The DU Lounge
Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsAnother update re: Audio Books
A while back you guys gave me a lot of great info on audio books, narrators, authors and all that good stuff.
I've been using my 1 hour commute each way to get a lot of "reading" in and at first I was still iffy on the whole idea because it seemed I didn't like the narrators or the books I was picking were just boring me but I finally settled into a groove with the categories of history and humor (non-fiction).
So far my overwhelming favorite has been everything by David Sedaris. Unfortunately I'm just about done with his entire catalog so I'll need to find a new crush. I LOVED Nick Offerman's "Gumption" and also his and Megan's book "The greatest Love Story Ever Told". I don't do woodworking but my son does so I bought Nick's woodworking book to give to my granddaughters to give to my son for father's day. He loves it.
Nick and David are 2 people who make the audio books better because they read them. (You guys said that was not always the case but I'm glad these two are great).
The history book "The Mosquito" was fascinating as was the biography of Leonardo Da Vinci.
Neal Patrick Harris wrote and read his autobiography (up to this point) and it was also a lot of fun. I mean, I loved Doogie when it was on and I loved Barney in HIMYM so I was already a fan but his book just solidified that opinion.
"Thunderstruck" by Erik Larson was a true murder mystery that intertwines a murder story with the story of Marconi inventing radio and it sounds weird but it worked.
Old Man and the Sea was the first Hemingway book I've ever read although I am pretty sure I saw a movie based on one of his books once. Not at all what I was expecting and every bit as wonderful as anything else I've ever read. Will read more Earnestly. I'm not saying having Donald Sutherland as the narrator made this the completely satisfying "read" that it was but I'm not saying it wasn't.
I made it all the way through Catch 22 but I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I should have.
Foundation by Peter Ackroyd was another enthralling history book that tells of England from pre-history up through about the Tudors.
I returned a number of books early without giving them more than an hour to grab me. IF I'm not hooked by the time I get to work you're out. It's nice I didn't have to pay for them. (I read through Libby which is a library app attached to my library card. Books are free but limited to whatever audio books my local library has available. you still check books out and have to return them and you can put a book on hold so you get notified when it's available.)
I'll be trawling through the history and humor sections and occasionally try another sci-fi or horror and if anyone knows of something I should look for feel free to shout it out loud. (If I can "read" audio books there's no reason you can't "shout" posts.)
My son (who got the Nick Offerman book) says his Alexa app will read audible from amazon books but I haven't figured that out yet. Since we have Prime we get a certain number of books so that would greatly expand the pool from which I can read once I learn how lol.
exboyfil
(17,857 posts)Just load the book on the Kindle App of your phone (I have an Android). If there is narration available, you can click to download narration (just tap on the screen when the book is open if you don't see the option).
Google Amazon prime ebooks with narration and go to the link.
If you have an Audible account tied to your Amazon account, you can also access the book from there as well (probably easier actually). Audible usually has a free sign up period with one or two credits. They are also now doing essentially a check out of some books so you are not limited to one book a month either.
Kindle Unlimited has even more Audiobooks. They also usually have a free period.
Google Amazon Unlimited ebooks with narration and go to the link.
Finally determine if your local library has Hoopla. They have an outstanding selection of audiobooks which are available immediately. Most libraries allow at least three check outs a month.
trixie2
(905 posts)Rococo by Trigiani and read by Mario Cantone. He was hilarious.
TuxedoKat
(3,818 posts)Most states' library systems have reciprocal agreements where they will give state residents from other areas a library card. There are about 23 library systems in my state and I have about 7-8 cards from different systems around my state. Some I applied for online, others in person when I travel to a different area of the state and don't have their card yet. I notice some systems will have audio versions and regular ebook versions of the same book, some will just have one or the other. It's nice to have extra cards when you are looking for a particular book.
OriginalGeek
(12,132 posts)I will look into that. More choices = more better!
targetpractice
(4,919 posts)Castes: The Origins of our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson (a new way to think about race and inequality) New.
Anything by John Hodgman... All the Areas of My Expertise, More Information than you Require, and That is All... (hilarious nonsense, compilations of fake history and facts). A few years old.
OriginalGeek
(12,132 posts)I loved him on The Daily Show.
targetpractice
(4,919 posts)Judge John Hodgman (fake internet justice)... Also hilarious.
He also has an animated show, Dicktown, with his friend David Rees (How to Sharpen Pencils, Get Your War On (comics), and Going Deep (TV show).
Mr. Hodgman is very prolific, and a joy in my life.
OriginalGeek
(12,132 posts)Yes, it's now on my list. I didn't recognize his voice in it so I'll have to pay more attention lol.