Do you prefer to listen to male or female readers, or does it matter to you?

I have noticed that female readers tend to do better with the male characters' voices than male readers do with the voices of female characters. I'm not sure why this is. I'm fairly new to audiobooks (I've been listening to them since February when I started my long commute to work), so it could just be the readers I've heard so far.

So do you know of any readers who are exceptionally gifted at doing voices for characters of the opposite gender? Any who are exceptionally ungifted at it?

For me, it depends on the book. Generally speaking, if the book is written in first-person narration, I prefer that the reader is the same sex as the character. I started listening to a book once where the character-narrator was a 14-year-old boy but the reader-narrator was a woman, and I found it extremely distracting.

One reader I remember being really impressed with was Anton Lesser who narrated The Ruby in the Smoke and the other books in the Sally Lockhart series - his woman's voices were really well done, especially the creepy old woman voices.

I listened to an edition of Barrayar which had a man reading male parts and a woman reading female parts, which worked well until they forced that poor man to read a five-year-old boy's part. It was ludicrous.

I listen to Sirius XM Book Radio frequently. I would have to say that I prefer one reader rather than a man and a woman. The subtle changes in the voice to read verbiage from the opposite sex is enough for me. When a conversation is being read, many times after the talk, there is a phrase like "...he said angrily." If these phrases are bouncing back from the opposite sex of the actual narrator, it is quite distracting.

What I mean to say is that I like it to be read as a story rather than a stage production. I hope that makes sense.

One female reader who does a great job of male voices is Susan Ericksen. She reads the J.D. Robb "Death Series" and is so good that they aren't nearly as gripping to read as to listen to.

Susan Ericksen sounds just like the actress Jane Curtin to me! She did a terrific job with the funny memoir Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress by Susan Jane Gilman.

I have an odd problem. I thought I was having more trouble listening to male narrators than female, then I got an audiobook with 2 narrators, one male, one female. I had to turn up the sound for the male. Apparently I am losing the low registers in hearing, rather than the highs which is more common.
And #4 tames - I totally agree. I much prefer a good narrator than a "stage production". If I want a stage production, I'll look for a DVD! lol.

It depends entirely on the book. Of my recent listening, I have a woman reading Labyrinth (which is about a woman), a man reading Devil May Care (with a male protagonist), a man reading Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (an almost entirely masculine world described by a female author), and one of each gender reading Who Moved My Blackberry?. These are all excellent readings and in none of them would I prefer the reading to be changed.

#8 I agree - I am usually pretty accepting of the reader chosen for the production (I trust them to make a reasonable selection) and am normally pleased with the outcome. However, I've recently decided that I do not like Anne Flosnik for male voices. She reads a lot of historical romances set in England, and her heroes are terrible. The women are acceptable, but not better than just OK. From now on, I'll be avoiding audio's read by Flosnik.

I recently listened to the book Lethally Blond by Kate White read by,Renee Raudman and was very UNimpressed her men all sounded like Marilyn Monroe with a cold.

I do like as some have said if the book is first person narration I prefer the reader to be the same sex as the narrator.
And IMHO I don't mind multiple narrators sometimes it adds alot to the book your listening to.

I thought she did a pretty good job reading Homer's Odyssey: A Fearless Feline Tale, or How I Learned About Love and Life with a Blind Wonder by Gwen Cooper.

Denne beskjeden har blitt redigert av forfatteren, nov 9, 2009, 8:00pm.

I have to admit I prefer the male reader to female. Early on, i had a bad experience with a female reader on Sue Grafton's alphabet series. It was pretty bad. Now, however, I have discovered Anna Fields and find her narration exciting and inventive. this doesn't mean I'm more likely to give more female readers a try, but I'll, at least, listen to as many of hers as I can get my hands on.

Sadly, Anna Fields did in a freak accident a couple of years ago.

Grafton's series switched narrators partway through, but I like both.