We have been celebrating audiobooks this month. Earlier in the month, for Series on Saturday I shared our favorite audiobook series. But some of the credit needs to go to the audiobook narrators. We have listed some of our favorite narrators and also some of the books and series, they narrate. Obviously, we had some difficulty narrowing down our list.
Amanda Ronconi
Jane Jameson, Half-Moon Hollow, and Southern Eclectic series by Molly Harper
Beechwood Harbor Magic Mysteries by Danielle Garrett
Soul Screamers by Rachel Vincent
Garnet Lacey series by Tate Hollaway
Davina Porter
Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon
Inspector Lynley series by Elizabeth George
Gabra Zackman
Menagerie series by Rachel Vincent
Historical fiction by Gwen Bristow
Soulfinders by Maria Snyder
James Marsters
Harry Dresden series by Jim Butcher
Khristine Hvam
Jane Yellowrock, and Soulwood series by Faith Hunter
Daughters of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
Nix series by Shannon Mayer
Ex-Heroes series by Peter Cline
Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead
Lorelei King
Charley Davidson series by Darynda Jones
Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs
Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich
A Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule
Robert Petkoff
Immortals After Dark series by Kresley Cole
Travis McGee series by John D. McDonald
Those Who Wish Me Dead by Michael Koyrta
Simon Vance
Temeraire series by Naomi Novik
Inspector Lynley series by Elizabeth George
Dune series by Frank Herbert
Steve West
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Dark Wilde Night by Christina Lauren
Richard Jury Mysteries by Martha Grimes
Iron & Magic by Ilona Andrews
JIAM Giveaway #1:
This giveaway is described in detail on the Series on Saturday post. Because of shipping, this will be US only. I have listed the titles which are available for the giveaway. They are all first in the series. I will start with picking one winner. For every five new subscribers to the blog, I will pick another winner. Winners will have some input as to which audiobook they prefer. So tell your friends about the giveaway and the blog! Any I do not give away this month will be given away at a future date.
Blood of the Earth by Faith Hunter, narrated by Kristine Hvam (MP3)
Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews, narrated by Renee Raudman (CDs)
Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs by Molly Harper, narrated by Amanda Ronconi (CDs)
Red Sister by Mark Lawrence, narrated by Heather O’Neill (CDs)
Skinwalker by Faith Hunter, narrated by Kristine Hvam (Mp3)
JIAM Giveaway #2:
This giveaway is also US only. One winner, will receive a promo code for the winner to access all 8 audiobooks on Audiobooks.com. Here are the 8 titles:
- Seven by Paula Cizmar, Catherine Filloux, Gail Kriegel, Carol K. Mack, Ruth Margraff, Anna Deavere Smith, and Susan Yankowitz
- Gone to Dust by Matt Goldman, narrated by MacLeod Andrews
- Bring Me Back by B. A. Paris, narrated by Kevin Hely and Cathleen McCarron
- Wings of Fire Book One: The Dragonet Prophecy by Tui T. Sutherland, narrated by Shannon MacManus
- Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan, narrated by Todd McLaren
- Rainbirds by Clarissa Goenawan, narrated by David Shih
- A Girl Stands at the Door by Rachel Devlin, narrated by Robin Miles
- Torn from Troy, Book 1 in the Odyssey of a Slave Trilogy by Patrick Bowman, narrated by Gerard Doyle
About Amanda Ronconi
Amanda is an actress and narrator who divides her time between New York City and Upstate New York. She has a BFA from NYU where she studied at the Stella Adler Conservatory. She has performed in theaters around New York City and regionally at The Alley, Capital Rep and many productions at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey.
Her Off-Broadway solo comedy, Shirley at the Tropicana, received critical acclaim and was subsequently featured in The New York Times. Film and TV credits include Daydream Believer (Slamdance 2001’s Best Dramatic Feature winner), The Understudy, Deadly Sins (ID Discovery), IFC’s Get Hit and Chasing Paradise. National network and regional commercials include Chase Bank, Sony and Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Her voiceover work encompasses nearly 100 audiobooks available on Audible.com. She is a member of SAG-AFTRA and Actors’ Equity.
Amanda’s new solo show, Kempner, will debut in 2016.
About Davina Porter
Davina Porter is known for the sheer beauty of her voice and her always-intelligent renditions of both classic and popular literature. A founding narrator with Recorded Books, Davina has an impressive list of classics in her audiography, including Anna Karenina and Madame Bovary. Few female narrators have the fluid capacity to capture grand historical figures and the more subtle, introspective portraits.
Talking with AudioFile, Davina admires authors who do their homework, like Diana Gabaldon. Davina’s celebrated readings of Gabaldon’s Outlander series have many fans. She won the 2006 Audie Award for Best Female Narrator with A Breath of Snow and Ashes.
At home with the Scottish accents of Alexander McCall Smith’s Isabel Dalhousie series, Davina gives us Friends, Lovers, Chocolate and The Right Attitude to Rain. She’s also recorded the Stonewycke trilogy and The Treasure of Stonewycke won another Audie Award in the Inspirational Fiction category.
Davina’s success with a range of mysteries is a testament to her perceptive approach to seeking the author’s intent. The Victorian setting of Anne Perry’s Charlotte and Thomas Pitt mysteries are delightfully presented, including recent titles Bluegate Fields and Highgate Rise. Davina introduced listeners to Cynthia Riggs’s series with The Cemetery Yew and Deadly Nightshade, both set on Martha’s Vineyard.
Davina brings each voice off the page and at the same time maintain a natural sense. She attends to every detail–word, phrase, and emotion come alive with her narrative style.
About Gabra Zackman
Gabra Zackman is a New York based actress, writer, and audiobook narrator. She is the author of The Bod Squad series published by Simon and Schuster’s Pocket Books starting in April 2015.
As an actress, Gabra has been seen in classics, new plays, and everything in between. She has been on TV in “Law and Order”, “Law and Order: SVU” and “All My Children” and in the film “Law Abiding Citizen”.
The foundation of Gabra’s work is her ten plus years of employment in the audio book industry, having recorded over 300 audio books to date.
Gabra is known for her versatility as an artist, and is currently working equally in three artistic fields. She loves how the crafts of acting, writing and narration all inform and influence each other. She feels profoundly lucky to get to tell stories in so many different ways.
About James Marsters
AMERICAN actor, singer and songwriter James Marsters first found international fame playing punk-goth Brit vampire Spike in the critically acclaimed American TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the equally popular spin-off Angel.
Film roles include live action film Dragon Ball, romantic love story P.S. I Love You with Hilary Swank, Gerard Butler and Kathy Bates , USA Original true-crime film Cool Money, independent thriller Shadow Puppets, Winding Roads, The House On Haunted Hill and Chance with Buffy co-star Amber Benson.
The Californian actor, who grew up in Modesto, has also played Brainiac in TV’s Smallville and guest starred in Without A Trace, Millennium, Andromeda, The Mountain, Saving Grace and mostly recently Caprica. James is currently filming in CBS’s Hawaii Five-O.
James’s voiceover talents can be found portraying Lex Luthor on the DVD release of Superman: Doomsday and he continues to read for the very popular Dresden Files books on tape series.
He has received numerous nominations and awards, including the Spacey Award, the Saturn Award, the Cinescape Face of the Future Award, the Golden Satellite Award, and the Teen Choice Award.
James attended New York’s prestigious Juilliard, the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts, and the American Conservatory Theatre and spent 10 years doing stage work before moving to LA to work in film and television.
He worked in Chicago’s famous Goodman Theater and also set-up and ran companies in Chicago and Seattle. One of his early television appearances was as a hotel bellhop in the television series Northern Exposure.
James is also a singer songwriter and has enjoyed sell-out concerts in America, Canada, Australia and Europe. He brought out his first solo album, Civilized Man, in 2005 and has followed it up with Like A Waterfall.
About Khristine Hvam
Khristine studied acting for the theater and film and soon discovered a love of voice over. You can hear her in various TV and Radio commercials, video games, animated series, and most notably in over 100 audio book titles. Khristine has been honored with several Audie nominations and in the summer of 2012 earned her first Audie Award in the fantasy category for her performance of Lani Taylor’s “Daughter of Smoke and Bone.” This year she is thrilled to announce three more Audie nominations!
“I sort of tripped and fell into the world of voice over and audio books and it’s been the best fall yet. I’ve discovered a real passion for this medium of acting, and consider myself very fortunate to be able to do it.” -K.Hvam
About Lorelei King
Lorelei King is one of the most successful and accomplished American actresses working in the UK today, appearing in numerous films and television shows. Lorelei is also a multi- award-winning narrator of audiobooks, recording the works of best-selling authors Janet Evanovich, Sue Grafton and Patricia Cornwell among others.
Born in Pennsylvania and raised in Los Angeles, Lorelei now makes her home in London, where she lives with her husband, actor Vincent Marzello.
About Robert Petkoff
Robert Petkoff is an award-winning American stage actor known for his work in Shakespearean productions and more recently on the New York City musical theater stage. Petkoff has performed on Broadway, the West End, regional theatre, and done work in film and television. Petkoff was featured as “Perchik” in the Tony award-nominated 1994 revival cast of Fiddler on the Roof but is perhaps best known for his role as “Tateh” in the 2009 revival of “Ragtime” on Broadway. Petkoff has also provided the voices for over two dozen audiobooks, winning awards for his reading of Michael Koryta‘s So Cold the River. Married to actress Susan Wands, Petkoff has lived in New York City for the last twenty years, and often performs in benefit concerts for theater-district-related charities.
About Simon Vance
Award winning audiobook narrator and actor. Winner of 14 Audio awards and 67 Earphone awards.
About Steve West
A London native, Steve began his career by winning the Stage & Television Today acting scholarship at the age of 17 (after ironically believing that he had bombed the audition!). What followed took him through one of London’s top drama conservatories, onto the West End stage in ABBA’s musical phenomenon Mamma Mia! and then to working opposite the likes of Chucky the killer doll and Don Draper in TV’s Mad Men.
Having moved to the States in 2009 he earned a place as a highly respected and award winning voice over artist working across commercials, films, documentary, audiobooks and video games. He starred as Galahad in Sony’s epic motion capture release The Order 1886 which took over 2 years to film and employed the most up-to-date filming and audio techniques in the field.
Versatile in a multitude of ways from acting to singing to dancing to dying 100’s of different ways in a sound booth he continues to enjoy work both on stage, screen and behind a mic. Check out his latest news on the home page, join the conversation on Facebook and twitter and even head back to the 1800s and ‘be’ Steve/Galahad on the PS4!
I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Narrators can make or break an audiobook. Luckily, with audiobooks becoming so popular, there are a lot of great narrators out there that have really taken it to task to bring these great stories to life.
Melanie @ Hot Listens & Books of My Heart
yes indeed. Narrators don’t get all the credit they deserve for bringing some of these stories to life. I chose to simply list our favorites without interviews or other editorial on my part. Perhaps another year I will do a more full JIAM of daily posts and reviews now that I am spending more and more time with audiobooks.
You’ve picked a couple of my favorite female narrators, too. I’ve actually listened to so many that I’ve loved. The list is extremely short of the ones I don’t love, it seems. 🙂
Yes it’s some very hard choices. I got lists from the whole team Robin, Melanie, KC and me and then picked the frequent fliers! Steve West is a top pick.
I have so many favorite audiobooks and narrators but my favorite audiobook series is Harry Potter. Jim Dale is the perfect voice for Harry.
I can certainly agree with you on that one! Harry Potter is the first series I bought on audio!
I don’t have one favorite series. Some of my favorite series are Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series, Kresley Cole’s Immortals after Dark series, Darynda Jones’ Charley Davidson series, Patricia Briggs Mercy Thompson series, Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels series, and Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunters and Psy-Changling series.
So many great series you have mentioned. Thanks for visiting.
I have just recently started to explore audiobooks. They are convenient.
I hear you. My commute is a minimum of 1 hour each way and they are so nice.