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Your stand-out listens of 2014
Cool thread. I agree with you on The Martian. The rest of my list would be:Books that were great with great narration:
You
The Book Thief
The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet
The Girl with All the Gifts
NOS4A2
Daddy-Long-Legs
Austenland
Books that were good but the narration made them great:
Our Man in Havana
Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron
Life After Life
The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break
I didn't read much non-fiction this year, very odd for me.
These Broken StarsAristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Far Far Away
The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line
Landline
The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business
The Silkworm
I listened to 67 audiobooks in 2014. Five star reads:
The Shining
Doctor Sleep
The Book Thief
The Shadow of the Wind
Swan Song
Fingersmith
Mr. Mercedes
Theft of Swords
Rise of Empire
Heir of Novron
The Crown Tower
The Translator
I'm at a lowly 35. But not bad for just listening on my commute to work. Books that stood out this year:
Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Eleanor & Park
Their Eyes Were Watching God
The Millennium Series:
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Girl Who Played with Fire
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
Janice wrote: "I listened to 67 audiobooks in 2015..."Slow down Nostradamus, I need some lottery numbers.
Jim wrote: "I'm at a lowly 35. But not bad for just listening on my commute to work. Books that stood out this year:
Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography
[book:Aristotle and ..."
Oooo I loved all of those except Neil Patrick's book - but that is only because I have not gotten to it yet. I am sure I will now though :)
J. wrote: "Janice wrote: "I listened to 67 audiobooks in 2015..."Slow down Nostradamus, I need some lottery numbers."
Ha! I'm already in the groove of writing 2015 apparently. One of my friends sent out a calendar of our quilting dates for 2015, but she had 2016 on the title, so I don't feel so bad.
This was my first full year as an audio reader and I managed to listen to 54 books. I surprised myself. Here are my top 10 (really 11 - I couldn't decide):The Housemaid's Daughter
A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty
The Painted Veil
The Crown
A Northern Light
The Rosie Project
Burial Rites
Pirates!
The Elephant Whisperer
Les Misérables
Moloka'i
I'll be one of those people writing 2014 on everything, well into 2015.My "stats" tab says I knocked out 108 (surely a new record for me as well), it didn't feel like that many. I'm sure the long commute for my year at this new job would have been dreadful without greats like Wheaton, Pinchot & Dufris reading to me.
It looks like my five stars were:
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
The Art of Manliness: Classic Skills and Manners for the Modern Man
Off to Be the Wizard
There were 80 four star books, glancing through, the most memorable were:
Ready Player One
What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
The William Shakespeare presents Star Wars Series
Great idea for a thread! Here are mine that I felt were very good/excellent and other group members might enjoy ...Tilt-a-Whirl - I've raved about it in full throttle fanboi mode (more than once!) already. 'Nuff said.
The Sleuth Sisters - having three narrators (one for each sister's voice) greatly improved the experience. I believe I got it from Audible for well under the cost of a credit?
Dropped Names: Famous Men and Women As I Knew Them - Frank Langella's voice is a huge plus here! He tries, and succeeds, in avoiding "catty" in favor of just giving insights of private moments with the celebs profiled.
The Crooked Maid -- set in Postwar Vienna, I found it fascinating. Technically, it's a sequel (of sorts), but I skipped the earlier book, feeling I wasn't missing anything. Kate Reading does her usual awesome job of narration. (and I'll enthusiastically second her reading of The Painted Veil!)
The Impersonator -- more historical fiction, this time 1920's Oregon. Our own Tavia Gilbert was a great fit for the voice of "Jessie" (the impersonator). Looking forward to hearing the sequel in 2015.
The Transcriptionist: A Novel -- I lived in the City for a few years, finding the author really does make NYC itself one of the "characters"; one test was that I'm not generally visual, but the scene at Hart Island (Potters Field location) had me seeing the event just like a movie.
Finally ... I got to listen to my first Scott Brick work, finding he truly nailed it: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. You know the author can write when you're consciously impressed with her description of a swizzle stick!
I finished 97 audiobooks this year, mostly because I listened to a lot more shorter books and I also listen at 2x speed most of the time. Here were my 5-star listens (in no particular order):Elmer Gantry
Black House
Dancing at the Rascal Fair
Four Fires
Middlesex
Arrowsmith
Daughter of the Forest
Naked
What is the What
The Talisman
The Son
The Good House
The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
Thanks John - I'm going to check out The Impersonator and The Crooked Maid. And I have The Sleuth Sisters on my kindle and the audio is only $1.99. Think I will pick it up.
102 books Read -75 were Audiobooks 5 Star books:
Dollbaby by, Laura Lane McNeal narrated by, January LaVoy
Whimsey: A Novelby Kaye Wilkinson Barley narrated by, Susanna Burney
The Winter Peopleby Jennifer McMahon narrated by, Cassandra Campbell & Kathe Mazur
Missing You by Harlan Coben narrated by, January LaVoy
Euphoria by Lily King narrated by, Simon Vance & Xe Sands
Written in My Own Heart's Blood by Diana Gabaldon narrated by, Davina Porter
The Daring Ladies of Lowell by Kate Alcott narrated by, Cassandra Campbell
Honorable mentions: (books I enjoyed that stayed with me):
Rage Against the Dying: A Thriller by Becky Masterman narrated by, Judy Kaye
The Book of Obeah by Sandra Carrington-Smith Narrated by, Dave Fennoy
Speaks the Nightbird by Robert R. McCammon, narrated by, Edoardo Ballerini
The Legendary Adventures of The Pirate Queens by James Grant Goldin narrated by, Shiromi Arserio
Blunder Woman written and narrated by, Tanya Eby
Wild Rover No More: Being the Last Recorded Account of the Life & Times of Jacky Faber by, LA Meyer Narrated by, Katherine Kellgren
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng narrated by, Cassandra Campbell
Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune By, Bill Dedman & Paul Clark Newell Jr. narrated by, Kimberly Farr
The Burning Room by Michael Connelly narrated by, Titus Welliver
I mentioned my raving fanboi mode earlier ... The Good House is a trigger for that! I liked the book so much that I couldn't wait for the paperback to come out and bought the full price hardcover as a gift for my mom.
Five stars: Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era
The Spy Who Came In from the Cold
About Love and Other Stories
Four stars
Inherent Vice
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage (Best production values)
The Last Battle
Oblomov
Castaways
Jim wrote: "I'm at a lowly 35. But not bad for just listening on my commute to work. Books that stood out this year:
Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography
[book:Aristotle and ..."
35 is fantastic. There is no shaming here. :)
I'm not going to say how many books I listened to :P i have a very short commute, and my job doesn't really lend itself to active listening (though I try).
My favourite listens were The Light between Oceans by M.L. Stedman, The Dinner by Herman Koch and Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon.
My favourite listens were The Light between Oceans by M.L. Stedman, The Dinner by Herman Koch and Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon.
Wow, I'm a real lightweight, I think I've probably listened to around 25 books this year. I've really enjoyed The first 15 lives of Harry August, Anansi Boys (my favourite, narration and narrative exceptional) and Dust. I've also read about as many books and feel I've branched out by reading and listening to books I would never have tried out before, like the Joke by Kundera and the Castle by Kafka so I'm happy with my 2014 reading and listening progress :)
I've read 157 new books this year--way down from previous years--but have re-read a lot... Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Nero Wolfe, Dresden Files, Anansi boys, Across the Nightingale Floor, to name a few. The standouts were: Wilkie Collins : The Woman in White
Ben Aaronovitch: Peter Grant: Broken Homes (Book 4)
Patricia Briggs: Mercy Thompson: Night Broken (Book 8)
Tarquin Hall: Vish Puri: The Case of the Love Commandos (Book 4)
L. A. Meyer: Bloody Jack (Book 1)
Michael Rosen: Alphabetical: How Every Letter Tells a Story
Benedict Jacka: Alex Verus: Fated (Book 1) plus the remaining series
John Scalzi: Red Shirts
The Complete Sherlock Holmes: The Heirloom Collection
Jim Butcher: :Dresden Files: Skin Game (Book 15)
Mercedes Lackey: Elemental Masters: The Serpent’s Shadow (Book 1)
Kevin Hearne: Iron Druid Chronicles: Shattered (Book 7)
Modern Scholar: Dante and His Divine Comedy
Scott Meyer: Off to Be the Wizard (Book 1)
Ian Doescher: Shakespeare’s Star Wars (Book 1) plus the remaining series
Colleen gleason: A Stoker & Holmes Novel: The Clockwork Scarab (Book 1)
Rick Riordan: The Greek Gods
Louise Penny: Three Pines/Chief Inspector Armand Gamache: The Long Way Home (Book 10)
Patricia C. Wrede: Frontier Magic: Thirteenth Child (Book 1) plus the remaining series
Cary Elwis: As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride--I've already re-read this one...TPB is my favorite movie!
Jeanie - I just picked up the two Patricia Wrede books and am looking forward to them. I also really enjoy both the Stoker & Holmes books by Colleen Gleason. They were fun!
Hats off, Jeanie. That's impressive. I have 'As You Wish' and I'm eager to listen.
My five star reads this year were: The Privilege of the Sword, War and Remembrance, The Birthday of the World and Other Stories, The Poisonwood Bible, The Book Thief, Everything That Rises Must Converge: Stories, The Edible Woman, A Room of One's Own, Swordspoint, Slaughterhouse-Five, American Gods (Twentieth Anniversary Edition), Princeps' Fury, The Color Purple, Water for Elephants, Intersex, The Help, First Lord's Fury, Will Grayson, Will Grayson, Gone Girl, Theft of Swords, Rise of Empire, Heir of Novron, Words of Radiance, The Fault in Our Stars, The Emperor's Soul, Skin Game, The Goldfinch, Sycamore Row, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, and Nothing O'Clock
Make of the lump what you will. I have another 104 four star reads in my stats. Among them are a bunch more truly excellent reads. This was a good year.
Jan wrote: "Jeanie - I just picked up the two Patricia Wrede books and am looking forward to them. I also really enjoy both the Stoker & Holmes books by Colleen Gleason. They were fun!"I went to college with Patricia Wrede! I remember her telling me how scifi/ fantasy were great genres for women to write in. It's wonderful that she was able to follow her dream and succeed. I also love that she uses humor in her writing.
I listened to 37 books this year which might be the most ever. (I also read about 50 in print or ebook). My favorite audios were The Martian, Shotgun Lovesongs, and Elizabeth is Missing.
Valyssia wrote: "My five star reads this year were: The Privilege of the Sword, War and Remembrance, The Birthday of the World and Other Stories, [book:The Poisonwood Bible..."
Whatever you may think of the storyline of Gone Girl, the narrators did an outstanding job.
J. wrote: "Janice wrote: "I listened to 67 audiobooks in 2015..."Slow down Nostradamus, I need some lottery numbers."
Clever...gave me a giggle
I listened to 70 audiobooks this year. That does not include the short stories or novellas.The first half of the year was consumed by Dresden Files. Every one worthy of relistening. I gave one of the books a 3, the rest 4 or 5.
I really enjoyed Dracula. This was the full cast version. Totally worthy.
I've also been working my way through the Ed McBain 87th Precinct series and enjoying that.
I've listened to 90+ this year. My husband snores...need I say more...The books I enjoyed most this year
Those Who Wish Me Dead
Big Little Lies
Breakfast With Buddha
The Pearl That Broke It's Shell
Euphoria
Silkworm
These were my 5 star audiobooks of 2014:The Murder at the Vicarage narrated by Richard E. Grant (source: SYNC)
Vanity Fair narrated by John Castle (source: Audible whispersync) {relisten}
Oliver Twist narrated by Simon Vance (source: Audible whispersync)
Little Dorrit narrated by Mil Nicholson (source: Librivox)
Letter from Birmingham Jail narrated by Dion Graham (source: Audible freebie)
The Maltese Falcon narrated by Eric Meyers (source: Audible)
John wrote: "Whatever you may think of the storyline of Gone Girl, the narrators did an outstanding job."I thought it was well done. The story wasn't predictable. It might've chafed my inner feminist a touch, but I couldn't deny that it was an unusually affective story. And 'yes' the audio book was exceptional.
Edit: Oh, and I picked up Tilt-a-Whirl based on your rec. The Whispersync combo is only three bucks. You really can't beat that for an entertaining book.
Listened to 77 and some of my faves wereThe Curse of Chalion
The Cider House Rules
Fangirl
Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener
Cutting for Stone
Mistborn: The Final Empire (all three in the series)
The Handmaid's Tale
Bellwether
Boneshaker
Rebecca
Ready Player One
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry
Now my wish list is longer than ever after reading all your faves, great thread!
Really glad to see Fikry on so many lists! I can actually remember when the bookstore on which his is based (loosely) opened MANY years ago.
So happy to see so many Bloody Jack and Ready Player One references. Love them both. I also really liked Fangirl and always enjoy Agatha Raisin on audio (except the latest one).
I listened to 26. My favorites were:Ready Player One
The Martian
As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride
The Son
A Land More Kind Than Home
The Invention of Wings
The Goldfinch
Jenifer wrote: "I've listened to 90+ this year. My husband snores...need I say more...The books I enjoyed most this year
Those Who Wish Me Dead
Big Little Lies
Breakfast With Buddha
The Pearl That Broke It'..."
I also liked The Pearl that Broke it's Shell after finishing it I ran across a book called I Am a Bacha Posh: My Life as a Woman Living as a Man in Afghanistan by Ukmina Manoori I may pick it up it sounds fascinating.
John wrote: "Great idea for a thread! Here are mine that I felt were very good/excellent and other group members might enjoy ...Tilt-a-Whirl - I've raved about it in full throttle fanboi mode (m..."
John, you're so kind to warmly claim me and to highlight one of my projects. So glad you enjoyed The Impersonator. Can't wait for more of that series! Happy New Year to you!
I listened to 45 audio books this year and I only listened to 4-5 star books since I had so many to choose from with this being my first year to listen to books. The ones that stick out in my mind without looking at my finished list are.The Goldfinch
The Book Thief
Ready Player One
Me Before You
One Plus One
The Invention of Wings
Big Little Lies
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
I listened to 63 audio books out of 77 total books read in 2014. I loved so many but these eleven do stand out, especially for the narration:
We Were Liars
The Goldfinch
The Poisonwood Bible
Euphoria
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
and feeding my Mystery Thriller habit and love of YA novels
The Gods of Guilt
The Secret Place
Feed
Blue Lily, Lily Blue
Mr. Mercedes
The Silkworm
I love this thread. It's a great source for books to read, as well as a great reminiscence of books I've enjoyed in the past. I'd add my +1 to the following books that people have already listed, even though I didn't listen to them this year: The Goldfinch
The Poisonwood Bible (though I haven't listened to it)
Euphoria
The Book Thief
Ready Player One
The Martian
Cutting for Stone
The Cider House Rules
Rebecca
The Painted Veil
The Color Purple
The Help
Burial Rites
The Shadow of the Wind
I listened to 95 audiobooks in 2014 and my top 10 are:(in no particular order)
Songs of Willow Frost
The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender
Life After Life
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
I'll Give You the Sun
The Invention of Wings
All the Light We Cannot See
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry
Frog Music
Huntress Moon
I listened to 90 audiobooks in 2014. My top tens are:East of Eden
The Rape of Nanking
The Goldfinch
The Valley of Amazement
Stones from the River
The Invention of Wings
Cutting for Stone
The Newlyweds
The Hundred Secret Senses
The Lowland
Wow so many good recommends here, my TBR will be getting bigger!I listened to 37 audios this year, many were re-listens of series: a few DresdensGhost Story Cold Days, Heroes of Olympus (only 1-3, they changed narrators for the last two, boo) The Emberverse series. The Sunrise Lands: A Novel of the ChangeThe Sword of the Lady: A Novel of the ChangeBy S. M. Stirling:The Tears of the Sun: A Novel of the Change (Change Series)
My faves were
The Silkworm
Blood of Tyrants
The Dark Horse
The Silver Linings Playbook
One that I listened to just for the narrator (for fun)
How to Train Your Dragon David Tennant was brillant glad I listened even though I liked the movie version better
I read over 400 books in 2014 and at least half of those where listened to on audio. My TOP 10 include:♡ Night Road
♡ Wonder
♡ The Assassin's Blade
♡ Big Little Lies
♡ Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
♡ Ugly Love
♡ Grave Mercy
♡ The Eighth Guardian
♡ Making Faces
♡ Sempre: Redemption
Love seeing The Goldfinch on people's lists ~ such a great audio! I would have included it on my list too but read it at the end of 2013.
I listened to about 50 books in 2014. I try to focus on 'pages read' rather than books though, because it encourages me to read longer books. So, I read/listened to about 18K pages in 2014. My top five listens are:
Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West
The Poisonwood Bible
King of the Vagabonds
Proof: The Science of Booze
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
I've listened to nearly 70 books in 2014 and love the way good narrators bring so much more to the story than my inner reading ear! Especially accents which I don't keep up when I read to myself. Those that stand above the rest this year include:Darynda Jone's Charlie Davidson series read by Lorlei King
Colleen Helme's Shelby Nicols series read by Wendy Tremont King
James Dashner's Maze Runner Series read by Mark Deakins
Making Faces
The Goldfinch
Life After Life
Hard to choose,I read 137, but here they are.The Strain.The whole 3 bk series
Elegance of the Hedgehog
Vanished From Dust
Neverwas
Angelfall
Snowblind
The Charter
and
Misdirection
I read 90 books this year, 49 of which were audiobooks. My favorite audiobooks were:Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
Tell No One by Harlan Coben
Touch & Go by Lisa Gardner
Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson
The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes
The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler
That Night by Chevy Stevens
A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty by Josilyn Jackson
Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King
I read 54 books in 2014 and about half were audiobooks. Favorites included:A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
Fourth of July Creek
Stoner
Eleanor & Park
Fangirl
The Martian
The Golem and the Jinni
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
The Things They Carried
In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette
You
The End of the Affair
The People in the Trees
The Sparrow
I really appreciate this thread! I have probably listened to about 50 audiobooks this year, but I have never kept track of the actual dates. It's hard enough to just keep track of the overall list. Still, there were a few standouts, mostly in the sort of romance/historical category. Let's see, I'd rate these books as the standouts this year:The Rosie Project
The Husband's Secret
Me Before You
One Day (I know, I was late to this one)
The Light Between Oceans
The Goldfinch
The Shoemaker's Wife
Disappointments in relation to all the hype:
Hero's Guide To Saving Your Kingdom
The Fault In Our Stars
Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children
Divergent
Eleanor & Park
So bad I couldn't finish:
The Tiger's Wife
Peony In Love
The Pleasure Of My Company
Audiobooks
Books mentioned in this topic
The Silkworm (other topics)The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches (other topics)
The Cuckoo's Calling (other topics)
Falling Upwards: How We Took to the Air (other topics)
The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science (other topics)
More...
I listened to around 96 so far this year ( a new record) and DNF'd 12 (also a new record).
Here are mine stand-outs by category:
HISTORICAL FICTION
------------------
Sue Monk Kidd - The Invention of Wings
Jenna Blum - Those Who Save Us
Diana Gabaldon - A Breath of Snow and Ashes
Susan Higganbotham - The Stolen Crown: The Secret Marriage that Forever Changed the Fate of England
Robert Harris - An Officer and a Spy
Christina Barker Kline - Orphan Train
Patricia Harman - The Midwife of Hope River
CONTEMPORARY/OTHER
--------------------
Andy Weir - The Martian
Matthew Mather - CyberStorm
James Grippando - Last To Die
Michael Connelly - The Brass Verdict
JoJo Moyes - Me Before You
John Grisham - Sycamore Row
Jeffrey Archer - A Prisoner of Birth
NON-FICTION
-------------
John Hawkins - On Intelligence
Newt Gingrigh - Breakout: Pioneers of the Future, Prison Guards of the Past, and the Epic Battle That Will Decide America's Fate
Vinh Chung - Where the Wind Leads: A Refugee Family's Miraculous Story of Loss, Rescue, and Redemption
Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn - Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide