Favorite audio book series

I love to listen to audio books.  I usually listen to them on my commute to work and when I clean the house and occasionally in my office.  A good audio book narrator can do wonders for a book and bring it to life.  Sometimes I can listen to a book and know that I never would have made it through it reading it, but because a great narrator, I can finish it on audio.

1. The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling- read by Jim Dale. 
Jim Dale is an amazing narrator and I could listen to him all day. 

2. The Charlie Bone series by Jenny Nimmo - first five read by Simon Russell Beale, subsequent books read by Simon Jones. 
At first I wasn't happy about the narrator change.  I hate that.  But Simon Jones is a great reader and so I didn't mind.

3. A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket - read by Timy Curry.
This is another series that had a narrator change.  Books 3-5 are read by the author Daniel Handler took over narrator duties.  While he is just alright, Tim Curry is the better narrator.  He has the perfect voice for this gothic, dark-humored series.  And that leads to ...

4. The Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix - read by Tim Curry. 
Garth Nix is one of my favorite authors and so far I have had good luck with his books.  Tim Curry is once again the perfect narrator for this dark series filled with zombies, magic, and supernatural creatures.  His voice for the cat Mogget is dead on.

5. The Key to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix - read by Allan Corduner. 
I really love this whole series even if it gets a bit formulaic in the middle.  Allan Corduner does a great job of bringing Arthur and the denizens of the House to life.

Diana Wynne Jones is responsible for my love of fantasy

Diana Wynne Jones died in late March and I was saddened to learn of her passing.  I grew up reading and re-reading her books and I can count her as truly one of my favorite authors of all time.  Her books meant a lot to me growing up and I hope that they will mean as much to my son as he grows up.  I went to public library catalog thinking I'd check out a few of my favorites and then do some reviews on them.  But then I saw how many there were and I didn't know what I would choose. Instead, I've decided to list some of my all-time favorites, the ones that I wore out my paperback copies and will always be counted among my favorite books.  It's not a short list or even a complete list of her books that I love.

Howl's Moving Castle 
(sequel: Castle in the Air and the House of Many Ways)
Full confession: I have not read the House of Many Way and have read Castle in the Air only about two times
But Howl's Moving Castle, that I have read many many times, in addition to owning the movie which is very different from the book, but is still brilliant.  I digress.  I was always drawn to stories of magic and magicians which might explain a lot of Wynne Jones' book and I love the story of the magician Howl and his demon and poor Sophia who is under a curse by the Witch of the Waste that has turned her old.

A Tale of Time City
A science fiction tale of Time City, a city which exists outside of history and whose purpose is to keep history on course.  Vivian is kidnapped by two boys from Time City thinking she is the source of problems that history has been having.  I liked how the technology is described and the image of the clothes the denizens of Time City has stuck with me.  It's amazing because the computer pads the children use are actually quite a bit like an iPad.  There is also a quest aspect in the story and I credit this story with my love of quest/puzzle stories.

The Chrestomanci Series
Charmed Life
The Lives of Christopher Chant
Witch Week
The Magicians of Caprona
There are other books in the Chrestomanci series, but the ones listed above are the only ones I have actually read.  These are fun books dealing with orphans, multi-dimensions, magic, and love.  I could not get enough of Charmed Life and The Lives of Christopher Chant and I loved figuring out the mythology of the stories.  I actually read them out of order the first time I read them, but it was amazing to me when I figured out that this Chrestomanci was actually Christopher or Cat.

Dogsbody
The tale of the Dog Star who is sent to Earth in the incarnation of a dog after being convicted of murdering a fellow celestial body.  This book always touch me, partly because I am a dog lover and I love the idea of something being bigger than it really is. 

BBAW Forgotten Treasure: The Bermudez Triangle & The Dust of 100 Dogs

Today's BBAW post is about a book that I feel should get more attention.  I had to think about this long and hard because there are many many books that I feel are worthy of Hunger Games like attention.  So in the end, I'm picking two because I just couldn't decide.






The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson

I love Maureen Johnson and her books.  The first book I read by her was 13 Little Blue Envelopes which I loved so much that I had to read the rest of her books.  And so I began picking them up one by one.  They are all pretty great but the one that made the biggest impression was The Bermudez Triangle.  I think it is safe to say it was the first YA book I'd read that dealt with GLBT issues and I found it to be very well done and very realistic.  I liked the dynamic between the girls and how the one who was left out's feelings were not glossed over or made petty.  And how the girls managed to survive what could have been the end of their friendship.  It is a funny and insightful book and I highly recommend it, especially for someone's first foray into GLBT fiction.

The Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S. King

I read this about a year ago and it had stuck with me ever since.  It truly was one of the best books I read last year.  I think it was the pirates.  I loved Emer and how she went from being a sweet girl to a ruthless pirate.  I loved the whole incarnation idea and the sections about Emer's lives as different dogs.  I loved Saffron and how she has these insane memories of being the pirate Emer and her quest to find Emer's buried treasure  Even the cover is awesome.  All the elements of this book added up to winner.

All Time Favorite Books

I was thinking last night about my top 5 all time favorite books. These are books that I have read multiple times. So in no particular order, here they are:


1. Auntie Mame: I first saw the Rosalind Russell movie when I was around 12ish and I loved it. I am a big fan of old movies. Then I found out it was a book and it was at my local library. So I read it and the sequel then. Then when I was in grad school, I read it again. Then my mom bought me a paperback copy and I've read that copy several times. It just doesn't get better than Auntie Mame.

2. Jurassic Park: I'm a big Michael Crichton fan and I've never read a book by him I didn't enjoy. Jurassic Park is the only one, though, that I've read several times. In fact, we were weeding our home collection and it was one of the paperbacks I just had to keep. I really need a hardcover. I've never been a big dinosaur person but I LOVED this book and the movie too, of course.

3. Ender's Game: I was introduced to this by BT. It is his all time favorite book and, when we started dating, I figured I should read it too. It has to be one of the best books ever written! I've read all the the Enders series and all of the Bean series. But Ender's Game is the one I've read the most.

4. Skinny Legs and All tied with Jitterbug Perfume: It's hard to choose between these to Tom Robbins' books. Skinny Leg and All was the first one I read and you never forget your first Tom Robbins but Jitterbug Perfume has one of my favorite quotes, "Louisiana in September was like an obscence phone call from nature. The air even sounds like heavy breathing."

5. Someplace to Be Flying: Who doesn't love Charles de Lint? I am part Native American so I guess the animal people parts really speak to me. I love the idea of Raven, and the Crow Girls, and Jackdaw. Something about this book amazes me. I've even made others read it.

Honorable Mention goes out to The Neverending Story: I loved this book and read it several times when I was younger, but it's been a while. The book is so wonderful and has so many elements that the original movie changed or left out. Strangely, I was never a fan of the Childlike Empress but loved Bastian, Atreyu, and Falkor and also the Rockbiter.