Gloria Riffie is another loyal Bookreporter.com reader who wrote in to tell us how much she loves audiobooks. She has been listening to books for six or seven years now and has a few ideas about what really makes an audiobook experience great. In this “Sounding Off” interview, Gloria talks about how sometimes multiple narrators can be better than one (especially if they can do voices) and an audiobook she listened to that was 29 CDs long --- and worth every minute!

Question: How long have you been listening to audiobooks?

Gloria Riffie: I have been listening to audiobooks for at least six or seven years. I have loved them from the first one I listened to.

Q: When and where do you listen?

GR: The only place I listen to the audiobooks is in my car. It certainly makes the time fly while driving, both for short trips and especially for long trips.  

Q: What kinds of books do you like to listen to best?

GR: I listen to any and all types of books. I listen to a lot of the books that our book club selects for the month. We read many books by Jodi Picoult, Lisa See, Kristin Hannah, Kathy Reichs, Sue Monk Kidd, Geraldine Brooks and lots of others. There is no type of book that is off limits.

Q: Where do you buy/borrow audiobooks from?

GR: I borrow all my audiobooks from the public library.  

Q: Do you listen with anyone else, or is it a solo experience?

GR: I don't listen with anyone else.

Q: What percentage of your reading is done via audiobooks?

GR: Approximately 40 to 50 percent of my reading is done via audiobooks.

Q: Do you have favorite narrators? If so, tell us about them.

GR: I don't have a favorite narrator. I, unfortunately, couldn't tell you who the narrators are when listening. But I know there are some audiobooks that I couldn't even listen to because the narrator was so boring or so monotone that he or she couldn't keep my attention. In those cases, I just returned the book without getting past the first CD.

Q: What are some of the most memorable books that you’ve listened to?

GR: There was one book that I randomly selected called THE PASSAGE written by Justin Cronin and read by Edward Herrmann. It is a story of a futuristic time when the government is experimenting on people in prison by giving them a virus to see how it affects them. These infected people start escaping from prison, acting like crazed animals, and continue to get worse week by week --- eventually attacking the "humans."  This book was a great commitment as there were 29 CDs in the set. I did enjoy it, but it was a commitment.

SAVE ME, written by Lisa Scottoline and read by Cynthia Nixon, was an excellent book about an explosion in a school cafeteria that had recently been renovated. A mother, who was a lunch monitor at the time, was accused of leaving a student behind and saving her daughter instead.  She was new to the area. There was also talk that there were problems with the renovation.

Another book was Anthony Bruni’s THE ICE MAN. It is a true story of a serial killer who started when he was about 15 when he accidentally killed his friend. When he realized he had "gotten away" with it, killing became a way for him to solve problems and earn money. The police then attempt to "set him up" to catch him. Do they succeed? You know how to find out…

Q: What is the last audiobook you listened to? Tell us about it.

GR: The last audiobook I listened to was Jodi Picoult’s THE STORYTELLER, and it was amazing. There were many characters in the book, and each was narrated with his or her own "voice," which makes the listening experience so special. One of the main characters was an old German man who was easy to identify by his accent. Another main character was an old Jewish lady, whose accent was very well done. The story took place during the present, but went back to WWII, and we slowly discover whether or not there was any connection between the two characters. One of the most interesting things to me was that it explained how Hitler was able to get all the young boys to do whatever he needed and wanted them to do. It was always a mystery to me how he was able to do that. The book also explained in great detail how the prison camps were run and how the people were treated on a daily basis. That was something else that I always wondered about, and I learned what a horrible experience it was. 

Q: Is there anything about the format of audiobooks that you don’t like or would like to see changed or improved?

GR: One thing that I have heard from some people who have tried to listen at home --- and maybe it is just the equipment they are using --- is that you have to listen to the complete CD in one sitting. You cannot do part of it and come back tomorrow to finish it like I can in my car.