Audiobooks

TEN FREE SFF BOOKS TO GET YOU THROUGH SELF-ISOLATION

This has been a tough week for everyone. So much of the world is in quarantine, self-isolation, or participating in intense social distancing. Like a lot of people, I’m choosing to isolate myself while COVID-19 is so active. Lucky for us, there are some awesome authors in the science fiction/fantasy book community who are making some of their works free for all of us to enjoy. This list includes these free works from a lot of prolific writers, and also some other free SFF reads to enjoy right now.

Review of The Walking Dead: Typhoon by Wesley Chu

Given my love for speculative fiction, it shouldn’t come at any surprise that I am a fan of zombie stories. Even though zombie stories aren’t my favorite flavor of the Post-Apocolyptic subgenre, I still usually really enjoy them. When I heard that Wesley Chu wrote a story bringing the world of The Walking Dead to China, I was absolutely interested.

And, yeah, that’s pretty much the summary for The Walking Dead: Typhoon- it’s zombies in China. And I really liked it! My favorite thing about this book is how lived in the world feels. You can feel how much grime and gunk and dirt is in this world, and it really sets the stage for a good zombie story.

Review – Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident

Do you like unsolved mysteries that aren’t of the serial killer variety? Have you ever pondered the existence of yetis or aliens? Do you love a good political conspiracy theory, particularly if it involves the Cold War USSR and/or radiation? Then, boy, do I have the book for you. I rarely read non-fiction, but I was completely captivated by Dead Mountain when I first read the blurb.

“In February 1959, a group of nine experienced hikers in the Russian Ural Mountains died mysteriously on an elevation known as Dead Mountain. Eerie aspects of the incident – unexplained violent injuries, signs that they cut open and fled the tent without proper clothing or shoes, a strange final photograph taken by one of the hikers, and elevated levels of radiation found on some of their clothes – have led to decades of speculation over what really happened.”

Review: The Body Double by Emily Beyda

You know when you start a book and think it’s going to be a certain way and the book actually goes there and it’s super satisfying? And you end up not disappointed by a book you thought was going to disappoint you? The Body Double was that kind of book for me. This book was wild and had some amazingly well done paranormal-esque twists that were, in my opinion, very successful.

The Top 10 Best Audiobooks I’ve Read

Since I started working full time, audiobooks have become an essential part of my reading. I typically read 2-5 audiobooks a week depending on the lengths of the books and how much I am physically reading that week. While I really love audiobooks, I am pretty picky on narrators, and will certainly DNF an audiobook if I don’t jive with the it.

My preferences for audiobooks tend to be 1) audiobooks narrated by the author, 2) audiobooks narrated by a highly accomplished actor/voice actor, or, of course, 3) audiobooks narrated by a full cast. I also think I really good audiobook is one that would be a great book on its own, but is made even better by the narration. The following books, I think, are ones that are made an even better reading experience when read in audio form.