Normal service has been resumed and we’re back after our late summer break! Look out for our September Picks next week, and in the meantime, here’s what the Gals are listening to this week.
BJ
Narrated by Rachel Fulgintini
Caz
Narrated by Garrett Kiesel
Kaetrin
Narrated by Joel Leslie
Melinda
Narrated by Emma Wilder
I’ve been relistening a lot lately because life was sad for a while (we had to put a beloved pet to sleep) and I needed comfort reads. New books I’ve listened to recently that were winners were The Ruin of the Rake by Cat Sebastian (wasn’t fond of Gary Furlong’s narrative style on it, though**), Waiting for the Flood by Alexis Hall narrated by Alexander Doddy ( I liked the narration for the most part, but he did chop sentences into phrases in odd ways at times. His character voices were really strong, however.) and Switched by N.R. Walker, narrated by the always wonderful Joel Leslie.
Right now I’m listening to Daybreak by Kate Hawthorn, narrated by Kale Williams and Kirk Graves. So far, so good.
** I listened to samples of his narration on other books, and it’s a mixed bag. However, I realized that First Impressions by Jay Hogan is narrated by Gary Furlong, and I really enjoyed that narration. I don’t remember hearing any of the issues I had with his narration of the Sebastian books. So I’m open to more books narrated by him.
I liked Gary Furlong the first time I heard him although I did have some reservations – but over the last few years he’s gone from “good” to “superb” in most of the books I’ve listened to him in. He’s amazingly versatile and can somehow pull about 30 different character voices out of the hat when called to. If you haven’t listened to Dal Maclean’s Bitter Legacy trilogy, then I highly recommend them (I think he does some of his best work in them) – but you might want to check out my reviews first, because they’re not easy listens.
The Hawthorne is one of the V&V series I did in print rather than audio – it was okay (a C+/B- I think) – although I’m sure with those two narrators, it’s better in audio!
I think I’ve read your reviews of the Maclean series and decided against them, but I’ll check again. I definitely liked Furlong on First Impressions, though, so I’m game to give him another go.
I’m not sure about Daybreak. The narrators are good, but the story is weak, and at this point I don’t really like either protagonist that much, especially Liam. He feels selfish, or at least thoughtless, and immature. Plus, I’m not sure I like the writing. I can’t put my finger on it, but I keep thinking, “that doesn’t sound like what someone would say (or feel, or do) in this situation.” It’s early on, though, so I’m trying to keep an open mind.
IMO Gary Furlong’s narration of Dal Maclean’s ‘Bitter Legacy’ trilogy is one of those ‘special books/special narrations’ combos that are not often achieved. The books are great, and although gritty, are gritty in a very realistically British way so you may be okay with them, Carrie. In the same way, I’m okay with Gregory Ashe’s books because they bear no relation to my real life – Not My Kind Of Villains! Gary Furlong’s narration is terrific. His accents are much more nuanced than many narrators so he is able to depict ethnicity, class, age etc through his voice very realistically.
Well, I can’t handle the angst in Ashe’s books, so if it’s anything like that I won’t enjoy it. I wish I could, but I know me. :-) However, my library has the audios of Maclean’s books, so I can give one a try without buying it, so I’lllikely do that at some point.
Furlong’s style on the Cat Sebastian books was different than the Hogan book I listened to, so if he sticks closer to that one (the Hogan) I’ll be ok. I like his voice, just not the sing-song way he narrated the historicals.
I thought the story in Daybreak was pretty weak, tbh, so I haven’t rushed to listen to it. I reviewed the book at AAR – I gave it a B- but I think that was probably mostly for Jasper. The romance didn’t really work for me.
You might have seen my review. I didn’t care for the book, and although I liked the narration it didn’t bring the enjoyment up for me. And Kirt Grave’s voice for Jasper’s too angsty and full of pathos. I like Graves’ voice overall, though, and would definitely give him another try.
Finished “Just One Look” yesterday. Rosalind James’ NZed books are an autobuy for me and she just gets better and better at crafting complex, realistic characters with foibles and strengths. And Emma Wilder is a champion narrator, so the stories are my fuzzy blanket listens.
I went on a NR Walker binge last week and listened to the whole Red Dirt series. Joel Leslie is really talented. I miss being in that world already.
I read the Red Dirt series in print actually and enjoyed it. I’m generally a fan of NRW’s books :)
I listened to The Salisbury Key by Harper Fox and really enjoyed it. I liked her writing style and the slightly mystical edge to the suspense. I was totally gripped by the story until the end, when the mystery was solved just a bit too easily and I’m not sure that, after they got their HEA, the MCs would have gone off to do what they did! Who knows, perhaps she was leaving it open for a sequel……… Hamish Long’s narration was sublime – he most definitely narrated one of the hits of 2020 under a different name.
I then listened to Understatement of the Year by Sarina Bowen, which I believe is very popular. I enjoyed both the story and the narration by Teddy Hamilton and Christian Fox – I particularly liked the one voicing Rikker, even though his pronunciation of Graham and Gran sounded very similar to my English ears! I felt that, although it had similarities with Him, it had enough differences to make it successful. I was drawn to the character of Bella – she seemed such a bright, sparky character and the beginning and then seemed to get all the stuffing knocked out of her – and discovered that her story was also available on Audible Plus.
So I next listened to Bella’s story which is The Shameless Hour, narrated by Saskia Maarleveld and Nick Podehl. Well, things got very much worse for Bella before they got better but Rafe is the best book boyfriend ever! There were some cameos from Graham and Rikker, of course, with one near the end being particularly lovely. I liked both the narrators, my only quibble being some inconsistencies in the pronunciations of names.
I’ve just started listening to Conscious Decisions of the Heart, Book 2 of John Wiltshire’s More Heat Than the Sun series, influenced by the discussion above about Gary Furlong! I enjoyed the first book and fancy a bit of bonkers escapism!!!
I listened to something else in which a character was called Graham, and it was pronounced “Gram” – so I think that must be the way Americans pronounce it, which makes no sense, but… *shrug* I can’t remember who voices who in that one, as it’s a while since I’ve listened to it, but they’re both terrific.
Watch this space for a review of the Wiltshire. I thought it was a bit uneven (Gary is awesome of course!) and liked book 3 a lot more.
(And yes, Hamish Long IS who you think he is!)
I don’t think the pronunciation of Graham as “gram” is a consistent pronunciation in the US. It could be more of a regional thing. It’s a big country and pronunciation for a lot of words can vary wildly in different areas. In my own family we can’t reach a consensus on how to pronounce “pecan.” I was raised pronouncing it “puh-KAAN.” My husband’s family says PEA-can. The dictionary actually says both are acceptable pronunciations. Go figure.
Anyway, if I read the word I’d read it as Gray-um. Definitely two syllables. I confess in normal, everyday speech, which tends to be more quickly paced, I might swallow the “h”. As in, “Is Gra’am coming?” But I definitely don’t normally hear the name pronounced “Gram” the US. I don’t think it’s usual.