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Bring Your Own...Audiobook | S1Ep9
424 Plays3 years ago
This week we talk all things audiobooks! We reveal our audiobook origin stories, dissect our individual listening habits, and foam at the mouth over our favorite narrators. We also each brought our latest audiobook obsessions and provide evidence as to why it should be your next listen!
Audiobook picks (no spoilers just vibes):
Belladonna: 42:11
Juniper Hill: 52:02
Life's Too Short: 1:01:14
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to 'Bring Your Own' Podcast
00:00:04
Speaker
Hey! Welcome! Hey! Hey!
00:00:12
Speaker
Damn, okay. Welcome to Bring Your Own, a catch all bookish, most of the time podcast. My name is Brandi. I'm Kendra. And I'm Kayla. And today we all brought our own audio books. All three of us are at least in part audio book girlies. So we have really been looking forward to this episode.
Current Reads and Drinks
00:00:36
Speaker
But before we jump in, what are you guys reading? What are you guys drinking?
00:00:42
Speaker
I'll start. Yes. Um, because I wanted to bring something other than Coke Zero, I do have a glass of Moscato with me tonight. Yeah, because as some people know, I am a wuss and I can't drink anything but sweet wine. Like when it comes to wines, at least can only drink sweet wine. I hate anything bitter. So this one is like actually kind of
00:01:09
Speaker
too sweet for me it's like super sweet I don't know I can't even remember the brand but anyway so that's what I'm drinking and then I'm reading um I literally just read like right before we hopped on here the first chapter of hold on because it's like okay
00:01:33
Speaker
So like right before we jump down here, I just read the first chapter of The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King, which is the second book in the Crowns of Nyaxia series by Carissa Broadbent. It's a fantasy romance series that I really, really love. I really enjoyed the first book, and this is the second book. And it's a six book series, but each couple gets two books.
00:01:56
Speaker
so this is the end of the first couple um
Book Highlights and Favorites
00:01:59
Speaker
so i'm really excited to see how that ends and then i also just started today the audiobook for when in rome by sarah adams um it's cute so far not very fun yeah um it just seems like a quick easy listen so i kind of wanted something uh after i had finished the yours truly audiobook i wanted something that was not super
00:02:22
Speaker
I mean, I guess I don't know, this one could make me super emotional, but I just finished the Yours Truly audiobook this week, which was 5 out of 5. Amazing, beautiful, brilliant. The narrator, we will get into him later, so I won't say too much about that one. But it was amazing, loved it. Amazing. I am drinking a lemon LaCroix. I actually just finished it.
00:02:48
Speaker
little ASMR for you there. And for reading, I am reading like too much right now. It's stressing me out. But I am reading American Prince, which is the second book in the new Camelot series by Sierra Simone.
00:03:08
Speaker
I'm like blushing to talk about them, you guys. They're so good. I mean, like, Sarah Simone can just like write. Her prose is just excellent. But these books are like filthy. It's about a girl who, excuse me, sorry, she's the granddaughter of a former vice president. So she's like grown up in the political scene. And she's basically American royalty.
00:03:33
Speaker
And then she has these like chance encounters in her past, whatever, but ends up falling in love with the president and the vice president who are best friends. And then turns out, oh, the president and the vice president are also in love. So now they're just all in love with each other.
Narrator Preferences and Styles
00:03:50
Speaker
Yeah, so good. And then
00:03:54
Speaker
I'm also reading The Arc for Yellow Face by R.F. Kwang, and I'm barely into that one, but it's really good so far. And yeah, I am also going to start listening to yours truly audiobook tomorrow. Very excited. Yay. I am drinking.
00:04:17
Speaker
a poppy, not Ollie Pop. I'm so sorry to Ollie Pop if you're listening. I still love you. Please sponsor me, us, everyone. Poppy classic cola flavor for a healthy gut. So does it taste like Coke? If you use your imagination, sure. I just finished reading the heart principle.
00:04:41
Speaker
so good so so so good I'm kicking myself I didn't read it earlier my friend Lomi annotated it for me and sent it to me for like Christmas so I've had it sent for months now but yeah now I'm done with the kiss quotient series and I think this one was my favorite out of the three if I had a rank it would go like heart principal then the bride test and the kiss quotient yeah I think that's a lot of people's rankings
00:05:06
Speaker
yeah because like her writing just got like better and better too um anyways yeah so i just finished reading that and then i'm listening to the audiobook of do you take this man by denise williams it's my first book by denise williams it's okay so far it's narrated by teddy hamilton who i've realized i
00:05:29
Speaker
don't think I like Teddy Hamilton that much as a narrator because his voice I think only fits like a certain type of character so if he's not playing like he did the audiobook for um what is that Devany Perry book tragic I think he was perfect and tragic because like he what is that guy's name I don't know he was that character yeah
First Audiobook Experiences
00:05:50
Speaker
like King like country guy like whatever that's perfect but like if he's playing like a city guy like it's just I don't know I don't
00:05:58
Speaker
buy it. No, absolutely. I 100% agree. The book I'm reading now, or listening to now when in Rome, he narrates it, but he narrates it under his, I'm guessing his real name, Andrew, like I Eden or Iden or something like that. So I think, I think, or it could be swish, but I think usually like narrators have a different one from more quote unquote, spicy books. And I'm pretty sure the one that I'm reading right now is not spicy at all.
00:06:27
Speaker
So I think that's why that's his real name on that one. Does he have like that accent in it?
00:06:34
Speaker
Because he has a certain accent, right? He has a very specific accent, but it's not even southern. I don't even know what it is. It's like, doo-doo-doo-doo. Doo-doo-doo-doo. I mean, it sounds like him, if that's what you mean. He does. I was tripping balls one time when I was listening to an audio book. I was like, why do I know this guy's voice? And then I did investigation. And yeah, it was Andrew. I didn't know whatever his name is.
00:07:02
Speaker
freaks me out every time they narrate under multiple names. I know. Wow, what a great segue into. Yeah, you're correct. But what were you thinking? I cut you off. No, I was just gonna say, I felt like, so I don't even know what like the right word is. I felt like such a detective when I figured out that Carissa, and I don't remember her last name, Carissa Backer is the same as Vanessa Edwin. I didn't know that. That was great work.
00:07:33
Speaker
I'm so smart for Googling. But yeah, I just- But no, you were like, I feel like you did that by her voice alone. You were like, yeah. Well, yeah, I think, I don't know what this says about me. I don't know if this is something, but I feel like for me, male voices tend to be more recognizable than female voices, I think. It's because you hate women.
00:08:00
Speaker
I know that's what I was just saying. I was like, I don't know what this says about me. But, uh, like, obviously I will know Zachary Weber half second, you know, as he speaks, you know, like those games that people play when they're like playing me a song, I'll recognize it in the first second. That's me with like Zachary Weber. Um,
Audiobook Listening Habits
00:08:19
Speaker
so, but like Carissa, I was like, I listened to like three whole chapters of the book and I was like,
00:08:26
Speaker
This sounds so familiar. Who is this woman? And then I went on a whole journey. I figured it out, but yeah. Proud of you. Thank you.
00:08:34
Speaker
Yeah, wow, this little intro that we just had was such a perfect segue into our conversations today. We each brought our own audio book that we love and we love the books that they are, but we also like love the audio book performance. But we want to talk general audio book stuff before we jump into our specific books.
00:08:58
Speaker
Yes. So what were your what was your guys's like first audio book that you remember? Because I know mine. It was Sinner by Sierra Simone, narrated by the one and only Jacob Morgan, aka Zachary Weber. Yeah, that was my first ever audio book. That's crazy. It was December of 2021. I only listened to it because
00:09:25
Speaker
Tanya, what is her at name at baby gal Reddit on Instagram. She was like, I just finished center love center. I was like obsessed with it. And she was like, have you heard the audio book for it? And I was like, no. And at the time, like I just always respected people who read audio books. I just always thought they like just weren't gonna be for me. And then she sent me a clip of it and he sounded so good. And I was like, wait, I'm gonna get this right now. I didn't have audible anything. I bought it on Apple books.
00:09:51
Speaker
So my copy of the listener audiobook is on my iBooks. So every time I listen to it, I have to go to iBooks.
00:10:01
Speaker
listen to it. I think I started off at like 1.4 speed, which is like crazy to think about, no offense, Kayla, at the time. And I want to say I had it on repeat for like weeks. I could not get enough of it. I was just so obsessed. And now, you know, I'm a changed woman. You hear Zachary Weber's
Choosing Audiobooks vs. Physical Books
00:10:20
Speaker
voice once and it's like, there's no going back, especially for a book like that.
00:10:25
Speaker
that's crazy though because that's like one of the best audiobooks ever so like you peaked immediately with your audiobookies right like it was just all downhill for a little bit um
00:10:40
Speaker
My first audiobook experience, I also remember very vividly. So I read The Hunger Games back in my young age in middle school. And you guys, when I, I like really can't explain how obsessed I was with The Hunger Games series. Like I had posters, I had shirts, I had merch, I had all the books. I custom made myself bookmarks, et cetera. Anyways, I was to say- Did you go to the Minute Premieres?
00:11:08
Speaker
I did. Wow. Yeah, I was obsessed. I have pictures of me at the Mockingjay one.
00:11:16
Speaker
Yeah, I was obsessed and I bought those audiobooks and would fall asleep listening to them at night. Damn. Deadass. Like I would put them on and be like, time for bed, do do do, split my headphones down, fall asleep listening to The Hunger Games. So that was my first audiobook experience, but I wasn't like a regular audiobook listener until actually the audiobooks helped me get back into reading in 2020 when COVID hit. And this is so embarrassing, but it was Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer.
00:11:48
Speaker
I like, I hadn't been reading for enjoyment in a really long time. And that book came out and I was like, I have to fucking read it. Like for a 13 year old me, I have to read it. And then, but I was like, no way I'm gonna sit down and read this 800 page dumbass book so that I bought the audio book. And I was like, wait, that's actually fun. How long is that audio book? It's also on Apple books for me. So let me look. Also like with a book like that, like with such a big release,
00:12:16
Speaker
I'm pretty sure they got like one of the best narrators, right? Or like was, would you say the narration was good? Let me look, actually, because I straight up don't remember. I listened to it in a fever dream. Yeah, this audiobook
Audiobook Apps and Library Access
00:12:31
Speaker
is 14 hours. Midnight Sun is 14 hours long. I thought it would be longer than that, actually. But with that, right, like even with The Hunger Games, was it weird for you to like hear the audiobook
00:12:46
Speaker
voice by someone else knowing that like you had actors who like also like really shaped these characters because i just hearing that like i listened to them before i the movies came out oh okay yeah that makes got you got you you know what's so funny is i was recently thinking like i would like to re-listen to those the audiobooks that i own on apple books are narrated differently i played it and i was like this woman sounds old as fuck
00:13:14
Speaker
And so I went in and they got re-narrated. They're narrated by somebody. Interesting. So yeah, then that's what helped get me back into reading because I actually had fun, not because of the book. I think I gave the book three stars for Midnight Sun, but then I started looking for Rex and got back into reading. Yay.
00:13:36
Speaker
Okay, I was trying to figure out what mine was and I think I like very like slowly and like weirdly got into audiobook reading or listening rather. I had hoopla for, I still use hoopla, but in late 2021 I was reading a lot of Mariana Zapata and if you've read any Mariana Zapata then you know that it takes like a long time to get to
00:14:02
Speaker
interesting parts, at least in some books. I mean, I still really enjoy a lot of her books, but so I had Hoopla through my library and they have like almost all of her, or a really good chunk at least of her books on audio. And so I like partly listened, partly read to a lot of Mariana books, like Walt Winnipeg and me, Luna and the Lie, and
00:14:28
Speaker
was a couple others I can't think of but um I actually really didn't like those books uh those audiobooks anyway because they were narrated by Kelly Dalton and I don't love Kelly Dalton. I like Kelly Dalton. I don't I don't love her but I also found One True Loves on Hoopla by Taylor Jenkins Reid the audiobook for that and I love that book. I loved that audiobook it was so good and I can't remember Kendra had you read that one or had you listened to it? Um I read it was that but did Julia Weyland do that audiobook because I know she does like a lot of
00:14:59
Speaker
I don't think so. I don't remember who did it, but it wasn't her. And then the
Purchasing and Managing Audiobooks
00:15:05
Speaker
only other audio book I listened to that same year was Center by Sierra Simone. And so I think that that was really when it all started for me, because I listened to it because Kendra had listened to it was like, girl, you have to listen to this book. Yeah, listen to it. Yeah, I remember getting sorry, it was Julia. Wait, I was wrong. Oh, okay. So I remember.
00:15:29
Speaker
I remember getting a like, because Kayla and I, before we started texting, we would only message on Instagram. So I got like a message from Kayla when she was listening to it. And it was just like, we were just listening to like the grocery store and it's like listening to center and like the most like obscene like place you should not be listening to it. It's like I was like running around like tomatoes. Yeah. Yeah. We'd like be at the store be like, Oh, I'm at Costco like listening to this. It's like, Oh, I'm at the grocery store listening to you know, Sean Bell just
00:15:59
Speaker
You're the great man. That was a fun time. Yeah, I had a really good time listening to that one. And then I think that's really like when I really started getting into it. So thank you, Zachary Weber slash Jacob Morgan.
00:16:15
Speaker
yeah and i think it also helps that like i had a lot of friends or like followed people who were really into audiobooks like you brandy were always like listening to something uh logan at logan's uh that's her tiktok name at logan's library at lc's bookstagram is her bookstagram name she is like always listening to something so i would just see a lot of recs so i think the more i saw people listening the more i kind of like trusted the process um but again it's not for everyone like some people have a really hard time concentrating or
00:16:45
Speaker
They just can't match voice in their head. But all it takes is one good one. For real. Whenever people find out that I'm into reading, they ask me for recs. Obviously, I'm sure it happens to you guys as well. And my first question is always, always, always, are you into audiobooks? Because I feel like my recommendations, I'm like, I have book recs, and then I have audiobook recs. And sometimes they're the same thing. But there are some times where I'm like, this audiobook is just so good. You know? Yeah.
00:17:16
Speaker
I always wonder if people are into it or not or whatever.
Impact of Narrators on Audiobook Experience
00:17:20
Speaker
I think there has to be so many people who we probably don't even know in our personal lives who probably love audiobooks because they keep making them, right? So the market is there. It has to be huge. Yeah. And when people say that, I'm always like, are you into podcasts? And they're like, yeah. And I'm like, then how can you not do an audiobook?
00:17:38
Speaker
it's so interesting how people's brains work because it's not like i don't believe them i'm just like that's crazy that you can listen to podcasts without audiobooks i think it's the length that scares people because like a podcast is usually like what i mean we just we did like two hour episodes recently we're addicted but like you're it's self-contained usually within the episode rather than the audiobook it's like hours and hours with a commitment so like i kind of get that um another question
00:18:07
Speaker
What are just like audiobook habits for you guys? Where do you like to listen? What's your listening speed? Things like that. What's your ideal setup when you're listening to an audiobook? Here's the thing, you guys. I already know I'm going to be on my own with this one.
00:18:28
Speaker
dunk on me so hard and make me so hard because I am a 1.4 girly when it comes to audiobook listening. I don't like my books to sound like somebody is trying to talk like this and I have to like pay really close attention to it. I just don't, I can't do it. I can't, I like my books to sound like a conversation. Now 1.0 is like a really slow conversation. So I'm like, all right, let's like move it along.
00:18:59
Speaker
So I bump it up to the 1.4, but I know these two are like insane people who like double that. You know, doesn't double that. Brandy will. I just don't understand how you can, can do that. Like my brain, maybe I'm just dumb and I just can't process that information quickly enough. But like I said, I like it to sound like how it would sound in real life. And that's how I personally prefer it. Well, I just think it's a little like,
00:19:27
Speaker
crazy for you. Well, that's harsh. Not crazy. That's not what I mean. Wow. Wow. It's just interesting. That's the word. It's interesting because, Kayla, you eyeball read so fast. I do. I would think that you would want to match that speed, but then you're listening at 1.4 and I'm like, girl, that's so, for me, for me, that's really slow. Yeah. I eyeball read a lot faster than I audiobook read.
00:19:57
Speaker
um i don't know i just like audiobooks i i think i just like to go a little slower anyway i don't know i just like to it doesn't piss you off when you get narrators that talk like hello well then i'll speed it up even more i've done like 1.6 before i've not like never done that i'm pretty sure i told you one time when i did and you were like
00:20:23
Speaker
I'm like shook, yeah. But I usually can stick to 1.4. Wow. I'm consistently with romance a 1.8 girly. With romance always 1.8 unless I've already listened to it then sometimes I'll go up higher. If I have the book in front of me and I'm doing both because I like to annotate when I have the audio and the physical, then I have to be on 2.2. Fantasy is pretty regularly at 2.0.
00:20:53
Speaker
interesting see i just don't that like my brain hurts because like from fantasy i have to pay even closer attention see what i mean i i have like a little nap brain so
Narrator Influence on Book Choices
00:21:08
Speaker
if especially with fantasy where there's all this world building and all this information dumping oftentimes, I need it to go fast. Otherwise, I'm going to put the book down. Otherwise, I'm not going to have fun listening. Like it's more about like, get me what I need, and then we'll go from there. But once I get what I need, I'm accustomed to listening to it at that speed. So I just stay there. Yeah, I'm I started off like Kayla, you know, 1.4.
00:21:35
Speaker
um and then i don't know what made me go up higher but now i sit anywhere between 1.7 and 2 and i've found that i get into this habit of like once i'm nearing the end of a book and this happens when i'm eyeball reading too like i just want to be like done like i have like you know yeah so i'll that's when i'll go from like 1.7 to 2 in the middle of the book um or if it's like an audiobook that i'm just like not
00:22:04
Speaker
like vibing with yeah vibing with money yeah yeah it's either like i want to know everything it's so good i need it to go faster or i need it to be done yeah yeah like let's let's get to it um so yeah 1.7 or two with fantasy i haven't listened to mini fantasy on audio i did one of the picks that we're gonna discuss can i say belladonna yeah go ahead okay we're gonna talk about belladonna later
00:22:33
Speaker
And I listened to that at like 1.7, but I think there were times where I had to like, I think I did eventually like speed it up, but I get what you're saying, Brandy, like sometimes by going faster, it does help me focus more because then it's like, okay, like I just need to like, I don't know. I just zone in better if it's faster.
00:22:53
Speaker
See, I think also too with with audiobooks, I usually have to be doing something else. I always have to be doing something with my hands. I'm like, I move around all the time. So like, if I'm doing something with or listening to an audiobook, I have to be cleaning, I have to be washing the dishes, blah, blah, blah. So like, I can't just be sitting there and listening to I can't do that. Or if I'm sitting there, I'm probably playing a game on my iPad that doesn't require a lot of brain power.
00:23:21
Speaker
And so like, I just, I have to be able to, to do something while I'm listening, which means that I can't go faster if that makes sense. Because like, then I.
00:23:32
Speaker
Too much brain usage for me, you know, so. Yeah, definitely. It's like you're all doing something and also listening and also yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. The amount of real money, like human dollars coming from my fucking thing. And I spent on Mandy Crush because I'm listening to a really good audiobook and I ran out of lives. There was one day, you guys,
00:23:56
Speaker
I'm telling you and also anybody who listens to this podcast an embarrassing secret of mine. One day I spent 25 real dollars to have unlimited lives for 24 hours on Candy Crush. Because I was listening to Song of Achilles and I was having a
Listening Locations and Habits
00:24:12
Speaker
really good time and I just wanted to lay on my couch and play Candy Crush and listen to Song of Achilles. You're their ideal customers like you just made them very happy. Okay we're targeting you.
00:24:22
Speaker
Yeah, Brandy's game of choice for audiobook listening is Candy Crush. Yes. Not anymore? Or is it different? I was going to ask everybody what their game is. What? Kayla introduced me to a new one. Did you get it? I'm obsessed with it. I love it so much. I played this game called Hue on, I think it's called Hue or I love Hue or something like that on the iPad, but it's literally just
00:24:52
Speaker
You sound like my dad. It's this game called I Love You and it's basically just like this picture of colors and you have to arrange the colors in the correct hue order and it's so like relaxing.
00:25:13
Speaker
Yeah, it's a lot of fun. What's yours? I know what yours is. Mine is Tetris. I love Tetris. Tetris is also my depression game. So like, if I start playing a lot of Tetris, that's how like I know I'm like kind of down. Yeah, no, yeah, a little worried. But it's like, I don't know, it helps me. It's one of the only things that I can
00:25:35
Speaker
do while also listening like I can listen while driving and cleaning but the most active I'm listening will always be during Tetris but I find it so funny that Kayla was like I can't like sit there and like not do anything else but there are sometimes moments in books where like I need to like sit yeah because I can give you guys a perfect example we all listen to tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow on audio the chapter
00:26:00
Speaker
Yeah. I have a vivid memory. I listened to that right before I went to bed, which I don't know why I should have just like, paused it. I sat in my bed, just like, crying, like devastated. I listened to that chapter on my lunch break at work like a fucking idiot. The kids came in after and they were like, are you okay? Because my eyes were all puffy. I was like, yeah, I'm fine. That was like, that was really, um,
00:26:30
Speaker
that was rough other than that i have this habit though where i love to start audiobooks at the gym so like every usually monday i wake up i walk to the gym and then i'm like all right what new audiobook am i starting and that's where like i'll usually first listen to at in the mornings but i can't like it's so weird like i can't run or like yeah i can't run on the treadmill and listen to audiobooks but i can like do everything else in the gym it's just running i need like music and then everything else i can do audiobook
00:26:59
Speaker
And then driving, I'm pretty good with audiobooks, too. Like, that's another reason for me why I can't listen to audiobooks when I'm working, like, on my actual job. Because my job requires a lot of reading and a lot of typing. I can't do that, like, while I'm working. I'm jealous of people that are able to do that. I just imagine Brandy as a teacher.
00:27:19
Speaker
Listening to like... I need your help, I'm like, excuse me. Yeah, no, I can't listen to it at work, obviously, but I live in LA, so I have a horrible commute, as everybody who lives in LA does. So I get a lot of listening done on my commutes. Yeah.
00:27:41
Speaker
always have something going on.
Audiobook Collections and Buying Strategies
00:27:43
Speaker
There are times where I won't be eyeball reading something, but I 100% of the time will always have an audiobook. I will never not be listening to something. Yeah, that's the habit I've gotten into this year. When I don't have something to listen to, I'm like,
00:27:58
Speaker
What's happening? I know. I'm like, do we listen to something? I'm like, ew, music. No, not actually. I will listen to music, but still. But I feel like I've listened to music way less now than I did before. Like I'm very curious to get my Spotify wrapped at the end of this year because I think it'll probably like, I used to always hit like 40,000, 50,000, but now I'm probably
00:28:22
Speaker
barely hitting like 20,000 minutes. Listen, get that. I think it was like 15,000 last year. I was like, dang. I didn't know Apple tracked that. That's crazy. Oh my god. I was just gonna say like, I have a very specific method for whether I decide, for how I decide whether I'm going to listen to a book or to physically read a book. And I was wondering if you guys have a method for that or, or what?
00:28:51
Speaker
Because for me, I always default to audio. I will check and see if there's an audiobook. Interesting. And then I look at the narrators. I'm picky about my narrators at this point. I used to not be, but now I know what I like. So I picky about my narrators. So if there's no audiobook, obviously I have to read it. If I don't like the narrators, then I read it. But if there is an audiobook and I like the narrators, that becomes an audiobook TBR. Because there are so many books that I want to read that don't even have audiobooks, that I have a big enough physical TBR.
00:29:19
Speaker
that I'm not worried about that, you know what
Sampling Audiobooks Before Buying
00:29:21
Speaker
I mean? Do you guys have a system? For me, I think I always default to like Kindle or physical first, but I don't know because
00:29:32
Speaker
It depends on what everyone else is saying, right? Because a good example is Evany Perry. Like I've never physically read a Evany Perry book. I've only done her on audio, but I have only done her on audio because everyone else is already saying to do her on audio. So now like I can't ever, I don't think I'll ever read a book of hers physically because I've just gotten into the habit of always doing her that way.
00:29:56
Speaker
So yeah, I guess it just depends like if people are saying like, oh, do the audio then yeah, then I'll do it. But usually I think I'll just stick to physical and then sometimes I will know actually this year, now that I've gotten like really into using Libby.
00:30:10
Speaker
I have started to just scroll through what's instantly available on there for audiobooks. And then I'm now reading books that I have always wanted to read, but never was super invested. But with audiobooks, I like to get- Because you're there, yeah. Yeah, now I can get through it at a good pace. So yeah, that's mine. I don't know. That's a tough question. I feel like I could honestly go either way. I am also a big user of Libby. I love Libby. And I feel like my library has a pretty good selection now.
00:30:40
Speaker
They have a good selection, and they probably have the book that I'm looking for. If it's published by a traditional publisher, they'll probably have it. Indie, you know, that's harder to come by, although they do have a lot of Deppney Perry, which is great.
00:30:52
Speaker
But obviously the downfall to Libby is that if the book is popular, you're probably not going to get it immediately. So if that is kind of annoying, well, I mean, I can't get too mad at them. But if it's on Libby, then I'm probably going to listen to it on Libby. I do have Audible. I try and save my credits because I only get one. I mean, I do buy the bundles.
00:31:18
Speaker
once in a while but um my credit is so precious. You know what I mean? I just hate it for that. You want to save it for a heavy hitter. Exactly um I so I usually like save those for ones that I've been recommended ones that you know people have told me you have to get this one or if it's narrated by somebody I know that I like then then I'll use my credit on it even if I maybe haven't heard somebody talk about it if it's narrated by Jason Clark or Zachary River of Vanessa Edwin you know what I mean? And I already wanted to check it out
00:31:47
Speaker
then I'll probably use it then.
Favorite and Challenging Narrators
00:31:49
Speaker
Wait, how many titles do you guys have in your Audible? Brandy wins. Brandy wins. Brandy wins. Because she's going to win this. Because I 100% use Libby half and half. Libby and Audible half and half. So let's see. Let's see. I'll do it. Wait, Brandy, go last. Go last. Because we know you all have the biggest one. I feel like you would beat me, Kendra. Well, let's see. You go first. You would 100% beat me. Are you kidding?
00:32:15
Speaker
I have 54. You beat me. You beat me. I have 51. Okay. Brandi. Can I guess? Can I guess? It's going to be 104. Okay. I'm going to guess like 233. 215. Oh my God. Yeah, dude. Okay. So dang.
00:32:50
Speaker
Okay, so first of all, I've had Audible for over two years. And my boyfriend for Christmas one year got me a six month subscription. And then my parents one day for my birthday. Yeah, got me a six month subscription. So
00:33:05
Speaker
12 of those 12 out of 215 were free. But yeah, I did you guys I'm kind of a fucking loser before Kendra and I became in real life friends. I didn't have any fucking friends in LA. So I didn't do shit. Same. Yeah. So I didn't spend money really doing
00:33:27
Speaker
anything besides reading. So that's what I would spoil your job. So yeah, I own a lot of audiobooks, but I relist a lot. So yeah, if anyone's listening and can beat Brandi's number, go to our Instagram, I will personally send you an audible gift card so you can get an audiobook on the pod. You guys have over 500.
00:33:54
Speaker
Logan you can't enter Anyone else besides Logan if they want an audiobook on us and you have And you have you think you have a lot of credits. Let us know hit our line Yeah, I will say that like my audio audible subscription. I didn't start it I didn't officially start like I did the whole free trial everything I nuked it for what I could I
00:34:16
Speaker
get for free and because I think I had my free trial for like three months so it was great. But I think I officially became a member like last March and so I've gotten like 50 titles since March.
00:34:27
Speaker
But also they always have sales and everyone's defense here. There was one sale that happened kind of recently where I got 18 books for less than $100. You can't beat that.
Narrator Impact on Book Series Enjoyment
00:34:41
Speaker
I applaud you. That's amazing. It just sucks if you're getting books where you know nothing about them and they end up not being good.
00:34:50
Speaker
So on our Instagram, when this episode airs, I'm going to post a little like how to save the most money on Audible because I know all these tricks on how you can save money, on how you can use your credit to the most of your ability, how to get more credits, like how to... I have so many tips because I've been at this for a hot minute. So yeah, I'll help you guys out. So check out the Instagram. Bring your own pod.
00:35:17
Speaker
Last question, too, you can answer both at once. Do you always sample before you buy? Yes.
00:35:25
Speaker
I do, if it's narrators, I don't know. Yeah, same, same, same, same. Like if I see Vanessa Edwin or Zachary Weber or Jason Clark or Aidan Snow, like I'm not going to sample those because I've listened to so many friggin' books that they've narrated. But yeah, if I don't recognize the name, I'm 100% sampling. And you know what Audible needs to do? It's 2023. Make sure the sample has both the narrator's voices in it. I knew you didn't say that, yeah.
00:35:55
Speaker
Yeah. Also, I will say that I, this is another reason I need this, that feature is because I just listened a couple weeks ago to Georgia O'Long on audio. I reread it on audio because the audio book had just come out and I only got to sample the girl because I hadn't, I don't think I had heard her before and she sounded good. So I created the audio book. And then I got to Levi's voice and I knew who the narrator was. I knew him and I heard him and I liked him before, but he had an accent.
00:36:23
Speaker
And I was so not prepared for that because that's not how I heard it.
Recommended and Disliked Audiobooks
00:36:30
Speaker
Listen, Sam, who is a friend of ours, she also listened to this on audio and I think, I don't know if Alice finished it yet either, who is also another friend of ours.
00:36:46
Speaker
Um, all three of us listens to it and at least Sam and I, I don't know about us, but we agreed that we got used to it and that by the end it made sense. So, and we enjoyed it. So I still really enjoyed the auto book, but that first like hour or two I was listening, I was like, who is this man? Who is this man? But wait, that's actually another good question of like, has there been instances where you read something with your eyeballs first and then
00:37:12
Speaker
try to do the audiobook and it just like ruined the book for you. And it was bad. Yeah, or like you couldn't get through it or like in some instances didn't make it better for you. Because for me like a good example. Yeah, like part of your world like well, I actually did the audiobook for that first but you Kayla had like read it first and then did the audiobook and I think now you like would prefer the audiobook. I can't I can't think of that book without also thinking of like the audiobook.
00:37:37
Speaker
I can't think of an instance where I've listened to it and then after I've already read it and then not liked it. I can only really think of instances where I've read it and then I've loved it even more. I'm sure there's one, but I just can't think of it right now. For me, what's more common is that I will listen to the first book in a series
00:38:00
Speaker
Not like the narrators. And then I'll read the rest of it and love the rest of the series even more. And then I'm like wondering, I'm like, how much was the narrator impacting my like of the first book? And an instance of that is Fallen Jester and Tin Queen by Demi Perry, which are the last two books in the Clifton Ford series.
00:38:16
Speaker
Fallen Jester was one of my least favorite books in that series, but I think it's just because Lucy Rivers narrated it. And then I refused to listen to Tin Queen because she narrated that one and I read it and it was like my favorite one. And I know Daphne's books and I know I probably would have liked Fallen Jester if it wasn't Lucy Rivers. I really liked Fallen Jester, so I was a little shut up. The audio book?
00:38:41
Speaker
I actually don't remember if I listened to that one. I think I did. I listened to that whole series on audio. So yes. Yeah. All of us have nemesis narrators. Whose Miss Rivers is what? Yours is Jillian Macy. Oh, mine is. Mine is definitely Jillian Macy. I would prefer Lucy Rivers over Jillian any day. I can deal with Jillian. I can't deal with Lucy. It was our friend Cash who pointed out that Jillian sounds like she should be doing children's books.
00:39:11
Speaker
And that made everything quick for me. I can deal with Lucy Rivers, except when she's doing her man voice. She sounds like this. Sounds like me doing a caricature of a man, not me actually trying. She sounds like me being annoying, like me trying to be funny about it, you know?
'Belladonna' Audiobook Discussion
00:39:32
Speaker
Okay, in my defense with Lucy Rivers, I listened to her doing the narration of Good Gone Bad by Gianna Darling, which is my favorite fallen men book
00:39:40
Speaker
book is so good to where like anyone could like the book was gonna outshine the narrator no matter what in that case so I was able to like I got used to it I was able to yeah she also did Jasper avail and again she was still she was still better than the guy in that one I'll say that I didn't as a whole that audiobook is not great but like
00:40:01
Speaker
She did better than that. Do you know what was a tragic waste of an audiobook? Flawless by Elsie Silver. Oh my god. Because I love that book. And I saw the narrator, Sebastian York, who is my male nemesis narrator, and Emma Wilder. I agree. Yeah, not good. If you love those narrators, I'm so sorry. I will not be ever listening to that audiobook.
00:40:30
Speaker
Yeah, because those stories are fun. Speaking of which, I'm so excited for Reckless. I think that looks so good. The cover's hot. Did you see the description? I can't believe it's a secret baby because the winter would keep it a secret. That bitch. I love her already. Yeah, I'm sorry for that book. All right, should we jump in guys to our picks? Let's do it.
00:40:54
Speaker
Yeah, let's do it. Let's jump in. But before we do jump in, we are going to be playing like very, very short little clips of some of our favorite audiobooks so that you can just hear the narrators feel what we're feeling. Just letting you all know that we do not own any of this. We are using it purely for review purposes.
00:41:15
Speaker
So we don't own these clips at all. If you would like to own them, definitely go buy them on Audible or Spotify. Spotify, absolutely. Wherever you get your audiobooks. They come from your local library. And we personally have purchased all of these audiobooks. Yes. So we are just playing little clips from our library, but we do not own the clips.
00:41:38
Speaker
All right, I will start. So my book is a little different from the other two in the sense that I actually picked a fantasy to go over this episode. Now, I, I think
00:41:53
Speaker
Brandy and I are probably the out of the three are the bigger fantasy girls. Brandy reads a lot of like, I usually have to read fantasy romance, it's hard for me to not read fantasy romance. So that's major usually the land that I stick in. But I think Brandy branches out of that a little more than I do.
00:42:10
Speaker
But the pic that I brought today is Belladonna by Adeline Grace. And this book I first read on audio versus actually eyeball reading it. And the reason I did that is because I had seen like a couple of videos here and there and all of them told me, they didn't personally tell me, they were just videos on the internet. But yeah.
00:42:37
Speaker
All of them said that you have to listen to
'Belladonna' Narration and Performance
00:42:41
Speaker
this book. And so I was like, all right, I trust you. And I did sample this one and I really liked it because I bought it. This is narrated by a new to me narrator. Her name is Kristin Atherton. And basically, this book tells the story of Signafaro
00:42:57
Speaker
who was orphaned as a baby, and she's been just raised by a string of guardians. All of them are more interested in her wealth from her dead parents than her actual well-being. And each of them has died an untimely death. And so her last remaining relatives are called the Hawthorns, who live in Thorn Grove. And while she's living with them,
00:43:26
Speaker
she is noticing these weird things going on, like her cousin, she thinks it's being poisoned, she's sick, she doesn't really know what's going on, so there's kind of a mystery going on there. There's also another mystery as to the death of her aunt at this estate, and there's just really weird things happening. Meanwhile,
00:43:46
Speaker
With, uh, Cigna's, all of her previous relatives dying, she's also been like haunted, I guess by death, like death haunted. Yeah. Um, she, death has been a constant presence in her life. Right. And, um, she basically has to turn to him to help figure out what's going on with this, these weird things going on at Thorne Grove.
00:44:13
Speaker
And he's been around her whole life because every time somebody dies, death is there. And she's like so annoyed by it for a while. But you know, after like a little bit, she's like, why is he kind of cute? And wait, hold on one second. How old is the cut? I'm going to move on. How old is the move on?
00:44:36
Speaker
she's 19 20 and she is 19 but i just want to be very clear i want to be very clear that no romantic anything of any kind happens prior to this book okay i don't think you can stand on that but keep going what yes you can
00:44:58
Speaker
Anyway, you just want to be a contrarian. I do. Okay. Um, this to me personally is one of, if not like the best, I think fantasy audio book that I've ever listened to. I really enjoy some other fantasy audio books, but this one for me, I don't know. It just really stands apart.
00:45:19
Speaker
I could have picked another romance book like one narrated by Sakoebara that I love like part of your world but I feel like I've talked about that book a million times so I was trying to be a little different here. And this is not a dual narration audiobook which I normally prefer but it's because this book is told from Cigna's PLB in the entire book and I feel like the narrator just kind of does like an amazing job of putting you
00:45:43
Speaker
in this atmosphere, like making you feel like you're in that time period. I also just feel like the author, Adeline Grace herself does a really great job of that. It's like a gothic, dark type of feeling. And so that was always really fun for me. It's written in third person too. It is written in third person, which I know a lot of people don't like, but I really liked it for this book.
'Belladonna' Audiobook Clip
00:46:07
Speaker
I think it was like pretty necessary for this book, honestly.
00:46:11
Speaker
Because there's so much more happening than just what's going on in Sigma's head. Oh, yeah. Yeah, exactly. There's a lot going on, like I said, with death, with all of her relatives that she's living with. There's a mystery. Yeah, there's a bunch of different other characters that are very interesting to see their journey to. And so not only is she like great at Signo's POV in general, and she does have like an accent in this book too, but what really sells it
00:46:41
Speaker
I mean, is the voice that she gives to death, which is like, it's very deep. It's like sultry. It's very slow, which maybe sounds like not something he's like, but it's really- It's super hot. Why am I blushing?
00:47:00
Speaker
He calls her Little Bird and it's a woman doing it, but she does such an amazing job at it. I just feel like that's such a sign of a great narrator is when you forget that there are one person doing all these voices. Also the fact that it is told in third person, I was still so deeply invested into the world. So I feel like sometimes that can be hard with third person if you're kind of taken out of it, but she just did such a good job of bringing everything to life. Exactly.
00:47:31
Speaker
Um, I think we can all agree that like a sign of a great narrator is one who, and just an author in general too, um, is one that makes you feel the emotions that the book or the narrator is trying to emit. And so like, if somebody is just sitting here, if I could like just sit here and open this book and be like, um, I'm sorry, I just opened to a place in the book that was a little, uh, let me change the page.
00:47:57
Speaker
Um, like I could just be like, death noted her curiosity. Tell me, do you really wish me gone? You know, I could just like say that, but like the way that she does it, and a lot of the narratives that we're going to talk about, they're, they're acting it out. They're making you feel the emotions that the character is feeling. Like when Signa was tense, I was tense.
00:48:14
Speaker
you know, when she was nervous, I was nervous. When she was like, you know, feeling a little something for death. Maybe I was too. You know what I mean? I was feeling a little something for death. So yeah, we've all read this book, by the way, I forced it upon Kendra 100%. And then Brandi read it shortly after I did. Based on 100% off of Kayla's recommendation. Yeah, it was really good.
00:48:40
Speaker
Um, and so yeah, I had a great time reading this and I would love to play this clip for context is in the very beginning of the book. So it's not at all a spoiler. And basically, um, as I kind of mentioned earlier, Cigna, at least in the beginning is very annoyed with death because he keeps killing all of her relatives that she lives with and thus having to keep going to new.
00:49:04
Speaker
people. So she's like, basically, like, you are ruining my life. Why are you doing this? And so this is this short little interaction between the two. You think that's what I'm doing, Signe? The disbelief in his voice mirrored her own. Ruining your life. There was something concerning about those words, something overly familiar that sent chills shuddering across her skin.
00:49:30
Speaker
Don't say my name, Signe told him. Upon death's tongue, it sounds like a curse. He laughed.
Introduction to 'Juniper Hill' Audiobook
00:49:37
Speaker
The sound was low and melodic, and it had his shadows writhing. Your name is no curse, little bird. I just like the taste of it. Oh my god. I had to give you guys a little bird moment.
00:49:57
Speaker
And there's one like right in the beginning. So it worked out perfectly. So that is Belladonna by Adeline Grace. And I highly suggest that you pick this one up on audio. I mean, the book itself is good too, but I just think the audio really like, yeah, takes the experience to the next level.
00:50:13
Speaker
And also this book does, it is a trilogy, which I thought it was going to be a duology when I first read it, but it is going to be a trilogy. It was just announced like last month or something, but the second book does come out in August called Foxglove. I'm so excited. This book does not end like on a cliffhanger. I feel like it ends
00:50:33
Speaker
It ties up pretty much everything that happens in the story, but it opens up another door, but not a cliffhanger at all. So that's Belladonna. Love that book so, so much. One of my favorites this year. Me too. I've only, you guys, this is crazy. I've only given three books so far this year, five stars, and Belladonna was one of them. Same.
00:50:57
Speaker
Amazing. I also haven't given a lot of five star books or five stars to a lot of books issues. This was one of them too. I think I've, I think there's been two or three that have same thing that I've given five stars.
00:51:09
Speaker
and Kinder recently read it and she held her opinion of that book from me for so long. I was so stressed that she was going to hate it. I was so scared. I was like, she hates it. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. But she loved it. So it's fine. I didn't give it five stars. I gave it 4.75. But you know, I will take it. I will take it. Yeah. It's just a nine and a half out of 10. Yeah. You guys are like,
00:51:31
Speaker
I've only given three books five stars. I'm like, I've given like, hello, five stars this year. I don't know if it's because I'm stricter this year or if or if I just genuinely haven't read like, five, like, I really don't know. It's a second one for me. I know I'm not strict. I'm very easily pleased when it comes to books. I just have not read very many bangers this year. I've read a lot of like four and a half books. Yeah, me too. Yeah.
00:51:58
Speaker
Yeah. Okay, I can go next. I would love for you to go next. I brought a book that I have talked about in passing on this podcast many times, but I haven't actually brought as like my book. So today, finally, I will be talking about Juniper Hill by Daphne Perry, which is 100% one of my comfort books, one of my favorite books, my favorite Daphne book. Yeah, I brought this one because it has my personal favorite male narrator.
'Juniper Hill' Plot and Narration
00:52:27
Speaker
Mr. Jason Clark himself. He's amazing. Yeah, he's so good. So the first time I ever actually heard Jason Clark marry anything was with Vanessa Edwin when I listened to Indigo Ridge a little over a year ago. And so in my head, Jason Clark looks like Griffin Eden. I know he doesn't actually. He looks like a little cowboy to you. But in my head, a big cowboy, Kayla. He looks like a big cowboy to me. Sorry, not a little cowboy. You're right, you're right.
00:52:55
Speaker
um yeah just like a very rough it's cuz his voice he's got like this deep sexy voice very rugged he also voices Zeus motherfucking Garo oh my god the the hottest like it's my favorite Jason Clark performance is Jason Clark as the voice of Zeus but doing the voice of Detective Danner the hottest fucking thing ever like it's so it's so he's so good at doing other voices I love him
00:53:23
Speaker
It's like genuinely a crime to not have him do like, I think Zachary Weber should narrate every book where there's like, like a kind of sweet man who's doing sexy things. What about Sean Bell? Sean Bell's a sweet man doing sexy things.
00:53:44
Speaker
i mean yeah he is sweet but i don't i guess i wouldn't classify would you classify him as rugged because out the second half of the second yeah okay so that's maybe maybe like clean shaven men
00:53:58
Speaker
doing sexy things. What's the word I'm looking for guys? What I'm trying to say is that I want Jason Clark to narrate every like big rugged beefy man. Okay. And Zachary Weber can narrate
00:54:14
Speaker
every other man. Let's do it that way. I want Jason Clark to marry every big, beaky, broody man for me. And it's a crime that he doesn't narrate more often. I've heard from some author pals that we have that he's hard to book, which is tragic. But anyways, Juniper Hill is a single parent romance. It is a second book in the Eden series by Debbie Perry, and it follows Memphis, who has just fled New York and her family
00:54:42
Speaker
With her infant son, who's three months old, she wants to start her life over.
00:54:47
Speaker
she picked very intentionally picked a small town in Montana because she wants to be somewhere small, a close-knit community, somewhere that she thinks is going to be healthy and good for her son because that's all she wants in this book is the best for her son. So she ends up in Quincy, Montana where the Eden family owns like half the businesses because their family has lived there for generations. So Knox Eden owns the restaurant that is connected to the Eloise Inn. Memphis gets a job at the Eloise Inn
00:55:13
Speaker
And part of her job is that Eloise, who is the manager, was like, oh yeah, I'll get you housing. I have a spare apartment. Well, turns out that spare apartment is above Knox's garage.
00:55:24
Speaker
So there's like forced proximity and Memphis and her son move in. Knox is extremely standoffish at the beginning and as the book goes on you kind of find out why he's got some past trauma to do with babies and being around Memphis and Drake. Her son is very difficult for him but slowly they learn to deal with each other and then
00:55:46
Speaker
it obviously transforms it to something more. There's a line of mystery going on that in that book. Like, why is Memphis fleeing New York? Why does she want nothing to do with her family? That kind of stuff. Crazy ending, as all of Demi's books have. So yeah, this one's so fun. Again, narrated by Maxine Mitchell and Jason Clark. I obviously just spewed on about
'Juniper Hill' Audiobook Clip
00:56:11
Speaker
Jason Clark. Maxine Mitchell gets a lot of hate from our friends.
00:56:15
Speaker
And we love her. And all three of us are Maxine Stance. It's like her. She's great. We love Maxine. She's not my favorite female narrator, but I see her on a book. I'm like, hell yeah, let's do it. I can trust her. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. I know she's going to deliver. So I think she especially delivers in this one. And even Selena, who is one of the biggest Maxine haters, is like, yeah, the Juniper Hill audiobook, A.E.S. I know it did. So I'm going to play you a little clip of
00:56:46
Speaker
Maxine right at the beginning. You know what Maxine does best? Women in distress. Yeah, she cries really well. Yes. So this is her right at the beginning. Memphis is like, really, this is literally the first sentence of the book. So I'll just let it set it up.
00:57:02
Speaker
Juniper Hill, Juniper Hill. I plucked the sticky note from the cup holder to double check that I had the correct street name. Juniper Hill, there is no Juniper Hill. My palms smacked on the steering wheel, adding a whack with each word. Frustration seeped from my pores as I desperately scanned the road for a street sign. So she's like that frustrated, anxious feeling. Maxine does that best. She can also do women in love pretty well too, because she just has that dreamy quality to her voice.
00:57:31
Speaker
But yeah, that frustration at the beginning of that one is so peak-her. That's great. Yeah. So then let me play you a little snippet of Jason Clark, who's like, again, big, broody, beefy men. But he also, one of my favorite ways that he narrates is these big, rugged men in love. So here's just a little clip of Knox looking at Memphis in his internal dialogue about it.
00:58:01
Speaker
I was three steps down the hallway when the sight in my favorite chair stopped me mid-stride. Memphis had Drake on her knee, holding him up by the armpits. She leaned in and blew a kiss on his neck, making him giggle. When he laughed, she laughed. When her eyes twinkled, his did the same. He had her eyes. Chocolate brown flecked with gold. The pair of them were in their own little world in that chair.
00:58:20
Speaker
Memphis had rolled out of bed when he'd started making noises this morning. I'd rushed through a shower, but now I saw the error of my ways. I should have been right here, watching from the sidelines because god damn it, that was a view. But you guys can see the big ass dopey grin on my face right now. Like, I yeah, it's so cute. He's gonna be a book bonanza this summer. And I don't think I want to
00:58:47
Speaker
No, we're going to force you. No, we're going to do it. I'm going to get up there and be like, you're so talented. I'm like, can you? You may not remember this. I loved that scene. You did in Welcome to the Dark side. Yeah, no, get us. Oh my god. Do you remember when you called the character and have like a little girl? Can you?
00:59:11
Speaker
Can you just like you may not even remember you did this one voice for this like detective like very clean cut
Introduction to 'Life's Too Short' Audiobook
00:59:17
Speaker
like he just sounds so fucking good at it like that's like I can I just really appreciate him because sometimes like a narrator doing other voices just does not
00:59:28
Speaker
work like they can capture their character like really well but then when they switch into like the opposite sex or to like do a character who's older or younger than them it's just not believable but Jason Clark he also narrates kids like really well he does he does kids really well yeah yeah
00:59:48
Speaker
Anyways, let me sit down because I'm fancy. Yeah, I love the Juniper Hill audiobook. All of Devne's audiobooks are incredible, as Kent and Dora mentioned earlier, but especially the Eden series, at least the first few in the Eden series are especially well done. So go listen to those. Yay, my turn. I chose a new audiobook favorite of mine called Life's Too Short by Abby Jimenez. It is
01:00:16
Speaker
one of my new favorite books. It's one of my favorite books of the year. I will be shocked if it doesn't make it into my top 10 of 2023. And yeah, it's dual, not dual. No, it is dual narrated because okay, there are duets, which is where because I always get the terms confused because like when I hear duet, I'm thinking like, well, oh, that should be like dual.
01:00:37
Speaker
But it's dual narrated by Christine. Yeah, because what is, Brandy, what is duets again? I feel like you explained. So duet is like when any time that a male character is speaking, the male narrator, the male narrator is talking. And so even if they're not in their point of view. Yeah. And so like Marianne Zapata books are an example of that.
01:00:58
Speaker
They're all from the female main character's point of view, but every single time the male main character is talking, it's the male narrator. Yeah, and I don't think I've actually ever read or listened to a duet audiobook before, so I'll have to get to that. My audiobook today is Life's Too Short by Abby Jimenez, which is the third book in her Friend Zone series. I have listened to most of the series on audio actually. I listened to the second and now the third one on audio.
01:01:26
Speaker
The book is narrated by Christine Lakin who is a new to me narrator with this book and Zachary Weber. So one of the reasons why I pounced on this was because I saw it was narrated by Zachary Weber. Abby Jimenez is a huge audiobook listener herself and a huge fan of Zachary Weber which like I think anyone with like ears
01:01:48
Speaker
become a fan of Zachary Weber. He's just so good. I've never heard anybody say that. Right. No one's never not liked him. And that's why I love that. It's just like him. I don't trust you. No, seriously. And that's why I love that Abby Jimenez is such like an audiobook fan herself because she like cares about her narrators so much because like she's gotten some great ones like
01:02:11
Speaker
ones that uh in Life's Too Short are fantastic. In Party of the World she got freaking Julia Whelan and Zachary Weber together which is like that's a powerhouse. For those who don't know I'm pretty sure Julia Whelan did The Voice of Gone Girl for the Gone Girl audiobook and that's like what like propelled her into stardom um so she's a big deal in the audiobook world. She does like all of Emily Henry's books as well
01:02:37
Speaker
And then in her most recent one, yours truly, she has two great ones as well, which is whoever again, he's going to do all her men. And then I think the narrator in that one, the female narrator is Kyla Garcia. And she did a really good job. But I was nervous because again, new to me narrator, but in Abby, I trust.
01:02:56
Speaker
Yeah, she seems like, like you said, she cares a lot about her narration. And so I think she really does a good job unless she already knows like Zachary Rivers. She already said that Zachary Rivers is going to do like all of her books from now on. But for her female, I think that she really bets them a lot. Like I know that the process for finding a Brianna for yours truly, I remember her saying that it took her a while to find the right one. So she like, like you said, she cares and she will listen to hours and hours of people
01:03:23
Speaker
auditioning for her audiobook because she wants it
'Life's Too Short' Plot and Characters
01:03:26
Speaker
to be good. Yeah, it makes me really happy. Okay, anyways, I feel like I keep scurrying around what I actually need to talk about, but this book follows a young woman named Vanessa who is a YouTuber. She's a travel vlogger and she has returned to her hometown in Minnesota. I believe she was in St. Paul.
01:03:47
Speaker
And she has just become her niece's guardian overnight because her half-sister struggles with addiction, comes by one day and just leaves the baby there.
01:03:57
Speaker
So her career is at a standstill right now because she can't be a travel vlogger with a newborn. So she's suddenly home all the time and the baby just like won't stop crying. And this is like the opening of the book, the baby won't stop crying. And so the Melbourne character in this book is Adrian. He is a criminal defense attorney and he lives next door. He's her neighbor and he needs to get to sleep.
01:04:25
Speaker
So he's like, you know what, I'm gonna go to her apartment and ask nicely, like, can she just go stand somewhere else on the side of her apartment? Like, I need to sleep. And he goes and she's like, can you just like watch her for a little bitch? And so he ends up, or he like volunteers, like help watch her while she like does something. Cause he sees it like she's like super distressed with this baby. It's like four o'clock in the morning. And that's how they become
01:04:51
Speaker
that's how they meet and know each other so they go from being strangers to friends you watch them become like excellent friends in this book and then eventually to lovers and Vanessa as a character if like Yolo was a person it would be Vanessa her personality is like so upbeat she is very like I need to seize every single day yeah she's very like I want to just live in the moment just
01:05:19
Speaker
go balls to the wall every day super happy and that is because she believes that she will be dead by the age of 30 because all the women in her family have died before they have turned 30 because they all had ALS and she knows that she has a 50% chance of also getting ALS and she is 28 nearing her 29th birthday in this book so she believes she will only have like a year or so left to live so that's why she
01:05:48
Speaker
is so good at like just taking risk and Adrian is a very like straight like I need to like follow a routine he doesn't even like to like get on planes because it gives him like panic attacks so it's an opposites of tracks story as well so you just watch them simply just become better people with each other and she teaches him how to live life to the fullest and he teaches her to kind of like sit and settle and like
01:06:17
Speaker
It's just very, very good.
Narration of 'Life's Too Short'
01:06:19
Speaker
I wish I could say more, but I don't know. The reason why I think this audiobook is so good simply comes down to the female narrator. Like, yes, Zachary Weber is great. Like, we know he can deliver.
01:06:32
Speaker
But Christine Lagan did such an incredible job as Vanessa. Vanessa, like I said earlier, is such a giddy person. I think it can be a little, if I eyeball read this, I don't think I would have picked up on the tone of her and I probably would have been a little off of it. Yeah, annoyed. But Christine did such a good job of bringing her to life to where I couldn't even get, I was just so invested in her and I started to believe her own life
01:07:02
Speaker
her own life philosophies. I see people like her all the time on TikTok and I'm like shut the fuck up like stop but her she did so so good. Another reason why I really love this is because there are a lot of characters in this book we kind of talked about this earlier about like narrators needing to
01:07:21
Speaker
do different voices and like have every character come alive and Christine does such a good job at giving everyone their own distinct voice. Vanessa has like this very kooky father who's like a hoarder and like low-key a conspiracy theorist at the same time and she like I could picture him perfectly because of the way she voiced him and then also getting it in Zachary's voice as well like
01:07:47
Speaker
they're gonna sound different because he's gonna do a different voice for the dad than she does, but like the tone was the same. And I feel like this book, when it comes to tone, just did such a good job because Abby Jimenez is a very funny writer. Like I think her books can fall into the rom-com category pretty comfortably. Like sometimes they're a little more, they're not as funny as like they could be, but in this book, like I found myself like actually laughing. So the comedic timing that the narrator is having this, I think,
01:08:16
Speaker
really shines through. Randy, I just want you to read this so bad and I hope you like like I think you will. I promise I will. I swear on my life I'm going to. Yeah. I have a little bit of an audiobook backup right now but before the end of May for sure. Great. For me, another reason that
01:08:36
Speaker
Vanessa believes that she will be dead by the age of 30 Because of ALS not just because of like the genetic piece of her Previous family members having it and her having that 50% chance, but she's also developing symptoms herself Of ALS and so that's like scary for her and another reason why she is the way that she is but I personally like Kendra has already mentioned Christine narrating Vanessa and
01:09:02
Speaker
I think, like Kendra said, if you were to eyeball read this, I would have just been like, oh, she's a silly goofy, cheesy, whatever girl. And I would have just been like, please show up. Like I would think eyeball reading this, I would be, I would think in my head, if I met you in real life, I would find you so annoying. And that sounds so mean, but like, yeah, Christine, I think does a really good job of towing the line of her, the tone of Vanessa and her outlook on life. But she also has a lot of like,
01:09:32
Speaker
Very serious moments, introspective moments with herself. And outside of all that too, just in general, her and Zachary, when they kind of go back and forth and they have, there's a scene that I'm specifically thinking of that's very emotional between the two characters.
'Life's Too Short' Audiobook Clip
01:09:53
Speaker
the way Christine narrates it, like a good audiobook narrator, if it's in a really emotional scene, and they're really selling it, like they'll make me cry. And there was definitely a couple moments in this book. No, literally crying. I can't say it. So I won't. But I think you're thinking of the same one that I know. I texted her. And I was like, Oh, my God, like the what she says, like a couple lines that I wish I I wish I chose the way it all read. Because like,
01:10:20
Speaker
oh you just haven't read it yet so we can't like yeah it is just so good but exactly what you said Kayla like she does such a good job of just like matching the tone of the story throughout sometimes you get narrators when they're not reading dialogue and this is why like Julia Wayland I think she's fantastic but sometimes when she's not reading dialogue it sounds like she's reading stage directions which is just very annoying to me whereas like with Christine like especially if a book is written in first person I want to feel like I'm having a conversation with them the whole time
01:10:49
Speaker
from hearing their voice and i feel like that's what this is because yeah we see her go from being this like super happy like person but then the minute a thought creeps in like she's able to change it and i feel like that's how it would happen in real life and it just she did it like effortlessly too i wonder i wonder i know a lot of audiobook narrators have backgrounds in acting or at least in voice acting i looked it up she was an actress when she was younger i think kind of famous too so is julia wayland which is crazy
01:11:18
Speaker
And like, that's another great audio book is The Soulmate Equation and Patti Muir. Yep. She's an actress too. Yeah. I almost brought that one. I'm like Zach. Zachary Weber is like a, well he is a self, well that sounds to me, not self-proclaimed, but he's an actor. He's an actor. I haven't seen him. He thinks he's an actor. He is, he is, he is. I was just, cause I feel like I haven't seen him in anything, right?
01:11:47
Speaker
but i've heard him in a lot and i think he takes his job as a narrator very seriously and so every time he's reading he is acting and he's bringing so much to the character um and i think he does his thing and every abby him in his book that he's done he i don't maybe i'm like being delusional but his voice will like change the more that like the character falls in love like you can just hear it in like the tone of his voice and
01:12:15
Speaker
there aren't many narrators who are softer right and like the wit like yeah if they go from like describing them one way but then like the next way he'll describe her but he's already like had that like love feeling it'll just sound like different and i'm like he's just too good um and we have this like running joke where we're like oh zac you ever voice crack
01:12:35
Speaker
Yeah you used to trademark it. In this book you get the Zachary Weber voice crack and it's fucking phenomenal. So he has narrated most of Abby Jimenez's books with the exception of her first book which I didn't really like that book anyway so it doesn't matter but I would say out of all the books that I have listened to by hers, Life's Too Short is probably my second favorite on audio.
01:13:00
Speaker
right? Well, actually, no, it would go back whoever asked Daniel and part of your world first, and then all of life's too short. And then Julia Whelan and your surely audio book underneath. I'm not saying that they're bad. But like, they're the I love this book. I think Christine Lincoln put you would put yours truly on the same level as the Julia Whelan and part of your world. I yeah.
01:13:29
Speaker
What? But, Kayla, they're not bad by any means. I just think that Christine Lakin, I think Christine Lakin, out of all the female narrators Abby has had, she's been the best one. And that's just my personal opinion. Oh, I don't I don't disagree with that. Yeah, I agree with that. I think mine would be Daniel, and then probably Zachary River is Daniel, and then probably Zachary River is Jacob, and then Christine, and then everything else. Okay. Hmm. Interesting.
01:13:59
Speaker
I mean Kyla was really good too. So Kyla was like these are all like I would put Kyla Yeah, I would probably put her under Christine in terms of the female narrators. Yeah, she'd be second and then Julia laughs Yeah, which is like crazy. I was putting Julia way than last I know that's how good The other two are okay, so for my clips I'm gonna play two so you guys can hear Christine
01:14:25
Speaker
And I know I just hyped her up and I feel like I can't even play her best work in this book because it would be all spoilers. And I always get like this, like when I'm gonna show you guys something or like recommend you something. It's like when you're trying to show your friend like a really cute guy and then suddenly you go on his Instagram and like all the photos are ugly. And you're like, guys, I promise he's cute. And then you're like, oh, yeah. I promise Christine is fantastic. No, she is, she's great. I can vouch for you.
01:14:52
Speaker
I tipped my wine glass at him. You suffer from one day's syndrome. He wrinkled his brows. What? One day's syndrome. You live your life like there'll always be one day to do all the things you put off. One day you'll take the trip. One day you'll have the family. One day you'll try the thing. You're all work and not enough play. Money can't make you happy unless you know what you want, Adrian. So what do you want?
01:15:15
Speaker
and then also one thing I forgot to mention in this book there are chapter titles and all the chapter titles um since she's a youtuber throughout the book they're playing on clickbait so all the chapter titles are like clickbaity
01:15:32
Speaker
Oh cute, I like that. So you get to hear her and Zachary like do like these funny wacky voices or like to portray like what a clickbait title is so you'll hear some.
01:15:54
Speaker
I woke up thinking about Vanessa. It was incredible to me that I didn't know her before this, that I didn't realize someone so vibrant lived right next door. It seemed like the kind of thing that would have been self evident, a warmth that I felt through the wall. Oh, I love him so crazy. Wow. And we've, we've talked about this before. What's so crazy is I hear him, Zach, whoever who we know and love his voice.
01:16:15
Speaker
I hear him narrate that, and I'm like, yeah, that's Adrian. That's not Jacob. That's not Jacob. You know what I mean? He's so great. See? I have, I don't remember who I was talking to, but somebody was like, I can't even enjoy the part of your world audio book, because all I hear is Sean Bell. I'm like, that's crazy to me. I don't have that. I've never heard any of them ever. Never have. No, I don't know how he does it. Somebody said that they couldn't listen. I got it backwards, you guys. Somebody said that they couldn't listen to Sinner because they heard him in less of their- Oh, because of that was Daniel?
01:16:44
Speaker
No, because they heard him in After the Fall, and they were like, that's King. No, because in After the Fall, he has a slight accent. An accent? I don't know how Zachary, this is literally just me sucking his dick the entire episode. But he's truly so fucking talented, because when he's doing the voice of Sean Bell, he's Sean Bell. When he's doing the voice of Daniel, he's Daniel. When he's doing the voice of Jacob and yours truly,
01:17:14
Speaker
And I like noted this while listening to I think he pitched his voice down for Jacob. And I'm like, that's that's Jacob and that right there like that's Adrian. And I don't know how he does it. And then another one of my favorite performances of his comes from a book that like I thought was actually like just okay. And that's Getting Real by Emma Chase.
01:17:34
Speaker
oh my fucking god he does so good in that audio like if it wasn't for him i mean i would say that that is no dad ass like because everything i just said about christine like to her personality like if you don't hear the tone of it and you're just eyeball reading it you're gonna you might be thrown off same with getting real because like there are things that the no man character and the both characters say that i'm like that is so fucking corny like why are you talking like this but hearing exactly whoever say it i'm like
01:18:03
Speaker
He does such a good job like bringing the characters to life and there's a scene in Getting Real. This book is like a silly goofy time. You read it just to like read a book, right?
01:18:14
Speaker
Why did he almost make me cry? This little fucking voice crack. You know what else he does, like this little thing that he does that I'm obsessed with? He does, he takes these like intakes of breath. Oh, why are they so hot? They're like so perfect at times.
01:18:34
Speaker
Oh my, he's just Zachary L. He never listens to this.
Zach Grover's Appeal and Impressions
01:18:39
Speaker
He won't. And that's why I feel comfortable saying it fucking stresses me out that he's also hot in real life. He's so hot. Get out of my life. I don't need this. He's so hot. He has a great personality. He's just so down to earth. We've been watching interviews with him. I'm like, oh my God. We've met him in person. I have a photo with him. He was so nice to me. I was like,
01:19:03
Speaker
I could sleep with this man. Okay, hang on. Before, listen, I do want to say a disclaimer, because if people are listening to this, and they're hearing you guys say this about Zach Grover, they're gonna go look him up. And I feel like we need to add a little disclaimer there, because some people might not
01:19:25
Speaker
Listen, when you first saw him, do not lie. What did you think? Don't lie. I thought he was, I thought he was honestly, the first time I saw him, Kayla, I already had the voice. So I was like, damn. Okay. I don't know that that's what happened. That's what happened. What about you? I didn't, I wasn't like, Oh my gosh. But I was like, Oh, okay. That's like, remember, you know what I mean? That's what I was. I wasn't like, Oh, I wasn't at the level that I'm at now.
01:19:55
Speaker
but i was like oh like he okay like also i do want to say um did he tell you he loved you no he did tell me he loved me first of all you wouldn't even have that fucking video yeah if it wasn't if it wasn't for us brandy and i waited in line for hours to meet him did he put did he put his arms around you kayla no did you watch him drink coffee no okay let me let me find the video and play it for everybody
01:20:21
Speaker
Did he look at you and say, I'll be right back. Don't worry. No. He didn't say any of that to you. He said that to me. And I was being a good fucking friend. And I was like, my friend, she couldn't be here. Like, can you just like make a video like saying hi to her? You're welcome. Okay. Everybody here is that video that was taken at book bonanza. Hopefully you guys can hear it. We'll have to post this on the pod too. Hey Kayla. Fuck you. Love you so much.
01:20:51
Speaker
You know what's so funny is that both Brandi's boyfriend and Kayla's husband have seen Zachary Weber and they're like, they don't get, they're like, what? It's like, they think he's ugly. And we're like, we think he's one of the hottest guys alive. Like it's, I think half of it is his voice. And then, well, I wouldn't go that far. 60. No, Kendra thinks he's one of the hottest guys alive. Yeah, okay. Don't speak for the group.
01:21:15
Speaker
Kendra you find him the most attractive out of the three of us. Yeah, but like but like let's let's be serious here guys It's like 50% his face for me and then no I would say like 60% his voice and then like the other 40% his face now obviously his voice is doing all the heavy lifting but then like you get his personality too and I'm like Fuck like if he was a jackass. I'm like, oh, whatever, but he's such a good personality. He does he does
01:21:45
Speaker
Why are you guys acting brand fucking? I can go to our text messages. All thirsting over him. Don't make it seem like I'm the only one. You said he's one of the hottest people alive, Kendra. No. Guys, this is not that part. That was me. Sorry. No, you can leave it in. This is a bookish podcast. I'm speaking in the world of the bookish world. Listen, we all have eclectic tastes.
Celebrity Crushes and Admiration
01:22:12
Speaker
Do you want to start going down the list? My boyfriend is very cute. All the celebrities I have crushes on are fucking ugly. I don't want to talk about it. Not me. I don't know about you guys. Who do you have? You have like you have one celebrity crush. His name is Ross McDonald. His name is Ross McDonald.
01:22:36
Speaker
when people ask me that
Audiobook Recommendations
01:22:38
Speaker
my celebrity crush my mind automatically just goes to henry cowell because that's everybody's i like can't think of i just off the top of my head other than ross that's like that's my um okay anyways i feel like i butchered all of that but yeah if you end up checking out life's too short please let me know i love it so so so much vanessa is now my favorite like abby himina's uh female main character just because i thought the narrator did such a good job of bringing her
01:23:06
Speaker
um to life and yeah guys you have any other audiobooks that you would recommend to people listening right now
01:23:15
Speaker
Well, for me, all of 2022, anytime I didn't have anything I was getting pressed to read, I would just throw on a Demi Perry audiobook. That's how I caught up with her whole backlist last year, because I would say I love 90% of her audiobooks. So I definitely recommend checking out hers if you just need something like...
01:23:38
Speaker
to throw on and chill with. I love Emily Henry's audiobooks. They're all narrated by Julia Whelan. I think she does a great job. Yeah, Kayla. Yeah. Some of my favorite audiobooks were also my favorite books of last year. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus is a fantastic audiobook. So good. We already talked about Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. The No Show by Beth O'Leary. It's narrated by three women
01:24:06
Speaker
all of which have three different accents. So, so good. And then I haven't finished this one on audio because it would be a reread for me and I'm trying to prioritize ones that I haven't read. But In a Jam by Kate Canterbury is also narrated by Jason Clark. And he does a great job in that one from what I've read so far. So those are some of my breaks. Love. What are your no-choose Ken Jam? Uh, panicking.
01:24:34
Speaker
i think the no show was a really good recommendation um party world is like that's like my audiobook like child like anytime i just need to like listen to something i'll put that on i think honey and spice is fantastic on audiobook it's so immersive and i don't know if this is like a like uk thing but i feel like it was the same with um the no show like well they'll just make it like such an immersive experience although add like effects that just like really
01:25:01
Speaker
pull you in deeper into the story. So yeah, I love that one. Sinner, obviously, Sierra Simone. If you are going to read the pre-series, do it on audio. Zachary Warvin, who the fuck is Zach? I was trying to say like Jacob Morgan and Zachary Warvin at the same time.
01:25:20
Speaker
Zachary Weber as Jacob Morgan as the Bell brothers is just something that everyone should experience. Sierra Simone just recently came out with a short story called Gloria which is like a Sean and Zinni short story. It's super hot but also like still so like romantic and swoony and like almost made me cry. So I need Sierra to like
01:25:44
Speaker
What would happen if she just like called Zachary up and just had him do it because I would pay like $20. They're like basically besties. No, they're like, they love each other. So yeah, also, I don't, I'm gonna say this, I am not a fan of these books.
01:25:58
Speaker
Like, I don't like them that much, but Chloe Lee's, uh, Bergman Brothers series, I've gotten through what I've gotten through on audio so far. And I do like the narrators for them. I just don't enjoy the stories.
Fantasy Audiobook Suggestions
01:26:10
Speaker
So if you want to check out the Bergman Brothers, I would also recommend doing it on audio because I, I like the, I liked it on audio. I just wish I liked the story more. I did like the second one. I thought that was the best one so far.
01:26:21
Speaker
I, if you're a fantasy gourley, the Greenbone saga by Fonda Lee is also incredible on audio. That's done by Andrew Cascino, which is great. Emily Wu Zeller, anything that she narrates is incredible. She just won an Audie. I don't even remember. I don't know what before I haven't read it, but she talked about Reigns, you guys, she narrates the bride test. She narrates, this is how you lose the time more.
01:26:49
Speaker
and she narrates the entire Poppy War trilogy, like rage. I love her so much. She's one of my favorite areas of all time. I, another fantasy audio rec, I listened for the first time when I read the series. The first time when I read it, I listened to the cool prints all on audio and I also really enjoyed it. Oh yeah, those were really good.
01:27:06
Speaker
I reread those on audio.
Narration's Role in Reading Experience
01:27:08
Speaker
They were good. Also Delilah Green doesn't care. I thought it was really good on audio. That was a book that I was actually struggling with to read physically. And then I switched to the audio book and I was like, oh, this is more my speed. So as I continue that series, I think I'm going to continue to do it on audio. And I think it also just won an audio for best romance book, which I would have given as a part of your world because I'm a little biased. But the narrator in that one is really, really good. So.
01:27:33
Speaker
For sure. We will always have audiobook recs, so let us know. Message us on the pod, message us individually if you need any recs, or if you listen to any of the ones that we talked about today, let us know how you liked them. If this didn't make you want to hear death speak to you in your ears, I don't know how to help you.
01:27:51
Speaker
Like, I really don't know how to help you, you know? If any of you tag Zachary Weber in this post, we will hunt you down and block you. Just kidding. No. Guys, please do not.
Fascination with Zachary Weber's Voice
01:28:03
Speaker
Like, he follows all of us. We have to be very careful. For some reason. Yeah, I don't know why he's just, like, so obsessed with us. But when y'all see us in June posted up with him again, I'm gonna look so fucking good.
01:28:20
Speaker
I'm gonna look so hot. No, like I'm gonna become dressed down. And I just need him to say a few words because yeah, I just think everyone should experience Zachary Weber saying some genitalia words in their life. That's it. He's so good. And then you ask him about it and he'll be like, well guys, like I've had sex before. And I'm like, oh my God.
01:28:48
Speaker
No, you haven't. I'm like, Zachary. Oh, my God. Like, I'm over here. Zachary? I can't. Yo, he's hot. I don't know why y'all try to sit here and say he's not. Kendra, we said he was hot. You said he was the hottest
Teaser for Next Episode's Guest
01:29:02
Speaker
people in the world. Anyway, OK, you guys, we love you so much. Next episode, we are so excited to be bringing out our first guest. So keep an eye out for who that's going to be. And we'll see you then. Woo. Bye. Bye.