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Audible, audio books, Diana Gabaldon, fiction, John Grisham, John Sanford, JR Ward, K.R. Brorman author, Karin Slaughter, opinion, Sara Donati, Sue Grafton, Writing
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The first step is admitting you have a problem…
Yeah….that’s not happening. In fact Audible was upgraded from one credit per month to three a while ago The app to listen is free..FREEEE! And it takes the tedium away from cleaning, weeding, driving & reinstated daily exercise.*
This is NOT my 3 mile face.
Once upon a time, I made selections based on authors I knew I liked. Now, author is about third on my “Is this credit worthy?” check list. Criteria one, for me is narrator. Followed by whatever genre is on deck – I try to get a good exposure, even dipping my toes into Sci-fi. THEN author, if the reader isn’t working for you, return the purchase and buy the book.
Here are a few of our Go To narrators*….And yes, I’ve wondered how they would deliver our books.
- Kathleen Early reading Karin Slaughter – Hat Trick!
- Davina Porter for Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series – she IS the voice of Claire.
- Alexander Cendese discovered through JR Ward’s Bourbon Kings series
- Tom Stechschulte, multiple authors, multiple series
- Joyce Bean brilliant with Romantic Suspense/Crime Drama
- Richard Ferrone – John Sanford’s Lucas Davenport Prey series.**
- Michael Beck, often heard bringing John Grisham’s Southern lawyers to life.**
- Kate Reading for Sara Donati’s Into The Wilderness series
- Jeff Woodman reading Gabaldon’s Lord John books.
- Mary Peiffer for many of Sue Graffton’s Kinsey Millhone “alphabet” Mysteries**
There are more if we scan through our audiobook files, but ten is a nice round number. These performers are not only our favorites but top of their field, being tapped for long running series and intensely popular characters.
Why do we like them and like them enough to spend 8, 10, 20 hours with them? That is subjective, but perhaps we are easily drawn into their storytelling because they have good material and while bringing character to life, we as the reader/listener are still allowed to join in. Reading is after all, an audience participation activity. Good narrators become Virgil for our Dante, leading us through while leaving us to immerse ourselves in the story.
Dante and Virgil at the Entrance to Hell
Edgar Degas
We can’t ask “what makes a good narrator?” without the follow up… “what makes a bad one?”
Pretty much anything that causes this…
- Screwing up or ignoring accents – Scottish character w/ Irish accent
- Mispronouncing words – phonetics are NOT your friend!
- Changing the pronunciation in Book 11 of the series *coughBDBcough*
- Extreme/phony pitch change between male and female characters
- Too familiar/distinct actor/actress voice
#5 is my own quirk. Morgan Freeman is great for a nature film. His voice would continually pull me out of a work of fiction. And I admit, a few of our Top Ten, have made me hit the reverse wondering if I’d heard that correctly – or incorrectly as it turned out. No one gets it perfect every time.
Once you untangle your buds….
Who’s yer reader? Do you select by narrator, author, genre, phase of the moon? Who did we miss on our list? Who would you like to hear read Eden’s Fall?
*Narrator list gathered from CC, SA, KR and Mom.
**Mom’s picks, she likes the mysteries.
C C Cedras
K R Brorman
S A Young
4 Comments
September 17, 2016 at 1:21 pm
Yeah, that Irish brogue for the Scottish character made me abandon the book over halfway in. 🙄 And you know me. I do not abandon books, even poor ones.
I am now listening to Davina Porter (Outlander series books = 45+ hours of togetherness each) again. It’s how I deal with Droughtlander, both TV series and next book release. I used to reread, going back to the beginning and catching up to where the new book will pick up my life with Claire and Jamie, et al.
There was a time I’d listen to music or NPR on the radio while driving the 20 minutes to town. No more. I’m in a book constantly.
September 17, 2016 at 2:01 pm
In fact…if it’s got me engrossed I’ll make up a reason to go to town. I mean we always need eggs and TP right?
September 17, 2016 at 6:43 pm
Or, “Fergus! You wanna go for a ride?” Just keeping my dog entertained. 😉
September 17, 2016 at 2:20 pm
I have to admit I’m an audible newbie. Currently I’m listening to pixie-with-a-giant-brain Sarah Vowel read her own book, “Lafayette in the Somewhat United States” (with help from John Slattery, Nick Offerman, Fred Armisen, Bobby Cannavale, John Hodgman, Stephanie March, and Alexis Denisof – most of whom have pretty familiar voices). I once downloaded a book I had no real interest in because of the narrator (Sam Heughan).