Anyone else have issues with audiobook narration?

[Anonymous]

I feel 100% the same. Plus, my mind drifts off at times and it’s hard to find my place again.

[Anonymous]

I love audiobooks, but check the reviews first because I agree that sometimes the narrators are terrible. Usually the reviews will say if the narration is bad. Also, I drift if the narration is too slow so I normally listen at 1.5x speed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The narrator matters at least as much as the author for audio books. You have to listen to the samples before buying

+1

I read almost exclusively via audible. I love audiobooks.

The narrator is 100% performing and I love it.

Rebecca Lowman reading Rules of Civility
Sissy Spacek reading To Kill a Mockingbird
Neil Patrick Harris reading Henry Huggins

Wait did I write this?!?

Rules of Civility it was absolutely beyond amazing on audio. And I really keep hoping to run into Sissy someday soon so I can tell her how much I loved Mockingbird.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The narrator matters at least as much as the author for audio books. You have to listen to the samples before buying

he

+1. When I find good narrators, I follow them as much as the authors and look for other things they've narrated. I always check the samples and I don't hesitate to return an Audible book if the narrator is lousy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The narrator matters at least as much as the author for audio books. You have to listen to the samples before buying

he

+1. When I find good narrators, I follow them as much as the authors and look for other things they've narrated. I always check the samples and I don't hesitate to return an Audible book if the narrator is lousy.

Be careful, because Audible will revoke your return rights if you do it too many times. I don't know what counts as too many, but it's happened to two friends and to me. We received emails saying we can no longer return books on Audible.

[Anonymous]

I use Audible and listen to the sample in the car before buying. If I try to change the “song”, it’s not a good book for me. I speed up to 1.5x most of the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, my DC who is dyslexic prefers the automated voices because otherwise he hears the book through someone else’s interpretation. Th3 earliest kindle had that as an option and we miss it terribly.

You can still buy those old kindles via ebay or goodwill online. I have two kindle keyboard 3rd editions from 2010 and they both still work just fine. They are impressively sturdy. Just tonight I downloaded a library book to one of them. It worked fine. It has an option for that computerized voice narration and it has a headphone jack. It looks like they sell for about $30 on ebay and goodwill online.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Love podcasts. Love non-fiction audiobooks. I CANNOT do fiction on audio. It’s just terrible. Never realized how much I make up voices for characters in my head when I read.

Same here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which ones didn’t you like?

The Fever by Megan Abbott
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
Look Alive Out There by Sloane Crosley

Some voices are grating. Try other narrators. You can listen to samples before buying.

Apples Never Fall
Project Hail Mary
American Dirt
Unbroken

Totally agree with apples, at least. Liane Moriarty’s books have the best narrator. I think I thought LM was a great writer for a while mostly because I love, love her narrator.

Also recommend the early Louise Penny books. That narrator might be the best I’ve ever heard.

Liane Moriarty’s narrator is AMAZING. I agree that she makes LM’s writing seem better than it is. Her narration is an extra layer of art, like the fresco painting on top of gorgeous Italian renaissance architecture. I do not think Nine Perfect Strangers and Apples Never Fall would have held me in print, but the vibrant and often LOL narration kept me coming back!