Dana Stabenow has become my favorite mystery author. The books are set in Alaska and that woman can write! Exciting and positively wonderful! The woman who narrates Stabenow's books is so good. Her name escapes me at the moment.

Dean Koontz's books have superb narrators (readers). I enjoyed each of those very much. I've listened to thousands of books on tape or cd and have a long list of great authors, all free from the library. When I'm not in the process of moving my sewing room, which has made for a gigantic jumble, I will be able to list more authors. Sue Grafton is also terrific!

JoAnne

ladyquilter wrote:

I recently read Suzanna's Garden and I agree with you. It was good. I usually can't remember titles of books I've read until I see them again.That doesn't work well for recommending books.

Karen

I recently read Debbie Macomber's knitting series also. They were all very good books. I just finished Suzanna's Garden by the same author, that one was excellent also. The ending really caught me by surprise, I love when that happens!
My sister just gave me Navy Baby by Debbie Macomber, she said it was a good. I haven't started it yet.

Don't do what I did the first time I tried to put a book on the Ipod to listen to on an airplane.I didn't want to lose any cds so I did some convoluted process of copying cds from the library into my Itunes and then in to the Ipod. Sort of trying to figure it out myself and not knowing what I was doing. Anyway the book was very confusing and I thought the sequence of scenes did not make much sense till I realized it was shuffling the cds! I never did get it figured out to go in order.

Karen

My library just told me that I could download books from library2go which they are affiliated with! Going there now to try it out.
ritzy wrote:

As I write I am downloading my first two books on CD to my iPod. I am excited to see if I will like the author and the reading. "thann thanks for letting us know about Netlibrary. I will be setting up my info today.

Karen, what was the name of the one you returned unread? I'm horrible about reading in order and in fact, just purchased one yesterday that I somehow missed reading -- called False Memory. It originally came out in '99. Many of my favorite authors have written some pretty awful books lately -- of course, that's just my opinion, but if I can't get "into and absorbed" in the book in the first two chapters, I put it aside.

I happened across an author that I'd never heard of before and if you like vampire (scrary) and love stories, try these (check for the correct reading order as I am just typing in the names). Also, the last two books (which I haven't purchased from this author), I've heard are terrible so maybe the editors just start pushing them to write too quickly and the story line gets lost.

Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon
Book Names: Dance with the Devil, Fantasy Lover, Sins of the Night, Unleash the Night, Seize the Night, Night Play, and Kiss of the Night.

More recommendations of possible unknowns:

The Silver Wolf by Alice Borchardt (I loved this book and would limit my reading to just a few pages a day because I didn't want it to end!)

Here's a series that I really enjoyed. Author: David Eddings Book Names: The Sapphire Rose, The Ruby Knight, and The Diamond Throne.

I also love the FBI series written by Catherine Coulter. I can't remember all of the names but it's the series where one of the books is titled "Blow Out." I love the characters and the story line of all of the books in this series. NOTE: I didn't know this was a series and read the first book out of order. It helps you get to know the characters better if you start from the first one.

And last but not least is Debbie Macomber's knitting mystery series. I'm currently reading "Twenty Wishes."

I hope I was able to turn you on to a few good ones that you will enjoy.

JoJo


JoJo

kfstitcher wrote:

Hi Jo Jo, I read all the Dean Koontz books too. What do you think of the last few? I've been really disappointed and one of them I returned to the library without even finishing. Maybe it is just me. What do you think?

Karen

Thanks. I'd love to get some recommendations.

I like mysteries and horror (Dean Koontz fan here). Actually, I like a lot of different books. I read all of the quilt series novels and the knitting mystery ones too.

I bought my first audio book at Costco, but chose badly. It was supposed to be scary and the reader is one of the guys that acts in the TV series Heros. It started out okay, but quickly became down right silly and I'm having a hard time continuing to listen to it because it seems like it is geared more for children than adults.

On Monday, I plan to call the local library and find out if they have tapes to rent.

JoJo

Rorimer wrote:

JoJo, what kind of books do you like to read? I love mysteries and have found hundreds, maybe thousands through the library. My county has a huge library system, I am very lucky. Also, I've found used books on tape and cd on Amazon and Half.com. I have a cassette/cd player, actually have a cassette player in the kitchen, the bedroom and my sewing room. And I have great headphones that cancel the noise of my sewing machine. I listen while I'm cooking, folding laundry, getting dressed. I finish quite a few books each month.

It took me a few books on tape before I trained myself to actually pay attention to the reader while I was doing something else. Some readers are much better than others.

Let us know what type books you prefer and we can suggest some authors.

JoAnne in southern California

It is true that nothing really replaces the joy of reading and of introducing another generation to that joy. Reading the printed word allows your imagination to create an individual picture of the characters and the scene. Reading aloud to children is a wonderful bonding experience and truely quality time with the family. DH and I love to read and passed that on to his daughter who is now passing it on to her children. In fact I just quilted a little cloth book for the granddaughter who, at 16 months, looks at it every night with Mom.

But I have to say that audible books have allowed me to do two of the things I love ... "reading" and quilting ... and "reading" and the things I don't love like cleaning, ironing, (you know) and "reading" and the things I should do (exercise). Options, that's what it gives me. I believe that this is what technology should do for us, that is, allow us to enrich our lives.

NancyinSTL wrote:
See, this is what I do, only I have them on my mp3 player. I turn it on, put in the earbuds, and listen away while I clean the house, quilt, watch the kids playing outside or in the pool (never have to take my eyes off them that way) wash dishes, etc. I get through lots more "reading" than I ever would any other way. Of course I still prefer the printed page because then it is all in my head and I get swept away more. Cd's or digital audio books can never reproduce that, and really I read faster than the narrator can speak, so when I have the time to just sit and read I can get through a book faster the old way.

Oh, and I also love reading aloud to my kids too. We started about 2 years ago reading the Harry Potter books - we are in the middle of Deathly Hallows right now! It is just such a blast because I get into acting out the voices and stuff I've gotten pretty good at English accents. Anyway, when we were doing Goblet of Fire I tried using cd's just to save my voice. No dice, the kids prefered mommy's reading because she said things "right". We always take a break between books to read other things - so far we have read Sign of the Beaver, The Borrowers, Little House in the Big Woods, Little House on the Prairie, and Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH as well as the HP books, and once we finish this one I already have lined up to read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Until this week I had never listened to a book on tape or CD, but now I think I'm hooked. Wednesday, I went to the library to get a particular book, but the four printed library copies of the book were checked out and had long waiting lists. However, the CD copy (5 disks), narrated by the author, was available. The CDs are loaned out for two weeks, just like the printed books. I completed listening to the first disk in my car while running my errands that morning. Since our TV cable was out for more than 36 hours, due to a bad storm late Tuesday night, I turned the volume up on the CD player and listened to two more disks while doing my chores around the house. I'll probably listen to the last two disks today. There is no way that I'd be able to complete reading the printed book in this short period of time. Besides that, by listening to the CDs, you get to hear the author's tone and inflections. I highly recommend books on CD, but still love the printed pages .