Audible...and other audiobook delivery mechanisms that may or may not be available

[Vimster]

6 minutes ago, Laine said:

I’m listening to it now! Narrator is so good at posh voices. I’ve read them countless times. So good! The best one I reckon is The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous, an excellent evil villain in that one and a fab hero. His name is Lysander! That’s the fourth though so you won’t manage it in the three for 2 unfortunately.

When I checked the samples for those I thought yes, I could listen to that smooth, posh/sexy narration for 30-odd hours. It's amazing how much a really good reader can add to the enjoyment of a book, or a bad one take away from it. 

 

Will add that book to the wishlist though, bound to be on a sale in the future. 

[ZOK]

9 minutes ago, Laine said:

I’m listening to it now! Narrator is so good at posh voices. I’ve read them countless times. So good! The best one I reckon is The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous, an excellent evil villain in that one and a fab hero. His name is Lysander! That’s the fourth though so you won’t manage it in the three for 2 unfortunately.

Oh god it’s so wide and varied! Things I’ve listened to recently - I loved the three body problem series, Sapient, so you’ve been publicly shamed, the crimson petal and the white, children of time / children of ruin, some history of Romans / Egyptians... oh senlin ascend too.

 

Proper book wise I’m ploughing through the farseer books, rosewater, I’m liking Japanese fiction like Yoko Ogowa too. 

I haven’t read any Yoko Ogawa, but if you fancy some peerless contemporary Japanese fiction try Banana Yoshimoto, stacks of her stuff on Audible (but start with Kitchen):

 

https://www.audible.co.uk/search?searchAuthor=Banana+Yoshimoto

 

She’s like if Haruki Murakami could write decent characters.

[scruffycat]

I don’t have Audible so I don’t know if she is on there but a good contemporary Japanese author if you do like Banana Yoshimoto is Hiromi Kawakami. Or if you enjoy Crime thrillers Seichō Matsumoto.

[ZOK]

1 hour ago, scruffycat said:

I don’t have Audible so I don’t know if she is on there but a good contemporary Japanese author if you do like Banana Yoshimoto is Hiromi Kawakami. Or if you enjoy Crime thrillers Seichō Matsumoto.

A quick glance has thrown up Strange Weather in Tokyo and Nankano Thrift Shop, those any good? I’ve got a bunch of credits waiting to be burned...

[scruffycat]

Yeah both are, they are ‘light’ in a Banana Yoshimoto way, like a lot of contemporary Japanese Novels are,  but certainly worth the punt 

[ZOK]

Cool, I’ll give them a listen. Thanks!

[Transient Curse]

There's a two for one sale on at the moment and I need to use some credits up. 

 

Can anyone suggest some titles from the sale? 

 

I've already picked up a couple of titles I've had my eye on, including the Beastie Boys book, which is apparently an amazing listen. 

[ZOK]

The Great Gatsby narrated by Jake Gyllenhaal is excellent, as is The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut.

[Transient Curse]

Thanks!

[Delargey]

I'm listening to the Russell Tovey narration of The Portrait of Dorian Gray, I love Russell Tovey as an actor but he's not great at this, all the characters have too much affectation.

[Timmo]

On 17/06/2020 at 20:22, Delargey said:

I'm listening to the Russell Tovey narration of The Portrait of Dorian Gray, I love Russell Tovey as an actor but he's not great at this, all the characters have too much affectation.

 

I grabbed the Michael Page version, he's one of my favourite narrators. If you didn't get it in a sale, maybe you could swap. I've done it before when the Stephen Fry version of Sherlock Holmes came out.

[davidcotton]

On 17/06/2020 at 20:22, Delargey said:

I'm listening to the Russell Tovey narration of The Portrait of Dorian Gray, I love Russell Tovey as an actor but he's not great at this, all the characters have too much affectation.

Checked out Big Finish's range of Dorian Gray stuff?

[Miner Willy]

The Brain is in today's £3 sale - I thought it was brilliant. Also Wilding, which I'm currently halfway through and is excellent.

[Miner Willy]

Today's £3 sale has the excellent Home Fire, and This is How You Lose the Time War (which is probably my favourite book of those I've read this year).

[ZOK]

I just polished off Graham Greene’s The Quiet American, the narration is by Simon Cadell, of Hi-de-Hi fame, and it’s quite excellent.

 

It must be an old recording as the quality isn’t stellar, but that doesn’t affect it. Cadell died in 1996, he was only 45. 

[Colonel Panic]

Listening to Mr Mercedes narrated by Will Patton and it’s unintentionally hilarious. 
 

When he’s doing the hard boiled bits, he sounds a bit like Trump, and when he’s doing women’s voices it’s a bit like Homer Simpson saying “I believe you have a letter for me...”. 

[sammy]

I’ve listened to the first couple of hours of The Sandman, it’s enjoyable, well acted stuff, and as far as I can remember is tracking pretty faithfully to the books (was Gaiman going for a Bowie vibe with his depiction of Lucifer?).  I bought the graphic novels years ago (back when Borders was a thing). But have a sneaking feeling I may not have got past the first couple of books, tempted to go into the loft and see if I can dig them out.  

[Mr.Crowley]

On 26/07/2020 at 20:44, sammy said:

I’ve listened to the first couple of hours of The Sandman, it’s enjoyable, well acted stuff, and as far as I can remember is tracking pretty faithfully to the books (was Gaiman going for a Bowie vibe with his depiction of Lucifer?).  I bought the graphic novels years ago (back when Borders was a thing). But have a sneaking feeling I may not have got past the first couple of books, tempted to go into the loft and see if I can dig them out.  

 I dont know, you tell me.

 

[Matt Defis]

I just finished The Sandman and i thought it was great. 

[ZOK]

I’m listening to the Beasties’ audiobook at the moment and it’s really good (certainly if you like their milieu), but what’s really cool is they’ve got a whole bunch of different people narrating the chapters. I found this list on Reddit, I’ll pop it in a spoiler due to length:

 

Spoiler

Track One

Audiobook Intro - Joseph 'RUN' Simmons

Wild Card/An Introduction - Adam Horovitz

Beastie Revolution - Luc Sante

PIX PIX PIX - Adam Horovitz

The Other Kid At The Bad Brains Show - Michael Diamond

Well, Back In My Day... - Adam Horovitz

Track Two

Black Flag At The Peppermint Lounge - Michael Diamond

Boys (And A Girl) Entering Anarchistic States Toward Inner Excellence - Kim Gordon

A Rubber Band Was Involved - John C. Reilly 

Mouth Of The Rat - Adam Horovitz

Samson's Pizza - Steve Buscemi

A7 - Jon Stewart

Hip Hop Goes Downtown - Rosie Perez

Track Three

White-Boy Bouillabaisse (An Archaeology) - Bobby Cannavale

The Making Of "Cooky Puss" - Chloe Sevigny

Please Eat Me - Colson Whitehead (w/ various others)

British Airways - Adam Horovitz

The MG - Nadia Dajani

Track Four

DJ Double R and His World-Famous Bubble Machine - Michael Diamond

The Kids - Kim Gordon 

Drink Tickets, Buffalo Gals, and Danceteria - Josh Hamilton

(Danceteria Playlist appears here in the print version but is not on the audiobook.)

Butthole Surfers Saved My Life - Maya Rudolph

Rush (Not The Band) - Michael Diamond

On The Mic At The Fever - John C. Reilly

Run And Them - LL Cool J

Become What You Hate (including the "Rock Hard" lyrics) - Adam Horovitz 

Puppet Show And Beastie Boys - Michael Diamond

Track Five

Soundtrack To The Short Film "She's On It" - Michael Diamond

Sweet 16 - Tim Meadows

A Room Paved With Asphalt - Adam Horovitz & Michael Diamond

Something Kind Of Like A Virgin - Ben Stiller

Madonna Tour FYIs and BTWs - Ben Stiller

You Should Loop That - LL Cool J

London '86 - Jarvis Cocker

The Song That Changed Everything - Pat Kiernan

MC Shy D and A Dozen Eggs (expanded version - print version is comic/graphic style, dialogue only) - Wanda Sykes

Walk This Way - Adam Horovitz 

Track Six

Perhaps The Shortest Headlining Gig In History - Rosie Perez

Here's A Little Story (I Got To Tell...) - Snoop Dogg

We Liked It. We Hated It. - Michael Diamond

The Original Dick In A Box - Steve Buscemi

Lab Report - Ada Calhoun

Tadlock - Talib Kweli

Paul Williams (The Singer/Songwriter) - Chuck D

The Captain - Adam Horovitz & Michael Diamond 

The Liverpool Riot - Jarvis Cocker

Clear The Air - Rachel Maddow (w/ MC Serch)

Track Seven

The Fallout - Adam Horovitz 

'88 - Adam Horovitz 

Expensive Shit - Michael Diamond (w/ Adam Horovitz)

Barrel-Chested Randy - Crosby Fitzgerald as Buckhead Betty

It All Started At Dolly Parton's Birthday Party - Tim Meadows (w/ Adam Horovitz)

The Business Of Paul's Boutique - John C. Reilly

(Zero Recollection appears here in the print version but is not on the audiobook.)

Soul Train - Adam Horovitz 

G-Son - Michael Diamond 

Hippie Steve - Adam Horovitz 

L.A. Gear - John C. Reilly

Track Eight

Yo, Paul, This Is Allen - Bette Midler

Toyota Corolla Mixtape - Josh Hamilton

The Diabolical Biz Markle - Ben Stiller

Our New A&R Guy - Wanda Sykes

Check Your Head - Adam Horovitz (w/ Michael Diamond)

Kiss The Monkey On The Nose - Bette Midler 

Hey, We Should Put That Out - Michael Diamond

The Girl In The Band (or, Goodbye To You And Your Inflatable Penis) - Kate Schellenbach

I'll Just Call Him 'Mitchell' - Maya Rudolph

(Maybe) Don't Play Basketball While High On Mushrooms - Talib Kweli

Track Nine

Sabotage - Tim Meadows

Sticking To Themes - Spike Jonze 

Syncopation Magazine, etc. - Will Ferrell

Who At This Table Sucks Dick? - Michael Diamond & Adam Horovitz 

Like A Fanzine But On A Computer - Ian Rogers

The Summer Of Os Mutantes - Chloe Sevigny (w/ Adam Horovitz reading about Aglio E Olio)

Halloween With Lee 'Scratch' Perry - Elvis Costello

Milarepa - Michael Diamond 

The Draco Report - Mix Master Mike

Track Ten

Hello Nasty Is Our Best Record - Rachel Maddow

Stop Soba Violence - YoshimiO & Kim Gordon

Ate O Ate - Roy Choi

Approximately Grown-Ups - Michael Diamond 

That's The Life I Wanted - Chuck D

5 Borough Breakdown - Adam Horovitz 

Sasquatch Letter - Dave Macklovitch

Beastie Boys Video Review - Amy Poehler

In A Mix-Up Fa-Shun - Jon Stewart

Track Eleven

Athens (An Email Sent To My Family) - Adam Horovitz

The Music Made It Stop - Adam Horovitz

The Ring - John C. Reilly

Equipment (listed as 'Instruments' in the print version's Table of Contents) - Adam Horovitz & Michael Diamond 

Hörnblowér, Profile Of A Shepherd - Philippe Zdar

Bestival - Elvis Costello

No One Seemed To Notice - Adam Horovitz 

Yauch, Filmmaker - Kelly Reichardt 

The Last Gig - Adam Horovitz 

Yauch Mixtape - Michael Diamond

(That's A Lotta Songs appears here in the print version but is not on the audiobook.)

(No. Nah. Oh No. Ucch! appears here in the print version but is not on the audiobook.)

Outro - Michael Diamond

End Credits - Joseph 'RUN' Simmons

One of the first chapters is an intro essay about the New York scene in the early eighties written and read by Luc Sante, and that’s so good it’s worth the price of admission on its own.

[Stopharage]

On 07/08/2020 at 12:36, ZOK said:

I’m listening to the Beasties’ audiobook at the moment and it’s really good (certainly if you like their milieu), but what’s really cool is they’ve got a whole bunch of different people narrating the chapters. I found this list on Reddit, I’ll pop it in a spoiler due to length:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Track One

Audiobook Intro - Joseph 'RUN' Simmons

Wild Card/An Introduction - Adam Horovitz

Beastie Revolution - Luc Sante

PIX PIX PIX - Adam Horovitz

The Other Kid At The Bad Brains Show - Michael Diamond

Well, Back In My Day... - Adam Horovitz

Track Two

Black Flag At The Peppermint Lounge - Michael Diamond

Boys (And A Girl) Entering Anarchistic States Toward Inner Excellence - Kim Gordon

A Rubber Band Was Involved - John C. Reilly 

Mouth Of The Rat - Adam Horovitz

Samson's Pizza - Steve Buscemi

A7 - Jon Stewart

Hip Hop Goes Downtown - Rosie Perez

Track Three

White-Boy Bouillabaisse (An Archaeology) - Bobby Cannavale

The Making Of "Cooky Puss" - Chloe Sevigny

Please Eat Me - Colson Whitehead (w/ various others)

British Airways - Adam Horovitz

The MG - Nadia Dajani

Track Four

DJ Double R and His World-Famous Bubble Machine - Michael Diamond

The Kids - Kim Gordon 

Drink Tickets, Buffalo Gals, and Danceteria - Josh Hamilton

(Danceteria Playlist appears here in the print version but is not on the audiobook.)

Butthole Surfers Saved My Life - Maya Rudolph

Rush (Not The Band) - Michael Diamond

On The Mic At The Fever - John C. Reilly

Run And Them - LL Cool J

Become What You Hate (including the "Rock Hard" lyrics) - Adam Horovitz 

Puppet Show And Beastie Boys - Michael Diamond

Track Five

Soundtrack To The Short Film "She's On It" - Michael Diamond

Sweet 16 - Tim Meadows

A Room Paved With Asphalt - Adam Horovitz & Michael Diamond

Something Kind Of Like A Virgin - Ben Stiller

Madonna Tour FYIs and BTWs - Ben Stiller

You Should Loop That - LL Cool J

London '86 - Jarvis Cocker

The Song That Changed Everything - Pat Kiernan

MC Shy D and A Dozen Eggs (expanded version - print version is comic/graphic style, dialogue only) - Wanda Sykes

Walk This Way - Adam Horovitz 

Track Six

Perhaps The Shortest Headlining Gig In History - Rosie Perez

Here's A Little Story (I Got To Tell...) - Snoop Dogg

We Liked It. We Hated It. - Michael Diamond

The Original Dick In A Box - Steve Buscemi

Lab Report - Ada Calhoun

Tadlock - Talib Kweli

Paul Williams (The Singer/Songwriter) - Chuck D

The Captain - Adam Horovitz & Michael Diamond 

The Liverpool Riot - Jarvis Cocker

Clear The Air - Rachel Maddow (w/ MC Serch)

Track Seven

The Fallout - Adam Horovitz 

'88 - Adam Horovitz 

Expensive Shit - Michael Diamond (w/ Adam Horovitz)

Barrel-Chested Randy - Crosby Fitzgerald as Buckhead Betty

It All Started At Dolly Parton's Birthday Party - Tim Meadows (w/ Adam Horovitz)

The Business Of Paul's Boutique - John C. Reilly

(Zero Recollection appears here in the print version but is not on the audiobook.)

Soul Train - Adam Horovitz 

G-Son - Michael Diamond 

Hippie Steve - Adam Horovitz 

L.A. Gear - John C. Reilly

Track Eight

Yo, Paul, This Is Allen - Bette Midler

Toyota Corolla Mixtape - Josh Hamilton

The Diabolical Biz Markle - Ben Stiller

Our New A&R Guy - Wanda Sykes

Check Your Head - Adam Horovitz (w/ Michael Diamond)

Kiss The Monkey On The Nose - Bette Midler 

Hey, We Should Put That Out - Michael Diamond

The Girl In The Band (or, Goodbye To You And Your Inflatable Penis) - Kate Schellenbach

I'll Just Call Him 'Mitchell' - Maya Rudolph

(Maybe) Don't Play Basketball While High On Mushrooms - Talib Kweli

Track Nine

Sabotage - Tim Meadows

Sticking To Themes - Spike Jonze 

Syncopation Magazine, etc. - Will Ferrell

Who At This Table Sucks Dick? - Michael Diamond & Adam Horovitz 

Like A Fanzine But On A Computer - Ian Rogers

The Summer Of Os Mutantes - Chloe Sevigny (w/ Adam Horovitz reading about Aglio E Olio)

Halloween With Lee 'Scratch' Perry - Elvis Costello

Milarepa - Michael Diamond 

The Draco Report - Mix Master Mike

Track Ten

Hello Nasty Is Our Best Record - Rachel Maddow

Stop Soba Violence - YoshimiO & Kim Gordon

Ate O Ate - Roy Choi

Approximately Grown-Ups - Michael Diamond 

That's The Life I Wanted - Chuck D

5 Borough Breakdown - Adam Horovitz 

Sasquatch Letter - Dave Macklovitch

Beastie Boys Video Review - Amy Poehler

In A Mix-Up Fa-Shun - Jon Stewart

Track Eleven

Athens (An Email Sent To My Family) - Adam Horovitz

The Music Made It Stop - Adam Horovitz

The Ring - John C. Reilly

Equipment (listed as 'Instruments' in the print version's Table of Contents) - Adam Horovitz & Michael Diamond 

Hörnblowér, Profile Of A Shepherd - Philippe Zdar

Bestival - Elvis Costello

No One Seemed To Notice - Adam Horovitz 

Yauch, Filmmaker - Kelly Reichardt 

The Last Gig - Adam Horovitz 

Yauch Mixtape - Michael Diamond

(That's A Lotta Songs appears here in the print version but is not on the audiobook.)

(No. Nah. Oh No. Ucch! appears here in the print version but is not on the audiobook.)

Outro - Michael Diamond

End Credits - Joseph 'RUN' Simmons

One of the first chapters is an intro essay about the New York scene in the early eighties written and read by Luc Sante, and that’s so good it’s worth the price of admission on its own.

I was in 2 minds to get this after your excellent sales patter. 

 

Then lo and behold it pops up in Audible's 2 for 1 deal, which started today. Instant buy. Looking forward to it, cheers for the intriguing and tintilating review. 

[ZOK]

30 minutes ago, Stopharage said:

I was in 2 minds to get this after your excellent sales patter. 

 

Then lo and behold it pops up in Audible's 2 for 1 deal, which started today. Instant buy. Looking forward to it, cheers for the intriguing and tintilating review. 

Nice, hope you like it. Have you seen their stage show on Apple TV? It’s basically a hugely truncated version of this book - if you like this you’ll like that & vice versa

[Stopharage]

11 hours ago, ZOK said:

Nice, hope you like it. Have you seen their stage show on Apple TV? It’s basically a hugely truncated version of this book - if you like this you’ll like that & vice versa

I'll give that a whirl as well then. I adore New York, warts and all, so anything that celebrates the place and its denizens is right up my street. 

[ZOK]

1 hour ago, Stopharage said:

I'll give that a whirl as well then. I adore New York, warts and all, so anything that celebrates the place and its denizens is right up my street. 

There’s barely anything worth watching on Apple TV+, but you can sign up for a free trial for 7 days and just watch that, it’s well worth it. Also it won’t spoil the book...probably enhance it a little with the visuals you miss on the audible version.

[Stopharage]

Sounds great. I've got a free Apple TV+ sub to activate so will use that. I think I'll see if I can watch/read them in some sort of tandem. Thanks for the advice.

[Timmo]

Daily Deal is The Martian, which I can recommend to anyone.

[Timmo]

Little tip for any current subscribers – there is currently a sale on where lots of deal of the day deals are going back up, about 100 a day, all between 99p and £2.99. It’s members only. Now I went to cancel my subscription, selected “it costs too much” and then was offered £10 credit to keep my sub going. This works great because I can spend the £10 on these re-upped daily deals and then cancel my sub when the promotion ends.

[Miner Willy]

2 hours ago, Timmo said:

Little tip for any current subscribers – there is currently a sale on where lots of deal of the day deals are going back up, about 100 a day, all between 99p and £2.99. It’s members only. Now I went to cancel my subscription, selected “it costs to much” and then was offered £10 credit to keep my sub going. This works great because I can spend the £10 on these re-upped daily deals and then cancel my sub when the promotion ends.

 

I've utilised their retention incentives too many times I fear - they seem pretty content to wave me off when I try it these days.

 

The sale seems good though - there were a couple of crackers yesterday as I recall.

[humdrum]

I’ve cancelled my audible.co.uk sub and signed up again on .com and got some decent offers in the past. 

[hebejebe]

Been listening to the Philip Marlowe novels read by Ray Porter but it looks like they’ve been removed and there’s some new ones coming out next year. Will be disappointed if Ray Porter doesn’t read them but I suspect they have a new narrator