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New book by L. M. Montgomery - "The Blythes are Quoted"

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aninkling
Post subject: Re: New book by L. M. Montgomery - "The Blythes are Quoted"
Posted: Wed 03 Jan , 2018 3:20 pm
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I agree with Maria. But I've never been fond of goals that just emphasize mechanics. For instance, I always thought those "you'll get a gold star if you read X-number of library books" childhood events were silly. They had a worthy goal of exposing non-readers to books, but most didn't seem to get much good (or pleasure) out of the books they chose.

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MariaHobbit
Post subject: Re: New book by L. M. Montgomery - "The Blythes are Quoted"
Posted: Wed 03 Jan , 2018 3:59 pm
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I just finished an audiobook that is 55 hours long. :Q There is a danger in a long book like that of the author losing focus or otherwise diluting the tale with nonessentials. Not so, in this case. This one monstrously long volume is probably the best book i've listened to in several years, and I'll probably listen to it several times in the next year or two while waiting for the sequel. :love: Brandon Sanderson is awesome. The Stormlight Archives is the series.


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aninkling
Post subject: Re: New book by L. M. Montgomery - "The Blythes are Quoted"
Posted: Wed 03 Jan , 2018 5:16 pm
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That is one long audiobook! Audiobooks are great for long drives, but I rarely listen to one. They drive me nuts if it's something I really want to read - I inevitably want to go back and re-read something (either it was a good/ interesting thought/ description, or I just lost my concentration for a moment), or pause and think about something. And the reader's pace is not necessarily the one I want. :)

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Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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MariaHobbit
Post subject: Re: New book by L. M. Montgomery - "The Blythes are Quoted"
Posted: Thu 04 Jan , 2018 4:56 pm
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My husband and I drive about an hour and a half a day, sometimes more- so audiobooks are great for that. When we get really interested in a book, we listen during meals, too. And sometimes in the evenings.

Backing up is easy to do if we miss something. And the narrator speed can be adjusted, if the person's pace is annoying.

When we aren't doing things together, we re-listen to books we've already listened to before. First listen of something is usually something we share, though.

Lyme disease causes problems with reading/comprehending large blocks of text, so we've been audiobook addicts for years. We weren't going to give up *books* just because of physical difficulties!

I am tempted to get the hardcover editions of the Stormlight Archives, though. The illustrations are supposed to be excellent.


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LalaithUrwen
Post subject: Re: New book by L. M. Montgomery - "The Blythes are Quoted"
Posted: Thu 04 Jan , 2018 9:21 pm
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MariaHobbit wrote:
Why set yourself a numerical minimum? How is reading a couple of dozen little books better than reading several very long books that take the same amount of time? Quality vs. quantity, I say!
To each her/his own. :cheers:

I like the idea of having a numerical goal to keep me motivated to read. I am not suicidal over having failed to reach my goal last year; I won't be suicidal if I fail to meet this year's goal. Having a numerical goal will, however, keep me more on the straight and narrow when I'm tempted to fritter more of my time away on FB and the like. And who says my quantity somehow negates quality? And who says a frivolous book now and then is a bad thing anyway? :P

Out of the 21 books I read, here's the breakdown:

Biography/True Stories: 7
Inspirational/Philosophy/Psychology: 5
Science: 1 (overlaps, really, to 3)
Poetry/Essays: 3
Short Stories: 1
Politics: 1
Fantasy: 1
Classics: 1
Fluff: 1 (historical fiction)

I don't think that's too bad of a track record. And, since I'm choosing my own books (as opposed to having them chosen for me), I derive a great deal of edification, pleasure, entertainment, and joy out of them. Usually.

But, again, to each her own.

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aninkling
Post subject: Re: New book by L. M. Montgomery - "The Blythes are Quoted"
Posted: Fri 05 Jan , 2018 2:23 pm
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Quote:
And who says a frivolous book now and then is a bad thing anyway? :P
Only literary critics and people with a rigid view of books as divided into useful/ improving and frivolous (and a Puritanical view of the frivolous kind). ;)

One of the most fun books I read this year was The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic - picked up in a little bookshop because it was among the staff picks and I was in the mood for a light read. Not to mention that one description of the book was intriguing - what might have become of an adult Hermione Granger in a world without Hogwarts.

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Backing up is easy to do if we miss something. And the narrator speed can be adjusted, if the person's pace is annoying.
The trouble for me is that, in some books, I'd be wanting to adjust the pace every 10 minutes, to speed up or slow down various paragraphs. But it sounds like it works well for you.

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MariaHobbit
Post subject: Re: New book by L. M. Montgomery - "The Blythes are Quoted"
Posted: Fri 05 Jan , 2018 2:38 pm
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Sorry I sounded judgmental, Lali. :( Whatever makes you happy.

I wouldn't do well with your list and you'd doubtless get tired of my exclusive literary diet of science fiction and fantasy.

The only trouble I have with adjusting narration speed with some readers is when I switch back and forth between books. That can be maddening when suddenly your formerly perfect reader is gibbering away at 1.5 speed :Q because your other book is read by someone speaking in slow motion. Some readers go SOOOO SLOWWWWW that I lose focus with the story if I don't speed them up.

The only reading style I can't handle in audiobooks is the way "The Expanse" series is read. The reader reads the sentences in an almost normal pace, and then pauses 2 to 3 seconds between sentences. :bang: My mind wanders in the breaks and then has to come back to the story with a snap. You can't speed him up, because then the actual speaking is too fast to follow. There's no way to eliminate the excessive time gaps between sentences. I gave up on that promising series, just because the reader had that severely irritating habit.

Maybe I'll try that series in paper format some day.


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Jude
Post subject: Re: New book by L. M. Montgomery - "The Blythes are Quoted"
Posted: Fri 05 Jan , 2018 3:47 pm
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I guess there's no chance that there's another version of The Expanse read by a different narrator?

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MariaHobbit
Post subject: Re: New book by L. M. Montgomery - "The Blythes are Quoted"
Posted: Fri 05 Jan , 2018 7:14 pm
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It is very rare for them to record alternate versions of a book, especially when they have a whole series of books done by the same narrator. I'm not going to hold my breath on that one.


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LalaithUrwen
Post subject: Re: New book by L. M. Montgomery - "The Blythes are Quoted"
Posted: Sun 07 Jan , 2018 12:18 am
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No worries, Maria. I'm over it. :D

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Post subject: Re: New book by L. M. Montgomery - "The Blythes are Quoted"
Posted: Sun 07 Jan , 2018 3:49 pm
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Interestingly, it seems that the narrator for Cibola Burn was universally disliked so they got back the guy who narrated all the others for re-record it.

Jim Dale (US) and Stephen Fry (UK) for the Harry Potter series are the only ones I know of where they did two complete sets.

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aninkling
Post subject: Re: New book by L. M. Montgomery - "The Blythes are Quoted"
Posted: Sun 07 Jan , 2018 4:46 pm
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Quote:
The reader reads the sentences in an almost normal pace, and then pauses 2 to 3 seconds between sentences.
I encountered a narrator with that style many years ago. Someone had rented a couple of audiobooks to entertain a group of us for a long drive. His tastes ran to cowboy and spy novels, which is what we got (but didn't interest most of us), and the writer was weak to start with. So those 2-3 second pauses ended up being wonderful opportunities for wry heckling comments, which entertained us much more than the story.

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Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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Jude
Post subject: Re: New book by L. M. Montgomery - "The Blythes are Quoted"
Posted: Sun 07 Jan , 2018 5:29 pm
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You should audition for MST3K :D

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LalaithUrwen
Post subject: Re: New book by L. M. Montgomery - "The Blythes are Quoted"
Posted: Mon 08 Jan , 2018 5:54 am
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That would be fun to do! :D I love heckling things.

I'm not a huge fan of audiobooks, but I did immensely enjoy the Hank the Cowdog books. I know they're children's books, but, seriously, if you want something fun and entertaining (and funny), check them out. I recommend The Deadly Ha-Ha Game. The author is the narrator, and he does the voices for all of the characters (which are dogs, cats, coyotes, etc.).

This will give you a taste, but the audiobooks are even better:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwZIsW5S1m8

Part 2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TrRd3002aI

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Post subject: Re: New book by L. M. Montgomery - "The Blythes are Quoted"
Posted: Mon 08 Jan , 2018 9:22 am
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I like audiobooks, but I prefer radio plays. Its a completely different medium.

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LalaithUrwen
Post subject: Re: New book by L. M. Montgomery - "The Blythes are Quoted"
Posted: Mon 08 Jan , 2018 2:05 pm
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I'm not sure I've come across a radio play. :scratch: Do you have a link to an example? I'm assuming it's multiple people acting out a play. ??

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Jude
Post subject: Re: New book by L. M. Montgomery - "The Blythes are Quoted"
Posted: Mon 08 Jan , 2018 2:16 pm
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Well, the BBC version of LOTR for example...

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LalaithUrwen
Post subject: Re: New book by L. M. Montgomery - "The Blythes are Quoted"
Posted: Mon 08 Jan , 2018 2:18 pm
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Which I've never heard....


(I am seriously not a big fan of audio-only formats. I guess I should get over that, but it's hard for me.)

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aninkling
Post subject: Re: New book by L. M. Montgomery - "The Blythes are Quoted"
Posted: Mon 08 Jan , 2018 3:01 pm
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Another example (and much shorter :) ):
https://www.wnyc.org/story/christmas-carol-radio-drama/
Quote:
WNYC and The Greene Space presents its beloved holiday tradition — a radio drama inspired by Charles Dickens' classic tale featuring your favorite public radio personalities.

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Society can and does execute its own mandates, and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself. ― John Stuart Mill


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MariaHobbit
Post subject: Re: New book by L. M. Montgomery - "The Blythes are Quoted"
Posted: Mon 08 Jan , 2018 3:45 pm
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I first heard "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" as a BBC radio play on the local public radio station when I was a young teen. It was great! :D Early exposure probably primed me to love audiobooks later on.


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