What are some audiobooks that you DNF'd because something about it was strange or weird that pulled you out of the story?

I was thinking of this last night because I was listening to Brimstone by Callie Hart and noticed that the male narrator was significantly louder than the female narrator. It was extremely jarring and difficult to listen to in my opinion.

Another one Role Model by Rachel Reid, I didn't DNF this one but every time the narrator did a female voice I couldn't not hear Mrs Doubtfire and it really was difficult to push through. I've also heard the Game Changer audiobook Kip sounds like a 60 year old mob boss so that's a weird choice hahaha

And maybe Fourth Wing where they had to re-record it and republish because it was quite clear the narrator had a cold during recording and everybody was too grossed out to listen to it 😂

What are your most interesting wheelhouse items in terms of books? Something that will make people go "Wow, that's specific", or something you've never seen or heard other people mention? If you don't know what I mean by wheelhouse, it's something that will always make you interested in a book.

One of my more specific wheelhouse items is fantasy mysteries on trains or ships (not boats, those are too small). Something not very specific, that, however, I never hear others talk about, is metafiction. I love a character who knows they are in a story, a narrator speaking to the reader, or more subtle meta levels such as a genre book commenting on the genre.

I’ve been reading Fourth Wing and posting my thoughts about it, and something I keep hearing, both here and in real life, is that I’m “thinking about it too much.” People often tell me that to enjoy it I need to “turn my brain off,” or just read it in a more “smooth-brain” way.

Sometimes this advice is meant kindly, but it still leaves me feeling confused. Why would I ever want to turn my brain off while reading? That’s the opposite of what I enjoy about books.

For me, reading is engaging my brain. Thinking about the story, the characters, the themes, the structure. That’s where the fun is. If I have to actively stop thinking in order to enjoy something, that just doesn’t make sense to me.

And I don’t mean that as an attack on people who enjoy the book. Plenty of things can be flawed and still fun, I think the movie The Room is a perfect example of something that’s objectively messy but enjoyable for many people. But when I’m repeatedly told that the solution is for me to stop thinking about the book, it starts to feel like the problem is being placed on me rather than the book simply not working for me.

I don’t like being overly negative about a book, and I definitely don’t want to be the person raining on everyone else’s parade. But I also don’t really understand the mindset of “turn your brain off to enjoy it.”

My brain is honestly the part of me I like most. I read because I want it engaged. I read to think, to analyze, to imagine, and to stretch my mind beyond everyday life. That’s what makes reading fun for me.

So when people say “just turn your brain off,” I’m always a little baffled because for me, if my brain isn’t involved, the magic of reading disappears.