Tag Archives: audiobooks

Apr 15 2015

Mel’s 5 Second Audiobook Review: The Origin and Evolution of Earth – From the Big Bang to the Future of Human Existence

The Origin and Evolution of Earth: From the Big Bang to the Future of Human Existence
Written by: Robert M Hazen
Read by: Robert M Hazen

Origin Evolution of Earth

 

(Questions from Audible’s reviews page)

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
I would definitely recommend this book to a friend. In fact I already have one in mind. A good half of the course was geology and elements and things like that and, while not my cup of tea, I have a friend who will love it.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?
The parts I liked the most were the cosmology and astronomy lectures, which were mostly in the first half. Once he started in on the table of elements and geology, however, he kind of lost me.

What about Professor Robert M Hazen’s performance did you like?
He’s very articulate, with a clear voice. Definitely a great lecturer.

Was The Origin and Evolution of Earth worth the listening time?
The parts that I enjoyed, very much so. I skipped almost half the lectures, though. I guess I should read the descriptions more closely.

Any additional comments?
I’m definitely not giving this course 6.5/10 because it sucked. As I said, Dr Hazen is a great lecturer, and what I enjoyed of the course I really loved. I gave it only 6.5 cause geology and mineralogy aren’t my bag. But for those interested in those subjects, I definitely recommend this course.

M.

Mar 27 2015

Mel’s 5 Second Audiobook Review: Behold the Mighty Dinosaur

Behold the Mighty Dinosaur
Written by: John Kricher
Read by: John Kricher

behold dino

(Questions from Audible’s reviews form)

Where does The Modern Scholar rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
This was the first one I’ve read from this series, and if the rest are as good as this one, I’ll definitely be buying more!

What other book might you compare Behold the Mighty Dinosaur to and why?
I actually haven’t read any other “real” dinosaur books, so I can’t really compare. I’ve read Dinopedia and others like it, and I loved Jurassic Park (book and film), but this was my first dino text book.

Have you listened to any of the narrator’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Nope, this was my first of his, and I quite enjoyed it. It wasn’t perfect, he swallowed and smacked his lips pretty audibly and quite often, but other than that he was clear and engaging.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I did, actually! I love dinosaur stuff, but I wasn’t sure how I’d like a whole dino text book, but I really loved it. I kept telling my husband so, too. “Man, I love this book!” It even made me laugh a few times, Dr Kricher has a pretty good wit.

Any additional comments?
All in all, I’d DEFINITELY reccomend this text to anyone even remotely interested in dinosaurs. It was informative without being dry, a great listen (or a great read too, I imagine). I loved it so much that I read it all in just two sittings. I’m sad that Audible doesn’t have any more dino texts from Dr K, I’d have scooped them right up! I give it a superb 9.5/10 (the .5 taken away for that lip smacking :-p )

M.

Mar 23 2015

Mel’s 5 Second Audiobook Review: A Brief History of Time

A Brief History of Time
Written by: Stephen Hawking
Read by: Michael Jackson

A_Brief_History_of_Time

(Questions from Aubible’s reviews form)

Is there anything you would change about this book?
The narrator for starters. And I’m not really sure what went wrong, but the last 4 or 5 chapters were just… kinda dull. He just went on and on and on… and on about black holes, and I just kinda zoned out. More than once.

What was your reaction to the ending?
By that point, I just wanted it to be over.

What three words best describe Michael Jackson’s performance?
Erratic, dry, dull.
He’d pause between words where there was clearly no comma or period, or then he’d zip through lines like his life depended on his reading as fast as he could. He even did some ahhs and ums, which really now, is a big no-no when recording audiobooks. And his voice just kinda droned on, made it very easy to zone out, or have my mind wander.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?
I’ve seen a lot of Stephen Hawking’s TV specials, like Into the Universe and Grand Design, and I absolutely loved them. If he were to make this book into a show like that, I’d certainly be interested in seeing it.

Any additional comments?
I give it 7/10 because it’s Stephen Hawking after all, and I’m a huge fan. But if his other books are narrated by this same guy, Michael Jackson, I’m afraid I won’t be listening to any more of them on Audible.

M.

Mar 21 2015

Mel’s 5 Second Review: The Mammoth Book of Bizarre Crimes audiobook

The Mammoth Book of Bizarre Crimes (2010)
Written by: Robin Odell
Narrated by: David Shaw-Parker

Bizarre Crimes

(Questions from Audible’s reviews form)

If you could sum up The Mammoth Book of Bizarre Crimes in three words, what would they be?
Fun, fast-paced, informative.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?
The narrator does a great job telling the gruesome stories in the most light-hearted way that he can. I wasn’t sure I liked him at the start of the book, but I grew quite fond of him quickly. He’s also one of the best I’ve heard at doing accents, he was pretty amazing!

Have you listened to any of David Shaw-Parker’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Nope, this was the first one. And will probably be the only one, unless he adds more books to his resumé. Of the 14 or so books he’s got on Audible, this is the only one that interested me. Too bad 😦

If you could give The Mammoth Book of Bizarre Crimes a new subtitle, what would it be?
Or, The Depravity of Human Beings

Any additional comments?
This book gets a wonderful 9/10 from me. I’d have given it a full 10 stars, but I skipped the whole section on contract killings, mafia hits and assassins. That kind of stuff has never really interested me. But everything else was a great, albeit sometimes gruesome, read (or should I say listen? hehe). Only about half of the stories (of which there are 300) are what I would call truly bizarre, but maybe that’s just me being slightly blasé on the subject, after having read so many books and watched so many shows about it. I’d definitely reccomend this book to anyone who, like me, has a penchant for the macabre.

M.

Feb 27 2015

Mel’s 5 Second Review: Death by Black Hole, and Other Cosmic Quandaries Audiobook

Death by Black Hole, and Other Cosmic Quandaries
Written by: Neil DeGrasse Tyson
Read by: Dion Graham

tyson

This was an absolutely wonderful listen. I’m not sure why they didn’t get Dr Tyson to do the reading himself, he’s got a great voice. But Dion Graham actually sounds a lot like him, so at least there’s that. He was perfectly able to capture Dr Tyson’s personality and wit, which is one of the reasons I love his work so much. Some science writers are so dry that no matter how interesting the subject is, it’s almost impossible to get through it. He has all the facts, but he writes it with humour, and it’s wonderful. I’d have given it a 10/10, but there was the “obligatory” chapter on god, which I skipped, so it gets 9.5/10 instead. I’m honestly so tired of seeing religion in science stuff, it has no place there.

M.

Nov 1 2014

Mel’s 5 Second Review: The History of Ancient Egypt

The History of Ancient Egypt (2013)
Written by: Prof Bob Brier
Read by: Prof Bob Brier

Egypt

Ancient Egypt comes to dazzling life in this 48 lecture course. The lectures cover thousands of years of history, from the rise of the Egyptian empire to becoming the world’s greatest civilization of the time, to the final days of the empire with the fall of Egypt’s most famous queen, Cleopatra. Professor Brier is a good lecturer, if a little repetitive sometimes, but he very clearly loves his work, and it shows big time in the lectures. His passion for the subject is almost contagious. You can’t help but smile as he talks about the long dead monarchs like they were buddies, sometimes even calling them ‘my man’ (ex, ‘my man Snefru’, or ‘our man Ramses’). It was quite amusing, and gave the history a personal touch. If you’re even just a little interested in ancient Egyptian history, I definitely reccomend this course. I give it a wonderful 9.5/10.

M.

Aug 13 2014

Mel’s 5 Second Review: The Demonologist audiobook

The Demonologist: The Extraordinary Career of Ed and Lorraine Warren
Written by: Gerald Brittle
Read by: Todd Haberkorn

demonologist

Would I recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes, definitely! I loved it! Superbly read by Todd Haberkorn. I don’t believe for a moment that everything (or even anything) in the book is actually true, but it was nonetheless a fascinating read. Two enthusiastic thumbs up! 😀

What about Todd Haberkorn’s performance did I like?
He gave each character his own unique voice without sounding silly, which is harder than you might think. Especially for a horror story. His demon voices were especially well done, very creepy.

Was this a book I wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes! And that’s exactly what I did! It was the first time I’d done that, hehe. It was “only” 10 hours though, so it’s not too bad.

Additional comments?
If you like supernatural stuff, and especially if you liked the film The Conjuring, you’ll probably like this as much as I did then.

Enjoy!! 🙂

M.