Right on time for this Tuesday's entry, which turned out to be a freebie prompt.  As per usual, this meme is featured on The Broke and the Bookish.

I thought I'd feature some of my favorite audio narrations in recent considerations for this entry.  Ten choices, but I loved the narrations all the same. Commentary to follow each mention.

10. "Dare Me" by Megan Abbott.  Audio performance by Khristine Hvam.

I've listened to a number of Hvam's audio performances, and have found her to be a favorite narrator through many of the books I've picked up on audio.  But this one happened to be my favorite because of how well she narrates the leading character of a group of entitled high school girls caught in a petty game of politics and crime that reminded me of Shakespearean tragedies.  I didn't expect a read this dark could pull me in so acutely, and part of that was Hvam's spot on portrayal.

9. "The Boyfriend List" by E. Lockhart.  Audio Narration by Mandy Siegfried

I'm not even sure why Mandy Siegfried wasn't kept on to narrate the audio for all the Ruby Oliver books, because she captured the voice of the character perfectly in my mind, hence why this is my favorite audio narration of the series, and why Siegfried is one of my favorite audio narrators.  Ruby Oliver's witty, charming, and adorable personality comes through in the reading, and matches the text very well.

8: Homeland: Phantom Pain by Glenn Gers.  Audio Narration by Damian Lewis.

I kept thinking of celebrity audio narrators to put on this list, but many of them (i.e. Matt Bomer for James Patterson's "Toys" or Reese Witherspoon for "Go Set A Watchman") were either excellent narrators for books I found to be poor reads or just ones that I hadn't had a chance to finish (i.e. Sissy Spacek for "To Kill A Mockingbird" - I will finish it when I get it back off hold from my library! Argh!)  But then I came back to this calm, pained performance given by Damian Lewis.  He captured the narrative and emotion behind it perfectly, albeit in a too brief tale.  I would certainly love to hear more stories narrated from him in the future. (Please, please, please make this happen.)

7. "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn.  Audio Narration by Julia Whelan and Kirby Heybourne.

Julia Whelan and Kirby Heybourne are two among some of my favorite audio narrators, and I could probably name a number of performances where they had me, but my mind came back to this as one of my favorite performances.  I'd first read the text version of "Gone Girl", then followed it with the audio narration and I think their performances matched spot on for Amy and Nick's voices respectively.  You definitely get the bitter bite of both of the character's stories, plus I kind of had fun with hearing the way Whelan narrated Amy's diary entries, because her voice jumps from the page.

6. "Summer's Crossing" by Julie Kagawa.  Narrated by Josh Hurley.

I think what brings me back to this short story is the fact that Josh Hurley made Puck's voice for me.  Just the general mischievousness and humor that comes across in his performance stood out to me.  

5. "Red Rising" by Pierce Brown.  Audio Narration by Tim Gerard Reynolds.

Ye Gods, I loved this audiobook.  I think the audiobook actually made the story that much more enjoyable for me, as Tim Gerard Reynolds not only captured the voice of Darrow so vividly in the narrative, but he also sings during the narrative, and has a good voice to boot.  Though I initially got this as a galley, I enjoyed the sample so much that I ended up buying this one off Audible.  Money well spent, and I'll probably follow through with the rest of the series as well this way.

4. "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray.  Audio Narration by Libba Bray.

I think Libba Bray wins my pick for best audio narration by the author.  Her communication background comes in handy both with the commercials and sidenotes that hilariously pepper through this narrative, but she also handles the diversity of character voices rather charmingly.

3. "Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline. Audio Narration by Wil Weaton.

Really think Wil Weaton made the performance of this book that much more.  Once you listen to it, it becomes a part of the narrative and it's hard to imagine it without his performance. It was a great read standing on its own, but I think the enthusiasm of the subject matter and the voice of Parzival really came across in the narration for this book. (I think Weaton also seemed to have fun with narrating this one in many places, even with a few self-inserts for reference.)

2. "The Knife of Never Letting Go" by Patrick Ness. Read by Nick Podehl.

Nick Podehl is my favorite male narrator for so many audiobooks, but I always come back to this one because he provided such an emotional pull in the voice of Todd's character throughout this book.  Gahhh, the feels!  I think I ended up listening to this audiobook like three times, not just for what happens through the book, but just enjoying Podehl's narration in general.  He does comedy, drama, and general sentiment very well.

And for my number 1:

"The Martian" by Andy Weir.  Audio Narration by R.C. Bray.

I think R.C. Bray nailed the portrayal of Mark Watney, down to a tee.  I had never heard his narrations in an audiobook before this book, and it was a welcome introduction.  I loved his humor, his snark, his general performance throughout the entire narrative.  This is another narrative I listened to the audiobook more than once just because I loved the experience that much.

That's all for this week's entry.  See you guys in the next!

~Rose

This book of the series was also a whole lot of fun! While this series does include the same process: one huge plot of the series, small subplot (each book) and a quest to fulfill that subplot/book which then contributes to the overall plot of the story; it is still enjoyable to read about. :)

The first time I listened to The Lightning Thief I didn’t like the audiobook version because I didn’t like the voice of the narrator, Jesse Bernstein. Of course, I am glad I chose to go with this series because I really enjoyed his voice in this book! I think that Jesse Bernstein’s greatest pluses for narrating this series is the changes in tone—which really helps set the stage of the story!

I feel like I didn’t enjoy Percy as much in this book compared to the first one. In the beginning he seemed really self-contradictory and it was kind of annoying. I, personally, really liked Tyson and I didn’t see what there was to be embarrassed about him!

Overall, The Sea of Monsters was better than The Lightning Thief plot-wise, but I don’t think I enjoyed the characters as much in this. It had a lot of action though! I would recommend this series to people who want something quick to read through and enjoyable (if you’re interested in Greek mythology)!

Thanks for reading my review everyone and hope you have a great day! Until the next one! :D

besides the ending being ridiculously cheerful with an annoying go get them attitude, and the over-whelming amount of crying done by Nya from guilt this book was actually pretty good. it was a quick fun read. I overall enjoyed the main character, Nya and the main side characters. i found them amusing, strong, brave and usually compassionate in a world that has become terrible and war stricken. I wander if all places taken over look like this afterwards? it was truly horrid. These wonderful characters just made it all the more heart wrenching, they werent monster but people having to live with suffering done by others, just because they look different and had useful resources. that alone could of made this an interesting book, add in incredible talents, like taking pain or giving it, plot twists and multiple villains.... well the book was entertaining thats for sure!

We dont really know much about the rest of the world at this time, only vague mentions of other places that have been taken over and a distant country not controlled by the duke, but i believe that we'll learn more about them in future books, sounds like Nya might have some travelling to do. which im pretty excited about.

I smashed through this book in maybe 2 days? and that was with work. at the start i had so much difficulty putting it down i almost missed my stop on the train twice! after that i stopped taking my book with me, lol. So a great start to a new series, hopefully to only get better from here.

Now a little something from inside the pages...


"Done." He stood and offered his hand. I shook it, wiping it on my pants afterwards. He grinned at that and gestured toward the door. "think about my offer, dead. I could make you rich."
He probably could. After all, he'd already made me a monster.'


Recommendations.
If you enjoyed books like, Touch of Power and The Magician's Apprentice, with magical abilities and a life like feeling world then you'll probably enjoy this book, though i dont think its quite up to their standards it isnt far off.

If you have been keeping up with my updates during this book you'll already know that i highly enjoyed it from the beginning.

I have never had much of an interest with the Robin Hood story, but somehow of late i have been really getting into these adaptions, the characters are fantastic and badass, the struggle is emotional, powerful and something i believe anyone can relate too and fortunately the writing seems to mainly in the great, with only a few typing era's here and there..... actually after reading all these wonderful re-telling's im starting to think i should get my hands on the original. but its hard to imagine it being as good, though thats my bias because i have a bad history with classics = boring.

anyways Nottingham is a futuristic telling of Robin hood, we have all our merry band (Scarlet, Munch, Robin, Mister Little) plus a few extra's who just help to create the story and bring it to life. Mister Little is a cyber-punk, with a mismatch of human parts, including four arms! This guy is partly our brains and our muscle. He's also one of the leaders of our little revolution to free the enslaved. Scarlet is our Auto (robot) hacker, this girl is adorable, and when she commits to someone or something there's no stopping her. Munch is our all-round hacker, he can get past any security. he's also highly mutated from the diseases and radiation thats running ram-put in downtown, he wants to do the most for his fellow down-trodden man before he goes. and of course there's Robin. He starts out as a mystery (Scarlet and Munch accidentally steal him) but soon becomes our wonderful hero.

One of the things that made this book for me - beyond the dystopian setting, which we all know i adore - is the Auto bots, something that is meant to be seen as so little, nothing more than equipment to do humans bidding. these guys aren't allowed to have feelings and thoughts of their own, the don't have a choice of their actions, they all controlled 100% of the time. we'll we get a close and personal look through these guys eyes - mainly in the form of Marian - and its not pretty. but it makes the world. you cant help but feel sorry for them, feel like its hopeless. but of course with the gang around not all is lost....

really i think this quote (an opening sentence in the book) really helps what I'm attempting to say into prospective.

'Deep within the web of pavement and steel, a young boy and girl scurried past an old man, his outdated mechanical limbs shaking and twitching like an addict without a fix. He scowled at the hoodlums, scratching the hole in his face where his nose used to be, sold long ago as a cheap replacement part for someone slightly richer than he was.'

Alright so now that i've done all my gushing, along come the not so great parts. I had difficulty getting into the story originally, though i'm not sure if the book is at fault for this. i was in a weird head space and had difficulty concentrating, but just in-case i thought a heads up might be nice.

Also some pretty messed up stuff happens in this book, i should of been all tears at some points, and while i loved the characters i didn't shed a tear... yea weirded me out as well. though I was on the train so im not to bummed that i wasnt a blubbering mess in public.... talk about embarrassing.

One last thing, there where a few typo errors, barely any (that i noticed) but i know how that really annoys some people.

oh and Robin's happy-blissful moments were a bit full on for me and sappy. but then I'm not into romance, if it was toned down just a touch, would of been perfect.

promise that was the last critique.

So yea, do i think this book will be for everyone? no but i personally found it highly enjoyable and i know others will.

this is a stand alone so i wont be reading the next book, i will however be hunting this man down and praise him, lol no just kidding, i'll be checking out his other work though and hoping its just as good!