Tag: Ray Porter

In Audiobook, Comics, DC Smith & Kings Lake, Don Winslow, Faith Hunter, Fantasy, Fiction, Fletch, General Fiction/Literature, Gregory Mcdonald, Harry Bosch, Harry Dresden, Humor, Jim Butcher, M. W. Craven, Michael Connelly, Michael R. Underwood, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Non-Fiction, Renée Ballard, Science Fiction, Theology/Christian Living, Urban Fantasy, Washington Poe, YA/MG/Children's Books

I did this back in January 2020, and need to do it again.

I frequently mention how looming Mt. TBR is getting for me, but what’s worse is my “To Write About” pile, I know I’m never going to catch up with that properly and it bugs me to no end. But in the interest of something being better than nothing, a dash of realism, and a heavy dose of self-care, I’m cutting myself some slack. So I’m clearing the deck of everything from 2020-2022 that I haven’t made time for. This was painful to do, I was looking forward to writing about most of these, and I have so much that I want to say. But I’m just not going to get to them—and other books are starting to pile up, too. So, in 144 characters or less, here’s me cutting myself some slack.

How bad am I at keeping up with my To-Write-Titles? I put together the list of books for this post in January 2023. And am just now getting to it. I wish that was a joke.

(Click on the cover for an official site with more info)

	Battle Ground by Jim Butcher I just can’t talk about this one yet. I need more time. (yeah, they’re fictional characters, but I’ve spent too long with them to not be reeling)
	Desert Star by Michael Connelly Loved it while reading it. But I have more and more questions about all of it the longer I think about it. Not Connelly’s best but well worth it
	Dead Ground by M. W. Craven Not a typical Poe and Tilly case, just as good and gripping as the rest though.
	The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas by Machado de Assis, Flora Thomson-DeVeaux (Translator) A strange and somewhat humorous look at a ghost’s POV on his life. I want to read it a few more times to really get a handle on it. Heckuva read
	Nightwing: Year One Deluxe Edition by Chuck Dixon If there’s a better Nightwing writer out there, I’d like to see it. A great, great, great telling of his origin.
	Mythos by Stephen Fry Drags a little. Wish he could pick a tone for his retellings/commentary on the classic stories. Still, it’s Stephen Fry talking—worth the time.
	Heroes: Mortals and Monsters, Quests and Adventures by Stephen Fry See above, but felt it dragged a bit more.
	Teen Titans: Beast Boy by Kami Garcia, Gabriel Picolo (Penciller) A solid, believable update of Gar Logan’s backstory. Very promising follow-up to the Raven book. Really impressed with Picolo.
	Teen Titans: Beast Boy Loves Raven by Kami Garcia, Gabriel Picolo (Penciller) Bring the two together and it’s even better. I’m curious about the overall story, but would read just them being awkward together. Like the art.
	Missing Pieces: A Kings Lake Investigation by Peter Grainger, Gildart Jackosn (Narrator) The Murder Squad tackles a cold case and is as excellent as ever. I don’t know how to talk about this series w/o being redundant. I want more!
	Junkyard War by Faith Hunter, Khristine Hvam (Narrator) This was utterly fine. A lot didn’t go the way I expected. But I’m still in this series for the long haul.
	The Dime by Kathleen Kent One of the best first chapters ever. The rest is pretty good. Not sure I buy the motive for the murders, nor that I want to see what comes next.
	Batman: City of Crime by David Lapham If you buy (I can’t) Batman losing sight of his mission, this story about him recovering it is great. If you can’t…well, it’s pretty good.
	Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke, J.D. Jackson (Narrator) A stunning work of fiction. Words fail me. A deeply compromised Texas Ranger tries to solve a potential hate crime and keep his job.
	Flynn by Gregory McDonald, Donald Corren (Narrator) I expected the Fletch narrator for some reason, but Corren won me over in minutes. One of my favorite novels of all-time. Great audio version.
	Son of Fletch by Gregory McDonald, Dan John Miller (Narrator) Oh, I wanted to love this. But I just liked it. I’ll probably hear Miller in my head anytime I read Fletch in print.
	Fletch Reflected by Gregory McDonald, Dan John Miller (Narrator) This is not the way the series should’ve ended. Some fantastic moments, but not sure it was worth it. Miller was solid as always.
	Last Couple Standing by Matthew Norman Norman’s best female characters (to date). Stupid premise, but it almost convinces me to like it by the end. Lots of great moments.
	Weakness Is the Way: Life with Christ Our Strength by J.I. Packer Packer’s great on 2 Corinthians and what Paul tells about weakness as a way of life for the Christian.
	The Monster in the Hollows by Andrew Peterson I’m not sure I loved the way the story went in this one, but I grew to appreciate it. Characters are still great.
	The Warden and the Wolf King by Andrew Peterson Whatever my misgivings about the last one, this was the right way to end the series. Just what I wanted (if mildly predictable)
	Deathstroke, Vol. 1: The Professional by Christopher J. Priest I prefer the version Wolfman and Perez initially told about his origin, but this ain’t a bad version. And I see why it was necessary. Good ’nuff
	There Goes The Neighborhood by S. Reed I stopped working with a book tour company because they wouldn’t let me be honest about this book ever. So I won’t be. Loved ALL of it. <3<3<3<3
	Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods by Rick Riordan, Jesse Bernstein (Narrator) If Percy Jackson edited D’Aulaires’s book you’d get this. A great way to introduce the myths to young readers. Bernstein is a spot-on Percy.
	Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes by Rick Riordan, Jesse Bernstein (Narrator) See above, but with heroes.
	I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf by Grant Snider If someone looked into my brain, took all of my ideas and feelings, and improved them, you’d get this book. But only one-third as good as this.
	All These Worlds by Dennis E. Taylor, Ray Porter (Narrator) Taylor and Porter are unbeatable together. This is funny (duh), and the grief and sadness are real. As is the anger. Is the ending too easy?
	The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien, Andy Serkis (Narrator) Serkis nails the narration (as you’d expect). Is there a better first book of a series in Fantasy?
	The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien, Andy Serkis (Narrator) Serkis is tremendous here. This whole book is ridiculously good.
	The Return of the King by by J.R.R. Tolkien, Andy Serkis (Narrator) One day the pacing on this won’t surprise me. The book gets better every time. Serkis was phenomenal.
	Annihilation Aria by Michael R. Underwood Found family stars in this fun, space opera about archeologists fighting an empire.
	The Cartel by Don Winslow The best of the trilogy. Shocking. Moving. Gripping. All-too-real—if you told me this was non-fiction, I’d almost believe it. A true classic.

My Favorite Audiobooks of 2022

By HCNewton

On January 3, 2023

In Audiobook, Fiction, News/Misc., Non-Fiction

My Favorite Audiobooks of 2022
Last year I kicked off my Year-End Retrospective with a look at my favorite audiobooks, I might as well repeat that this year. How do I keep this from being just a rehash of my other year-end lists? By focusing on the audiobook experience over the content. What was it like to listen to it? How engaging was it, how did the narrator do? Was it a good match in terms of tone, content, and performance? All of these books are/were good—but the audiobooks are a bit better because of the narrator and the rest of the people involved in the production.

(in alphabetical order by author)

The Law

by Jim Butcher

My original post
Sure, I love Harry Dresden—so it’s almost a given that this novella is going to show up somewhere on my end-of-year lists. The fact that Jim Butcher did the narration himself makes this something special (thankfully, he’s still fully intending on having James Marsters do the series). Butcher’s good at this, he’s not great, but he’s good. Hearing his idea about what the characters that we know and love sound like was a lot of fun. Also, after all the epic and emotional moments that Butcher’s put his fans through lately, having something non-epic or world-changing like this is such a nice breather.

4 Stars

Black Nerd Problems:
Essays

by William Evans & Omar Holmon

My original post
Funny, insightful, thoughtful, thought-provoking, passionate (about things both important and trivial). This collection of essays about pop culture, race, and the intersection of those two things was a surprise to me—I thought I’d have a good time with it, I didn’t know I’d have a great time and be moved, too. The authors narrated this themselves—both have backgrounds in poetry jams, and the panache from that shines through. I have quoted this and referred more people to various essays in this than probably anything else this year.

4 Stars

On Eden Street

by Peter Grainger, Gildart Jackson (Narrator)

My original post
This one makes the list due to the nature of the book and how well Jackson handled it. The previous book served as a transition point from the DC Smith Mysteries to the Kings Lake series—but this is the one that’s truly different. We have a bunch of new characters to deal with in addition to serving those we’ve grown accustomed to. The nature of the central character and his new boss underlines how different this is from the previous incarnation, but it’s the same books at their core. And Jackson gets both through to the listener. It’s all there in Grainger’s text, no doubt—but it’s the narration that solidifies it for the listener.

4 1/2 Stars

A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking

by T. Kingfisher, Patricia Santomasso (Narrator)

My original post
I don’t know if I can put my finger on why this made the list, but as I was looking over the list of audiobooks I read in ’22, as soon as I saw this one, I knew it had to make the list.

Between Kingfisher’s text and Santomasso’s narration, this was just a great experience. The story is fun, the characters (particularly as embodied, or emvoiced?, by Santomasso) were endearing—as a whole, it was an immersive and pleasant time—just what you want in an audiobook.

3.5 Stars

The World Record Book
of Racist Stories

by Amber Ruffin & Lacey Lamar

My original post
My wife assures me that the paper version of this is well-worth reading, but I can’t imagine having the opportunity to listen to Ruffin and Lamar reading this and passing it up—the goofy voices they employ and little tunes they sing in addition to the reading adds a nice little layer to the book that you’re not going to get with the print edition.

This is a more serious, more somber, book than its predecessor was—by design. But because of that, it feels like they dialed the silliness up to help alleviate things. It can’t be an easy balancing act—discussing the horrors of everyday racism in a way that is entertaining enough that it can educate those that need it the most. Ruffin and Lamar hit that balance in both print and in audio.

4 Stars

How to Be Perfect:
The Correct Answer to
Every Moral Question

by Michael Schur (Writer, Narrator)
with: Michael Schur, Kristen Bell, D’Arcy Carden, Ted Danson, William Jackson Harper, Manny Jacinto, Marc Evan Jackson, Jameela Jamil, and Todd May

My original post
Yeah, that’s a huge cast—but 95+% of the work is done by Schur. The contributions of the rest shouldn’t be overlooked, but when you think about the narration, you’re going to be thinking about the author, Mike Schur. My appreciation for Schur’s writing goes back before I knew who he was on a baseball blog that I really enjoyed. After that, I got on board with this TV writing and became a huge fan. What puts this audiobook on this list is the way that Schur is able (thanks to his own writing) to make this introduction to ethics and philosophy so accessible. It doesn’t feel dry, or head-in-the-clouds at all. Yes, I have significant issues with a lot of the thinking in this book (he rules out theism or morality given to us by a deity from the get -go), but that doesn’t mean I can’t learn from it—I can’t gain an appreciation of the thinking through ethical dilemmas.

I had fun, and I think I learned something. You can’t ask for more.

4 Stars

Movies (And Other Things)

by Shea Serrano, Mario Toscano (Narrator)

My original post
There’s a little bit of the seriousness of Black Nerd Problems in this collection of essays about Movies (and things like it), but Serrano doesn’t spend that much time with it. Serrano’s approach to movies is a wonderful hybrid of fanboy and educated critic that can appeal to people all over that spectrum. This results in a book that’s a great combination of movie knowledge/insight, social commentary, and humor mixed throughout each of these. Even when it came to movies I’ve never seen, have no interest in seeing, or saw ages ago and don’t remember well, Serrano kept me pretty engaged and entertained. Toscano’s narration is so good, so convincing that you have to remind yourself that he’s reading Serrano’s words and isn’t speaking from the heart.

3.5 Stars

We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

by Dennis E. Taylor, Ray Porter (Narrator)

My original post
Stumbling across this series is one of the highlights of 2022 for me. Ray Porter doing the narration is what pushed me to give this story a shot, and I’d be happy I did if only for his narration. I can think of a handful of narrators that could’ve got this gig (based on their other work, etc.) and I’m not sure how many of them would’ve got me to come back so quickly—nothing against Taylor’s text, but it’s Porter’s skill and warmth that elevates this book (and the rest of the series) into something I can see myself revisiting often.

It’s not all about Porter, I should make clear—Taylor has a gift for SF comedy. Throw in Bob’s snark and optimism and the great premise that pretty much opens the door for Taylor to do just about anything he wants in the series for as long as he wants to, and you’ve got yourself a real winner.
3 Stars

The Hobbit, or
There and Back Again

by J.R.R. Tolkien, Andy Serkis (Narrator)

My original post
As soon as I read that Serkis was doing audiobook versions of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, I knew I had to listen to them—what could be better? I mean, for the scene between Bilbo and Gollum alone, you know that The Hobbit is going to be worth the time and expense. And it was.

The rest of the book is great, too, make no mistake. Serkis knows what he’s doing with his voice—because of the nature of a lot of his acting jobs, his voice has to carry the performance that his (own and natural) face can’t. It’s a great skill that he brings to bear on an audiobook’s narration. This is just a joy to listen to.

5 Stars

Free Billy

by Don Winslow, Ed Harris (Narrator)

My original post
Speaking of actors who can do a lot with their voice, here’s Ed Harris. There’s something so natural about his delivery of this short story that I have to wonder why he hasn’t been making audiobooks for years. It’s like Winslow’s words were written solely for him (I’ve heard three of these Audible Originals from this pair and could listen to another 20 this year). This book is a sequel to The Dawn Patrol—one of my All-Time Desert Island books. You get Ed Harris to do the narration on that, and you know I’m going to love it. People who aren’t me are likely going to enjoy it a lot, too.

(sure, there’s part of me that wishes Ray Porter had been used—his work on the audiobook for The Dawn Patrol was stellar, but why be greedy?)

5 Stars

For We Are Many (Audiobook) by Dennis E. Taylor, Ray Porter (Narrator): Who Knew that Finding a Replacement for Earth Was the Easy Part

By HCNewton

On November 7, 2022

In Audiobook, Fiction, Science Fiction

For We Are Many

by Dennis E. Taylor, Ray Porter (Narrator)

DETAILS:
Series: Bobiverse, Book 2
Publisher: Audible Studios
Publication Date: September 18, 2017
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 8 hrs, 59 min.
Read Date: September 28-29, 2022

What’s For We Are Many About?

It’s been around 40 years or so since the Bobs started their mission of finding a place for the tiny sliver of humanity that’s still eking out a survival on Earth. They’ve started colonizing one planet and continue to look for others.

On Earth terrorists upset with the evacuation priorities—and some that think humanity should die off—harass the efforts and cause a little trouble. Extra-terrestrial life (some sentient and some others) cause other problems for the Bobs. The Brazilian probes are still trying to attack, too.

Then they encounter an alien space-traveling species—their first. This group (soon dubbed the Others) are enough to make Star Trek‘s the Bord look warm and fuzzy. Naturally, the Bobs quickly annoy them.

But really, the biggest problem comes from within. The Bobs are having a hard time coping with their virtual invulnerability as they deal with humans (and others) who aren’t so long-lived. Some of the Bobs begin calling them “ephemerals” as they try to find ways to cope. Whatever the problems that come from their opponents throughout the universe, it looks like this one may be the biggest challenge.

Ray Porter’s Narration

Porter was the deciding factor for me trying out the series in the first place, and he’d be enough of a reason to stick around. I don’t need him to be—the story and characters are really what are keeping me around—but him doing narrating is a nice bonus.

I really don’t know what to say beyond that—I’m becoming a real Porter fan here (and got excited a couple of days ago when I saw he’s done some work on another series I just started).

So, what did I think about For We Are Many?

This is exactly what a sequel to We Are Legion (We Are Bob) should be—the action picks up right where we left off, the stories continue to develop well and we get some good resolution, the stakes get raised, and the characters develop in ways that are natural yet unanticipated. The laughs are still there as is the tension—and maybe both are a little sharper. I love how all these Bobs are variations of each other, and yet come across as so distinctive (while Porter barely does anything different for almost all of them)—that’s in the writing and the performing, and it’s just great.

The last hour or so was the best writing and character work in the two books and made me eager for the next one.

This is great popcorn fun, and something tells me that I’m going to spend a lot of time with Mr. Taylor over the next few months (at least) (and hopefully more time with Mr. Porter, too).

3.5 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.

We Are Legion (We Are Bob) (Audiobook) by Dennis E. Taylor, Ray Porter (Narrator): Big Laughs and Big Ideas Litter this SF Adventure

By HCNewton

On June 21, 2022

In Audiobook, Science Fiction

We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

by Dennis E. Taylor, Ray Porter (Narrator)

DETAILS:
Series: Bobiverse, Book 1
Publisher: Audible Studios
Publication Date: December 26, 2016
Format: Audible Original
Length: 9 hr.,  56 min.
Read Date: June 10-5, 2022

What’s We Are Legion (We Are Bob) About?

Bob Johansson is a nerd—he’s both into SF and actual space travel, and the technology we’re developing to study space—he’s also come into some pretty good money by selling off his software company. Just as you start to like the guy, he’s killed in a freak accident—and he wakes up 117 years in the future.

Between cryogenics not really working out the way anyone intended, some change in governmental policies, and a bunch of other stuff better described in the book—Bob finds himself as a sentient AI, a possession of a post-USA government. Assuming he functions well enough to pass some training, Bob’s destined to control a space probe—one capable of making duplicates of itself (himself?).

Bob and his clones are charged with finding new planets for humans to colonize—a task made urgent after events that happen after the initial launch.

The Tone

What I haven’t said anything about there is the tone—this is a comedy. There’s interstellar travel, combat, death, destruction, and the threat of human extinction—but Bob and his clones are a hoot and they’ll keep you grinning and chuckling throughout.

It’s not a comedy like Adams—it’s more along the lines of John Scalzi or Scott Meyer—there’s a decent plot and a mostly serious story with actual stakes—but the characters are ridiculous and/or consistently funny and quirky.

How was the Narration?

I thought the description I read for this book had promise, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to give it a try until I saw that Ray Porter was narrating it. A no-longer active book blogger had told me Porter was her favorite narrator, and I thought he did a fantastic job with Winslow’s The Dawn Patrol. His involvement convinced me.

I’m so glad it did—he was great. I think I would’ve enjoyed this with most narrators or in text form, but something about Porter’s narration and characterization of the clones added just the right element to an already fun book. Part of the conceit of the book is that the clones have slight (but noticeable)-to-significant variations in personality. I think making some of those with the slight variations noticeably different in the first-person narration is a great achievement—it’s hard to describe, I realize. You need to hear it for yourself.

So, what did I think about We Are Legion (We Are Bob)?

I don’t have a lot to say about this, sadly, it’s one of those I wish I could say a lot about. I had a lot of fun listening to it, and couldn’t wait to get back to it when I walked away.

It had just the right amount of seriousness to keep it from being nothing but jokes, and you really got invested in all/almost all the clones—that level of investment in AIs is rare for me. Bob (well, the Bob that woke up an AI) and his several clones are nothing but fun.

I spent most of the book thinking that as much fun I was having, I probably wouldn’t continue. But by the time I finished, I knew I’d be back for more. I’ve read/listened to a little more SF this year than I normally do, and it’s books like this that are fueling that.

3.5 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions expressed are my own.

My Favorite Audiobooks of 2020

By HCNewton

On January 6, 2021

In Audiobook, News/Misc.

Given the large number of audiobooks I listened to in 2020, I sort of felt like I had to focus on them for one of these posts. But how to keep this from being just a rehash of the other best of lists? Well, I focused on the audiobook experience over the content. What was it like to listen to it? How engaging was it, how did the narrator do? Was it a good match in terms of tone, content, and performance?

Truth be told, this was a harder choice than I expected. Also, a couple of books that were in my mental rough draft didn’t make it to the final version when all was said and done (I’m still not sure I made the right call on a couple of these).

(in alphabetical order by author)

Dark Jenny

by Alex Bledsoe, Stefan Rudnicki (Narrator)

My original post
Stefan Rudnicki brilliantly captures the humor, the confusion, the determination of Eddle LaCrosse and the situation he finds himself in—and then the horror, revulsion, and anger he has when he discovers what’s really going on. Starting with one of Bledsoe’s best books, Rudnicki goes on to bring it to life.

4 Stars

Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares

by Rachel Cohn, David Levithan, Ryan Gesell (Narrator), Tara Sands (Narrator)

My original post
For me, this book came along at the right time—its particular brand of silly and escapist sweetness was exactly what it turned out that I needed. Add in a couple of stellar performances from Ryan Gesell Tara Sands and it’s just a delight. They can make you believe (even temporarily) in the magic of Christmas and young love.

3.5 Stars

Luck and Judgement

by Peter Grainger, Gildart Jackson (Narrator)

My original post
I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep on saying it: there’s a certain magic, an ineffable alchemy about Jackson narrating Grainger’s work. It’s just fantastic, I think I’d have liked these audiobooks with another narrator (or in print), but I don’t think I’d have liked them as much.

I could’ve listed each book in this series here, but I limited myself to this one because it’s an atypical crime for a novel, the solution (and how Smith and his team come to it) is offbeat, there’s some great humor and great emotional beats, too. It’s Grainger at his best and Jackson delivers it perfectly. There is a strong sense of humanity in these books, not just in the protagonists, but in the victim, the killer, the witnesses, the people who aren’t the killer but who aren’t up to anything legal/moral/ethical…everyone. There’s no one cartoon-y or over the top (in any direction).

4 Stars

The In Between

by Michael Landweber, Brittany Pressley (Narrator), Mark Boyett (Narrator)

My original post
This is the story of what happens to a family when a young child goes missing during a teleportation trip that his parents make successfully (to put it too succinctly) It’s a gripping listen and wonderfully performed. As you may have guessed Brittany Pressley narrates the chapters from the mother’s point of view, and Mark Boyett takes the father’s. I don’t think I’d heard anything by either of them before—but I’ll keep my eyes peeled for their names when I browse for audiobooks in the future. They truly did wonderful jobs. They got the emotion of the moment, the tension—and occasional moments of fun, joy, or relief—as well as giving a real sense of the characters. It didn’t happen often, but even when a character usually only seen in a Lillian chapter showed up in a Jackson, you could recognize them (and vice versa)—which was nice. Landweber wrote a great story but Boyett and Pressley brought it to life.

5 Stars

Greenlights

by Matthew McConaughey

My original post
When Chris Hardwick interviewed McConaughey recently he described the audiobook as McConaughey playing McConaughey, which is a great way to put it, and I wish he’d posted this before I wrote about the book so I could’ve borrowed it then. But that’s it exactly, Yes, it’s his stories, but yeah, he’s performing. It feels like you’re sitting around the campfire or a table in a bar, listening to a great storyteller at work.

3.5 Stars

Crossing in Time

by D. L. Orton, Noah Michael Levine (Narrator), Erin deWard (Narrator)

My original post
Typically, when I post about an Audiobook, I close with a discussion about the narrator(s). But I started with it when I posted about this novel because Levine and deWard did such a great job, they’re the highlight of the experience for me. Typically, when there is a male narrator and a female narrator—the female will read all the narration and dialogue in the female character POV chapters, and the male will read all the narration and dialogue in the male character POV chapters. But here, deWard reads all the female dialogue, no matter the narrator (and vice versa). That’s a nice touch, and once I got used to it, I really appreciated it. Particularly, it helped the conversations between characters feel like conversations—there was a little bit of talking over each other, and so on. And when the two laughed together? That was either fantastic work by the narrators or by the editor (or both).

I’m not that sure how much I’d have enjoyed this book in print, but the way these two embodied the book made it one of the highlights of the year.

4 Stars

Far from the Tree

by Rob Parker, Warren Brown (Narrator)

My original post
This was an Audible Original, so the Audiobook experience is a big part of it. Brown was a great choice of narrator—he’s the perfect voice for this material. He captured and shaped the tone as he needed to, and gave the right performances for each character.

I can’t help feeling like I need to say more, but I just don’t know what else to say. If I had problems with the performance, I’d probably be able to go on longer, but when a narrator gets it right, like Brown does here, what else is there to say? It was a brutal, brutal experience, with more twists than I can count, and a plot so complex I’m not able to talk about it in this small space.

4 Stars

Back to Reality

by Mark Stay & Mark Oliver, Kim Bretton (Narrator)

My original post
This is sort of a Fringe-inspired take on a Back to the Future/Freaky Friday mashup, and it’s as odd, and fun as that description makes it sound.

I’ll frequently (maybe too frequently?) talk about an audiobook narrator bringing the text to life. And Kim Bretton does that. But she does more than that—she fills it with life. Dynamic, energetic, vibrant…are just some of the adjectives that spring to mind. I was very happy when I just looked over her other audiobook credits and saw a couple of titles I was already thinking about—if she’s doing them, I’m giving them a try. (although, if I never hear her do another American male accent, I’d be more than okay).

Funny, sweet, amusing, heartfelt, laugh-inducing, touching, comic, imaginative—and did I mention humorous? This is 606 minutes of pure entertainment. I really encourage you to put this in your ear-holes. It’d probably work almost as well in print—Bretton’s great, but she has to have something to work with—but in audio? It’s close to a must-listen.

4 Stars

The Answer Is . . .: Reflections on My Life

by Alex Trebek, Narrated by: Ken Jennings, Alex Trebek

My original post
Jennings was a great choice of narrator, since his time on Jeopardy!, the two are linked in the collective consciousness, and they clearly have a good relationship. He sounds like a natural when it comes to narration. But his work is overshadowed by the few chapters he didn’t read.

Trebek read a few chapters himself—the one about why he swears so often (it surprised me, too), the one talking about notable Jeopardy! contestants (like Jennings), the one about his wife (Trebek didn’t like the idea of someone else talking about his wife that way), and the last chapter, where he discussed his cancer and coming to terms with his impending death. I understand why he couldn’t do the entire book himself, but I’d have preferred it (nothing against Jennings—I’d have been content with Jennings doing the whole thing). But I’m so glad he did those chapters, you could hear the sincerity in his praise for Jennings, Eddie Timanus, Cindy Stowell, and others; his love for his wife; and the resolution and contemplation he’d put into his final days

4 1/2 Stars

Dawn Patrol

by Don Winslow, Ray Porter (Narrator)

Wow. Despite this being my first and favorite Winslow novel, I wasn’t inclined to grab the audiobook. But then it was on sale and a fellow Winslow-fan recommended Porter’s take on the book. I didn’t know that Porter did audiobooks before this, but he’s on my list to watch for now.

I don’t know how to describe this—I was blown away. I’ve read the book two or three times, but Porter made it feel like it was all new. I was gripped. I was entertained. I was heartbroken. It’s as good as you can ask for an audiobook to be.

5 Stars