Audiobook Bloggers Week 2016 : #ThrowbackThursday

Welcome to Audiobook Bloggers Week Thursday! Or should I say Throwback Thursday? It's a fun way to reflect on the past.

For the longest time, my most popular blog post was The Boy with the Cuckoo-Clock Heart. I don't know why it was so popular. I thought it was a children's story and I would say it is not. Jim Dale is amazing, but the story is, well, adult. The Strange Case of the Origami Yoda rose to popularity and I think it is because it's a popular series. This week I am surprised and thrilled to share that Audiobook Bloggers Week is Coming is the newest and most popular post! Thank you for joining me on this journey!! I couldn't do it without you!

What are your favorite books to hear?

I'm a big fan of fantasy! My go-to books to recommend are ...

Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull (complete series)
Five Kingdoms series by Brandon Mull (The next installment is coming!)
The Unwanteds series by Lisa McMann (complete series, spin off coming)
The Books of Beginning series by John Stephens (complete series)
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (standalone story with 2 amazing narrations)
Savvy series by Ingrid Law (complete series)

I also enjoy stories that share funny moments. Here are couple recommendations for a laugh ...

The Brixton Brothers series by Mac Barnett (3 out of the 4 are audiobooks)
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place by Maryrose Wood (The next installment is coming!)
The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency by Jordan Stratford (Currently two books and I can't wait for the next.)
The Hero's Guide Series by Christopher Healy (complete series)

Audiobook Bloggers Week 2016: #WednesdayWhere

It's the middle of our Audiobooks Bloggers Week 2016! Today we're going to share where we find audiobooks. If you're a book lover, you want to read all the books or listen to all the audios. Maybe you have a special budget or no budget.

Here's my top place for CD audiobooks: my public library.

My library will not have every book ever created, but they have a vast assortment. I can also request books from other libraries in our consortium or request an interlibrary loan which requests books from outside our consortium. It's pretty neat!

My top place for digital audiobooks: my public library.

The library works with Overdrive to offer e-books and e-audiobooks. Again, not every book but a great variety of books to enjoy. Each library and/or consortium will have different books to checkout, but titles are easy to download and listen. These books are also automatically returned when they are due, so my late fees do not increase. Another digital perk is visiting the Overdrive library at any time of the day or night. Overdrive hours are 24/7.

If you're not close to a library or don't have a library card, where can you go for audiobooks?

There are companies who sell audiobooks in store or online. You can buy books individually or sign-up for a subscription. I have not subscribed to a service, but I've purchased a few digital audiobooks when Audible had a sale on youth audiobooks. I also stumbled across a few titles at Half Price Books and area thrift shops. I won a couple audiobooks through giveaways. Every once in a while, audiobook companies offer free audiobooks! During the summer, AudiobookSYNC runs an amazing program for audiobook listeners.

Here are a few companies you can explore and see if they have books you might enjoy...

Audible
Blackstone Audio
Books on Tape
Brilliance Audio
christianaudio.com
Downpour
Dreamscape Media
Full Cast Audio
Hachette Audio
Harper Audio
HighBridge Audio
Listening Library
Live Oak Media
Oasis Audio
Penguin Random House Audio
Recorded Books
Scholastic Audio
Skyboat Media
Simon & Schuster Audio
Tantor Media

This is by no means a complete list of every single audiobook company in the world. I tried to share the companies I know at this time. Happy listening friends!

Audiobook Bloggers Week 2016: Travel Tuesday

It's day three of Audiobook Bloggers Week 2016! We're talking travel today. Do you travel with audiobooks? Do you take them on vacation? Do you take them to the gym? Where do you like to listen to audiobooks?

My number one location for audiobooks is listening while traveling in the car. I consider my car rare because I have a six disc CD changer and I love it! I can put a whole book in the player and just keep driving without worrying about changing discs in the middle of my travels. I also have an MP3 player that I load up and use if the story is digital rather than on disc.

I also like to walk and read. Sometimes I can run and read as well, but it needs to be a moving story to keep a good pace. Some of my most memorable stories that I heard while walking/running include Small Steps and Veronica Mars.

Do you walk or run and read? What type of story moves you?

Audiobook Bloggers Week 2016: Motivation Monday

It's day two of Audiobook Bloggers Week 2016! We're discussing motivation this Monday. Life is full of hills and valleys and blogging is no different. I feel like I'm walking out of a valley right now. My current valley is I need to write reviews! I've been listening to audiobooks, but failing to write a review. I like to be thoughtful about books I hear, but with so many stories stacking up I'm going to forget (or have forgotten) my initial feelings, notes, or ideas about the book and the narrator.

I've read about other bloggers having the same valley. They have written about and encouraged others to write quick reviews. Quick reviews are still meaningful, but shorter and to the point. I'm going to try my hand at it and play catch up with my pile of finished books. Instead of paragraphs about the story and the narrator, I'm going to write a couple of sentences and maybe use a questions and answer format.

When you read reviews, do you look for a lengthy review or something short & to the point?

Audiobook Bloggers Week 2016: Sunny Hello!

Welcome to Adolescent Audio Adventures! I am Miss Pippi and I am a children's librarian. My goal of Adolescent Audio Adventures was to create a space for discussing adolescent (aka children and teens) audiobooks. As a children's librarian, I love sharing books and audiobooks with patrons of all ages. As a reader, I love sharing books with anyone who likes books!

The majority of my posts focus on audiobooks for young listeners, but I have a couple grownup titles. I started posting music reviews this year and I would like to add more. I use music during library programs and I read youth novels to keep in touch with current literature. My favorite genre is fantasy. I'll share some of my favorite reads on Thursday, so stop back during the week!

Do you have a favorite youth audiobook? Or memorable music from your youth? Leave a comment and let me know! Happy #AudiobookBloogersWeek!

Audiobook Bloggers Week is Coming!

At the end of June, a couple of audiobook bloggers got to talking on Twitter about making an Audiobook Bloggers Week - #AudiobookBloggersWeek. We scheduled the second week of October to celebrate. I am shocked and excited to see that it is just around the corner!

It's our first year of celebrating audiobook bloggers. I hope you will join me and other bloggers as we talk about audiobooks and blogging. You may use the logo I created for your posts if you'd like. Here are some blogging thoughts for the week ...

Sunday - #SunnyHello - Introduce yourself and your blog. (You can refer to original introductions/welcomes as well.) How long have you been blogging? Has your blog changed over the years? What your genres of choice?

Monday - #MotivationMonday - How do you start a blog? OR How do you get out of an audiobook slump? Do you have a review formula to share?

Tuesday - #TravelTuesday - Do travel while listening or taken audiobooks with you on vacation? Where do you like to listen to audiobooks?

Wednesday - #WednesdayWhere - Where do you go for audiobooks? What format is available? Do you have a favorite audiobook format?

Thursday - #ThrowbackThursday - Share your most popular post or your favorite audiobook that you heard.

Friday - #FridayListens - What are you currently enjoying in audiobook form?

Saturday - #AudiobooksForTheFuture - In the next year, what are you excited about? New audiobooks, new blog ideas, etc. Let's keep the excitement going!

I hope you're able to join us for the first #AudiobookBloggersWeek! Be sure to stop by fellow audiobook bloggers to say hi! I'm looking forward to hearing from you!

Audiobook Bloggers...
dogearedcopy
Literate Housewife
MissSusie’s Reading & Observations
The Reading Date

Review: Roald Dahl

Happy 100th Birthday, Roald Dahl!

It's amazing to see (and hear) the impact an author can have on readers all over the world. Since The BFG has been created into a movie, a book club that I joined decided to read it. This is my first time reading The BFG. I really appreciated that I had the opportunity to hear a brief biography about Dahl in the audiobook: Who Was Roald Dahl? before hearing The BFG. 

Who Was Roald Dahl? was a great companion audiobook before reading one of his books. It was very informative without being too much information for young readers. Dahl's life was full of ups and downs. He had love and loss. His boarding school days greatly influenced his stories. He truly focused on writing books for children and I could hear that in The BFG. 

Rene Ruiz narrated Who Was Roald Dahl? This is the first audiobook I have heard Rene Ruiz read. Nonfiction can be rather dry versus a novel, but I thought it was interesting. Ruiz shared the biography well. I would listen to Ruiz again.

---

The BFG version I heard was read by David Walliams. Again, another new narrator for this listener. Walliams is an English actor and his accent help make the story come alive. Dahl was also British so it makes sense to have another Englishman share his story. The BFG's voice was very memorable for me. All of the creative words Dahl created were read smoothly throughout the entire story. I would like to hear Walliams again.

As for the book itself, I don't need to read it again. I can hear the fun Dahl created for children in his book. I think I'm too adult for it. The words Dahl created sometimes annoyed me. I also was not a fan of the other giants who ate people. I know it's a pretend story, but that thought makes me grimace and my stomach twist. Dahl's writing is very unique. I think he'll continue to be popular all over the world.

Who Was Roald Dahl? I received this audiobook from Penguin Random House for an honest review. Thank you, Listening Library! 

The BFG was reviewed from a library copy.

Audio Book Details...
Who Was Roald Dahl? by True Kelley
Series: Who Is / Who Was series
Read by Rene Ruiz
Produced by Listening Library
Number of Discs: 1
Total Time: 1 hour, 2 minutes
Release Date: June 7, 2016
ISBN: 9780735205512

Audio Book Details...
The BFG by Roald Dahl
Read by David Walliams
Produced by Penguin Audio / Midwest Tapes
Number of Discs: 1
Total Time: 4 hours, 30 minutes
Release Date: 2013
ISBN: 9781611761887

Review: The Soccer Surprise

Author David A. Kelly continues his new mystery series, MVP or Most Valuable Players, with The Soccer Surprise. The students from book one, The Gold Medal Mess, are back. Instead of an all school event, it is soccer season and the students want to save an old field house. They think of an fundraiser to help save the field house, but along the way someone is tampering with the building.

It's a good story for young mystery readers. A touch of danger at the field house, but nothing harmful to the MVPs. The mystery can be followed and solved by the reader. If readers enjoyed book one, they will like book two.

Tonya Cornelisse returns to narrate The Soccer Surprise. I love consistent narrators with audiobooks. Cornelisse maintains her voices during the story and is able to share a variety of characters from guys, gals, children, and adults. You can hear a sample from The Soccer Surprise on Listening Library's website.


I received this audiobook from Penguin Random House for an honest review. Thank you, Listening Library!


Audio Book Details...
The Soccer Surprise by David A. Kelly
Series: 02, MVP (Most Valuable Players)
Read by Tonya Cornelisse
Produced by Listening Library
Number of Discs: 1
Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Release Date: May 24, 2016
ISBN: 9780399569272 / 9780399569265

Review: Waiting for Augusta

Earlier this year I heard Nooks & Crannies by Jessica Lawson. Over the summer I listened to Lawson's newest youth novel, Waiting for Augusta. Both books were captivating, but very different in their locations and history.

Waiting for Augusta is set in the South (Alabama and Georgia) during the 1970's. Segregation is happening as well as the Masters. Benjamin Putter seeks to give his dead father one last wish - to have his ashes spread on the 18th hole at Augusta National. He runs away from home with his father's urn and another young runaway, Noni. They both have a mission of unfinished business and it will take a trip to the golf course to see them both resolved.

Luke Daniels narrated Waiting for Augusta. This the first full length book I have heard Daniels narrate. Previously, I heard him briefly in The Chronicles of Harris Burdick. I was very impressed with his voices and characters. Ben Putter hears the voices of things around him. Each character that spoke was different. I think the hardest, but possibly the most memorable was the voice of a clock. I could make out all the words, but it sounded like a ticking clock! Very impressive vocal work, Mr. Daniels. I would definitely listen to another book read by Luke Daniels.

The narration was my favorite part of the book. The story line was heartrending then terribly tragic for me. Benjamin Putter works through his grief and misunderstandings with his father which was an interesting listen. I appreciated the theme of golf because very few children's books offer that as sports theme. Noni's story (which she doesn't share until near the end) took my breath away. I have no words for what happened to her. I tried explaining it to other readers and I just ended up crying all over again. My body hurts just thinking about her story. Well done on the realism, Ms. Lawson.

Some readers will love this story and I think others will never want to read it. I am closer to the never read it camp. It's a lot of emotion packed into one book.

Reviewed from an Audiobook Jukebox copy. Thank you, Dreamscape Media!

I received this audiobook for free from Audiobook Jukebox for an honest review.

Audio Book Details...
Waiting for Augusta by Jessica Lawson
Read by Luke Daniels
Produced by Dreamscape Media
Number of Discs: 7
Total Time: 8 hours, 27 minutes
ISBN: 9781520004693

July Audiobook Update

I haven't stopped listening to audiobooks but I have taken a break from posting reviews. In a nutshell, here's what I've been reading over the past month ...

MVP #2 : The Soccer Surprise by David A. Kelly, read by Tonya Cornelisse
Five Kingdoms #4 : Death Weavers by Brandon Mull read by Keith Nobbs
The BFG by Roald Dahl, read by David Walliams
Who Was Laura Ingalls Wilder? by Patricia Brennan Demuth, read by Kimberly Farr
Who Was Roald Dahl? by True Kelley, read by Rene Ruiz
When Friendship Followed Me Home by Paul Griffin, read by Paul Griffin
The Writings of Paul Frees by Paul Frees, read by Paul Frees
Waiting for Augusta by Jessica Lawson, read by Luke Daniels