20 Comments

Hi!! Ok first of all, I love audiobooks and I’ve found that a bad audiobook narrator will make me dislike a novel that I might have loved otherwise on paper. I highly recommend listening to the audible sample first and see if you connect to the reader’s voice/style. I just finished the audiobook of Hernan Diaz’s Trust, which had a cast. The voices were very different and kept you listening but it might have been a more powerful story on paper. Two fantastic audiobooks that I finished recently were Sarah Penner’s The Lost Apothecary and Catherine Steadman’s There’s Something in the Water. Both really really good. Oh and if anyone has been considering reading Lessons in Chemistry, it’s a fantastic narrator. I’ll check out some of the ones above, too!!

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My wife digs audiobooks! But it is hit and miss with narrators and their voices / accents / sound quality, haha.

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i've recently started listening to audiobooks myself and realized that poetry might be more enjoyable for me when i listen to it instead of reading it. i just listened to Homie by Danez Smith, read by the author, and i just know it would not have hit the same if i had read it. listening to poetry seems to give it a spoken word quality that makes it more impactful for me!

i haven't listened to the audiobook, but i loved The Final Revival of Opal & Nev. i also haven't read Daisy Jones & the Six yet but i have seen many people say that if you like one you'll probably enjoy the other, so i'm looking forward to reading that, and i hope you enjoy Opal & Nev!

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Yes, definitely listen to the audio version of The Final Revival of Opal and Nev. I've listened to hundreds of audiobooks and it immediately catapulted into my "top five." George Saunders' Lincoln in the Bardo is another ensemble cast, but it was a bit confusing as an audiobook.

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I read a full cast audio book of Gaiman's American Gods. Also, Turn My Heart to Five. Though not a full cast James Marsters does a great job on Dresden Files novels.

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Jan 31, 2023Liked by Gayla Gray

I too love audiobooks, especially during long car rides. One of the best is the autobiographical novel by Pat Conroy called The Death of Santini which I found riveting. It's great for adults, but not recommended for children.

A terrific audiobook for families is Night Magick by Suri Rosen, which is an Amazon Original. Parents and kids will find it delightful!

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Thanks for the recommendations, Gayla! I’m a devoted audiobook listener, but I haven’t listened to many with multiple narrators. I started by listening mostly to mysteries, but have added nonfiction, including biographies. Lately, since reading more recommendations from newsletters like yours, I’ve started adding more contemporary fiction. I haven’t read much YA, so perhaps that’s a new possibility for me. I’m finding the Libby library AP to be an incredible boon to my reading life.

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Audio books are surprisingly HUGE these days. I think I get more email from the audio editions of my books than the actual books. I don't quite understand it -- I get way too impatient listening to someone read me a book. But it's definitely big!

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Thank you, Gayla!

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