Sunday, June 5, 2016

Challenges, Challenges! - 2016 Audiobook Challenge Check-in


Today I'm checking in with the girls at The Book Nympho and Hot Listens for the mid-year check-in of the 2016 Audiobook Challenge.  

In December, I set the goal to listen to at least 50 audiobooks this year, achieving "Marathoner" status.  To date, I have listened to 27 audiobooks and am on track to meet my goal before the end of the year. 

Here are the books that I have listened to so far this year:
  1. Not My Father's Son by Alan Cumming
  2. Before He Finds Her by Michael Kardos
  3. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by
  4. Dust to Dust by Tami Hoag
  5. Bridget Jones' Diary by Helen Fielding
  6. This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
  7. November 9 by Colleen Hoover
  8. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
  9. The Winter Garden by Kristen Hannah
  10. Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid
  11. Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes
  12. Six Days of the Condor by James Grady
  13. Dear Mr. You by Mary-Louise Parker
  14. Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
  15. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
  16. One Summer by David Baldacci
  17. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
  18. Silver Bastard by Joanna Wylde
  19. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
  20. My Sister's Grave by Robert Dugoni
  21. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
  22. Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin
  23. Never Never Part 1 by Colleen Hoover
  24. Never Never Part 2 by Colleen Hoover
  25. Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage by Jennifer Ashley
  26. I Must Say by Martin Short
  27. As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes
Last summer, I reviewed most of my books individually.  Once I went back to work in August and my discretionary time was slashed considerably, the individual book reviews came to a screeching halt.  Last December, following suit with some fellow bloggers, I began posting monthly book reviews.  If you are interested in reading my thoughts on them, for reviews of books 1-5, click here; 6-11, click here; books 12-17, click here; and 18-20, click here.  Reviews for books 21-26 will be posted on Tuesday June 14 in my monthly installment of Recently Read.  My review of The Princess Bride will be post on Tuesday July 12.

My favorites audiobooks (so far) include:  As You Wish, Maybe in Another Life, Dear Mr. You, The Help, and Hidden Bodies.

As You Wish and The Help both had multiple narrators and this really brought the books to life, in my opinion.  Listening to The Help was more like listening to a performance rather than listening to someone read the book to you.  Listening to As You Wish seemed more like the cast of The Princess Bride decided to drop by my house one day to chat about their memories of making the 80s classic.  

Dear Mr. You, written and narrated by the author, Mary-Louise Parker, has completely redefined my expectations in terms of autobiographies.  The format was like nothing I have ever experienced before; it was new, it was fresh, and absolutely delightful to listen to.  

Maybe in Another Life was also an exceptional listen.  This book had one of the most unique plot lines of any book I have ever read or listened to.  I fully expect the market to be flooded with copy-cat formats in the near future.

And lastly, but certainly not least, is Hidden Bodies.  I have said time and time again that a vocal artist can either make or break a book.  I loved Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes and its predecessor, YOU.  Now, having said that, I honestly don't know if I would have liked either of them nearly as much had I read them in the traditional print format.  You see, both books are narrated by Santino Fontana, who is one of my two favorite audiobook narrators. I've said at least twice before in previous blog entries, that I could listen to Santino read the phone book for hours on repeat - that's how great his voice is.  His voice is masculine, with a hint of raspiness, and is sooooo hypnotic.

Are you participating in the challenge?  If so, how's it going?  Do you listen to audiobooks and if you do, what's your favorite so far from the year?  As always, thanks for stopping by!

3 comments:

  1. Mary-Louise Parker may read me a bedtime stor - err - audio book.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Back when I was driving a lot for work I listened to lots of audiobooks. Now... not so much. In point of fact, I can't recall the last time I listened to one. I did listen to Bridget Jones, though, back in the day. That was a funny one:)

    BTW, the GFC button is still not working, but I'll keep trying...

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's kind of funny that I didn't like You because I didn't love Santino's narration. I didn't love the book anyway because I hated the characters (seriously, I hated Beck), but I didn't like the narration either.
    Putting Dear Mr. You (love her!) and Maybe in Another Life on my short list!

    ReplyDelete

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