Some 30 years ago, I discovered that listening to books on tape made doing housework and sit-ups easier for me. When I started working for our library system, 21+ years ago, I found a treasure trove of audio books. Then one day, I fell for a voice. It belonged to Simon Prebble reading one of Dick Francis’ Sid Halley mysteries. He is still plying his trade and you can hear him reading the most recent Inspector Ian Rutledge mystery by Charles Todd, Racing the Devil.
With more listening under my belt, I came across more and more readers whose voices increased my “reading” pleasure. George Guidall is great when it comes to accurately pronouncing foreign expressions. And he carries the day when it comes to introspective male characters like Walt Longmire in Craig Johnson’s Hell Is Empty.
Then there are the authors who read their own works. Some with success, others without. Gregory Maguire of Wicked fame read his second book himself, but then reverted to the original reader for the next book; I suspect that other listeners like myself were dissatisfied. On the other hand, I find that Neil Gaiman does a stupendous job reading his own works, like his 2009 Newbery award-winning title The Graveyard Book.
The 2017 Audie Award winner for Best Male Narrator is Simon Vance whose voice is best known to me for his rendering of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. So, keep your ears peeled and you just might hear something you like.
