Teaser Tuesday & Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten (Audio) Books I’ve Listened To So Far In 2015

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Page 1: "The following day, no one died. This fact, being absolutely contrary to life's rules, provoked enormous and, in the circumstances, perfectly justifiable anxiety in people's minds, for we have only to consider that in the entire forty volumes of universal history there is no mention, not even one exemplary case, of such a phenomenon ever having occurred, for a whole day to go by, with its generous allowance of twenty-four hours, diurnal and nocturnal, matutinal and vespertine, without one death from an illness, a fatal fall, or a successful suicide, not one, not a single one."

José Saramago, Death with Interruptions

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. They created the meme because they love lists. Who doesn’t love lists? They wanted to share these list with fellow book lovers and ask that we share in return to connect with our fellow book lovers. To learn more about participating in the challenge, stop by their page dedicated to it and dive in!

This week’s topic: Top Ten (Audio) Books I’ve Listened To So Far In 2015

As we head into the month of July and Audio Month comes to a close, I thought I’d use June’s final TTT as one last hurrah to all the audiobooks I have liked/loved so far this year!

The Country of Ice Cream Star by Sandra Newman, narrated by Lisa Renee Pitts

Granted, in my review of this, I did give a warning that the invented patois might not sit well with everyone and could be a bit difficult for some. However, Lisa Renee Pitts was an excellent fit for this book. Where this would’ve sounded silly coming from other narrators, she commanded this dialect and really made it feel like something that I could hear every day.

The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes, narrated by Justine Eyre

This was an unexpected read for me. I thought I’d give Patrick Weekes’ book a chance since I did like his writing style for The Masked Empire, even if I only felt “meh” about the story. And since I was able to read this through Kindle Unlimited, I thought, “Why the hell not?” This turned out to be more fun than I thought it would be. Justine Eyre was an incredible narrator for this caper. I’m sure I would’ve still liked this even if I hadn’t heard it narrated, but Eyre’s narration is what made me love it.

The Death of Captain America by Larry Hama, narrated by full ensemble

This was my first venture into GraphicAudio, which features a full cast along with sound effects. I listened to a story that I was already familiar with for my first choice. I figured, if I didn’t like it, at least I wouldn’t be left feeling obligated to finish it because I’d already know what’s going to happen. I wasn’t disappointed, though. This was well-voiced, and since listening to this one, I have actually listened to another full-length novel and 4 short stories produced by GraphicAudio.

The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett, narrated by Nigel Planer

I have a friend who’s rereading these books as he’s a big Pratchett fan, and I decided that I’d finally start my first read of these books and read along with him. This book was very entertaining, and I credit Nigel’s narration for that. He made passages highly amusing–something I don’t think would’ve happened had I just read the book without the narration.

Acacia: War with the Mein by David Anthony Durham, narrated by Dick Hill

I think I would’ve liked this book either way, but Dick Hill’s narration certainly didn’t hurt its chances. His voice has a very rich, deep quality, but he was still able to voice female characters pretty well. It’s all about the timbre and not the pitch. Hill really captured these character, giving each a unique voice.

The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells, narrated by Christopher Kipiniak

This book was amazing, and part of what made it amazing was Chris Kipiniak’s narration. He did an excellent job with most of the characters voices, especially Moon whose personality he seemed to capture perfectly with his narration. I can’t say enough good things about this book or Kipiniak’s narration.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, narrated by Bernadette Dunn

To quote myself about why I enjoyed this book and Dunn’s narration so much: “Her raspy reading voice helped to accentuate the creepiness of the story, but she did an excellent job creating voices and personality for the characters through her voice, as well. I don’t think this would have been quite as enjoyable without her narration of the story.”

Persuasion by Jane Austen, narrated by Juliet Stevenson 

I said I was going to stick to speculative reads, but Juliet Stevenson’s narration was so perfect that I couldn’t help mentioning this book. I think this is the first Austen book I felt truly invested in, and part of the reason might be because of the high quality narration. Now, I want to listen to all my favorite classics and wander into the classics I’ve never read before with her narration. Yes, she’s read a tremendous amount of classics.

The Once and Future King by T.H. White, narrated by Neville Jason

I wasn’t too impressed with this story, even though one of my favorite childhood Disney movies is based on part of this book (The Sword in the Stone), and I still don’t think Arthurian legend is high on my read list. However, Neville Jason was amazing. I credit him largely for why I kept reading this book. I’ll definitely have to listen to more book he’s narrated.

Pretty Little Dead Girls: A Novel of Murder and Whimsy by Mercedes M. Yardley, read by Khristine Hvam

I still need to write a review of this book, but both the book and the narrator are excellent. Khristine made it to my list of favorite narrators this year, and part of the reason why is this book right here. I’m almost tempted to listen to this again.