…Audio Book Recommendations
I’ve just cancelled my subscription to the Australian equivalent of Netflix and replaced it with an extra Audible book each month (it’s cheaper and I’ll make more use of it). So what better time to jump back into participating in Weekly Geeks and ask you to recommend some audio books for me to download.
Listened to anything lately that has left you breathless? speechless? teary? joyful? bent over with laughter? If so, let me know. Tell me what book you listened to and what you loved about the experience (if you can please tell me the name of the book, author and narrator as there are often different narrators of the same book and I want to share your exact experience if I can).
Regular visitors to this blog will know I read crime fiction almost exclusively these days but I don’t want you to narrow your recommendations. I’m happy to consider all suggestions.
If you’re also looking for some great audio book recommendations, my favourites of the year so far (in no particular order) are
- Reginald Hill’s A Cure for All Diseases (Jonathan Keeble narrator)
- Matt Beynon Rees’ The Saladin Murders (Daniel Philpott narrator)
- Tom Rob Smith’s Child 44 (Steven Pacey narrator)
- Charles Todd Search the Dark (Samuel Gillies narrator)
- Agatha Christie Death on the Nile (David Suchet narrator) (the review is towards the bottom of the post about Agatha Christie and Me)
- Aravind Adiga The White Tiger (Bindya Solanki narrator) (<—- see, not a Crime Fiction book)
Reactions to Reading 
Actually I am not much of a audio book listener. However I think I will check it out once more and see if it grows on me.
Weekly Geeks: Recommendations
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Well you said, you were open to non crime fiction suggestions…
Two of my favourite audiobooks this year are both YA novels of excellent books, but what really makes them shine are the outstanding narrators.
Zoe’s Tale by John Scalzi [Narrated by Tavia Gilbert]
Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr [Narrated by Alyssa Bresnahan]
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Hi..
I am just getting into audio books myself, however the narrators are sometimes a turn off from the book…
I faced the music recently and listened to the entire Twilight series – the narrator was Illyana Kadusin (not sure about the spelling) but that girl sold that book to me more than any review I had read…
I am listening to Rhyannon Byrd – Edge of Desire and I have had it with the narrator -I am just going to read the book LOL
Good luck on your hunt…
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I was astounded to realise that I have already downloaded 12 audio books in 6 months Bernadette, so many thanks for recommending Audible to me. Do you like Agatha Raisin- as you know I don’t particularly like reading the books, but I love listenting to Penelope Keith narrating them.
That Michael Dobbs I listened to was great – THE LORD’S DAY.
The other one love listening to is Simon Brett reading his own – the Fethering series.
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I’m not much of an audio book listener. The closest I can come to recommending one is the old radio play version of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
My post is here.
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I highly recommend Chris Grabenstein’s John Ceepak mysteries – actually, I just posted about him today! I’ve listened to this entire series in audio (the books are only available in audio from Audible) – after listening to the first one, I ended up buying all the remaining ones and listened to the rest of them in the space of about six weeks. The books are wonderful, and the narrator, Jeff Woodman, is so good, I’ve since bought a few audiobooks simply because he’s the narrator!
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Before my son was in high school he played several “travelling” sports. That means he played for an athletic association and played against other associations in other towns and sometimes states. We started listening to the Harry Potter books while we were driving to far away tournaments. That series made for terrific audio books. Audio books are wonderful when driving for a goodly distance. Even though my son is grown we still listen to a good book when we take road trips. I’ve tried to listen when I’m at home but tend to loose track of the story.
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I love audiobooks. They make my commute bearable. Some favorites:
Neil Gaiman narrates his own books, and is one of those rare authors who actually does it well. I think Fragile Things was my favorite.
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, read by Kristoffer Tabori: probably the very best narrator I’ve ever heard.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, read by Allan Corduner: I cried. Which is unusual – I don’t usually feel that drawn into my books.
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole, read by Barrett Whitener: I’m not sure I would have enjoyed this half as much were it not for the hilarious intonation of the narrator.
Life Expectancy by Dean Koontz, read by John Bedford Lloyd: I had urges to go sit in my car over my lunch break just to listen to this book, which says a lot considering it’s just Dean Koontz.
One of my favorite narrators in general is George Guidall. He’s wonderful. And though I would never recommend the Twilight series, the reader (Ilyana Kadushin) is excellent. Usually women can’t do voices as well, but she manages to make the two main male protagonists (Edward and Jacob) sound both believable and distinguishable.
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Ooh! The Stephanie Plum series is a great audio experience. The narrator (Lorelei King) really nails a Jersey accent.
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Years ago my husband and I listened to The General’s Daughter and found it passed the time nicely on a long road trip. I have no idea who the narrator was. The movie was terrible, so don’t judge it based on that. 🙂
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, narrated by Julia Gibson had me constantly yelling things at the CD player in my car-“What!” “Are you serious???” “What the…Oh my…Gah!”
I’m a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After 20 Years by Bill Bryson worked well narrated by the author. He has a very calm understated way of saying things that at first seems like it might not work, but actually works quite well as a foil to some of the ridiculous situations and scenarios he talks about.
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I’ve enjoyed listening to Arkangel Shakespeare plays. they are really like recorded performances, with the proper background noises and such.
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