What voice do you use on your iPhone? I’d have to check, it turns out I am using Zoe. It is the same on my iPad. On my Surface laptop it’s Microsoft Jenny in Narrator and NVDA, in JAWS I’m back to Zoe. On my Pixel tablet I haven’t got a clue, probably ‘orange’ or ‘pink’ or whatever.
I read a lot of Kindle books, on my iPhone and iPad I use the Voiceover voice. I often read Kindle books on one of the five Amazon Echo’s I have all over the house, Kindle Assistive Reading uses another voice, but I don’t know what it is called. The thing about reading books on the Kindle…I’m reading a book. I don’t really notice the voice; I’m lost in the content – I am one of those people who can read for hours and hours on end.
I also read a lot of Audible books. By a lot I mean to many – my Audible library currently has over 1750 titles! One of my favourite authors is Guy Gavriel Kay, I adore the versions of his books I have that are read by Simon Vance. I would never dream of reading a GGK novel on Kindle, not now, although I did thirty years ago and I did come to appreciate his work read by the primitive Text-to-speech of the time.
For me, listening to a novel read by a voice artist like Simon Vance or Zara Ramm is a different experience to reading. For me, these are not talking books, these are performances, a different kind of experience. A different product. I read books with Kindle, but I listen to an Audible book.
Since I was widowed and started sleeping alone, I find I can’t get to sleep if the room is silent. I fall asleep almost instantly if I have an Audible book playing, but the Kindle books tend to keep me up. So this means that most nights (OK almost every night) I fall asleep with a book playing and wake up in the morning with it still going. This has proved two things –firstly that sleep learning is nonsense and secondly, that a well-read cat is good-for-nothing!
The conclusion or conclusions to this already too long post are:
1. Listening to a Kindle book is reading to me and I do it using a number of voices that I am unaware of.
2. Listening to an Audible book is, for me, something other than reading and I appreciate the skills of my many favourite voice actors.
I do by some books in both formats, mostly nonfiction titles. I find that if I start a series in one format, I have to carry on in that format – I have found mixing Kindle and Audible titles in a series leaves me very dissatisfied.
What about you, is listening reading or is listening listening? Are you aware of the voice when you are reading a Kindle book? Who are your favourite Audible narrators?
Comments
Listening vs "Listening"
Hey there, Lottie,
Like you I am an avid reader. Used to live in the library back in the days of working eyesight. These days I listen to books through Kindle and Audible, and a few indy authros via the Book Funnel app (can be found in iOS app store). Oh! I also have access to BARD, but I believe that is only a US thing, as it is part of National Library Services (NLS). So, there is that.
My fav genres are Sci-Fi & Fantasy, and I beginning to delve into the world of Military Sci-Fi.
As for how I prefer to "read", I prefer using the Alexa app on my iPhone, which not only utilizes the Kindle Assistive Reader function, but also lets me use my earbuds while my iPhone is in my pocket/charging/whatever while the screen is locked. I also have a genuine Alexa device in my home, but it is a 1st gen model, which means really great speaker, and absolutely no bluetooth support. 😳
While listening via Alexa I tend to get lost in the story, and do not really hear the voice. However when I am listening to an actual audio book I am all about the voice(s) narrating the story. I have a number of preferred voice actors I enjoy, and there are probably too many to list, but a few I like are RC Brey, Andrea Parsneau, Jeff Hays (and well the entirety of Sound Booth Theater), and Nick Podehl.
As for the voice of my iPhone, I have gone back to Siri voice 4 US for both VO and Siri, though for a time I had Susan on both my PC and iPhone, well for VO at least. Fun fact, Susan, if memory serves, is the original TalkBack voice on most modern Androids, aka 'Red'.
Speaking of voice, how the hell did you manage to get Jenny on nvda? 😢
Tom
Use tom for my watch, iPad and iPhone. To read books use kindle in my PC. In there I use jaws eloquent. In the past I used several voices but do not last long soI end up using Tom. He is the best for me.
BARD All the Way
For me, it's BARD all the way, for audio books. I've come across a few discussions about favorite narrators, and I guess I'd have to say that I like all the ones I've heard. I've not heard too much of a variety of narrators. Alexander Scourby is excellent though. I read "Charlotte's Web" narrated by him, and I'm going to re-read Homer's "Odyssey" at some point which Mr. Scourby also narrated. I'm aware that BARD has 2 versions of the Harry Potter series. One was recorded by Eric Sandvold, who is another excellent narrator in my view. The other version they have was done by Jim Dale, who did a fabulous job. My parents purchased his box set of the HP series ages ago for a road trip. I'm currently reading a book about Rosa Parks done by Erin Jones, who is another narrator I like.
Lottie
JAWS in the PC and headset or without sounds better than the Eloquent in iPad or iPhone.