As a recap of the year, the Gals talked about a few of their favorite things in the past year…
Shannon
Best discovery of a book-related accessory: Purple earbuds made by Skullcandy. They’re comfortable, have awesome sound, and are tiny. I carry them with me everywhere, making listening while I go about my daily business easier than ever.
Caz
Being someone who has an aversion to all things that begin “i”, I’ve found the range of listening devices available to me has dwindled rather in recent years as more and more phones are taking over as multi-media players. There are lots of cheapo mp3 players out there, but the majority of those don’t support Audible formats, so they’re all no-nos. For the past few years I’ve been happily listening on a Sansa mp3 player, the Zip-Clip or the Clip-Sport, both of which are really compact and can take a micro SD card of up to 64GB, so there’s plenty of room for lots of lovely audiobooks! The functionality is great and they’re available at a price that doesn’t break the bank; I’ve paid around £30-£50 in the UK. So although I’ve been using one of these players for the past three years, I think it still counts as a “favourite thing”, because I really wouldn’t be without it!
BJ
My new favorite narrator this year is Alex Wyndham. Mr. Wyndham has such a soothing and pleasing voice, not to mention ability to deliver a multitude of character appropriate voices, that I think I could listen to just about anything he narrates! (Note: I think Alex Wyndham wins the Most Favorite award!)
Kaetrin
Another Favorite new-to-me narrator is Mary Jane Wells – I had my first experience with a Mary Jane Wells narration this year with Cold-Hearted Rake by Lisa Kleypas. While she is a seasoned narrator, it was the first time I’d encountered her. She was so good – I definitely plan to find more of her work and feed it to my ears.
Melinda
One of my favorite things this year is our weekly Currently Playing email convo, initiated Mondays by Caz. Although you see the list of what we are listening to, we have a great time behind the scenes yakking about whether we’re enjoying it or not and giving each other lots of great ideas for new listens! Working with the Gals is a treat – they are also on my favorites list!
We’ve been sharing our favorites all month.
Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3
Tell us your favorite things of 2015 in the comments below!
Skullcandy earbuds are fabulous……
Yes, I have some for when both my bluetooth earbuds are on the blink. They’re really comfortable – the only problem is I get the cord hooked up on everything!
@Melinda – awwww – :D Our weekly conversations are so cool – it’s a fun way to keep in touch.
I keep thinking we should include all our comments in the weekly post!!
Caz – my experience as well! My Clip+ died an honorable death, and it is so hard to replace! The newer Sandisk ones all lost features if you read the reviews, and people even argue whether the new ones are Audible compatible. I loved the little Clip! Now I use my chunky phone but am still on the lookout for a smaller device. Please keep us posted if you find one.
Thank you for sharing your favourite things. Most of them became some of my favourite things too due to your recs: narrators Alex Wyndham and Mary Jane Wells are at the top of my list.
I’m still looking for the perfect wireless earbuds. I understand if you cannot advertise a specific brand but I would be truly grateful if you could let me know by email the brand and model of the ones you’re using Kaetrin. There are so many to choose from I don’t know where to start!
And last but not least,this site is still my favourite place in the whole audiobooks universe. You Gals are the best! Happy New Year!
thanks for your kind words! I got Kaetrin to provide the details – but it seemed to be an Australian-only brand on a site that doesn’t ship out of the country! I couldn’t find a similar product elsewhere.
@Kaetrin – do you want to post the link? I can’t find the original convo we had about this.
These are the ones I’ve been using and loving. I even ordered a spare set just before Christmas because I like them so much.
https://www.kogan.com/au/buy/ultra-portable-bluetooth-earphones/
Thank you for the link! These earphones seem to be the perfect ones for me. Soft tips and with a standard cable instead of the ear-shaped rigid plastic most bluetooth earbuds have. I can’t have these on for more than an hour, my ears start to ache. Now I have to see how to get them shipped.. When there is a will there is a way!
Happy Holidays!