I want to multi-task. I enjoy reading more than I do listening. I also probably could have searched around for a better audio book, but again I had no interest in purchasing another book or listening to a book I had already read.

I just finished The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and am now listening to The 5th Wave. Both are GREAT! I listen in my car to and from work and have 40+ audiobooks under my belt. I also highly recommend The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. Great audiobook!

Melanie wrote: "I did finish Atlantia, but I guess the core is I don't want to pay twice fore a book. So I could get the book and the audio companion or just get the book and use the voiceover feature of my iPad f..."

Perhaps you could use the library for audio. I get audiobooks from the library on my phone using Overdrive, and that is free. I like to read, but I also like to listen to books on my commute so I often interchange between audio and print. I am doing that right now with The Cove

Currently listening to Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli. It's been on TBR list for kids books.

Listened to "lover Revealed" from the black dagger brotherhood series

I took a road trip recently and decided to give listening to a full book (as opposed to a children's book) a try. I listened to The Iron King by Julie Kagawa. I really liked the book and the reader (Khristine Hvam) was EXCELLENT. :-)

I just finished The Pieces We Keep by Kristina McMorris for this part of the challenge. Took me a little while to get into to it, then I really enjoyed it. It's interesting because it's set in present day and in the past.

On my recent road trip, which I mentioned above, I actually listened to three other audiobooks and two audio-novellas.

These were:
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, read by Dan Stevens (a great story with excellent narration).
Magic Shifts by Ilona Andrews, read by Renée Raudman (an excellent story with so-so narration).
The Martian by Andy Weir, read by R.C. Bray (an excellent story with fantastic! narration).
I'm Dreaming of an Undead Christmas by Molly Harper, read by Amanda Ronconi (a good novella with okay narration).
The Early Years: A Jane Yellowrock Story by Faith Hunter, read by Khristine Hvam (a disappointing novella with excellent narration).



All of these audiobooks were okay, but the audioBOOKS were really great. My favorite by far was The Martian by Andy Weir, read by R.C. Bray. R.C. Bray did such a fantastic job. I laughed, I cried. I was riveted. And as I was driving at the time, I was also thankful I didn't crash. ;-)

I listened to John Irving's read by Joe Barrett and really enjoyed it.

The Amazing Book is Not on Fire by Dan Howell & Phil Lester is currently tickling my auditory passages. It's hilarious.

Would a fictitious podcast count for this? In particular- Welcome to Nightvale?

Courtney wrote: "Would a fictitious podcast count for this? In particular- Welcome to Nightvale?"

It's not technically an audiobook, but a book DID come from the podcast, so I think we can let it slide!

Listened to Leah Remini's memoir Troublemaker. I was not a fan of audiobooks previously but I think celebrities reading their memoirs is going to be a thing I love, and hopefully will open me up to other audiobooks!

Charissa wrote: "Listened to Leah Remini's memoir Troublemaker. I was not a fan of audiobooks previously but I think celebrities reading their memoirs is going to be a thing I love, and hopefully will open me up to..."

You may want to check out I Must Say: My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend. My favorite audio celebrity memoir ever!

I read Moby Dick, as narrated by Frank Muller, who did an amazing job, even though I have difficulty processing with audiobooks.

I am in the middle of The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism by Doris Kearns Goodwin and I'm really enjoying it. It is read by Edward Herrmann who is just so amazing! It is long, 38 hours, so quite daunting but really a great listen.

Julie wrote: "I am in the middle of The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism by Doris Kearns Goodwin and I'm really enjoying it. It is read by E..."

Julie, I think you might be in the wrong thread. This one was for the 2015 challenge.

Or maybe you are doing both challenges at the same time?

I was going through boxes and discovered an audio book of "A Cast of Killers" by Sidney D. Kirkpatrick. (The reader was Richard Widmark was the reader.) It's non-fiction and one version at solving the mystery of who killed movie director William Desmond Taylor in 1922.

Since it was on cassettes from 1987, there was some tinniness at times but overall it was not that bad.

Since I already have a copy of the book, I will be interested to re-read it as there seems to be a bit of difference between the two. Then again, it's been many years since I read the book so I might be wrong.

Nicola wrote: "I'm going for The Martian by Andy Weir ... I will the possibly watch the film and read the book haha...

For the 2016 challenge I listened to Yes, Please! by Amy Poehler and it was hilarious - I th..."

Don't worry, you will be laughing with this one too. I avoided it for a while because I wasn't interested in space/astronauts, but I kept seeing reviews saying how funny it was. I loved it, and an interesting thing is that now I am interested in space! When there have been articles in the news about real-life plans for Mars trips, I've read every word!

I'm listening to The Graveyard Book, which I chose because it is a book of the month for another group that I am part of.

I listened to Yes, Please. And I really need to stop reading celebrity books now. They're like that candy I don't really like, but keep eating anyway.

Rachel wrote: "I'm listening to The Graveyard Book, which I chose because it is a book of the month for another group that I am part of."

Loved that book!! I found it after I already completed the audiobook category so I used it for the middle grade category. Neil Gaiman is a great narrator.