Posts filed: Sam's Monthly Listening Report

The Audiobookaneer, January 2018: Frankenstein in Baghdad, Beneath the Sugar Sky, The Beautiful Ones, and more

Posted on 2018-02-10 at 21:15 by Sam

I've no idea if I'll keep this up, but it doesn't seem like too much to tiptoe back onto the blog with one small monthly feature. I'm still chugging along with weekly release picks over on reddit, but I haven't tried to go back and pick the "picks of the picks" for a month in a long, long time, and, hey, this gives me a chance to put in pretty pictures again! Anyway, here's the first in what I hope is a monthly column this year, of use especially to those really looking for one or two recommendations, and

Posted in Sam's Monthly Listening Report

Sam's Listening Report: April 2013

Posted on 2014-05-13 at 16:39 by Sam

Well, I've lapped myself in terms of getting out these so-called "monthly" listening reports, as these listens are all from a year (and counting) ago. But it was a fantastic month for me, with all four books showing up in my favorites of the year, spread across four genres: horror (The Accursed by Joyce Carol Oates), heroic fantasy (No Return by Zachary Jernigan), literary speculative fiction (Life After Life by Kate Atkinson), and a hard-to-categorize novel of game development and friendship (You by Austin

Posted in Sam's Monthly Listening Report | Tagged austin grossman, fenella woolgar, grover gardner, john fitzgibbon, joyce carol oates, kate atkinson, life after life, no return, the accursed, will collyer, you, zachary jernigan

Sam's Listening Report: March 2013

Posted on 2013-12-24 at 14:25 by Sam

So. Since I let these "monthly" reports get so completely out of hand -- note that the February report was just posted in mid-November -- I'm changing the format up a lot. I'm going to just run down what I listened to and maybe, maybe one quick comment; that way actual reviews don't have to be held up while I write a month's worth at a time. So, with that in mind, here's what I listened to in March:

NOTES:

The City of Devi by Manil Suri, read by Vikas Adam and Priya Ayyar for Blackstone Audio (review

Posted in Sam's Monthly Listening Report | Tagged bitterwood, c robert cargill, dave thompson, dimension of miracles, dreams and shadows, fade to black, francis knight, james maxey, john hodgman, manil suri, neil gaiman presents, paul thornley, priya ayyar, robert sheckley, the city of devi, vikas adam

Sam's Listening Report: February 2013

Posted on 2013-11-21 at 13:00 by Sam

Well... wow. I've really let these reports get way, way out of hand. It's mid-November! Anyway... I'm not really sure how it happened, but though February is the shortest month it was a huge month of listening for me after quite a start to the year in January as well. I also threaded in John Scalzi's episodic The Human Division (which I won't review myself here, since Dave covered these magnificently through his Listen-a-Long). Wonderful books and in a splendid variety, from a crazed serial killer in New

Posted in Sam's Monthly Listening Report | Tagged ben aaronovitch, clay and susan griffith, gun machine, james marsters, jl-hilton, justine eyre, karen lord, kobna holdbrook-smith, leviathan chronicles, midnight rio, mur lafferty, patricia mccormick, reg e cathey, robin miles, sold, stefan kiesbye, stellarnet prince, the best of all possible worlds, vampire epire, warren ellis, your house is on fire your children all gone

Sam's Listening Report: January 2013

Posted on 2013-04-06 at 12:48 by Sam

So, we're into April and I'm only scratching the surface on reviewing my January listening, and a long list of full reviews to write, but I want to get these brief thoughts out at least, so, in the interest of time: I started the year by finishing up some long-overdue Tim Powers "research" in advance of meeting (and interviewing!) him at illogiCon, interrupted only a bit by the launch of John Scalzi's episodic The Human Division (which I won't review myself here, since Dave is covering these magnificently

Posted in Sam's Monthly Listening Report | Tagged monthly listening report, tad williams, tim powers

Sam's Listening Report: December 2012

Posted on 2013-03-21 at 17:36 by Sam

After two months in a row with seven audiobooks, I closed out 2012 with a quite a run, with several titles making it into my best-of-the-year choices, including several unique and thoroughly enjoyable books -- such a good month that I hardly know where to begin, so I'll just run 'em down in chronological order, like I always do:

REVIEWS:

Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone, read by Claudia Alick for Blackstone Audio (review copy) -- A fantastic debut fantasy novel, one part secondary world urban

Posted in Sam's Monthly Listening Report | Tagged a sudden outbreak of magic, legion, monthly listening report, the last policeman, the testament of jessie lamb, the white forest, three parts dead

Sam's Listening Report: November 2012

Posted on 2013-02-21 at 20:02 by Sam

After seven audiobooks and excellent listening in October, it was again seven audiobooks in November, with three audiobooks which ended up making it into my year-end further mentions for new audiobooks of new books (The Long Earth, Red Country, and Clockwork Angels), one of my favorite sf novels of the 2000s coming to audio (Building Harlequin's Moon), some humor (Mogworld), some fictional history (The Mongoliad Book 2), and some mystery (Gone Girl).

REVIEWS:

Building Harlequin’s Moon by Larry

Posted in Sam's Monthly Listening Report | Tagged monthly listening report

Sam's listening report: October 2012

Posted on 2013-01-05 at 12:00 by Sam

After my slowest listening month in a very long time -- four audiobooks and a novella podcast episode in September -- I was back up to seven audiobooks, buoyed a bit by fall review copies coming in. It was a fantastic month in terms of enjoying what I was listening to as well, from fantasy (Hal Duncan's Vellum, Christopher Buehlman's Between Two Fires) to anthologies (V Wars, Fantastic Imaginings), a non-fiction collection (Neal Stephenson's Some Remarks), and even a rare (for me, apparently) non-genre

Posted in reviews, Sam's Monthly Listening Report | Tagged monthly listening report

Sam's listening report: September 2012

Posted on 2012-11-08 at 14:52 by Sam

After dropping to six audiobooks in August, I downsized my listening even further, to the tune of just five in September. (And at that, a bit of a cheat perhaps, considering I'm counting the 1.5-hour podcast of a novella, but hey -- my column, my rules, and it was very enjoyable besides.) The month includes the second half and then some of my Neil Gaiman re-read and Neil Gaiman Presents study, ahead of going to a wonderful storytelling event which featured Gaiman and at which I was entirely too chicken to

Posted in Sam's Monthly Listening Report | Tagged ellen kushner, jeff vandermeer, karen thompson walker, light, m john harrison, marbelle, monthly listening report, neil gaiman, neil gaiman presents, podcastle, swordspoint, the age of miracles, the cage, the graveyard book

Listening report: August 2012

Posted on 2012-10-22 at 20:33 by Sam

After seven audiobooks in July, three excellent, I managed just six in August, with one absolutely year's-best fantastic (The Drowning Girl by Caitlin R. Kiernan) another excellent (non-fiction, How to Build an Android), and three more well worth the listen, including science fiction (Chimera), fantasy (A Book of Tongues), and a collection (Fragile Things).

REVIEWS: (Caveat from the last two "monthly" reports also applies here; fairly off-the-cuff reviews, trying to claw back to the present and

Posted in regular, reviews, Sam's Monthly Listening Report | Tagged a book of tongues, chimera, fragile things, glory road, how to build an android, monthly listening report, reviews, the drowning girl