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Hello thread, My father just had a micro-stroke and can't read very well (we're hoping it's a temporary thing). Anyways, he asked me to research for him the best modern way to consume audiobooks. I don't think he'd like a subscription model (so I don't think he'd like audible). What are some good a-la-carte offerings for audiobooks? I think his wife/my step-mom has an Ipad that'll probably be the device they use.
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Apr 18, 2015 22:11
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 03:49 |
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Audible isn't really a subscription model like Netflix or something. You get X credits per month you can spend on books or you can just pay with dollars and not use credits. If you don't use your credits one month they accumulate. You can cancel at any time... It's not a bad system and pretty much a-la-carte. Or you can just not have a subscription and pay with dollars but everything is cheaper if you do have a subscription.
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Apr 18, 2015 22:16
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Also your local public library might give you access to a load of books on overdrive. I have got quite a few good ones from there, like Starship Troopers and the Dresden Files.
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Apr 19, 2015 01:08
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TheReverend posted:Hello thread, There at several subscription models that are like Netflix. Even if he only listens to one book a month, $10 is still cheaper than a single priced audio book. Scribd and Downpour have pretty big selections. Also, Kindle Unlimited has a large selection of paired audiobooks under that subscription model.
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Apr 19, 2015 02:16
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drat it why didn't I remember this. Should be obvious. A large collection of free public domain books: https://librivox.org/ The quality of the readers varies since well... It's free... But if your dad likes literature, it's a nice source. Also has smart phone apps at least for Android, dunno about IOS though. This really reminds me, we could use a better OP that has some stores and stuff. The current one is kinda useless.
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Apr 19, 2015 09:51
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General Emergency posted:Audible isn't really a subscription model like Netflix or something. You get X credits per month you can spend on books or you can just pay with dollars and not use credits. If you don't use your credits one month they accumulate. You can cancel at any time... It's not a bad system and pretty much a-la-carte. The big thing I think people worry about when they hear "subscription" is that they'll lose access to the books when the subscription ends, which isn't the case with Audible. The books bought with subscription credits are yours while Audible exists, and since Amazon bought them I'm less worried about them going under and losing access (I still download the files into iTunes when I buy a book though) Plus Audible has become the 600lb gorilla in the audiobook world even before Amazon bought them; that's where you'll find the most content.
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Apr 19, 2015 16:16
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langurmonkey posted:Also your local public library might give you access to a load of books on overdrive. I have got quite a few good ones from there, like Starship Troopers and the Dresden Files. I agree with this. I love listening to audiobooks on Overdrive because I can listen to them at double speed. The only disadvantage to this is that once you go back to regular speed, everything seems so slow. If his library doesn't have a good selection, there are often reciprocal agreements with other libraries in the area that might have better selections.
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Apr 20, 2015 02:34
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Florida Betty posted:I agree with this. I love listening to audiobooks on Overdrive because I can listen to them at double speed. The only disadvantage to this is that once you go back to regular speed, everything seems so slow. If his library doesn't have a good selection, there are often reciprocal agreements with other libraries in the area that might have better selections. Audible = Triple Speed 
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Apr 20, 2015 14:00
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XBenedict posted:Audible = Triple Speed Some narrators, when you double the speed, sound normal. Sir Christopher Lee sounds normal at 2.5x
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Apr 20, 2015 17:01
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The Martian was a pretty good listen-- the narrator did an amazing job. However the story itself felt kind of... "written to be eventually sold as a movie"-esque? I don't know, a lot of recent sci-fi stories feel this way. I guess my biggest problem was reading Red Mars for the first time a few months back and thus the Martian felt a little light in comparison.
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Apr 20, 2015 20:24
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Speaking of the Martin, are there any great audio books about Mars with Martian life being included?
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Apr 22, 2015 07:19
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If you mean "Martians" as in little green men, I'm not sure, but if you mean "Martians" as "we live on Mars, ergo we're Martians" then as mentioned above, the latter two of the Mars trilogy, Green Mars and Blue Mars, explores that stuff quite a bit. What it'd be like to grow up and live on another planet, what it would be like to visit earth if you grew up on mars, stuff like that as well as a peek into longer term stuff like speciation among humans. I only read the books but according to the customer reviews on audible, the narrator isn't exactly cherished for his performance. I will say that the books are extremely good and would recommend them if that if it's what you're looking for, even if the narration isn't great. They're pretty broad and far reaching in terms of subject matter but it's solid sci-fi and about Mars in particular I don't think you'd find more thorough material outside of actual science books. EDIT: Thinking back on it now, one of my favorite characters in the series is a guy who was part of the first generation born on Mars and his whole story is a pretty memorable one as it weaves in and out of the plot and through the many years. poo poo, now it's bringing back memories. It's all your fault if I end up re-reading those! Do you have any idea what my backlog looks like!? Bhaal fucked around with this message at 01:00 on Apr 23, 2015 |
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Apr 23, 2015 00:53
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I've always been very interested in the ways that audiobooks can be used to enhance the experience from the original book, lately I really enjoyed listening to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy narrated by Stephen Fry, having read the book beforehand listening to Fry's interpretation of the narration was really soothing, not to mention his voice is loving majestic. I also found to dramatized audiobook for The Divine Comedy to be a really compelling listen, all the actors did a great job and it was only around two hours in length.
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May 7, 2015 20:54
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PEPSI for TV-GAME
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Anybody have any experience with the audiobook versions of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series? I've had the first book on my wishlist and I am thinking about taking the plunge, but the reviews make it sound like its hard to keep up with all the characters/development. I listened to all the ASOIAF books and didn't have any issues, if that matters at all.
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May 9, 2015 04:46
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bengy81 posted:Anybody have any experience with the audiobook versions of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series? The first three, narrated by Ralph Lister, are absolutely fantastic. He's one of the best narrators I've ever listened to. But then they changed to Michael Page after that, and while he's a good narrator in general, he pales in comparison to Ralph Lister and it just makes the experience of listening to audiobooks 4 and onwards.... just disappointing. I just don't understand why they changed. Michael Page doesn't even pronounce things in the same way, which is just lazy. The Ralph Lister books are easy to follow, because Ralph Lister has very distinct voices for all prominent characters. Michael Page on the other hand, can do like 2 voices: gravely and extra gravely.
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May 9, 2015 05:13
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As a huge huge audiobook fan, I'd not want to do Malazaz on audio because there's so much poo poo going on that I know I'd miss and be unable to grab an older book and flip it open to confirm something I thought was mentioned previously..
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May 14, 2015 01:46
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Somebody please tell "Yes, Please" by Amy Poehler gets better. I didn't even make it through the prologue with all the "feel bad for me, writing is hard for a busy mom" bullshit. I think I could have handled it as an epilogue or even as writing, because reading it would have taken me 2 minutes. But hearing it was like listening to that one friend with all the first world problems you don't give a gently caress about.
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May 15, 2015 11:53
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I am just finishing up the "first law" trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. I think it might be one of my favourite audiobooks to date. The story and characters are good, but the narrator (Stephen Pacey) does a fantastic job of bringing them to life. I was chatting to some friends of mine who had read the books and they hadn't remembered a lot of the minor characters. I think the voices given to them really helped lock them in my mind. Great stuff if you like a fantasy epic.
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May 15, 2015 13:20
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Recently listened to "Use of Weapons". For some reason I kept getting slogged in the middle when reading it on kindle, but I really enjoyed it on audio.
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May 16, 2015 03:35
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Currently listening to Pillars of the Earth as an audiobook and enjoying it a lot. It works fantastically on audio and the narrator is great. Never thought I'd like a book about building a cathedral so much.
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May 16, 2015 18:09
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I've been listening to ASOIAF, If Chins Could Kill, and The Disaster Artist. Any chill fiction/super interesting non-fiction movie stuff? The quality of the narrator is a big part of the pie for me. The longer the better. I listen to them on my ipod at work and can usually knock out even the super long ones in one or two shifts. E: Some really good horror would be good. Firstborn fucked around with this message at 02:07 on May 18, 2015 |
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May 18, 2015 01:51
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Firstborn posted:E: Some really good horror would be good. The Troop by Nick Cutter is a great listen. Really graphic body horror. Bird Box by Josh Malerman is another great recent listen. A very subtle and creepy post apocalypse horror novel.
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May 18, 2015 02:53
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I'm considering Lolita read by Jeremy Irons, 11/22/63, Scanner Darkly (Paul Giamatti!), Death of Bunny Munro (I just love Nick Cave). That's like the umpteenth recommendation for Bird Box, but the sample was kind of boring. Is it really worth it?
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May 18, 2015 03:07
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I'm about 1/3 of the way through the 40 hour unabridged audiobook of Neal Stephenson's Reamde and really enjoying it. The narrator is decent, but the way he does the female voices is irksome and he tries hard and fails to emulate accents. He also mispronounces some Mandarin phrases that are used frequently in the middle of the book. I understand that there's only so much that can be done by one narrator, but I feel like a bit of practice could have eliminated some of that. I guess I'm spoiled by John Lee's awesome narration. He does the accents much better, IMO.
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May 18, 2015 04:12
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Firstborn posted:I'm considering Lolita read by Jeremy Irons Haven't listened to the others, but I can recommend Lolita. Jeremy Irons manages to balance out the unsettling and the pitifully wretched in his portrayal of Humbert Humbert. It's a fantastic, intense performance.
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May 18, 2015 09:21
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Firstborn posted:I've been listening to ASOIAF, If Chins Could Kill, and The Disaster Artist. Any chill fiction/super interesting non-fiction movie stuff? The quality of the narrator is a big part of the pie for me. The longer the better. I listen to them on my ipod at work and can usually knock out even the super long ones in one or two shifts. John Dies at the End.
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May 18, 2015 16:29
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Firstborn posted:That's like the umpteenth recommendation for Bird Box, but the sample was kind of boring. Is it really worth it? It's definitely more atmosphere than action but I loved it.
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May 18, 2015 16:30
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coyo7e posted:John Dies at the End. I'll second this. I'm at this very moment listening to it for the third time in two years. It's that good.
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May 18, 2015 16:36
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ElGroucho posted:Somebody please tell "Yes, Please" by Amy Poehler gets better. I didn't even make it through the prologue with all the "feel bad for me, writing is hard for a busy mom" bullshit. I think I could have handled it as an epilogue or even as writing, because reading it would have taken me 2 minutes. But hearing it was like listening to that one friend with all the first world problems you don't give a gently caress about. I thought it was great. I also loved Bossypants, if you've read that. langurmonkey posted:Also your local public library might give you access to a load of books on overdrive. I have got quite a few good ones from there, like Starship Troopers and the Dresden Files. My library only had through book four of Dresden Files. That was harrowing to discover. Has anyone listened to the second Veronica Mars novel? The first one had Kristen Bell narrating, so it was basically an audiobook Veronica Mars episode, but they switched to another narrator for the second book, and I don't know if it's worth the cognitive dissonance.
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May 19, 2015 13:53
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It was weird at first but I enjoyed it. The first one was weird in and of itself because it was as if Veronica was referring to herself in the third person.
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May 20, 2015 00:05
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I didn't like JDATE, seemed a little too swiss monkey cheese wacky to me
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May 20, 2015 00:07
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I'm not exactly sure how to download it but you can stream Franz Kafka's Metamorphasis as read by Benedict Cumberbund on BBC.co.uk: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007d9kj/episodes/guide
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May 20, 2015 01:34
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I just want to say... listen to A Scanner Darkly. Goddamn is it good, and Paul Giamatti reads the everloving gently caress out of it. My absolute favorite audiobook to date. The narration is incredible.
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May 20, 2015 04:13
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There's a reeeeeally, really good history course (and book) dictated by a historian called Yuval Noah Harari and the audiobook recently came out. The history course is based on his book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, and as the title may refer, it's about the history of 'everything' (reconcilingevery perspective: physics, biology, psychology, sociology, etc). But the approach is the opposite of the old, mono-thematic and boring approach of most history courses/books/etc. The guy is genuinely funny, brilliant, and makes the learning process interesting and highly enjoyable. I highly recommend it. quote:One hundred thousand years ago, at least six human species inhabited the earth. Today there is just one. Us. Homo sapiens. How did our species succeed in the battle for dominance? Why did our foraging ancestors come together to create cities and kingdoms? How did we come to believe in gods, nations, and human rights; to trust money, books, and laws; and to be enslaved by bureaucracy, timetables, and consumerism? Bold, wide-ranging, and provocative, Sapiens integrates history and science to challenge everything we thought we knew about being human: our thoughts, our actions, our heritage . . . and our future. Here's a link to the Audible version: http://www.amazon.com/Sapiens-A-Brief-History-Humankind/dp/B00SX6ZKE4 And the Audio CD version: http://www.amazon.com/Sapiens-Humankind-Yuval-Noah-Harari/dp/1494556901/
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May 20, 2015 07:39
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janssendalt posted:There's a reeeeeally, really good history course (and book) dictated by a historian called Yuval Noah Harari and the audiobook recently came out. The preview is pretty good. May burn a credit on this.
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May 20, 2015 14:01
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Finished A Scanner Darkly, and I feel positively hollowed out. Emotionally exhausted. What a terrific listen.
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May 21, 2015 04:04
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Talmonis posted:I'll second this. I'm at this very moment listening to it for the third time in two years. It's that good.
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May 21, 2015 06:33
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Quick review on a couple of the Discworld narrators. I really dislike Nigel Planer as a narrator, he tends to use the same slow, droning voice with little variety for different characters and so everybody ends up sounding like Nigel from The Young Ones. It's disappointing as he reads all the early Watch novels which are my favourites. On the plus side, Stephen Briggs reads the later Discworld books and is amazing. I'm really enjoying his narration of Going Postal and look forward to getting another one of his when I'm finished. As an aside - I wish that Tony Robinson could read the unabridged versions, he's the 'original' narrator in my mind, from back in the good old days when I bought Discworld audio books on cassette, and his voices are how I want Discworld to be read forever because I hate change. 
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May 22, 2015 14:41
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I finally finished 11/22/63 based on earlier recommendations from this thread. Overall, it was very good. The narrator was fantastic. There were portions of the plot that I felt that could have been cut and made the book overall longer than it probably had to be. Another one I'd like to throw out there is "Fresh Off the Boat" by Eddie Huang. I saw the pilot for the show and was thoroughly disappointed and upset. The book however, is the complete opposite. I think I finished it in about a week. Eddie Huang narrates it himself. It's the closest thing to explaining the Asian-American experience that I've found. I recently started "For Whom the Bell Tolls" narrated by Campbell Scott. I'm still trying to decide how I feel about the narrator. He's kind of monotone and dry but I imagine that's kind of just how Hemingway is.
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May 24, 2015 07:17
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John Dies at the End is probably my favorite audiobook. The sequel is mediocre. The first one had the perfect voice for John; the sequel's narrator botched it bad. It also doesn't help that it's just not nearly as good of a book. It loses all of the great stuff that made the first book amazing and keeps all the weaker stuff of the first book and then kicks it up another notch.
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May 27, 2015 00:44
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