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Enfys posted:Does anyone have any recommendations for good spooky/scary audiobooks? Seconding Head Full of Ghosts Otherwise, the Audible production of Dracula is very good. The Robert Aickman short story collections on Audible have a good narrator, as does the Ambrose Bierce collection Can Such Things Be? The narrator in that case is the guy who runs the prison in Silence of the Lambs. His stories aren't really scary as such, more "cozy horror" if that makes sense, but I really like Michael Hordern's narration of M.R. James' horror stories. They're good to fall asleep to. Lastly, this God-tier narration of Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" by Basil Rathbone: https://youtu.be/SPhQCJ6waLI
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Sep 20, 2022 17:28
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Depending on how good you are with existential horror, I would recommend North American Lake Monsters by Nathan Ballingrud. It’s a short story collection, but also really good. DreamingofRoses fucked around with this message at 10:43 on Sep 21, 2022 |
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Sep 20, 2022 23:18
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DreamingofRoses posted:
I can't find this anywhere (audio or regular book), could it have a different name? Or do you have a direct link?
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Sep 21, 2022 09:18
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Tea Bone posted:I can't find this anywhere (audio or regular book), could it have a different name? Or do you have a direct link? My brain did a complete flip. Negative Space is by B.R. Yeager and not an audiobook! The one by Michelle Paver I meant to recommend was Dark Matter she also has Thin Air . I haven’t read that one yet, so I can’t recommend it, but I’ve heard that it’s as good as Dark Matter. I’m so sorry, I have no idea where my brain went. Also, to add to the audiobook recommendation, We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson, the version narrated by Bernadette Dunne. DreamingofRoses fucked around with this message at 10:50 on Sep 21, 2022 |
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Sep 21, 2022 10:47
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DreamingofRoses posted:My brain did a complete flip. Negative Space is by B.R. Yeager and not an audiobook! The one by Michelle Paver I meant to recommend was Dark Matter she also has Thin Air . I haven’t read that one yet, so I can’t recommend it, but I’ve heard that it’s as good as Dark Matter. I’m so sorry, I have no idea where my brain went. Cool, I already have Thin Air in my library, just haven't listened to it yet. And seconding We Have Always Lived in the Caste perhaps not "spooky" in the way Enfys was asking, but definitely has a gothic atmosphere that fits the bill. I heard it called "Not a story about a haunted house but a story about how a house becomes haunted" which I think is pretty accurate. Also, Paul Tremblay obviously takes a lot of inspiration from it in "A Head Full of Ghosts" which I recommended earlier so might be worth checking them both out.
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Sep 21, 2022 11:43
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More spooky than scary, A Night In Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny is a fantastic Halloween novel. It looks like there's two audio versions. I haven't heard the newer audible one but the older version is narrated by the author and is excellent.
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Sep 24, 2022 18:12
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Can anyone recommend some light silly stuff for a humorous distraction? For reference, I really enjoyed the Alan Partridge mock memoirs and can't think of anything more enjoyable than zoning out to Kevin Theis' narration of Wodehouse's Jeeves stories.Tea Bone posted:Can anyone recommend anything similar in that it's less of an autobiography and more just a collection of funny annecdotes you can zone in and out of. Speaking of which, yeah, absolutely: "I, Partridge. We Need to Talk About Alan." The book itself is great but the narration elevates it into maybe the funniest thing I've ever listened to. PerilPastry fucked around with this message at 18:56 on Sep 24, 2022 |
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Sep 24, 2022 18:43
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Thanks for the recommendations, everyone!Tea Bone posted:The Cabin at the End of the World - Home invasion/Apocolypse I finished Survivor Song today and have now started Cabin at the End of the World. I needed to know what was going to happen, so I stayed up late the past couple nights listening in the dark. It was a great and very atmospheric experience, would recommend. I'm really looking forward to other suggestions here.
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Sep 24, 2022 19:50
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PerilPastry posted:Can anyone recommend some light silly stuff for a humorous distraction? For reference, I really enjoyed the Alan Partridge mock memoirs and can't think of anything more enjoyable than zoning out to Kevin Theis' narration of Wodehouse's Jeeves stories. John Hodgman's Complete World Knowledge books (Areas of my Expertise, More Information Than You Require, That Is All) have this great vibe of audiobook/variety show/improv podcast all about fake history. There's an audio Page A Day calendar at the end of MITYR that I use to go to bed.
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Sep 24, 2022 20:20
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Enfys posted:Thanks for the recommendations, everyone! Glad you enjoyed it, Survivor Song (though still great) is probably my least favourite of his novels so I think you're in for a treat. Disappearance at Devils Rock is in the same universe and has some shared characters with Survivor Song by the way. PerilPastry posted:Can anyone recommend some light silly stuff for a humorous distraction? For reference, I really enjoyed the Alan Partridge mock memoirs and can't think of anything more enjoyable than zoning out to Kevin Theis' narration of Wodehouse's Jeeves stories. To answer your request, like I said in my op, Classic Scrapes by James Acaster is entirely silly annecdotes and a great feel good listen. On that his latest book James Acaster's Guide to Quitting Social Media definitely checks the "silly" box. The Hitchhiker's Guide y the Galaxy has an excellent narration by Stephen Fry
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Sep 25, 2022 00:04
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Tea Bone posted:Glad you enjoyed it, Survivor Song (though still great) is probably my least favourite of his novels so I think you're in for a treat. Disappearance at Devils Rock is in the same universe and has some shared characters with Survivor Song by the way. Being an autobiography it was still extremely accessible to despite me having never even heard of the character. Coogan's other work can be very hit or miss with me, but this truly is up there as one of the funniest things I've ever read. Huge recommend. Tea Bone posted:To answer your request, like I said in my op, Classic Scrapes by James Acaster is entirely silly annecdotes and a great feel good listen. On that his latest book James Acaster's Guide to Quitting Social Media definitely checks the "silly" box. Lumbermouth posted:John Hodgman's Complete World Knowledge books (Areas of my Expertise, More Information Than You Require, That Is All) have this great vibe of audiobook/variety show/improv podcast all about fake history. There's an audio Page A Day calendar at the end of MITYR that I use to go to bed.
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Sep 25, 2022 10:27
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Related to this thread, the latest video essay/documentary by Dan Olson explores a particular kind of publishing grift using ghostwriters and audiobook sales. It's both a profile of the grifters and an exploration of the process of ghostwriting and trend-chasing in modern publishing, so it's worth sharing here I think: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biYciU1uiUw
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Sep 29, 2022 07:35
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I just finished the new Stephen King book Fairy Tale. I liked it a lot. Good narrator that I hadn’t heard before. Kinda wish they had used Will Patton again. I very highly recommend basically anything read by him, but especially Stephen King stuff.
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Oct 1, 2022 01:41
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Head Full of Ghosts is absolutely harrowing in ways I did not predict. I feel like that's one that's going to stick with me for a long time. Really great recommendation but I'm going to go for something light for my next book before dipping back into spooky month selections.
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Oct 2, 2022 11:57
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I also thought Head Full of Ghosts was great, thanks for the recommendation!
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Oct 3, 2022 02:24
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Lost Children is an audible original that I listened to last year. It's five or so short stories that are a bit spoopy Was good listening as I walked alone along early morning forest preserve trails Soonmot fucked around with this message at 23:51 on Oct 3, 2022 |
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Oct 3, 2022 23:47
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Enfys posted:Head Full of Ghosts is absolutely harrowing in ways I did not predict. The part where she is talking about the lead-up to Exorcism night and how the taste of Chinese food brings her right back is such an idefiable atmosphere of anxiety and one of the only times I've felt truly uneased from a book/audiobook.
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Oct 4, 2022 14:23
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Anyone have any book recommendations on the topic of dementia?
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Oct 6, 2022 15:41
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Not dementia, but My Stroke of Insight is a good book by a neuroscientist who had a stroke. It can be a bit touchy-feely but it might scratch a similar curiosity itch if you aren’t specifically after dementia books. If you’re after information I think I would recommend a podcast such as Dementia Matters by the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center rather than a book since research can go pretty fast.
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Oct 7, 2022 07:16
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I've been listening to Richard Adams' Shardik again, and it's so brilliant.
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Dec 12, 2022 16:32
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Kinda grateful true crime is so popular, even though it puzzles me. I wrote about this earlier today in another thread but when it comes to crime, people seem to prefer two things: mobsters and serial killers. Hard to think of two things more opposed and thus they should intrigue us for entirely different reasons. In any event, true crime's popularity means they get lots of audiobooks, and some of those audiobooks aer made from books worth learning from. The most recommended quality Ted Bundy book I could find was called Ted Bundy: The Only Living Witness and it had an audiobook...that wasn't available in thE US. Luckily found a way around that. Change your credit card address to UK if you want it and use a Credit. Why We Love Serial Killers. Glad I found this book. Not only does it touch on my ponderings about the macabre allure of this sorta thing, it's read by fuckin' Keith Szarabajka. On the absolute flipside, I don't think I've ever been so disappointed upon finding a book I wanted was in audiobook form: Serial Murderers and Their Victims. Apparently this is one of the most important books on the topic...and the narrator is the worst reader of all time. I very rarely have a problem with audiobook readers, even if they aren't great. But this person is actively bad and un-listenable.
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Jan 6, 2023 03:37
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Can anyone recommend an alternative to Audible? I'm mostly interested in public domain stuff/historical/early modern/eighteenth-century/classics/antiquity.
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Jan 6, 2023 05:13
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CommonShore posted:Can anyone recommend an alternative to Audible? I'm mostly interested in public domain stuff/historical/early modern/eighteenth-century/classics/antiquity. There's a site that does public domain books recorded by normal people iirc. It was posted some years ago in the thread.
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Jan 6, 2023 05:15
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Mister Facetious posted:There's a site that does public domain books recorded by normal people iirc. It was posted some years ago in the thread. well I don't need it to be free - I'd rather it be good and have a good selection and not be owned by Amazon. I just added my interests because I'm assuming that various platforms have smaller/more focused selections.
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Jan 6, 2023 05:21
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Mister Facetious posted:There's a site that does public domain books recorded by normal people iirc. It was posted some years ago in the thread.
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Jan 6, 2023 05:22
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mystes posted:librivox? I don't remember. Maybe.
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Jan 6, 2023 06:12
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CommonShore posted:well I don't need it to be free - I'd rather it be good and have a good selection and not be owned by Amazon. I just added my interests because I'm assuming that various platforms have smaller/more focused selections. Honestly, Audible blows away anything else. If you're dead set against it.... I dunno, a library card? Buying books on the apple store?
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Jan 6, 2023 06:44
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It sucks that Audible is the biggest game in town because for at least the last year I've consistently had Bluetooth audio lag issues with their app - and only their app - that are very frequent and very annoying. None of the troubleshooting steps I've found improve it at all.
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Jan 6, 2023 13:35
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CommonShore posted:Can anyone recommend an alternative to Audible? I'm mostly interested in public domain stuff/historical/early modern/eighteenth-century/classics/antiquity. Librivox is absolutely what you want. Solid app and a library that's exclusively public domain materials. You'll have to do some digging to find good narrators, but hey it's free!
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Jan 6, 2023 16:07
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MeatwadIsGod posted:It sucks that Audible is the biggest game in town because for at least the last year I've consistently had Bluetooth audio lag issues with their app - and only their app - that are very frequent and very annoying. None of the troubleshooting steps I've found improve it at all.
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Jan 6, 2023 16:21
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It’s possible that’s a device problem and not an app problem. Not every audio device implements Bluetooth correctly and most of the time apps muddle through by making assumptions but you can end up with weird glitches. I threw out my first Bluetooth headphones because they glitched and beeped/screamed at max volume in my ears.
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Jan 6, 2023 18:56
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CrazySalamander posted:It’s possible that’s a device problem and not an app problem. Not every audio device implements Bluetooth correctly and most of the time apps muddle through by making assumptions but you can end up with weird glitches. I threw out my first Bluetooth headphones because they glitched and beeped/screamed at max volume in my ears. Nexus/Pixel phones would gently caress up Bluetooth every other letter update almost like clockwork.
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Jan 6, 2023 19:34
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mystes posted:What do you mean bluetooth audio lag issues? I would normally assume you mean a/v sync but since audiobooks are purely audio do you just mean it's slow to respond when you pause or skip or something? Basically frequent slowdown of audio playback and clipping/crackling. Once every 10 minutes or so the audio playback slows to a crawl, give or take. CrazySalamander posted:It’s possible that’s a device problem and not an app problem. Not every audio device implements Bluetooth correctly and most of the time apps muddle through by making assumptions but you can end up with weird glitches. I threw out my first Bluetooth headphones because they glitched and beeped/screamed at max volume in my ears. It could be my Android phone, maybe. I've had this phone and bluetooth headphones for years and have only had issues with using the Audible app with Bluetooth for the past year or two. It's the only app I've ever had this issue with (YouTube, Spotify, Soundcloud, etc. have never had any issues w/ playback on Bluetooth) but who knows. I get the same problem with Audible when pairing with a bunch of different Bluetooth headphones, speakers, etc. but maybe there was an Android firmware update within the last year or two that really hosed with the Audible app. MeatwadIsGod fucked around with this message at 23:42 on Jan 6, 2023 |
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Jan 6, 2023 22:55
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On android you could try turning on developer mode and messing around with the bluetooth codec settings I guess. If it's just a problem with the phone or device I'm not sure what the chances are that that will help tough.
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Jan 6, 2023 23:15
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CommonShore posted:Can anyone recommend an alternative to Audible? I'm mostly interested in public domain stuff/historical/early modern/eighteenth-century/classics/antiquity. Late to this question but there is also libro.fm They do a lot of newer stuff and have a great selection of that but I haven't checked recently for public domain stuff. They are also cool in that they give back to independent bookstores!
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Feb 6, 2023 06:02
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Teh Madd Hatter posted:Late to this question but there is also libro.fm checking it out!
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Feb 6, 2023 17:26
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I have an unused credit on Audible. How’s the Neuromancer or Snowcrash audiobooks? Anybody is ten to them?
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Feb 11, 2023 04:21
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Valicious posted:I have an unused credit on Audible. How’s the Neuromancer or Snowcrash audiobooks? Anybody is ten to them? Nope, but the Diamond Age one is quite good.
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Feb 12, 2023 05:27
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Just don’t expect a story with a satisfying ending when reading Neal Stephenson.
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Feb 12, 2023 06:07
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GlassEye-Boy posted:Nope, but the Diamond Age one is quite good. Audible/Stephenson should invest in a re-recording. The current version sounds terrible.
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Feb 12, 2023 20:58
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