{"id":2456,"date":"2026-06-15T13:39:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T20:39:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2456"},"modified":"2026-06-15T13:39:58","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T20:39:58","slug":"book-review-audiobook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2456","title":{"rendered":"Bookshelf \u2013 Listen up!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Approaching the midpoint of a year in books best described as \u201cmeh\u201d \u2013 a result of my own poor selection and persistent intrusion into my quiet hours by the noise of the real world \u2013 I can say as a positive note that more than a few of the most satisfying titles thus far are audiobooks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The four novels below have one thing: a stellar reader whose rhythm, accent, and overall transformation of the written word into literary performance is as soothing as it is captivating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* Hang on St. Christopher, Adrian McKinty, <\/strong>the eighth of the Sean Duffy detective novels. Narrated, as were the previous seven, by Gerard Doyle, a true master of Irish nuance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* The Road, Cormac McCarthy,<\/strong> the father-son tale of dystopic bleakness. Narrated by the late Tom Stechschulte, who delivers each of McCarthy\u2019s precisely chosen words as a savory morsel. A delicious experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* The New Iberia Blues, James Lee Burke,<\/strong> part of the series about Louisiana detective Dave Robicheaux. As always with Burke, the story packs punch, but the narration by actor Will Patton (one of my favorite readers) elevates the prose to theater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* The Stars at Noon, Denis Johnson,<\/strong> the story of a young woman adrift in Nicaragua during the Sandinista rebellion. Narrated again by Patton, his hypnotic almost comforting manner provides antidote to the angst, danger, and dissoluteness that defines the story.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 `,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Approaching the midpoint of a year in books best described as \u201cmeh\u201d \u2013 a result of my own poor selection and persistent intrusion into my quiet hours by the noise of the real world \u2013 I can say as a … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[784],"tags":[958,911,829,980,982,981,983],"class_list":["post-2456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","tag-adrian-mckinty","tag-audiobook","tag-bookreview","tag-cormac-mccarthy","tag-denis-johnson","tag-james-lee-burke","tag-will-patton"],"yoast_head":"\nBookshelf \u2013 Listen up! - Tim Porter's Second Draft<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Approaching the midpoint of a year in books best described as \u201cmeh\u201d \u2013 a result of my own poor selection and persistent intrusion into my quiet hours by the noise of the real world \u2013 I can say as a positive note that more than a few of the most satisfying titles thus far are audiobooks.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2456\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bookshelf \u2013 Listen up! - Tim Porter's Second Draft\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Approaching the midpoint of a year in books best described as \u201cmeh\u201d \u2013 a result of my own poor selection and persistent intrusion into my quiet hours by the noise of the real world \u2013 I can say as a positive note that more than a few of the most satisfying titles thus far are audiobooks.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2456\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tim Porter's Second Draft\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/timporterphotography\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-15T20:39:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-15T20:39:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/FourAudioBooks-1024x392.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tim Porter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tim Porter\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2456\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2456\",\"name\":\"Bookshelf \u2013 Listen up! 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