Is it me or are the weeks going by faster? No sooner do I post one of these Currently Playing columns than it seems time for me to post another one! The Gals have a variety of different genres on the go this week – paranormal, mystery, adventure, contemporary – look out for our verdicts on some of these titles in the coming weeks.
BJ
Narrated by Marguerite Gavin
Caz
Narrated by Matthew Lloyd Davies
Kaetrin
Narrated by Tatiana Sokolov
Melinda
Narrated by Teddy Hamilton and Erin Mallon
Shannon
Narrated by Kate Reading
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
Hah! That title describes all of us just about now, doesn’t it?!
Trust No One (Jayne Ann Krentz)
This week I finished up Close Up by Amanda Quick (unfortunately poor narration) and Hazard by Stella Riley (great narration!).
Just starting Noble Satyr by Lucinda Brant, narrated by Alex Wyndham. From there I’ll probably listen to Jackdaw or Think of England for a change of pace, then listen to A Splendid Defiance. If I enjoy Noble Satyr, I’ll listen to Midnight Marriage after that. I hope I don’t burn out on Alex Wyndham in the process! LOL!
Hah! I have to say that I’ve not been so enamoured with some of AW’s more recent performances – he was an A grade narrator for me, but he’s made some changes to his style that haven’t wowed me. I think he’s at his best in the books you’ve mentioned –A Splendid Defiance has been one of my favourite HRs for over 30 years!
Think of England is a wonderful book – one of my favourite KJ titles – although I wish a better narrator had been used. I love Jackdaw too – especially how we get a different take a n Crane and Stephen from Jonah’s PoV. You’ve got some terrific listens lined up!
Oh I agree. It’s funny – I used to enjoy listening to books recorded by volunteers for blind people – anyone would read them, and that was great. But performances have gotten so good and I have gotten so picky. I used to really enjoy AW but now I notice a strange rhythm to his recordings, a – ti da ti da ti Da – that he keeps repeating over and over despite the storyline. It makes me cuckoo and kicks me right out of the story. Why oh why can’t I just go back to simple appreciation of someone reading me a story?
Not picky – discerning ! ;). And yes, I’ve noticed (and mentioned in reviews) that repetitive intonation as well. I don’t think it’s something he’s always done – is it?
But I think it’s natural that the more we listen, the more discerning we get. I know there are narrators I’ve reviewed positively in the past I wouldn’t rate as highly now, and I can think of one or two I can no longer listen to.
This afternoon I have finally finished A Guy Walked into my Bar by Lauren Blakely. It is very long and I am very slow at listening at the moment so I seem to have started it ages ago! I enjoyed it because of the performance of the two leads – I thought that they were both superb and would happily listen to both of them again. I also liked the performance of Dean’s dad, but thought everyone else was totally superfluous. I found the women’s voices pretty annoying – particularly Maeve – and there were some very weird vowel sounds from the rest of the back-up cast. They had hardly anything to do anyway, as the whole story was pretty much Dean and Fitz flirting or having sex – which was an easy listen! I also enjoyed the extras at the end – particularly the Bloopers.
I’m really looking forward to Common Goal by Rachel Reid on Monday, and will probably do a joint read/listen. I’m very interested in hearing the new narrator. I relistened to the earlier books and see what you mean, Caz. There seemed to be a disregarding of full stops going on!
Yes, those odd vowel sounds are mostly the classic “tells” of Americans doing English accents. I said in my review that for a book set in London with almost all British characters for there to have been only one British narrator was a poor decision. But the old attitude of “as long as it sounds different (from an American accent) it doesn’t matter” is clearly still alive and well.
I have to agree with you about the superfluity of some of the characters and about whoever performed Maeve. I find many American female narrators difficult to listen to anyway (with a handful of exceptions),another reason I don’t listen to a lot of m/f contemporary romance. I did just finish The Roommate by Rosie Danan, which I’m reviewing – Teddy Hamilton and Brittany Pressley are really good in that.
I’m sure Cooper North will do a great job in Common Goal – I LOVED the book (and the series)and was ecstatic at the change of narrator! (If only he’d been around for Heated Rivalry…)
I just finished Love Under Quarantine by Kylie Scott and Audrey Carlan, which I was a bit unsure of. It takes place during the beginning of the Corona Virus lockdown, and two people meet and fall in love without being able to touch each other. I ended up liking it quite a bit. It does have some serious notes in the story, but overall it has a light feel to it. This may not appeal to a lot of people because it does involve some discussion of the pandemic, but these 2 talented authors made it work.
Will Damron and Andi Arndt are the narrators, and they are top notch as always.
Oh, I’ve heard about that book.- Andi Arndt is one of the handful of American female narrators I can stand to listen to and I like Will Damron, so I might look that one up – thanks!
They are both very good narrators, especially Andi. Her character is quite amusing and her antics and interior dialogue carry the story imo. Damron’s character is more serious and is going through a career crisis, so he’s less warm. But the two are temporary neighbors as the pandemic starts and they strike up a friendship. Its an unusual premise, obviously, but I thought it worked well. Kylie Scott is a favorite of mine, she gets to the heart of her characters nicely and often writes hilarious dialogue. This book isn’t as funny as some of her work, but there was enough humor to keep me listening. I have been having a deuce of a time finding things to listen to that hold my interest, are not overly complex, and have more of a light romance feel. This one worked for me.
I just finished Cadenza by Stella Riley. It was very enjoyable. One of the main characters is a virtuoso harpsichordist. What added to my enjoyment was looking up on YouTube recordings of the music mentioned in the book. As he (the character) used music to express his emotions, it was very enlightening to actually hear what he was playing. The music played on a harpsichord also helps me to imagine myself in the era as much as descriptions of clothing and interiors. If you read or listen to this book I recommend looking on YouTube for Jean Rondeau playing Royer’s Vertigo and La Marche des Scythes. The music is amazingly modern and the harpsichord player looks like a romantic hero himself!
Yep, I think Rondeau was something of an inspiration for Stella while she was writing the book :) As a musician myself I always enjoy books that feature them, especially when the musical aspects of the book are done well, as they are in this one. I enjoyed the book although actually, I preferred the secondary romance to the main one!