Another week, another Currently Playing and a chance for the Gals to chat about what we’ve been listening to recently. We squee over the good and shake our heads over the not-so-good, tap each other up for ideas for future listens and generally gossip about what’s making our ears happy.
Here’s what the Gals have been listening to this week.
BJ
Narrated by Patti Murin
Caz
Narrated by Denis Lambert
Em
Narrated by Josh Dylan, Stevie Martin & Jacob Marks
Kaetrin
Narrated by Julia Whelan
Melinda
Narrated by Jennifer Jill Araya
I listened to Saddle Up and Lucky Break by A.W. Arthur, narrated by Greg Boudreaux (books 3 and 4 of the Clean Slate Ranch series). I enjoyed Saddle up more than Lucky Break, which I felt lost focus and got caught in the “I can’t possibly share my tragic backstory” loop for way too long. Arthur uses the tragic backstory in all of these books, and I think reading them one after another isn’t the best way to experience them. I love Boudreaux, but he gave a few characters very similar voices in this series and 4 books in with a large cast of characters, it’s sometimes difficult to know who’s talking in a group scene without textual clues.
I also listened to Mystery at the Masquerade by Josh Lanyon, book three in his cozy mystery series, Secrets and Scrabble. It’s narrated by Matt Haynes,who does a great job. I’m enjoying the series immensely, and I’m sad the next two books aren’t on audio.
Lastly I listened to two novellas by N.R. Walker, narrated by Nick Russo, The Elements of Retrofit, and Taxes and Tardis. Both are good, although really loved Elements of Retrofit and plan to listen to the other two novellas in the series. I’ve read Caz’s reviews of books Russo has narrated, but I think these were my first experiences with him. I was pleased with his narrations and am happy to add him to my “watch list” for future books.
I’m currently listening to Love and Other Scandals by Caroline Linden, narrated by Veida Dehmlow. It’s on sale at chirpbooks at the moment and the audio was well-reviewed, so I bought it. So far, so good.
Well, there are only 4 books in the Secrets and Scrabble series so far :) I believe Matt Haynes is working on book 4, and I think book 5 comes out in print next month.
Love and Other Scandals is one of my all time favourite Lindens – but I’m not sure how I’d feel about it in audio now, given there are hardly any female narrators around who can keep my attention.
I think it’s a problem for any narrator working on a long-running series, when all the previous characters start to come back – it’s something that often comes up in interviews. Also, I think Clean Slate Ranch was originally supposed to be a trilogy but has since been expanded. Great for the extra work, but maybe not so great when it comes to planning which voices to use!
I just finished Saddle Up and am about halfway through Lucky Break. I concur with your observations (a bit too much reliance on the tortured secret back story and the difficulty in distinguishing the voices of a large cast). But also love me some Greg Boudreaux. And for all the internal drama about the characters’ histories, the stories themselves feel pretty low angst to me and I seek them out for a break.
I recently finished All Fired Up by Jenn Burke, which was my first foray with Tim Paige as narrator. He makes a credible stand in for Greg Boudreaux, but definitely doesn’t have the same facility for accents. Regardless, it was nice to be back in the world of Wes, Hudson and fantastic friends.
I’ve just downloaded Devil in Winter, the new version narrated by Mary Jane Wells. I loved the Rosalyn Landor version, but I am very curious to hear how MJW does.
I haven’t listened to All Fired Up yet – I read and reviewed the ebook version for AAR though, and enjoyed the story. I’ve listened to Tim Paige a few times and he’s very good, but I have yet to see/hear how he does with such a large cast of characters.
sula- I agree the Clean Slate Ranch books for all the tortured backstories are still fairly low-angst books. And I’ve enjoyed them (and Boudreaux). I’ll definitely be finishing the series.
I really want to try Mary Jane Wells’ narration on the Kleypas books, but since I own the Landor versions, I’m loath to spend a credit on them. I prefer Wells to Landor overall, although they are both talented. I’m keeping an eye on my library to see if they get the newer versions in.
I’m glad you enjoyed All Fired Up. I’ve been waiting for some audio reviews before buying it,but I know I eventually will.
Yeah, I own several of the Landor versions, so I’m not going to use a credit on these. Thankfully they just showed up in my Scribd library as options to borrow. :)
I may wait for the audio in Secrets and Scrabble as I’ve enjoyed the narration, although I’m eager to see Jack and Ellery figuring things out as a couple!
So far the narration of Love and other Scandals is good. The narrator is fading into the background for me, which for me means she’s not doing anything to distract me and I’m following all the characters just fine, so I’m happy.
I love Boudreaux’s voice, and he does emotions so well, so my remark about mixing voices is a mere quibble. Your explanation makes sense to me. I’m just going to take a break from the series to give the “double tortured non-communicative heroes” trope time to cool down in my head. :-)
Yes, sometimes when I’m reviewing I have to remind myself that it’s only one guy after all, and there’s a limit!
I liked the 4th S&S book although I had a couple of issues… I think I put them in my GR review. But it’s a good series and I like what Matt Haynes is doing with them.