Louiseog Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 I love audio books and the llisten again to plays on BBC radios 4 and 7. All the time, but don't really do music Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarahrob Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 both The Hobbit & Lord of the Rings radio plays are wearing out now Somewhere I have got a box set of records for The Hobbit. I used to love them and listen to them non-stop. Sadly, I no longer have a record player, but one day I'll get someone to put them onto CDs for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Yuo could most likely download them from somewhere, Sarah - then you can listen to them while you're on the computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 This might be a good one to bump up, for our newer members to take a look, and comment on. Thanks. It's funny you should bump that thread now, as I was recently thinking about trying some audio books. I haven't ever listened to any, but I am toying with the idea of starting walking to keep fit (I'm doing the Race for Life the weekend after next, and will just about manage to walk the 5k as I'm very unfit) and I thought a good audiobook might be just the thing to keep me company. My husband listens to them in the car, as he has a long journey to and from work each day in the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiccibat Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 I never thought of downloading them Kell, I checked out my library, they only have them on tape and I only have a very old and delicate walkman. No other tape player at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 If you go to Project Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org/) they have many of their downloads available as audio books & the best bit is, it'a free, because they'er all books that are out of copyright - hurrah! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 I've noticed a few members mentioning audio books on their reading logs and I wondered, since I'm pretty new to audio books (I've mostly listened to radio plays instead), which ones people have heard, which they would recommend, and if anyone downloads them from the internet at all - if so, which sites do you recommend? Do you prefer short stories, novellas or novels? Classics or contemporaries? Tell me all - I want to know so I can fill my ipod up with good reading! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madcow Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 At this rate I'm going to have to invest i an ipod, well at least it would stop hubby from moaning about all the books I have and want Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 My sister has to travel for 2 hours for work each day and she has been thinking about getting a few audio books. I know she was thinking about getting Labyrinth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KW Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 Do the libraries rent them out there like they do in the US? audio books? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 Yes, there are some audio books in our libraries, but we seem to have a pitifully small selection & many of them are on tape instead of CD, which is no use when you no longer have a tape deck (haven't had one of those for years - LOL!). I was thinking more of downloadable ones from the internet - I figured this might be the opportunity to get cracking on some of the classics as they're all out of copyright & therefore usually available to download as e-books, so I thought I'd try getting some of them as audio books if I could download for free. Are there any particular download sites or audio books that people would specifically recommend? And if so, which ones have you used yourselves...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugar Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 I can't really help with recommendations, Kell, as I only ever "re-read" on audio. I didn't like Gabrielle Kruger doing Jasper Fforde for ISIS, but I much prefer her to Emily Gray on the Clipper versions. Libraries are getting more on CD now - in fact some of the publishers no longer produce them on cassette. Although, interestingly, one Visually Impaired Reader told me recently that he only wanted cassettes as on CD he found it really hard to find his place. With the advances in technology, CD players now remembering where you stopped it, I'm sure that's not going to be an on-going problem but many of our older members can't keep up with the equipment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosegarden Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 I downloaded The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett from http://www.librivox.org. I haven't listened to it yet so can't recommend it or otherwise. All the books, poems and short stories on there are read by volunteers and are in the public domain so they are mostly the classic books. Carole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purple Poppy Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 I had a peep at Carol's recommendation after chatting on the other thread. It looks good. Loads of titles to choose from. I might even volunteer to read some time. PP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polka Dot Rock Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 I've been listening to the Doctor Who: Feast of the Drowned audiobook that came free with the Christmas/New Year Radio Times, lol. It's actually really good, David Tennant reads it so that's a simultaneously authentic and bizarre experience! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 We only have the 1st part, PDR, but you're right, he does a pretty good impression of Rose too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maureen Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 What if anything, would you think/feel about the readers voice? As i have no experience of Audio books, I have no idea of what to expect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purple Poppy Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 I've just come back from my first visit to Aberdeen Library. No, I didn't come back empty handed. I picked up four teenage books, (research) and four audio books which I am quite excited about. There wasn't a bad selection, I thought, enough to keep me going for a while. The ones I brought home are: The Cat who Smelled a Rat - Lillian Jackson Braun The Cat who Turned on and Off - Lillian Jackson Braun Heavenly Date - Alexander McCall Smith The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - Anne Bronte. I had just put The cat Who books on my 'wanting to read list' so I am really pleased with them, and I thought I'd get the Anne Bronte as it's a possible read for next month's Posh club, our local book group. Maureen said; What if anything, would you think/feel about the readers voice? As i have no experience of Audio books, I have no idea of what to expect. I've had a few audio books before, and listened to alot of Radio 4 readings. Its like everything else, its pot luck. Some voices grate. Some are enchanting. Some readers don't read in the way you would...almost like a different interpretation, with inflections etc that put you off, and others leave you spellbound and seem to develop a rapport with their listeners. It's a personal thing. I don't think I've ever turned off the radio because I didn't like the reader, but I have lost interest before and wandered off to do something else. It'll be interesting to see how I get on with this latest batch. PP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 What if anything, would you think/feel about the readers voice? As i have no experience of Audio books, I have no idea of what to expect.If you're unlucky and don't like the narrator's voice, it can be really off-putting. one of the short stories I downloaded from BMW (the Karin Slaughter one), wasn't a brilliant story enyway, but it would have helped if the reader had actually had any life in her voice - it was completely flat & drawling, so I felt bored throughout. Whereas, the one that was narrated by the guy who plays Owen in Torchwood, and the one read by one of the guys who was in The High Life, were both great to listen to - very expressive - & I got a lot more out of them. It helped that the stories were better too though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polka Dot Rock Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 For anyone who's interested, the Radio Times are giving away another free Doctor Who audiobook with this weeks' issue - it's Part One of The Stone Rose (terrible pun, but the blurb sounds quite good). Part Two will be given away with next week's RT. (I'm cross-posting this to the Doctor Who thread in Music/Film/TV room) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polka Dot Rock Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 The one that was narrated by the guy who plays Owen in Torchwood... What audio book was that, Kell? I'd love to hear him read a Dickens - he was so good in Bleak House, I can really imagine it. Oliver Twist, perhaps - I'd like to hear Burn Gorman's interpretations of Fagin and Nancy, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maureen Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 , but we seem to have a pitifully small selection & many of them are on tape instead of CD,.? Here too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purple Poppy Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Maureen quoted Kell Quote: Originally Posted by Kell , but we seem to have a pitifully small selection & many of them are on tape instead of CD,.? and then said Here too. See. if you'd hung onto your tape cassette players you'd have more choice...like moi! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 What audio book was that, Kell? I'd love to hear him read a Dickens - he was so good in Bleak House, I can really imagine it. Oliver Twist, perhaps - I'd like to hear Burn Gorman's interpretations of Fagin and Nancy, lol.It was The Debt by Simon Kernick, which I downloaded free from BMW. I personally thought it was the best of the four on there, even if it was the shortest one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purple Poppy Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 I've just downloaded The Debt Kell. Will try and have a listen sometime in the next few days. PP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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