Bester: Mal. Whaddya need two mechanics for? Mal: I really don't.

'Out Of Gas'


Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.

There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."


Ginger - May 16, 2014 8:37:31 am PDT #22380 of 28344
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda

I think Derek Landy would be chuffed to hear that.

I just finished an excellent, page-turner urban fantasy, London Calling, by Paul Cornell, who's also written Doctor Who episodes and a slew of comics. I suspect I will be standing ready to download the sequel when it comes out next week.


Calli - May 16, 2014 9:48:59 am PDT #22381 of 28344
I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul—Calvin and Hobbs

That looks really good, Ginger.


-t - May 16, 2014 10:23:03 am PDT #22382 of 28344
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration

London Falling?

There are a lot of London Callings, I want to be sure I'm looking at the right book.


Ginger - May 16, 2014 10:33:53 am PDT #22383 of 28344
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda

Yes, Falling.


Consuela - May 16, 2014 10:01:35 pm PDT #22384 of 28344
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix

I've heard good stuff about London Falling, too.

I just gave up and "returned" two books to Audible: an Iain M. Banks Culture novel, and Atwood's Oryx and Crake. They're not bad, but they're better on the page, I think. I've realized that I have to really trust the writer, or love the narrator, or love the voice of the novel itself, to be happy with an audiobook.

So Pratchett is fine: great narrator, great voice, great stories. Patrick O'Brien is great because the writing is so good, and the narrator is excellent. Rowling is good because even when the writing isn't good, Stephen Fry is awesome. Bill Bryson is good because he's hella funny and he reads his own work so he doesn't mis-emphasize things.

For some reason Elizabeth Moon's novels do well as audiobooks, even though the narrators aren't that great. ::shrugs:: Something about the smoothness of the prose, and the pace of the narrative itself.

But I bounced hard off Oryx and Crake, couldn't listen for more than 45 minutes before putting it down. And you can't skim with an audiobook!

Anyway, Audible lets you return a couple books a year for credit, which is useful.


hippocampus - May 17, 2014 2:49:51 am PDT #22385 of 28344
not your mom's socks.

Ginger, that's on my list too.

Augh, Consuela audiobooks are so hard. Good narrators make so much difference, and not everything works, I don't think. Some books really sit better on the page.

I'd put in a vote for the Culture novels as one of those.

A friend loved a recent book and then got the audio and found the narrator changing accents in the middle of a character bounced her right out.

This is what keeps me up, worrying, at night.


Polter-Cow - May 17, 2014 4:31:46 am PDT #22386 of 28344
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!

Augh, Consuela audiobooks are so hard. Good narrators make so much difference, and not everything works, I don't think. Some books really sit better on the page.

I'm a few discs into The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, and I wonder whether I would like it better if Christine Lakin weren't reading it in such a dark, dreary monotone. The occasional musical score is fun, though.


Kat - May 17, 2014 5:18:13 am PDT #22387 of 28344
"I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret." Leigh Bardugo

Consuela, have you read Oryx and Crake? I love Atwood and I enjoyed After the Flood but I just could not get into Oryx and Crake at all.


Consuela - May 17, 2014 6:49:48 am PDT #22388 of 28344
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix

have you read Oryx and Crake

Nope! I was thinking I should read some Atwood other than Handmaid's Tale but the audio of O&C is not going to do it. I will pick up a copy at some point, or maybe borrow from the library.


Consuela - May 17, 2014 6:51:25 am PDT #22389 of 28344
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix

In other news, I've discovered that Audible has The Great Courses available: an entire series for 1 credit or about $25. So right now I'm listening to a 24-hour lecture series about the lives of ordinary people in the ancient world, which is pretty interesting. Doesn't hurt that the lecturer is British: I'm always more inclined to believe a narrator with a British accent. [insert winking icon here]