Listen Up! It's Audiobook Week 2012 is an event hosted by Devourer of Books and which I'm participating in this week. So it's all the same bookishness, just in a different format.
(Photo Credit: xoJane)
Weekly Reading With Cinder & Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter {The Audiobook Week Edition}
Recently Finished
Cinder, Marissa Meyer, Rebecca Soler (Narrator). Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She's a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world's future.
Loved it! I listened to this on audio and the narrator did a fantastic job making this dramatic, as well as the voices of the different characters distinct. Despite it being a "Cinderella" retelling, there are so many new elements to this book, that if you are turned off by that fact - it really won't be an issue - I promise. Yes, Cinderella is a cyborg mechanic with a mean step-mother and there is a prince - sounds weird but it works. The characters are oh so brilliantly written that I wanted to reach into the book and strangle the step-mother when she was acting like an ass. And I loved Cinder of course - she was the perfect combination of a bit naive & insecure, but brave and smart.
Now, everybody and their mama is going to figure out the plot twist early - and then it becomes a little frustrating waiting for Cinder to figure sh%t out ... but seriously, that's why this book is so good - you become engaged & wrapped up in the story. My only complaint is that this book is left so thoroughly unfinished ... and really, there didn't need to be a book 2 - definitely NOT 4 books, which is unfortunately how long this series will be! (Goodreads)
Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, Seth Grahame-Smith, Scott Holst (Narrator). Indiana, 1818. Moonlight falls through the dense woods that surround a one-room cabin, where a nine-year-old Abraham Lincoln kneels at his suffering mother's bedside. She's been stricken with something the old-timers call "Milk Sickness." Only later will the grieving Abe learn that his mother's fatal affliction was actually the work of a vampire.
I might be the only person alive who didn't LOVE this book. I thought it was aaright, but frankly, I found it boring in many parts. I wasn't a fan of the droll, monotonous tone of the narrator - and by the end I was just dying for this to be over ... pun intended. The vampire part of the story is nicely interwoven with the historical aspects - so there's that - but there isn't much action and the pace of the book is tortuously slow. If you like biographies of historical figures, with a twist, then this might be for you - but if you're looking for an action packed, adventurous vampire tale, where Abe Lincoln is kicking major butt ... then stay clear. And while some books are just as good on audio, or better - this is not one of them ... As I said in 10 Must See Book To Movie Adaptations in 2012, I'm going to wait on the DVD version of this movie instead of going to the cinema to see it.
More Audiobookishness
I started listening to audiobooks this year, so I'm quite the newbie. First, I tried to listen to classics, but quickly found that books that had a fast pace were more my style, so it's usually Young Adult or Fantasy. I tend to listen during my 1 hour commute to and from work, and also while doing stuff around the house - cooking, laundry, tuning out the boys ... So far, my 2 favorite audiobooks of 2012 have been Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Laini Taylor (see Weekend Audiobook Audible With Daughter of Smoke & Bone), and Cinder.
Current Listening To
Is Everybody Hanging Without Me, Mindy Kaling. Mindy Kaling has lived many lives: the obedient child of immigrant professionals, a timid chubster afraid of her own bike, a Ben Affleck-impersonating Off-Broadway performer and playwright, and, finally, a comedy writer and actress prone to starting fights with her friends and coworkers with the sentence "Can I just say one last thing about this, and then I swear I'll shut up about it?"So, let's hear it from all the audiobook fans! And if you haven't tried listening to audiobooks yet - don't wait another minute! Check out SYNC FREE (Audiobook) Downloads - different books FREE every week, from June 14 - Aug. 22, 2012 (Daughter of Smoke & Bone - which I mentioned is one of my FAVORITE books read this year (audio and print) is free during the week of Aug 2-8).
I also didn't enjoy Abraham Lincoln Vampire Slayer.
My favorite read last week was Chi's Sweet Home, Volume 1 by Kanata Konami. Please come see what else I'm reading.