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Posts Tagged ‘audio books’

Listening Reports And Badges

Posted by terrepruitt on February 3, 2020

I believe I started listening to Audible in August, but the little “report” only shows five months at a time. The photos show I have listened to 43 titles, but some of what you see are actually collections. Robot Geneticists is actually 6 books. Galaxy Outlaws is 16 books. Astral Prime is 12, but I think I’ve only listened to 8 of those. Mercy For Hire is 8, but I listened to four of the books twice – LOVE me some Wesley Wesley!!! And the Renegade Star Series is 13 books. So . . . that is about 89 books. Some of those I had listened to with my hubby on our drives to and from my dad’s so the hours won’t add up. But I am driving more because I have a different class schedule so I get to listen more. Also, I had typed this post and as I was editing the pictures I decided to post a nod to my mother on her birthday. So five days have past since I made the collage of the books in the library so I manually edited the three books I finished since I started the post. I think it is fun to see what I have listened to, for how long, how many hours a month, and the little badges they give.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFit, City of San Jose Exercise Classes, Cambrian Yoga & Cardio Dance, CYCD, Yin YogaWhen I am listening to a good book or a good series, I make time to listen. Recently I was listening to a book that was ok, but the reader was not. He didn’t even attempt to do separate voices for the various characters so I never understood what was going on. I had to rewind a lot to understand because I could never tell who was saying what. NO ATTEMPT AT ALL. He just read the book. Some readers are GREAT at the different voices, some are not so great, but at least they make an attempt. You can tell that there are two people talking and you can follow along. Some men don’t do female voices good, but at least they try. Some women don’t do male voices well, but at least they try. This guy – ugh – NO EFFORT AT ALL. I had two hours left of the book and I seriously considered not listening to the rest of it just because he was so awful and there was so many conversations going on it was annoying. I will never listen to another book read by that person!

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According to Audible I have listened a total of 25 days, 5 hours, and 44 minutes. In November I was cleaning a lot and listening and in December there was a lot of decorating time spent listening. When I started typing this I didn’t think I would get anywhere near November but then I had a long drive and I was listening a lot while I worked, so the last couple of days of January I was able to get some serious hours in. Thursday I finished listening to one book and started another (“Where the Crawdads Sing”), was able to finish that and this weekend start a new one (“The Golem and the Jinni”).

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFit, City of San Jose Exercise Classes, Cambrian Yoga & Cardio Dance, CYCD, Yin YogaThe badges are fun and silly. The 7-Day Stretch says that I completed 10 books in a week. I would be interested to know what books those were. Some books are super short like two hours, but some are super long so I would love to know what 10 I listened to in a week. I usually listen to a long one then a short one. But I think after one particularly long (and enjoyable) series I was listening to a lot of short books so as not to be stuck in a LONG book.

The Stenographer one is really hilarious – to me, because it says I placed at least 40 bookmarks. That is so funny because I think I only purposely place 2, but I have accidentally hit the “bookmark” 38 times. Ha!

The Nibbler badge say I have listen to at least 3 different titles on one day. I am thinking they mean they were played.  It doesn’t say FINISHED three books in one day.  I don’t think I listen to three different books in ONE day. I imagine I accidentally started one and then maybe listened to TWO in one day, but THREE. And that would be if one were short and I was in the middle of one in the same day. It would be fun if the stats showed information on the books.

I didn’t get the repeat listener because the first time I listened to the books I listened to twice I think I listened to it with my hubby. It was on my phone. I will probably listen to it again because I love Wesley Wesley, so it might show up then.

So, what about you? How much time do you spend reading? Do you listen to books? Does your app track your listening?

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Relationships That Affected Us All

Posted by terrepruitt on August 19, 2019

We got in the car on Sunday evening expecting to be home by 8:30 pm, 9:00 at the latest.  We got home at 11:30 pm.  Yeah, it took us two hours to go six miles.  I wasn’t driving, I don’t think I could have made it.  There was a semi-truck that caught fire and then caused a wild fire.  I don’t know any more details besides – thankfully – there were no injuries and it pretty much doubled the time it takes us to get home.  UGH.  But, as is our thing lately we listen to books on Audible.  On the way we listened to a hilarious science fiction called “The Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent.”  It was performed by Adam Baldwin and was pretty funny.  I really hope Larry Correia writes more and gets Adam to perform again.  Since I figure not all of you are interested in science fiction that is all I will say about that one.  But the other one we listened to might have a broader appeal since it has to do with history.  Even though it is about history that affected us all it is not told in the same light as I am familiar with most history being told.  It is presented more in the framework of relationships.  So, it was more interesting to me than the stating of a person’s accomplishments.  This book gives you some ideas as to why certain things are now a part of our society and history.  The book is “Rivals!  Frenemies Who Changed the World.”  It is four short stories about real people.  And it is VERY interesting.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFit, City of San Jose Exercise Classes, Cambrian Yoga & Cardio Dance, CYCDI didn’t know that “most of our dinosaur fossils were discovered because two grown men absolutely hated each other.”  Did you?  This story blew my mind, I mean, I am ok with dinosaur bones, but I don’t understand the desire to own them.  And by own them I don’t mean own some of them, I mean OWN THEM ALL.  Own ALL of the dinosaur bones.  What IS that even? And the race to be the first one to pronounce the discovery of them led to so many mistakes is the categorizing and EVERYTHING about dinosaurs for so long.  I didn’t know any of this.  That they started out as friends is what is amazing, then their desire to outdo the other one is what made them crazy.  Who won, Cope or Marsh?  Is it he who owns the most wins?  Or he who named the most wins?

Then I learn that I have been saying Adidas all wrong, it is actually AhdeDAAS (AH-dee-DAHS according to Wiki).  More German sounding . . . because it is German.  Two brothers started making shoes in 1924, and is often the case in families, they did not agree on things.  But as is not often the case in families each brother actually accused the other of being a Nazi.  As you can imagine they didn’t work well together and they split with one brother formed Puma.  These companies were responsible for an entire town being divided.  So divided that if you were in a shop that sided with Adidas and you were wearing Puma shoes you would be refused service.  It was crazy.  Then as the years went on the feuding did not stop and was passed onto sons.  All of this family feuding was the start of the corporate sponsoring in sports.  It is incredible the lengths they went to in order to have athletes wear their shoes.  I am still shaking my head.  And this was family!

Then there is the story of Queen Elizabeth and Mary Queen of Scots.  While I may not be divulging any spoilers by saying Mary Queen of Scots ended up being beheaded, I will let you listen to the details of that beheading as it did not go smoothly.  The story reminds us that royalty and politicians have behaved badly throughout history.

The last story just cements that idea as we hear about Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. The book mentions this might be “the most famous rivalry of all time”. It is an interesting story and somewhat funny (but not really) to hear that politicians have been doing the same things to each other and the public since there was such a thing. The story briefly explains how Hamilton “hindered Burr’s career and insulted his character for 15 years”. It also gives a history of duels which I was unaware of as I am only familiar with the “old west” type of duels.

I don’t really remember any of the history we were exposed to in school and I am not really interested in it so I don’t seek it out. So a lot of this was new and interesting to me. And the way it was told, read, and performed was very entertaining. If you are slightly interested in history I think you will enjoy this. I know I did. It also helped get us through the two hours of sitting and barely moving on the freeway.

Do you like to learn about history? Do you like to listen to books? Did you know any of this?

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Strongly Recommended Reads – Listens, Actually

Posted by terrepruitt on June 10, 2019

In past posts I have mentioned: my husband getting Audible and listening to books and he and I discussing the books we were listening to.

Well, I wanted to post about the books we have been listening too. First we listened to a series of “Renegade” books by J.N. Chaney. Six books about a Renegade named Jace Hughes. He takes “almost any job that comes his way, no matter the situation. But that all changes when he meets a nun looking for safe passage out of the system.” It is a six book series (so far) about their adventures. It is very good made all the better by Luke Daniels performance.

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Sad to be done – for now, J.S. Morin promises

Then we moved onto a Galaxy Outlaws which is part of the Black Ocean series. I can’t tell how many books are in it. It is on Audible as an 8 part download with 138 chapters. The collection is touted as being all 16 missions with 6 stowaways. Stowaways are little breakaway stories. It totals over 80 hours. It is a very fun series of books. The characters are just like all your favorite characters – meaning you love them and you don’t. You love them, but they might do stupid and/or frustrating things . . . depends on what type of shows you usually watch and books you read. These guys are a ragtag group of characters.

After the Galaxy Outlaw series there are two more, Astral Prime, which is four “missions” that total over eight hours. It doesn’t have the same characters in it as the Galaxy Outlaws series, but it is a somewhat related story in that you hear of some of the characters from Black Ocean.  After Astral Prime there is another series called Mercy for Hire it has at least two of the original characters from Galaxy Outlaws, although both not my favorites.

It is always really hard to “let go” of characters that authors have created that you really love and enjoy. I just want J.S. Morin to keep writing about the Galaxy Outlaws. The “captain” of the Mobius and his ragtag crew. There are “cat” and “dog” people and other great races. And this set of books has yet another great narrator in Mikael Naramore. He does a great job bringing each one to life.

At the time I initially wrote this (5.27.19) I was in the middle of Astral Prime. I have since finished Astral Prime and Mercy for Hire. I loved the entire Black Ocean series. J.S. Morin really makes some lovable characters. Even though I am not a fan of the main character in Mercy for Hire Mr. Morin added a new character that I love so much I can’t even tell you – not without spoilers. You will have to read/hear for yourself.

I love that Mikael Naramore has read all of the books so far. As I said, he is great.

Both the Renegade series and the Black Ocean series are somewhat along the lines of Firefly. In fact that is what J.S. Morin was trying to do. He was trying to meet the desire of those who loved Firefly but give us something different – in space. What he managed to do was leave us just like Joss did — wanting more. But with my post on Facebook showing all the books finished he commented that there are more to come. More Astral Prime and more Mercy for Hire.  That is exciting.  I am counting on that meaning more of my favorite characters.

I know there are thousands of books to listen to on Audible and millions of books available to read, with so many it is sometimes hard to pick one. So, if you are a fan of fun, quirky science-fiction then download or pick up a copy of either of these series and you will not be disappointed. I say grab both.

If you are not a fan of science-fiction AT ALL, but want to try a new genre I say go for the Black Ocean Series.  There are times while listening that you will forget it is science fiction it is very down-to-earth and the you will love the characters.  “Two thumbs skyward, Buddy!”

What types of books do you like to read? Do you like to listen to books?

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Listening To Books

Posted by terrepruitt on November 19, 2018

Have you ever listened to an audio book? Ha, as I was typing that I realized they used to be called “Books on Tape.” Anyway, have you ever listened to one? What do you think about “reading” like that? I like it. My husband recently decided to download an app and join the club . . . or whatever, however it works. He has been listening to audio books. He is running and walking a lot so he enjoys listening to books as he gets his run/walk in. We used to listen to books on tape. It is cool now that the book is just in the phone and there is not lugging a bunch of tapes or even CDs around. AND that we can both listen to the book at the same time.  I enjoy listening to audio books, but I do need to rewind sometimes when my mind wanders. I was just remembering two stories about when we used to listen to books on tape a long time ago.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFit, City of San Jose Exercise ClassesOne time my husband and I were driving home from a dance competition in Fresno. It was the last day so there was a lot of us leaving the hotel at the same time. We had gotten in the car and stared listening to the book right away. A couple of weeks later we saw a friend of ours that had attended the competition and she asks us how we are doing. We say we are fine and she makes a comment something like, “Oh good, because you guys looked like you were fighting when we left Fresno a couple of weeks ago.” My husband and I didn’t know what she was talking about so we asked her to explain and she said she had seen us and waved trying to get our attention but we both had serious looks on our faces and I was staring out the passenger side window. We had to stop and think, then we realized we had been listening to a book and it was one of those serious scenes and we had both been concentrating on it and going through whatever emotion the story had elicited. It was so funny. She was relieved to hear we had just been listening to a book.

The other story I think is related to the same series. We used to listen to a book series. I was listening to it first. We would check it out from the library and then one of us would listen to it and then the other. This was before we were married – as was the Fresno incident – and I listened to the book on the way to my husband’s (well, boyfriend, at the time) house. When I arrived at his house I was at a point in the book where something important was about to be revealed so I sat in my car to finish listen to that part. Well, it was a sad part. One of the main characters we loved had been killed and the story revealed it by having his lover – the main character – find his face – not his head, just his face! – discovered in a refrigerator or cabinet (I don’t remember which). But I was so sad. I sat in my car trying to collect myself. But I couldn’t sit there all day. So when my husband (boyfriend) opened the door after I knocked he took one look at me and said, “He died, huh?” I was teary-eyed so he knew right away. That wouldn’t have happened if I would have been actually reading a book because I couldn’t have read it on the way over.  And with the audio books available on phones, we don’t have to wait for the other one to be finished with the cassette tape or CD.  Now-a-days we can listen to a book at the same time in different locations, we don’t even have to be together.

These to stories always make me laugh.  And I always share them with people when the subject of audio books comes up.

So, have you ever listened to an audio book? Do you like to listen to books? If you do listen to books, do you ever have to rewind it because you missed a portion of it?

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