A List of Five: What I'm Listening To

I've been on a huge audio book kick lately - partly because I gave into the temptation of an Audible membership (which I'm going to cancel soon Noel, I swear... *ahem*) and partly because I've had a lot of listening time. Audiobooks are perfect for the box-packing, house-cleaning, painting phase of life I'm in right now.

I've had some great success with my selections lately too - I've listened to some fantastic stuff. Mostly mysteries, sorry for the lack of variety, but I promise, they're excellent!

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, narrated by Julia Whelan and Kirby Heyborne. I think it might be a waste of time to review this, since so many great book bloggers already have. Read reviews of it here, here and here. Be warned: the language is ROUGH. F-bombs galore. But the story is irresistibly creepy, and I was genuinely surprised twice, which is hard when you read as many mysteries as I do. Whelan and Heyborne both did a superb job narrating - they completely nailed the nuances of Amy and Nick's complicated characters.

The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg, narrated by David Thorn. I'm going to have to dedicate a whole post to Camilla soon. (Yes, I feel like I adore her enough that we're on a first name basis now). I've fallen in love with her books, and have gotten Meghan hooked on them too. They're really great Swedish mysteries - and I identify so much with Erika, one of the main protagonists, than I can't get enough of them. Thorn's narration is generally excellent, although I do think his inflection made Inspector Patrik Hedstrom sound slightly dumb, which he definitely isn't. But I like how all the Swedish names and places rolled off his tongue.

 

Necessary as Blood by Deborah Crombie, narrated by Jenny Sterlin. Yes, yes, my addiction to the works of Deborah Crombie continues. In this one Gemma and Duncan are (a) trying to plan their wedding (b) worried about Gemma's mom who has cancer (c) still adapting to life with 2 kids [from their previous relationships] (d) investigating the murder of a Pakistani man and (e) just as loveable as ever. Like seriously, I want them to invite me over for omelets. Sterlin's accents are amazing. She absolutely nails posh public school, east end Cockney, Bangladeshi, West Indian, and more. The investigation takes place all over London, and Sterlin gets every accent right.

Still Life by Louise Penny, narrated by Ralph Cosham. A few months ago one of you (I forgot who, I'm sorry!) emailed me to tell me that I really needed to listen to Louise Penny's books. And, you were totally right. I'm sad it took me this long to listen to you. Chief Inspector Gamache is a great character - the small town Quebec setting is intoxicating, and the characters are so real. I want to be friends with some of them, and smack some sense into others. Cosham does a great job with both the Francophone and English accents, and makes the not-too-suspenseful mystery irresistible. I can't wait to listen to the next book, A Fatal Grace, which I've already purchased.

The Unknown Ajax by Georgette Heyer, narrated by Daniel Philpott. As you all know, Georgette Heyer is my favorite author. Since I own all of her books in print, I haven't listened to many on audio. I really enjoyed listening to Anthea and Hugh's romance - Philpott brought the prim-and-proper-yet-slapstick story and Kentish setting to life. He did open and close his mouth audibly though. At first it distracted me, but I got used to it.

What have YOU been listening to?

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