I double lapped my goal of reading 100 books in 2017.
As of today, I’m at 206 books with a stretch goal of 217.
Audible is my secret. Although I can’t listen as fast as my eyes can read, listening allows me to “read” at every opportune moment such as during the 5 minutes I’m waiting for a friend to arrive.
Why scroll through twitter orinstagramwhen I can uncover another clue in my latest mystery!
I've also lost my interest in television... the only shows I've liked this year are based on books. This is probably a good thing.
There are still a few shows I’ll follow on Hulu/Netflix/Amazon, but there hasn’t been much that’s interested me lately. Even if you only watched 1 hour of television per day, together that’s 1 audible per week.
I’m also an expert multi-tasker: I listening to engaging stories while doing mundane chores like folding laundry or cleaning my home (it makes it more tolerable too!). I can also listen in the car without getting carsick, listen in bed without falling asleep, and I can listen while I “relax” knitting or puzzling. All this adds up fast!
FYI: I tend to buy “daily deals” which are $3/book or less. (There’s also a library of free books for Amazon Prime members.) I do this to keep the costs low but also to force myself into trying new books or genres I normally wouldn’t seek out. I’ve had some shocks of my life as a result (I’ll detail below) so I’m thankful for deals!
My 2017 200 Books List
I meant to do a post at 150 books… forgot… and now that I’m at 200… it’s too much work to list them all (sorry guys!) but you can see ALL of the 200+ books I’ve read in 2017 on Goodreads here.
I leave star ratings and short reviews for everything, including suggestions of what type of reader would enjoy (or hate) that book. I did a blog post review for the first 100 books here.
My Top 25 picks for 2017
I’m preparing my “awards” post, but for now… here are my top narrators.
5 Best Audible Narrators (2017)
#1 JIM DALE
Someone left this review of Dale and it’s perfect:
“Calling Jim Dale a narrator is like calling Monet a painter.”
There is no one else in the world that can compare to Jim Dale as a narrator. When I say who my favorite male narrator is, or even who my favorite narrator is in general, I have to preface it with “excluding Jim Dale”.
#2 Cassandra Campbell
Cassandra is my favorite female narrator. There have been other females who have given outstanding performances, but none compare to her brilliance. Cassandra can also deliver a wide range of accents and voices so you can listen to two books narrated by her back-to-back without knowing it.
Here are some of my favorite books/performances by Cassandra Campbell:
Everything I Never Told You (her best performance)
The Help (second bestperformance)
Henrietta Lacks
Small Great Things
#3 Bahni Turpin
Second favorite lady narrator. I’ve read several books by her and have found her performance added to the book every time. If I read any book by or about people of color, I look for a version read by Turpin.
#4 Scott Brick
Brick’s a go-to guy for “guy” novels (Tom Clancy, Michael Crichton, Gregg Hurwitz, Robert Ludlum, Issac Asimov, David Baldacci) and I’ve developed a crush on Brick’s voice.
Let’s put it this way: If I’m 50/50 on any given book, if it’s ready by Campbell OR Brick, I’ll buy it.
My crown jewel of 2017 (the book I kept saving and saving) was by one of my favorite authors (Gregg Hurwitz) with Brick AND Campbell. Holy trifecta.
Here are some of my favorite books/performances by Scott Brick:
#5 BBC Radio
Full ensemble casts (performance table reads) are great! Recently I’ve started a habit where I listen to shorter programs for an hour or two on Sunday… the way people used to listen to stories on the radio. It’s deeply pleasurable.
Here are a few “ensemble” audible books I loved:
12 Angry Men
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Mansfield Park
Famous Screen Actors
I love when famous actors or actresses narrate.
If you missed all my other posts: I am obsessed with Zachary Quinto and his performance in The Dispatcher ;) Claire Danes also rocked the Handmaid's Tale if you haven’t read the book yet.
Here are other actors I’ve liked as narrators:
Joe Mantegna
Will Patton
Alan Cumming
Benedict Cumberbatch
Wil Wheaton
Octavia Spencer (I wish she’d narrate more!)
Here are a few other non-actor narrators I’ve read a few times, though haven’t developed a deep, one-sided relationship with yet:
Penelope Rawlins
George Newborn
Luke Daniels
Steve Weber
Andi Arndt
Fiona Hardingham*
*Fiona is currently my favorite non-US accent female narrator. If you’d like a second opinion on narrators, check out these articles:
- The 10 Greatest Audiobook Narrators: An Insomniac's Guide
- 35 OF THE BEST NARRATED AUDIOBOOKS
- 10 of the Best Narrator and Audiobook Pairings of All Time
Audible also recently started a “hall of fame” and I was thrilled to see Jim Dale, Cassandra Campbell, Scott Brick, Bahni Turpin & Alan Cummings were inducted!
