Also, that “meantime” can be really fun if there’s a community of people all waiting for the next book and speculating about what’s coming. I caught up to Harry Potter after the fourth book was out, and the fun of waiting for each of the last three books (and all the convos I had about the book!) made me love them even more when they came out.

Totally agree! 2X is where it's at! I still sometimes find my mind has wandered and have to go back a few minutes, but increasing the speed has helped immensely.

I had this problem until I figured out that I can absorb the material while I'm driving and I have the reading speed adjusted to what my brain needs. Even still, if I'm sick or recovering from being sick I probably won't be able to listen.

> mainly because it does show more that Jane is not going to follow someone blindly.

Yep, I think this is exactly the point of the third volume. She said no to Rochester because she felt marrying him was immoral, but she also says no to St John because she doesn't love him. She has principles and is no pushover.

Listening is different and takes some adjustment. You need to keep pumping words into your ears until the pathways form, if you want to make that adjustment. It took me more than 3, that's for sure.

For a while I would lose focus or get sleepy, and don't remember much at all from the first few audiobooks I listened to. I relistened to some of them and it was almost like a new book, but I listen to so many more books now than I would ever have time to read. I listen when driving to places I know, but if I am following new directions I can't really focus on the book, so don't listen at those times. I listened to the entire Malazan Book of the Fallen, a notoriously large, complex, and layered series, and am actually surprised by how much I got out of it.

I didn't even want to get into audiobooks, I was against them, but I had a 3 free month trial, got the books and ignored them for years until I finally wanted to read one of them and didn't want to buy it since I already owned it. Now I listen to so many.

Also, get a library card and find out what apps they use, you can borrow audiobooks right to your phone, it is awesome.

The only exception I make is Brandon Sanderson. He churns books out regularly and gives progress updates every week. Other authors? I wait till it's done.

Scott Lynch is making me sad.

What about some China Mieville?

Yeah. I appreciate that writers don't owe their readers anything, but they definitely owe their agent/publishers something.

I exclusively read fiction and generally huge tomes of books. I only use audio books to "re-read" books. I've tried adio books on books I have not read and simply can't paint a picture in my mind, I recommend you try a book you read a while ago that you would like to revisit.

I don’t think it’s that obscure, but Absolutely Normal Chaos by Sharon Creech had a deep effect on me. I had forgotten about the book for years, but I realized recently that that book, which is written as journal entries, inspired me to start recording my life and infusing it with narrative, which I do to this day. I connected with the main characters feeling of loneliness and her upbringing in the country so so much.

Here is my new benchmark:

Does the author seem to take their authoring seriously? Do they seem dedicated to finishing their series?

Yes to both example:the king of serious authoring, Brandon Sanderson. At any point one can look at his website and see exactly where he is at with multiple series. He also does a lot of conventions and Facebook chats and other social media moments.

Yes to the first/no to the second: GRRM. He does enjoy writing in general and loves to shore up his main magnum opus with side stories to flesh out the world. However, I think a combination of being too much of a Gardener and the show having an ending has killed his ability to finish the series.

No to both: Rothfuss. Not only has he scammed with his charity but he seems no closer to doing anything. Lol.

It seems like bookends to me. In volume 1, she is in a terrifyingly controlling school which is hyper-religious. In volume 3, she is with a terrifyingly controlling hyper-religious wannabe missionary.

I'm not a literature major, nor have I ever read this book in a class with a professor who knew something. I just read it for fun several times. So this may or may not make any sense, but to me the goal was to show us something about self-acceptance and how it relates to our ability to forgive and accept the foibles of others.

Everything in life has the possibility of being unfinished. You never see the bus coming.

Like several people have noted there are certain types of books that I can’t listen to- unless I’m dedicated to JUST listening. I find that lighter fiction, YA, even middle grade novels work well for me if it’s a first time read. I love a good heavy sci-fi or fantasy book, but listening to them while doing anything else doesn’t work for me. Good luck finding something that does work for you!

I don’t typically avoid series that aren’t finished, but ASOIAF is one I won’t start until it’s finished. I get attached to books and stories really easily and I’ve heard such great things about the series that I don’t want to be left hanging. I’ve already been badly burned by dropped storylines in the old Star Wars EU books that Disney axed when they bought the property.

Everything in life has the possibility of being unfinished. You never see the bus coming.

>!I'd read his decent into evil dark god territory. He is right on the cusp already.!<

The first 3 books yes. The last 2? Eh…. Debatable. It’s obvious GRRM has painted himself in a corner with the brush of antipathy and the paint of too many plots and not enough planning.

My feeling for awhile has been that Dresden is turning into the major antagonist of the entire series.

I read Kingkiller, but won’t touch ASOIAF. Yet. I’m even hesitant to tread too far into Stormlight given the projected timeline. There are too many completed series that are published to spend time on the unfinished ones. For me at least.

It'll be public domain in two years and it's unlikely anybody will be actively policing piracy by now. Just search around.

Haven picked up ASOIAF in years, I won’t even get the next book IF it even comes out, chances are slim for books following. I would have to reread everything at this point to keep track of everything and I don’t want to invest in an unfinished project.

It would be WWI, if they spake with a grand Quixotic prose. If there was a bible version written in that language most congregations in the USA wouldn't use it because their parishioners can't operate on that level.

I think its more complicated than WWE. Part of the rebellion is >!Logar; he has great faith, but with no where to go is it wrong to serve Chaos? Are any of them that turn wrong if they apprear to be the legitimate Gods of this place. The Emperor is secular, but belief in him and holding out a talisman will defeat warp enemies. I'm currently at the part of Battle for the Abyss where the lone person that was able to infiltrate the Abyss was a world eater, whose Primarch was a rebel. !<

The absolute pargetry is over the top. Planning smooth an entire continent for a change of command, constructing massive review towers. I had to stop when I read the sentence, servitor guided missile. Servitors are one of the most abhorrent things I've ever read.

Dune is also a great audiobook