I live with my audio books and little CD player at my side! My days are filled with blocks of "mindless chores" time and that's when the books really shine. At first I did have to "train my brain" to let the audio book be the foreground and the focus, and the folding laundry/food prep/cleaning/dusting/putting away tasks became the background 'noise.' Once I made that change in my "mental wiring" I totally enjoy the books. One day I folded and put away three loads of laundry, changed the bed linens, and damp mopped three floors...without realizing it. I had been so focused on the Sookie Stackhouse (True Blood) book I was "reading" I hadn't noticed my "must do" list had shrunk. Just this past weekend I bought unabridged copies of The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo; The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. I can't wait to start listening to them. Getting the fall cleaning and season switching done will be a breeze this year! Right now I'm lisening to Spencer Quinn's third "Chet and Bernie" book To Fetch a Thief.

I am listening to "The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie" by Alan Bradley. It is a cute murder mystery, but I have a hard time believing the protagonist is only 11. She's way too smart! Here's the summary: It's the beginning of a lazy summer in 1950 at the sleepy English village of Bishop's Lacey. Up at the great house of Buckshaw, aspiring chemist Flavia de Luce passes the time tinkering in the laboratory she's inherited from her deceased mother and an eccentric great uncle. When Flavia discovers a murdered stranger in the cucumber patch outside her bedroom window early one morning, she decides to leave aside her flasks and Bunsen burners to solve the crime herself, much to the chagrin of the local authorities. But who can blame her? What else does an eleven-year-old science prodigy have to do when left to her own devices? With her widowed father and two older sisters far too preoccupied with their own pursuits and passions�stamp collecting, adventure novels, and boys respectively�Flavia takes off on her trusty bicycle Gladys to catch a murderer. In Alan Bradley's critically acclaimed debut mystery, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, adult readers will be totally charmed by this fearless, funny, and unflappable kid sleuth. But don't be fooled: this carefully plotted detective novel (the first in a new series) features plenty of unexpected twists and turns and loads of tasty period detail. As the pages fly by, you'll be rooting for this curious combination of Harriet the Spy and Sherlock Holmes. Go ahead, take a bite. --Lauren Nemroff

How wonderful to find this site, though I must admit that it took me some time to find one that discusses this subject. The reason I sought it out was because I have been listening to audiobooks for years and they have brought me many hours of pleasure. Like you, though, I find that a book can be absolutely ruined for me by a poor narrator. I can be distressed by an irritating voice as much as the next person but what I find truly disturbing is when words are mispronounced. It is difficult for me to believe that narrators who are considered to be professionals, do not take the time and make the effort to research the pronunciation of unfamiliar words. Another pet peeve, though a minor one, is when a narrator uses the accent of a particular language for a character who is speaking that language. A french person speaking french does not have an "accent" unless that person is french and speaking english. It sounds foolish and often the narrator is difficult to understand in his/her attempt to illustrate the fact that the character is speaking in a language other than english. Other than that, what joy to be able to "read" while doing laundry, vacuuming, working in the yard, etc. :)

Personally, I think actors almost always do a better job of reading than the authors. (Now, there's a controversial statement!) For one thing, they are generally hired specifically because of the quality of their voice/performance. I suppose one might be so taken with a certain author that one wants to have his/her voice wash over you for hours and hours, but really, that would be pretty unusual. On the other hand, I am now listening to a collection of short stories by Elizabeth Berg, and the author's voice is, IMHO, very well-suited to the medium. She thankfully does not try to imitate other people's voices, something that needs to be done with great skill; rather she adds short pauses to indicate dialogue. If she were, for example, trying to sound like a man's voice when an old boyfriend or a husband is speaking, I probably would have thrown the CD across the room. I just finished listening to a book read by a male author - if the story hadn't been compelling, I would never have finished it. As it was, I skipped vast segments with no loss to the story line. I simply couldn't take that author's voice for long periods of time.