For me, 2012 was the year of running. I’ve flirted with running off and on for several years, but this is the first time I stuck to a consistent running schedule and logged more miles than ever before. I even ran two half marathons! Okay, one was technically in 2013 (Jan 1) but all my training happened in 2012. When I started running I listened to music, like everybody else. Slowly I learned that music does nothing for me. I can tune that out and think about what I’m doing and how much it hurts or how I want to go home and eat ice cream. So, I switched to audio books. I started with the
Harry Potter audio books, and they were amazing. However, I found myself listening to them when not running–while cataloging, while in the bathtub, while cooking–and I soon went through all seven books. So, I started over. But, you can only listen to the same books so many times, and I began my search for new running audio books. I considered
The Hunger Games but its high demand, and my need for immediate gratification, brought me to the library browsing the audio book shelves. Lo and behold I saw
The Deception of the Emerald Ring one of my favorite Pink Carnation books. I immediately snapped it up, and began my quest for all Willig audio books.
I couldn’t find a good picture of the audio version, but here’s the print version!
Narrator Kate Reading is amazing! I love her vocal inflections and I love how each character has a distinctive voice. Although, do our American accents really sound that obnoxious? I always cringe a little when the chapters change from historical spy story with British characters to modern American grad student story. It’s jarring.
I found that my favorite books of Willig’s in print also translated to my favorite books in audio. Sometimes I get so caught up in a story that I forget to pay attention to the writing. I realized this the first time when my mom and I listened to a Dan Brown novel during a long drive. Well that didn’t last long… Dan Brown cannot write! As a listener you cannot skip words or skim various parts. You are forced to listen to poor dialogue or odd descriptions. While listening to Willig’s novels I felt there weren’t any of these situations that pulled me out of the story.
The plot is detailed and exciting enough to keep me running, but it’s not over the top. While I’ve never listened to The Hunger Games I have a feeling that I’d miss parts. It’s so fast paced (from what I remember of the book) and while running there are other things to think about–like not getting run over. Willig’s books have just enough action to keep me going, but not so much that I get super distracted and stop paying attention to the road, putting myself and others in danger. Well, that’s not true. When I first listened to Emerald Ring I was at the romantic bedroom scene and I must have gotten a little too involved, mentally, because I didn’t see the uneven sidewalk and fell flat on my face… That was embarrassing.
While the books weren’t so fast paced that I lost track of my surroundings (usually), they sometimes made me think. For example, I think I’ve finally figured out how The Temptation of the Night Jasmine relates to the rest of the series (aside from it being about Henrietta’s friend) and how the whole spy plot wraps up. The end of that book always confused me, partially because the Indian names are so different to me and therefore harder for to keep track, but also because it is a more complicated ending. It’s not x is spying for y who wants z. There are far more players, some who appeared in the previous book. While the complicated ending originally dropped the book in my ratings I now find intriguing and it has definitely risen in the ranks. It doesn’t hurt that Alex is one of my favorite heroes.
I will say that the Eloise parts continue to annoy me. In the print versions I read them because I want to know what happens, but when I re-read them I always skip those chapters. I do the same in the audio versions. It’s a bit more work, but the modern portions aren’t as exciting and I find that running while listening to those bits is a lot harder.
Overall though, I’d highly recommend the audio versions of Lauren Willig’s books to anyone who likes the print versions, or the genre. It’s great for running and general listening! Plus, I learned the British pronunciation of a few more words, which is always fun.
I just breezed through this book, but then it was exactly what I wanted to read, exactly when I wanted to read it. I had just seen Olivier’s Henry V on DVD (talk about melodramatic!) and I wanted to read an action-centered historical fiction. So this title really hit the mark. (hehehe! I just had to indulge in some archer humor somewhere in this post.)
The story takes place in England in the 1930s and follows Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, 34th in line for the crown. However, Lady Victoria Georgina Charlotte Eugenie (better known as Georgie), is flat broke, despite her royal connections. Her father gambled away their family’s money before killing himself, and her brother Binky’s stingy wife has made it very clear that Georgie is not welcome in the family home in Scotland, so off to London she goes. In order to survive she starts a cleaning business of sorts, but then she finds a drowned man in her bathtub. When the police accuse Binky of murder, Georgie must do what she can to clear his name.
Jessi
Indigo
3 Bluestockings 