It's a Conversation, Not an Alien Invasion

I've recently discovered the enjoyment of, and dispelled some of my doubts for, audiobooks. 

I always held the belief that I would loose some fundamental enjoyment out of physically holding the book, feeling the crinkle of pages beneath my fingertips, and toting around the comforting weight of the written word in my bag. However, when I was finding myself sneaking in paragraphs here and there between red lights, I realized that audiobooks could rescue some of the reading time that I wasted while toiling in traffic.

I've realized that audiobooks work best when I've already read the book. Why? Well, because then I'm not waiting on baited breath for the next paragraph to be read. It also helped that I could pay more attention to the cars in front of me instead of the voice filling the interior of my vehicle. I've also found out the joy of rediscovering some things I might have missed when I'm reading myself. When I'm listening to the audiobook, unless I fast forward, I can't skip words as sometimes my eyes are prone to do while reading a particularly uninteresting part. 

Biggest complaint? The narrator!

Case in point: I've recently ventured into the In Death series and since Eve Dallas has solved so many crimes, I thought that listening to some of her adventures would cut down on my reading time. I found a copy of Glory In Death in which I loved the narrator. Since Eve is not a typically feminine character, the narrator did a beautiful job of softening Eve with her voice. So while the book told me that Eve wasn't one to give into her appearance, weddings, and general "female stuff," the narrator's soft voice for Eve buffed out the sharp edges. I also liked how Roarke's Irish accent was just the barest hint and not an overwhelming feel like I was watching the Travel Channel. 

Delighted with my first In Death audiobook, I was equally excited to find out that I could get them online through my local library for free. However, I was outraged to find out that the narrator changed and what I listened to was the older cassette tape version that someone changed into a MP3 file in which I downloaded. Saddened, I still gave this new narrator a try. Big mistake. First off, Eve was all rough and tumble in her voice. It was like listening to a pre-teen boy before his voice deepened. I mean, J.D. Robb's words were already telling me that Eve wasn't a girly girl, but now the narrator's voice was reaffirming that point as well. It was like beating me over the head again and again. Another thing I found annoying? Roarke was now really Irish. I got lost in the accent instead of the book. And that voice for Peabody! Geez Louise! Peabody now sounded like a bad cartoon character. 

I've come to find out that male narrators are by far, superior to that of females. Why? Because when males do female voices, they just soften their voices. They don't make their voices higher. But for female narrators, their male voices lowered. I recently listened to a recording of Jayne Castle's Silver Master in which the hero's voice was done in such a cheesy woman-trying-to-imitate-man-voice that I stopped listening and ran out to buy the book instead. 

But the problem with this genre is that men just don't narrate books plunked into the romance shelf. I did, however, find one I really liked. Ironically, I think if I read the book instead, I wouldn't have appreciated it. Lori Foster's Caught in the Act was recorded into an audiobook and the male narrator was a wonderful choice. (Though he's the only one I've listened to in the romance genre in which the narrator was a man). Good choice to pick a male narrator because the books is mostly told from Mick's point of view. But like I mentioned, the male narrator didn't raise his voice for when he narrated the female part. He simply softened his voice. That made all the difference.

For this point of audiobooks, I must concede to the point that perhaps, men are more enjoyable to the ears instead of women. In my (fairly limited) experience thus far, the women narrators who do male voices make the men sound like some sort of alien creature with that extremely fake deep voice. But for male narrators doing female voices, it's much better because they soften their voice and it just sounds more natural to this reader.

So while I'm not entirely convinced that audiobooks can give me the same experience as reading the actual book can, I'm liking the diversion for when I would normally yell at the gridlock traffic. Instead, I'm reading with my ears.