Tag Archives: audiobooks

100 (OR SO) BOOKS I HEARD IN 2016

Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Author Image  100 (OR SO) BOOKS I HEARD IN 2016

I have written 8 books personally.  (See my author profile (https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/pan)   I also edited and published the international best selling book Alien Interview. (Get this audiobook FREE)

As a writer I am a reader.  I usually read (or re-read) at least 100 books a year.  I am 70 years old now and have developed severe arthritis is my neck which prevents me from reading printed books.  So, I download and listen to audiobooks from AUDIBLE.COM. I have discovered the experience of audiobooks to be much more satisfying than reading printed books.  What can be better than a well written story read to you by a professional voice talent?!  Anyway, I want to share with you a list of audobooks I listened to during 2016.  As you can see from the list my preferences lean heavily toward Fantasy, Science Fiction, Metaphysics and History.  Each book is a universe created by the “author gods” of Earth: universes of infinite imagination and fascination.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Book 5  THE HARRY POTTER SERIES (7 books) by J.K Rowling

Chapterhouse Dune  DUNE  (6 book series by Frank Herbert)

Ashley Bell  ASHELY BELL by Dean Koontz

Neverwhere  NEVERWHERE by Neil Gaiman  (second reading)

THE REPUBLIC OF PIRATES: BEING THE TRUE AND SURPRISING STORY OF THE CARIBBEAN PIRATES by Colin Woodard  The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down

Bag of Bones  BAG OF BONES by Stephen King

The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes  THE IMPROBABLE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES by John Joseph Adams (editor) , Robert J. Sawyer , Christopher Roden , Michael Moorcock , Anne Perry , Neil Gaiman , Anthony Burgess , Laurie R. King

THE DIAMOND AGE by Neal Stephenson

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World  GHENHIS KHAN AND THE MAKING OF THE MODERN WORLD By Jack Weatherford

Red Rising  THE RED RISING TRILOGY by Pierce Brown

Hunted: The Iron Druid Chronicles, Book 6  THE DRUID CHRONICLES (8 books) by Kevin Hearne

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe  HOW TO SAFELY LIVE IN A SCIENCE FICTIONAL UNIVERSE by Charles Yu

Proven Guilty: The Dresden Files, Book 8  THE DRESDEN FILES (15 books) by Jim Butcher

Fated: Alex Verus Series, Book 1  ALEX VERUS SERIES by Benedict Jacka  (7 books)

The Sudden Appearance of Hope  THE SUDDEN APPEARANCE OF HOPE by Claire North

The Everything Box: A Novel  THE EVERYTHING BOX by Richard Kadrey

Spell or High Water: Magic 2.0  MAGIC 2.0 (3 book series) by Scott Meyer

THE AERONAUT’S WINDLASS: THE CINDER SPIRES, BOOK 1 by Jim Butcher

The Many Selves of Katherine North  THE MANY SELVES OF KATHERINE NORTH by Emma Geen

THE CHRONICLES OF ST. MARY’S (book 1 and 2) by Jody Taylor

Ready Player One  READY PLAYER ONE by Ernest Cline

Tesser: A Dragon Among Us: A Reemergence Novel, Book 1  TESSER, A DRAGON AMONG US by Chris Philbrook

JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR. NORRELL by Susanna Clarke

THE DIRTY STREETS OF HEAVEN: BOBBY DOLLAR by Tad Williams  The Dirty Streets of Heaven: Bobby Dollar, Book 1

SLEEPING LATE ON JUDGEMENT DAY: Bobby Dollar BY Tad Williams

THE HIKE by Drew Magary

WHERE THE HELL IS TELSA: A NOVEL by Rob Dircks

The Android's Dream  AGENT TO THE STARS by John Scalzi

THE ANDROIDS DREAM by John Scalzi

ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE by Robert M. Pirsig

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy  ALL OF THE BOOKS OF DOUGLAS ADAMS (re-read for the 4th or 5th time)  Life, the Universe, and Everything: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Book 3

THE GODMAKERS by Frank Herbert

AWAKEN ONLINE by Travis Bagwell

SURVIVAL QUEST: WAY OF THE SHAMAN SERIES (1 and 2) by Vasily Mahanenko

No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished: Heartstrikers, Book 3  HEARTSTRIKERS (3 book series) by Rachel Aaron

WIZARD DEFIANT: INTERGALACTIC WIZARD SCOUT CHRONICLES by Rodney Hartman

THE LEGEND OF ELI MONPRESS (5 book series) by Rachel Aaron  The Spirit Thief

WAKE OF VULTURES: THE SHADOW BOOK 1, by Lila Bowen

THE SHEPARD’S CROWN by Terry Pratchett

Watchers  WATCHERS by Dean Koontz

SOLARIS by Stanislaw Lem

The Mote in God's Eye  THE MOTE IN GOD’S EYE by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

We Are Legion (We Are Bob): Bobiverse, Book 1  WE ARE LEGION (WE ARE BOB) BOBIVERSE BOOKS 1 AND 2 by Dennis E. Taylor

BY THE LIGHT OF THE MOON by Dean Koontz

Columbus Day: Expeditionary Force, Book 1  COLUMBUS DAY: EXPEDITIONARY FORCE (book 1) by Craig Alanson

LISTEN!

Republished by Blog Post Promoter

I love to listen to audio books!  It allows me to “read” a book while doing other things, like driving, walking, shopping, washing dishes, vacuuming the floor, doing the laundry, feeding the cat, working out at the gym, sitting outside on the patio, and other “mindless” activities that require very little attention.  I listen to one audio book every week, or more.  You can get a very affordable monthly subscription from www.Audible.com.  Every month you can download one or more books and listen to them on your phone, iPod, iPad, computer, or MP3 player.  Try it for FREE for one month!

You can listen to Samples of Audio books by Lawrence R. Spencer, and Download the entire book from Audible.com

1001 things cover

Alien Interview cover

Big Bleep cover

MMManual cover

Sherlock Holmes cover

The Oz Factors cover

Vermeer cover

FREE AUDIOBOOK

Republished by Blog Post Promoter

CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO LEARN HOW YOU CAN DOWNLOAD A FREE COPY OF ONE OF MY AUDIOBOOKS:

http://www.audible.com/t1/30DayGoldFT_at?source_code=PBRP0389WS110209

FREE AUDIO BOOKSHERE ARE THE LINKS TO MY AUDIOBOOKS ON AUDIBLE.COM YOU CAN DOWNLOAD FREE WHEN YOU BECOME A TRIAL MEMBER OF AUDIBLE.COM:

SHERLOCK HOLMES: MY LIFE   http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?asin=B00A27BCHG&qid=1355950962&sr=1-1

VERMEER: PORTRAITS OF A LIFETIME   http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_2?asin=B009NVX2PM&qid=1355950962&sr=1-2

HAPPY LISTENING, MY FRIENDS!

64 BOOKS I HEARD LAST YEAR

Republished by Blog Post Promoter

iphone4_v_screen02-640I stopped watching television.  I refuse to be “dumbed down” by the “vast wasteland” of insidious drivel produced by the “mind-control media”.  I prefer to spend my time with great writers.  Like most writers I read a lot of books.  In recent years I have become a huge fan of audio books! I listen to at least one book each week on my iPhone.

Recorded books are read to you, sometimes by the authors themselves, such as Stephen King or Neil Gaiman, while you do the routine hands-free activities of daily living: driving, grocery shopping, riding a bicycle, jogging, walking, cooking, cleaning, washing dishes, eating and pooping.

There are thousands of recorded books available.  You can start by downloading a FREE AUDIO BOOK from Audible.com.

This is a list of 64 Audio books I personally enjoyed hearing during the last year (many for the 2nd or 3rd time):

The Riverboat Series (5 books) by Philip Jose Farmer

Shantaram: A Novel by Gregory David Roberts

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Series of 6 books, including “And Another Thing”) by Douglas Adams

The Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams

The Long Lost Tea Time of The Soul by Douglas Adams

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams

Ecco Homo by Friedrich Nietzsche

Heresy by S.J. Parris

Prophecy S.J. Parris

Sacrilege S.J. Parris

Touch by Clair North

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Clair North

Escape from Camp 14 by Blaine Harden

Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla by Marc J. Seifer

My Inventions by Nikola Tesla

The Art of Happiness by Dalai Lama

Our Occulted History by Jim Marrs

Ubik by Phillip K. Dick

The Hair Potter Series (7 books) by J.K. Rowling

Hyperion by Dan Simmons

The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons

The Domain Expeditionary Rescue Mission by Lawrence R. Spencer

Alien Interview by Matilda MacElroy

Kill Decision by Daniel Suarez

Daemon by Daniel Suarez

Influx by Daniel Suarez

Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan

Hollow World by Michael J. Sullivan

The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean

Pirates and the Man who brought them down by Colin Woodard

Far Journeys by Robert Monroe

Tao Te Ching by Stephen Mitchell

Off to Be The Wizard by Scott Meyer

Spell and High Water by Scott Meyer

Seize The Night by Dean Koontz

Fear Nothing by Dean Koontz

Ashley Bell by Dean Koontz

Bag of Bones by Stephen King

The John Carter Trilogy by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

The Ocean at The End of The Lane by Neil Gaiman

The Graveyard Boo, by Neil Gaiman

Good Omens by Terry Pratchet and Neil Gaiman

Dune (Series of 7 books) by Frank Herbert

 

I LISTEN TO WHAT I READ

Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Johnathan RenshawSo far in my nearly 70 years I’ve written and published 8 books.  None of my books have enjoyed the global readership of a book I did NOT write, but edited.  I spend the vast majority of my time reading books written by literary adepts and master story-tellers.  Reading is not merely entertainment.  It is the mind and imagination of beings communicating their thoughts, memories and musings, through symbols, to others.  There are 450,000 NEW BOOKS published every year, in Kevin Hearneaddition to the millions that have accumulated since the printing press was “invented” in Europe in by the German Johannes Gutenberg around 1440.   Personally, I listen to audiobooks.  The combination of masterful writing combined with state of the art performance is nothing less than magic.  Since my personal interests tend to vary from esoteric to bizarre, it stick to science fiction, primarily.  However, I enjoy a good story, well told.

Benedict JackaIn modern publishing writers no longer write ONE book.  They write a SERIES of books.  This is based on the sales and marketing-driven capitalist culture that exploded in Europe a few hundred years ago.  So, lately,  I’m not reading “books”.  I’m reading a “series” 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 books!  However, when you find an author you really enjoy this is a good was to swim deeply into the ocean of a genre or universe, rather than surfing the shallow shores of television, film, or — gods forbid — social media.Jim Butcher

Here are a few of the “series” I’ve read or am reading.  Three of these books are my first voyage on the ocean of “Magic Mystery”, i.e. Druids, Mages and Wizards in the roles of  spell-casting superheros fighting an assortment of supernatural villains: to my delight and continuing enchantment! I recommend them to you.  Search the fantastic library available on Audible.com  and your favorite on-line bookstores to find your own.