So here we are, seeing out all the March Madness with another eclectic mix of listening choices. The clocks go forward this weekend in my neck of the woods (I always bitterly resent that lost hour of sleep!) and the garden is definitely looking more spring-like, with daffodils and primroses starting to emerge and more green-stuff around!
Here’s what the Gals are listening to this week.
BJ
Narrated by Tavia Gilbert
Caz
Narrated by Kale Williams
Em
Narrated by Gary Furlong
Kaetrin
Narrated by Christine Lakin, Maxwell Hamilton, Zach Villa & Jake Abel
Melinda
Narrated by Charlotte North
Shannon
Narrated by Ruth Urquhart
I started the week with At Attention by Annabeth Albert,narrated by Cooper North. Itwas a solid B with North’s narration more of a B+/A-. I’d have gone on with the series but I’ve used up my Hoopla borrows for this month,so I have to wait. :-)
Last Monday I sprained my ankle in a freak misstep and was feeling very put-upon. I had a strong desire to listen to something to make me feel better (read that as “feel less cranky at having my entire week’s plans up-ended”) , so I chose Stella Riley. I relistened to The Parfit Knight next. It was pure pleasure and did lessen my cranky-butt attitude. (P.S- the swelling is down some and I can put weight on it. I even went to the pharmacy this morning, although now I’m sitting with my feet up again. )
I then decided to look for books available at the library on Overdrive, a different digital app than Hoopla. They have lots of books, but not the same selection–lots more tried and true names. I found Wicked Widow by Amanda Quick,which has been on my TBR list for years. I didn’t care for it and think, not for the first time, that I’m probably past the time where I enjoyed Quick’s writing. Barbara Rosenblat is a wonderful narrator and although I know a few listeners have complained about her audible breaths, I don’t generally notice them. In this book,however, there was a short section where the noises distracted me,perhaps a little technical glitch adding to the problem.
Now I’m relistening to Him, and enjoying it as much as I did the first time, although this time I had to wonder if Jamie would have made it to 24 without realizing he was also attracted to men? Anyway, I found out if you buy the kindle edition the audiobook is $1.99 in the US, so together that was still less than half the price of an Audible credit, so Yay!
I’ve been sort of on a relisten for comfort jag, so I’m not sure if I’ll try something new, or do some more relistening in the coming week.
I listened to ‘Him’ just a little while ago and I thought that Jamie had realised he was bi?
I’ve finished listening to the first ‘Significant Brothers’ by E. Davies this week. I’m glad that you get to know why it’s called ‘Splinter’ towards the end! I’m very much enjoying the narration by Greg Boudreaux – his narrations of books that I haven’t previously read seem to work for me, which is not always the case. I’m not sure yet whether I’ll go straight on to listening to the next book, which seems to feature meerkats, or listen to something from on my TBR.
A lot of the time now, if I see a book is being narrated by Greg B., I just wait for the audio and don’t bother with print first.
Wendy, he comes to that conclusion about halfway through the book. My thought this time was it seems surprising that he never realized any earlier, before his encounter with Wes, that he was attracted to men as well as women. It’s a small thing and didn’t affect my enjoyment.
I recently decided to take another look at my library’s audiobook offerings… but as it was the last time I looked a few years ago, romance – what we’d recognise as real, proper genre romance as opposed to family sagas, chick-lit or women’s fiction – is very poorly represented. And I couldn’t find ANY m/m romance at all. (They do have other LGBTQ fiction, just not romance.) I have no idea why, although I do feel the genre is regarded very differently here (which is another story entirely) which I imagine is part of the reason. So it’s Audible all the way here, (unless I’ve got review copies!). I have their 24 credit per year plan which means credits are around £4.50 each, and when I run out I can buy three for £11, so it’s really good value.
I hope your ankle is back to normal soon!
Wow, Caz, if I’m reading the conversion table right (1 pound = $1.38), your audiobooks through Audible cost about half what mine do. 3 credits on a “gift card” cost $30, or about 22 pounds. My monthly subscription for one credit is $15. A24credit yearly membership would still be $9.50 a credit.
My library has a decent amount of m/m on Hoopla, but almost none in Overdrive.
It’s definitely cheaper here – the monthly plan is £7.99 ($11 at current rates) and it’s been that price since the beginning; I’ve been a member for about 12 years. I put that down to the fact that until fairly recently the selection was smaller because of the number of books that were geographically restricted. But I think the actual purchase prices are a bit cheaper in the US, if you want to buy something without using a credit. (Which I never do, but…)