Around here, we're pretty big fans of audiobooks. It wasn't always that way, though...
Jen: I actually shied away from audiobooks forever because I thought the story would be diminished, lose some of its impact, if I wasn't reading it myself. But then I heard about the SYNC program during the summer of 2011, and one of the books on offer was Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver. I'd already read the book, so I thought it was the perfect way to try out an audiobook, and it was even better than I remembered. I was hooked from that point on. It's true that some narrators enhance the story, while others detract from it, but once you become a true connoisseur of audiobook narrators, you'll know which ones work for you and which ones do not. Now, I probably listen to more books each year than I actually read, which would have seemed crazy to my pre-SYNC self. And now I've converted several friends to the way of the audiobook, including the bestest co-blogger ever!
April: If you told me last year that I would someday be listening to audiobooks, I probably would have laughed at you. Along with give you a million excuses as to why I don't like them. It's funny because my brother noticed recently how into them I've been and brought up how I told him years ago that audiobooks are for lazy people who can't read for themselves. To my defense, he's my little brother and it was more of an insult to him, because that's what siblings do. I realize now that I was wrong. Oh so wrong, and when he called me on it I hung my head in shame and admitted so.
After I started blogging with Jen, we got into a discussion about audiobooks and I gave her all the same excuses I give everyone, but in all honesty I just wasn't giving them a real chance. So I asked her to tell me what book to start out with. She said either They Sky is Everywhere or The Scorpio Races. Those were my first two and I've been hooked ever since. She is awesome and I'm so glad I listened to her.
To celebrate the fact that June is Audiobook Month, we're going to give two lucky winners -- I'll pick one and April will pick the other -- their choice of one of our favorite listens from the list below. This giveaway is open internationally, as long as you're able to accept and listen to an audiobook via Audible.
Rules:
- This giveaway is international. As long as you can accept and listen to audiobooks via Audible, you're good to go.
- One entry per household.
- Entries will be verified. Any entry found to be falsified will result in disqualification of all entries for that participant. If you have a giveaway only Twitter account, expect those tweets not to be counted, as well.
- Winner will be notified via email. Winner will then have 48 hours to respond before another winner will be selected. Please check your SPAM folder!!!
- We are not responsible for lost packages.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks for entering & happy listening!
I haven't listened to any audiobook yet. Like April thought it was for lazy people. But I got Cruel Beauty last week. So I am curious to find out what I think about audio books :)
ReplyDeleteI don't really do audiobooks. That being said, Will Grayson Will Grayson is freaking hysterical and I love it.
ReplyDeleteThe Daughter of Smoke & Bone audiobook is AMAZING! So is The Sea of Tranquility. And Code Name Verity. I've become a major audiobook addict!
ReplyDeleteI have never listed to one before and why I do not know. I would love try it out.
ReplyDeleteI haven't listened to one in a long time. I think the last one I listened to was Are You There God, It's Me Margaret.
ReplyDeleteI loved the If I Stay and Where She Went audiobooks. I also enjoyed Two Boys Kissing :)
ReplyDeleteAmerican On Purpose by Craig Ferguson
ReplyDeleteI have only listened to the museum of extraordinary things but I LOVED it. It made the book better and I could clean and read at the same time. Talk about mind blown!! I really need to hook myself up to this more. I'll be closely following to see the good narrators. Thank ladies :-)
ReplyDeleteI really really loved Code Name Verity! I think it was done by Bolinda Audio books? Anyhow, the accents were fabulous and it made me finish the book, whereas I'd dnf'ed it originally. I DO love audio books, but I need something to do while I listen or I get too jittery. x)
ReplyDeleteI've never really got into audiobook, maybe its the voice, don't get me wrong I've tried but I swear I end up getting people with monotone voices and I just cant get into it. I'd love to find one that had a good speaker, maybe then I could listen to a book while working out or playing a videogame :D
ReplyDeleteI haven't started b/c I don't have time :) Which I know is the appeal of audio books, that you can multitask. So one of my goals this year is to start. I've downloaded the free Sync titles and I'm excited to get started!
ReplyDeleteOf course I don't just have one favorite audio book. I loved Outlander, Rotters, Joyland, an Beautiful Ruins. I don't have a favorite narrator yet but all of the narrators of these books are awesome! Audiobooks are awesome!!
ReplyDeleteCode Name Verity and its narrators are some of the best I've ever heard. Highly recommended!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, The Sky is Everywhere was an excellent recommendation! I loved the audio so much I bought a hardback copy too :) My favorite narrator is hands down Nick Podehl. I will listen to just about anything he has narrated. There are a dozen or so narrators that I like almost as well. My favorite audiobook is The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. Honestly, I'm not sure I would have fallen in love with the book if I had read versus listened.
ReplyDeleteI so love audios. Couldn't live without them. :) My favorite narrators right now... Well, I love Sebastian York and Zachary Webber in NAs. I also love Elizabeth Louise, who does the Ten Tiny Breaths series, which is one of my very favorites. I tend to enjoy YA contemporaries the most on audio. Thanks for the giveaway! :)
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love Khristine Hvam (she was my first narrator). I remember tweeting you wayyy back asking for a recomm and you recommended Daughter of Smoke and Bone :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a ride that series was!!!
I love Morven Christie as a narrator too - Code Name Verity and Burial Rites.
These days I'm listening to Katharine McEwan reading The Beautiful and The Cursed. I love British accents!
Also Feed by Mira Grant (narrated by Paula Christensen) was exceptional!!. It made the Zombie Apocalypse more scary if that was possible.
In case of Epic Fantasies, I adore Michael Page. He narrates Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastards series and it a treat to listen to it!!
Thanks for hooking me to Audible! :)
I've never listened to one before. As much as I would like to try it, I felt that if I ever did listen, I'd doze off and would miss a giant chunk of the story.
ReplyDeleteI've never listened to an audiobook before. I get distracted easily so I feel like if I were to listen to one, I'd have to replay parts over because I missed them. And I don't know where to get audiobooks... heh.
ReplyDeleteRebecca Soler is one of my most favorite narrators. Her narration on The Lunar Chronicles series is AMAZING. I also love Tavia Gilbert and Bahni Turpin.
ReplyDeleteI recently listened to two Chicagoland Vampire books and loved them and would love to "read/listen" to more!
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ReplyDeleteI never had a chance to try audiobook. I think because I'm not a good listener but I'd like to try it though.
ReplyDeleteI have just recently become obsessed with audiobooks. I learned about the whole SYNC free audiobook thing last year (from your blog, actually, so thanks!!!) and downloaded every book they offered each week. I had never listened to an audiobook before and the first one I tried was The Raven Boys. I found that I didn't like the narrator though, so I didn't even finish that and kinda gave up on audiobooks for a while. Then I tried Of Poseidon and didn't really like anything about it, the book or the narrator, but found that I liked being able to read a book while getting other things done. I also got through Carter Finally Gets It and unfortunately didn't enjoy that either. So I still didn't know if I enjoyed audiobooks or not.
ReplyDeleteThen recently SYNC was about to start up again so I went and picked up some random audiobooks from my library, including Independent Study so I could do a reread of it before I read Graduation Day. And that's when I realized how much I love audiobooks. Then I went back a few days later and got The Book Thief, which unfortunately didn't work out for me, but I also got Gabrielle Zevin's Memoir of a Teenage Amnesiac, Sarah Dessen's Lock and Key, and The Lightning Thief so I could reread the series before I start The Heroes of Olympus, plus I figured my daughter could listen to it with me, and she loves it too! Plus I got a Playaway of Panic by Lauren Oliver.
Anyway, sorry for rambling on, but my point is, I am hooked now and unfortunately my library doesn't offer most of your favorites from above so I would LOVE to win so I could try one of those. Thanks so much for originally convincing me to try audiobooks and also for this giveaway!
Hi! I've never listened to an audiobook before but you make it sound so intriguing. I guess I never have because my dad used to listen to them so I think they're for old people. I know that's dumb but, hey, it's honest. I really need to try one out! Thank-you!!
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ReplyDeleteMy first audiobook was when I listened to the Veronica Mars: The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line. I just thought that it would be an awesome accompaniment to the novel. I adored the Veronica Mars TV series and when I listened to Kristen Bell reading the book, it was just spectacular! I also enjoyed listening to Emily Janice Card narrating Charmed Thirds by Megan McCafferty :) She has a very soothing voice.
ReplyDeleteI haven't listen to audio books. I love to read. But I have heard great things. I was going to get the audio of The Windflower by Laura London due to rave reviews of the speaker. But the cost was too high.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I have never listened to an audiobook before...My mom loves them and my best friend has an audible account so with both sides I created one...I saw this giveaway and thought it must be a sign, so why not?
ReplyDeleteI have shied away from them because I have always been one who likes to hold the book in their hands, also the reason I have shied away from a nook or a kindle. i also thought that I wouldn't be able to get into the story because it might be spoken too fast. But, when visiting my grandma, who has a kindle, she forced me to read a YA book she had read that she loved and was convinced I would love too. I humored her. Not only did I love the book and finish it by the end of the day, I found that the kindle actually wasn't that horrible to read off of...I'm hoping the audio book experience will be similar.
I've stumbled upon audiobooks about 2 years ago when looking for a book online and I started alternating between actual books and audio ones ... I can put my headphones on and go wherever I need to without stopping my reading sesion. Still get frustrated at times when I 'accidentally' get an abridged version of the audiobook which I hate ... those take away from the story :)
ReplyDeleteI've only listened to Harry Potter with Stephen Fry :) I don't know, I've just never gotten round to it! But I really want to, people rave about it :D
ReplyDeleteI love Jim Dale's audiobooks... especially The Night Circus and the Harry Potter books.
ReplyDeleteThe Daughter of Smoke and Bone series and Harry Potter are two of my favorite series on audio!
ReplyDeleteI have too many, but I'll listen to anything by Zachary Webber and Sebastian York. Elizabeth Louise is another favorite too and MacLeod Andrews. Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteNeil Gaiman's narration of his THE GRAVEYARD BOOK is one of my favorites.
ReplyDeletei don't have a favorite narrator... my favorite audiobook is splintered! :)
ReplyDeleteI think one of my favorite audiobooks has to be Eleanor & Park!
ReplyDeleteUmm, I never remember the narrator (which is a shame), but The Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss was amazing. Oh, and so were The Witches by Roadl Dahl - when listening to both, I would laugh out loud in the street and people would look at me funny...
ReplyDeleteKaja @ Of Dragons and Hearts (http://ofdragonsandhearts.com)
I have only listened to Just Don't Fall by Josh Sundquist because it's free :P. I'd like to listen to more, though, audio books are especially good when I'm jogging!
ReplyDeleteI've never actually used audio books before. I think it's because I love sitting down and flipping through the pages of a book while I read it. But I have been wanting to try to get into them for a while so this is a great opportunity.
ReplyDeleteI love the audiobook Of Poseidon by Anna Banks and narrated by Rebecca Gibel. But my favorite so far is the series of The Caster Chronicles, specially Beautiful Chaos. That audiobook gave me the creeps with special sound effects, and even the shadowing songs being actual songs! It was awesome. I find audiobooks to be great because I can listen to them when I'm cooking, cleaning, or doing anything that doesn't require too much thought involved. They've also helped with my book challenge xD
ReplyDeleteI loved whoever first started narrating the Janet Evanovich "Stephanie Plum" series. They changed in the middle of the series and I couldn't stand that narrator. They did it completely different so Grandma Mazur etc. all sounded different. It was like going home for Christmas and everybody has the same name but they all sound different like you might be in the wrong house or something! It was like the Twilight Zone! LOL!!!
ReplyDeleteI rarely listen to audiobooks. I did listen to Love Life by Rob Lowe and really enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteAmerican On Purpose by Craig Ferguson
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