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The Book of the Unnamed Midwife is amazing and is in the 2 for 1 sale on Audible. Post-apocalyptic fiction. So good. Highly recommended.
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Aug 19, 2017 14:51
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Enfys posted:Colleen McCullough's Rome series is great, though I've only read the physical copies so not sure how good the audio versions are. I finished the first book of this series, The First Man in Rome. It started off promisingly, following Marius and Sulla and exploring their personalities... but then it went into military history, jettisoning the character details in favor of recounting battle plans and troop movements. I mean, it's war, one of the great topics of literature, and McCullough somehow failed to make it interesting or enlightening. General Emergency posted:I quite liked Conn Iggulden's Emperor series. Set during the fall of the Roman Empire and following the life of Julius Caesar. Not set in Rome but his mongol books are also great. I had to stop halfway through The Gates of Rome. Not that it's a bad book -- in fact, it's much more engaging than McCullough's novel. But it's not about Julius Caesar. Oh, it's about somebody named Gaius Julius Caesar, and includes just enough historical allusions for the reader to confirm that Iggulden meant it to be about the famous Julius Caesar, but it simply bears nothing but the most cursory resemblance to Caesar's life. I'm not some historical accuracy purist who cannot accept anything but the driest adherence to provable historical fact; one of my favorite books of all time is I, Claudius, which takes tremendous liberties in the name of constructing a narrative. But there's a big difference between softening the historical Claudius in order to make him more sympathetic, and making Claudius a Roman Empire Superman, who fights crime with his best pals, Marc Antony and Marcus Aurelius. And sadly, The Gates of Rome was much more in line with the former. Other books I've recently listened / attempted to listen to: The Girls He Adored, by Jonathan Nasaw: Fast, character-centered serial killer book. Nothing too groundbreaking, more than a bit implausible, and very rapey. But it does manage to create a sort of Starling/Lecter relationship between the female protagonist and the villain. The Shining Girls, by Lauren Beukes: Time-traveling serial killer book. Made it about halfway through before the zig-zagging along the timeline frustrated me too much to continue. Other than that, there's some good characterization, but some cringeworthy '90s references. I Hunt Killers, by Barry Lyga: I barely lasted half an hour with this. It seems to be a YA serial killer story, so maybe if you liked I Am Not a Serial Killer, you might like this one. I couldn't stand it. The Bird Box, by Josh Malerman: Spent two hours trying to ignore the plot holes in this one before giving up. There's something Out There. Something that, if you look at it, you kill yourself. So, of course, the entire world looks at it and kills themselves, except for a cadre of really half-rear end survivors and I don't know what the gently caress I shut it off at this point. Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel: Interesting, although the present tense narrative voice is throwing me off. It makes me feel like when you're dating someone you really could see yourself staying with, if it weren't for that one really annoying thing she does in bed. I've put it down, for now, but will probably resume at some point.
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Aug 20, 2017 06:03
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Margaret Atwood's 'The Handmaid's Tale' is free on Audible until October 13 (not sure if Canada only). https://adbl.co/HMTale
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Sep 23, 2017 05:33
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Mister Facetious posted:Margaret Atwood's 'The Handmaid's Tale' is free on Audible until October 13 (not sure if Canada only). quote:Please Note: This promotion is available for Canadian residents only. 
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Sep 24, 2017 03:52
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Hey, if I read things, I wouldn't have an Audible subscription. 
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Sep 24, 2017 04:16
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In actual fact it's available for Canadian residents and anyone who can be bothered to spend five seconds to pick "Canada" from the drop-down list of countries in the account settings.
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Sep 25, 2017 06:48
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 I listen to one almost every work day, myself.  (Golf Story, Nintendo Switch)
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Sep 29, 2017 08:20
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Has anyone listened to the Pillars of the Earth on audiobook? I want to read the book, but I have a feeling a book that size you kind of have to read it to get what's going on. I also don't know if I have the endurance for that length of book on audio.
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Sep 29, 2017 21:44
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ElGroucho posted:Has anyone listened to the Pillars of the Earth on audiobook? I want to read the book, but I have a feeling a book that size you kind of have to read it to get what's going on. I also don't know if I have the endurance for that length of book on audio. I read it. It ruined me. It's beautiful and amazing, but it's incredibly intense and is too much for me to listen to (I had bought the audiobook and then returned it after I realized this). Highly recommended.
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Sep 30, 2017 21:08
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fadam posted:Do you guys know why the first collection of The Witcher short stores (The Last Wish) isn't available on Canadian Audible? Is there any way to trick Audible to let me buy it and have it in my collection with everything else? Change your billing address on your credit card to the country of your choice I use California 90210 myself
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Oct 1, 2017 13:05
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luscious posted:I read it. It ruined me. It's beautiful and amazing, but it's incredibly intense and is too much for me to listen to (I had bought the audiobook and then returned it after I realized this). Highly recommended. Seconded on the recommendation. Great book, great narration. Follow it up with Follett's next novels in the series if you like this one.
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Oct 3, 2017 03:15
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Hello audiobook thread! I wish I knew you existed last year. Wanted to share some of what I've listened to lately. I only have one fiction book in my audible library, everything else is nonfiction and mostly historical. Anyways!: The Nuremberg Trials by Ann and John Tusa Background: Nazi Germany's bold claim on the world left itself and Europe a smoldering mess. The most infamous architects of the war and holocaust have taken their own lives. The relative few that come forward (or are apprehended) are detained and put on trial for aggressive war and genocide. Questions immediately arise: why not simply execute them with the supposed mountains of evidence aready stacked against them? How do you create a fair trial when its clear they'll all be executed? How can the trial and potential execution of the defendants be performed in a way to prevent the creation of martyrs? Shouldn't countries have the right to put their own people on trial, and not some international tribunal? Which country gets the most time to air their grievances and the most authority to punish their former masters? Why does the U.S have a prosecution team, unlike Poland who suffered directly at the home front? The list goes on. Start with the bad things first: This book likely wont rope you in if you don't have an existing interest in World War 2, specifically, if you don't really care about the fate of high ranking Nazis who were arrested after the war. While the book does a great job providing background for one of the most important court trials in the 20th century, and explaining the far reaching impact, it doesn't make an attempt to entice larger audiences.This doesn't exactly hurt the book in any way, but it makes it hard to recommend to a friend who isn't ready to throw down for +24 hours of courtroom drama. Second hurdle: The narrator Ralph Cosham is an acquired taste. The book itself has some dodgy audio editing, and Cosham has a slight speech impediment where he drops his s at the end of certain words. I warmed up to him rather quickly and after finishing this book two times, I really enjoy his woody, almost ghostly and hollow voice. The book does unquestionably suffer from poor editing, which again makes it hard to recommend. The good: Basically everything else. The audiobook effectively answered every question I had regarding the trial, and shed light on other portions of it I had initially wrote off as boring before listening to this. The profiles of the defendants and the witnesses are incredible too. After a while, you'll catch yourself identifying with them on a human level, and in the next chapter you'll feel guilty for sympathizing when their crimes are examined in grotesque detail. The Tusa's hit a good balance of being extremely detailed, yet willing to fast forward when the trial gets bogged down (the courtroom would alternate between high energy excitement and mind numbing boredom, which left observers only partially paying attention until someone like Göring or Hess went into the spotlight.) All in all, I can say the above questions I asked in the Background have all been answered sufficiently. good book/10 e: jesus mary and joseph this is the first post in literal months.
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Jan 8, 2018 03:35
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As someone that recently purchased Judgement at Nuremburg on Blu-Ray, would you still recommend it?
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Jan 8, 2018 04:10
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Mister Facetious posted:As someone that recently purchased Judgement at Nuremburg on Blu-Ray, would you still recommend it? Honestly, I couldn't say because I'm not familiar with that movie. After checking out the synopses on IMDB, it doesn't look like the audiobook would be redundant. If you already watched the movie and wanted to know more about the grey areas of the legal system and human morality, I'd say the book does a great job of expanding on it.
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Jan 8, 2018 04:50
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The Fall and Rise of China, written and narrated by Richard Baum Background: China through 5000 years, but the bulk of the book is going to be based on the 1800s-2000s. If you went to American grade school like I did (and only ever learned about the Great Wall and that Mao liked communism more than people's lives) this audiobook is going to be rough; Its essentially formatted like a series of actual college lectures. The late professor Richard Baum of UCLA narrates this course and sprinkles a few of his personal experiences to enrich the book. Lets jump to the pros and cons, with the latter going first: Cons: Some portions of the book are going to be hard to follow if this is your first real exposure to Chinese history. Professor Baum doesn't shy away from calling provinces and cities by their traditional names. And, my goodness, the names of these people. Hope you keep the PDF booklet nearby. To be fair, there really seems to be no way out of this hurdle. Giving American nicknames to Chinese people and places would be a little borderline offensive. It seems a little insincere to put this complaint in the cons section, but its going to be an undeniable hurdle for people unfamiliar with the Chinese language. I think a much more substantial con is how little China's involvement in WW2 is mentioned. China, like the Soviet Union, suffered apocalyptic losses when fighting their fascist adversaries. During this formative point in history, Professor Baum seems a bit more occupied with Mao's actions. I get this book isn't centered on war, but I think more attention was needed here. Pros: God drat its fascinating. Like all history, there's going to be some dry areas, but you can tell Professor Baum really enjoyed narrating and making this book. In addition to studying China from California, he routinely worked abroad and put his nose in everything he could get himself into. His anecdotes are entertaining and sometimes even a bit tense. The Mao chapters are ones he clearly enjoys the most, despite him not being involved in that period. There's enough content covering The Great Helmsman that it may as well be a mini biography cleverly inserted into a history book. There's also a wealth of content in the more recent years, which is a bit more entertaining because the names and events are much more familiar and recent. I'm willing to recommend this to anyone that can overcome the language hurdles and are okay being lost from hearing so much new information. But I need to give a big disclaimer: my knowledge on China and Chinese history is laughably limited. Professor Baum could have omitted inconvenient truths about China and been too easy on Mao. Or he could be just the opposite. The point is, I wouldn't know because my knowledge on this is so narrow. I'd love to see what people think about this book who are far more versed in Chinese history. That all said, it was a really fun ride and I feel like I got a detailed and entertaining survey of Chinese interesting.
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Jan 8, 2018 05:42
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buglord posted:
Yeah, i gave up my audible subscription because I didn't use it enough. I'm listening to the Dutch/flemish version of 'Congo: The Epic History of a People' by David Van Reybrouck. Great book if you're interested in seeing the history from the side of people who are usually ignored by history writers. Also, I found out I'm entitled to use the database of the Flemish audio book collection for the blind for free, because of my problems with dyslexia. So I don't think I'll be needing audible for a while.
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Jan 9, 2018 12:29
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Audible just put a bunch of last year's deals of the day back up. Prices are nearly all under $4 https://www.audible.com/ep/DD-Resale
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Jan 22, 2018 17:59
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We are Legion (We Are Bob) is another of these "replace action and drama with 80's 90's references" bullshit novels audible keeps recommending.
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Jan 22, 2018 20:48
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I'm listening to Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 by Tony Judt and narrated by Ralph Cosham. First chapter is deceptively meh and hard to follow because it assumes you already know about post-war Europe. Second chapter feels like the proper introduction of the book and background. I think the book (so far) could be summed up in a cynical joke Nazis told themselves by spring of 1945: “ Better enjoy the war…the peace will be terrible”. I've had to stop listening twice because the content is horrifying; even the slightest notion of "people were somehow better back then" is wiped clean. Like, just because the war is over doesn't mean that things instantly get better. They quickly get worse, and everyone’s pent up anger about the war explodes. I started listening again today after a week-long hiatus because it’s all pretty grueling. But at the same time its fascinating, which is also why I keep coming back. I’m only about 9 hours in, and there’s still at least 30 more to go. Provided the book maintains my interest the way it has, It’ll likely be one of my favorites.
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Jan 22, 2018 22:27
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I've been listening to a radio play of the Dispossessed. Its abridged but the voice acting is distinct and the sound effects all seem appropriate to the setting. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs2TxwyLLUrj0jPLN2xtZt_nAw_hguzkp they even include some short songs from the Anarchist planet. My only complaint is that the similarity of the science fiction names can be confusing in the beginning, but by part 3 I'd gotten used to it.
Baka-nin fucked around with this message at 19:23 on Jan 25, 2018 |
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Jan 25, 2018 19:21
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Anyone recommend anything with hitmen/assassins/spy stuff, that's not romance related? Been listening to a lot of space opera and it's time for something else.
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Jan 27, 2018 11:11
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Rocksicles posted:Anyone recommend anything with hitmen/assassins/spy stuff, that's not romance related? Pick something by John Le Carré and enjoy.
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Jan 27, 2018 21:25
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I liked Clancy's Red Rabbit for a great 80's Soviet Paranoia conspiracy story. I have the paperback, but the site says it's Scott Brick narrating, so it should be fine. Rainbow Six is a classic right wing wank-fest about how they wish the end of the world should happen ( a humanity-ending anthrax virus, while liberal environmentalists and holier-than-thou meritocratic intellectuals wait it out in the middle of nowhere, Kansas  ), and it's pretty (unintentionally) hilarious because of it. Again, I have the paperback, and I don't think I have any books narrated by Prichard, but the sample passes the listen test.
Mister Facetious fucked around with this message at 22:11 on Jan 27, 2018 |
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Jan 27, 2018 22:04
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Mister Facetious posted:I liked Clancy's Red Rabbit for a great 80's Soviet Paranoia conspiracy story. I have the paperback, but the site says it's Scott Brick narrating, so it should be fine. As someone who lived in Sydney during the Olympics, I can't take it seriously... I have read it though. XBenedict posted:Pick something by John Le Carré and enjoy. Cool, i'm in. Gracias.
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Jan 27, 2018 22:44
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Rocksicles posted:Cool, i'm in. Gracias. No, try Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth and if you like it go to Dogs of War. He was a reporter who liked to research the details with sources that were very true to life, so the whole book reads very authentically.
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Jan 27, 2018 23:15
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poisonpill posted:No, try Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth and if you like it go to Dogs of War. He was a reporter who liked to research the details with sources that were very true to life, so the whole book reads very authentically. Yeah cool he reported on spies. John Le Carré was a spy (kinda).
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Jan 27, 2018 23:36
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poisonpill posted:No, try Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth Is that the one that became a Bruce Willis movie?
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Jan 27, 2018 23:39
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Yes, there was also a 1973 movie that adhered more closely (at all) to the book
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Jan 28, 2018 02:29
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General Emergency posted:Yeah cool he reported on spies. John Le Carré was a spy (kinda). Anyway, Le Carré is probably the better author from a literary standpoint, his books all try to explore some themes and hit you emotionally. Forsyth just wrote cool spy plots with a lot of detail and insight on how things worked. He's probably the more "fun" of the two. e: And both are way, way above Clancy, obviously. anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 16:55 on Jan 28, 2018 |
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Jan 28, 2018 16:50
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XBenedict posted:Pick something by John Le Carré and enjoy. I would add Len Deighton to that. His Game, Set, Match trilogy is great and they've always felt like much more realistic spy books to me. It's interesting to deal with a spy who's basically held back by the class system.
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Jan 30, 2018 23:40
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This is an extremely odd question but I have to ask somebody because I sure as hell don't know. Is getting somebody to record an audiobook for personal use illegal? I'm only asking because I'm legally blind and there's just no way to really get through a dense text with my visual impairment. I have no interest in sharing it with anybody, just having it for myself. The book in question is a philosophical text called Being and Time by Martin Heidegger. It's something I'm working up to, I'm not so arrogant as to think I could handle it now but I figured I might as well ask this question now because why not. I would als oneed a recording because I'm certain I'll need to go over passages and stuff I found one translation that will be up in the public domain the start of 2023 and I don't expect to be dead in five years so I guess I could theoretically wait and then go beg some altruistic fool on LibriVox to record it for me.
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Feb 1, 2018 14:30
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NikkolasKing posted:This is an extremely odd question but I have to ask somebody because I sure as hell don't know. The amazon fire tablets have passable TTS on kindle which has worked for me in a pinch.
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Feb 1, 2018 19:42
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NikkolasKing posted:This is an extremely odd question but I have to ask somebody because I sure as hell don't know. I am not a lawyer and all that jazz, but it is technically illegal to redesign books, unless it is in the public domain. Having said that, when I was a freshman in college I volunteered at the student accessibility center reading textbooks to tape for visually impaired students, and as far as I know we never got our dicks slapped for it. Also, what are the odds of somebody finding out that you are doing it if it is just for personal use?
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Feb 1, 2018 22:37
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Apropos of nothing else, good luck reading Being and Time. It was the capstone of my college philosophy studies and I still never made it all the way through. No snark intended - it's super-dense and will make you think for YEARS.
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Feb 1, 2018 23:10
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I have a 20 hour long mp3. I used to play stuff like this on my precious Sansa Clip but the dang thing broke and long ago went out of production. Been trying to find an app on iOS that is good for long files like this-- VLC definitely chokes on it. gently caress using itunes. I just want something with a simple drag and drop web client like VLC does. I wish Overcast would let me add 3rd party files because drat that one is the best for podcasts.
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Feb 1, 2018 23:44
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ShinsoBEAM! posted:The amazon fire tablets have passable TTS on kindle which has worked for me in a pinch. Yeah I was thinking of trying that or maybe even some other TTS I could buy. The problem is the book in question was written in German and has a lot of Philosophy Terms (TM) so I wasn't sure if an automated thing could handle it. It's a possibility I could look into though. Thanks for telling me the Kindle TTS is actually good, I wasn't sure. bengy81 posted:I am not a lawyer and all that jazz, but it is technically illegal to redesign books, unless it is in the public domain. Having said that, when I was a freshman in college I volunteered at the student accessibility center reading textbooks to tape for visually impaired students, and as far as I know we never got our dicks slapped for it. Also, what are the odds of somebody finding out that you are doing it if it is just for personal use? True, I'd just have to find somebody willing to do it. Thanks. Peas and Rice posted:Apropos of nothing else, good luck reading Being and Time. It was the capstone of my college philosophy studies and I still never made it all the way through. No snark intended - it's super-dense and will make you think for YEARS. Thank you. I've been thoroughly warned. I'm actually a philosophy amateur doing self-study. I'm starting with Plato and gonna just work my forward with what sounds interesting. But the Existentialists just have a lot of language and ideas that really speak to me, as cliche as that sounds. I'm 29 and all my adult life I've looked to religion and politics for some sort of meaning to my life, trying to drown out this anxiety that a guy in Denmark was also feeling 180 years ago. Being and Time is a goal of mine because the ideas I've heard about it sound absolutely fascinating but it's a realistic goal I'm going to build up as best as I can. That includes reading Heidegger's lectures which, much like Hegel's, are quite a bit more comprehensible, at least in terms of the language. Philosophy has this reputation as being the mental masturbation of pseudo-intellectuals but the Stoics were offering helpful tips on controlling anger and how it was merely a sign of toxic masculinity 2000 years ago. It's actually helping me out a lot in real life. Philosophy is really awesome. NikkolasKing fucked around with this message at 00:03 on Feb 2, 2018 |
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Feb 1, 2018 23:59
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Got an e-mail for a free month/book from Audible, so if you don't stay subbed, might want to keep an eye out for it.
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Feb 2, 2018 18:03
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NikkolasKing posted:This is an extremely odd question but I have to ask somebody because I sure as hell don't know. I posted this already couple of weeks ago, but I found out I'm entitled to use the database of the Flemish audio book collection for the blind for free, because of my problems with dyslexia. Doesn't the US have something similar? Or is that all a bit too 'socialist'. My mom has been reading books for them for decades now. And very often it's a book that has been requested by somebody. Usually something academic that gives her headaches about pronunciations of scientific terms. Also, I thought you were allowed to make a copy for personal use. Or is that only with software?
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Feb 3, 2018 21:20
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mrfart posted:I posted this already couple of weeks ago, but I found out I'm entitled to use the database of the Flemish audio book collection for the blind for free, because of my problems with dyslexia. There is actually a Library for the Blind here in the US. I haven't used it in nearly ten years, ever since I graduated high school,. and I never had to request an audiobook be made by them. I have no idea what the process is now you mention it. That is an interesting avenue I can look into. Thank you for the suggestion. As for personal use audiobooks, I had no idea, hence why I was asking. I could try asking some place like the subreddit on audiobooks, somebody there might know.
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Feb 4, 2018 02:18
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Google has been sending out free audiobook coupons to Home owners. Not sure what to get with mine anyone know any good horror books that have come out recently?
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Feb 4, 2018 02:20
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