Spinoff from the book thread. What books did you really enjoy as an audiobook?
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The House in the Cerulean Sea was excellent as an audiobook. I loved the voices
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There are many I have stopped listening to because I didn’t like the voice or the pacing was bad. The ones l like a lot are Louise Penny, Shopaholic books, Jan Karons Mitford books, and the Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum books.
I don’t love books written in alternating male/female voices. Prefer one or other to do both parts. I also prefer books I have read before so I don’t get frustrated if I get distracted. So hard to go back and find something you missed.
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The Dutch House narrated by Tom Hanks. Author Ann Patchett asked him after getting to know him a bit. Great voice- wish he narrated more.
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Love this idea for a thread. Also like that people are giving a little detail of why they liked (or disliked?) an audiobook.
As mentioned in the book thread, I recently finished Spare in audiobook form. Prince Harry did a great job with his own words. The pacing was good for me. His chapters were all very short which worked well for audiobook.
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I said it on the other thread but Daisy Jones and the Six, which is full cast. The fact the the book is written as a collection of interview transcripts makes it particularly suited to audio.
I really like Julia Whelan as a reader, with The Great Alone being one of my favorites.
Most recently, I thought the narration Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow was great.
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I find it very hit or miss too.
I love audiobooks as I can do something else and listen at the same time. I just listened to Shadow Divers, about the divers discovering the German uboat869 off the NJ coast. A bit wordy on details but fascinating.
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Great thread! I love audiobooks. Some of my all-time favorites are: A Grown Up Kind of Pretty, written and read by Joshilyn Jackson. Kristin Hannah doesn’t read her books, but I’ve enjoyed many of them on audio, including The Nightingale. The Flavia de Luce series by Alan Bradley is really fun. It’s narrated by Jayne Entwhistle as the young teen chemist/detective protagonist.
My nonfiction favorites are The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton and Between the World and Me, a letter to his son by Ta Nehisi-Coates. And even if you’ve already read The Boys in the Boat, it’s worth a listen just for Edward Hermann’s narration.
I don’t mind when a book switches between/among narrators. I agree with the recommendation above of Daisy Jones and the Six, which I doubt I would have enjoyed as much in book form. And I couldn’t stop listening to a BBC-produced version of The Handmaid’s Tale, although now that I think about it, that might have originally been done as a radio program. Still worth a listen!
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Love the title, @groundhog74!
We did our first audiobook the summer of 2021 driving from AZ to ME. We listened to Tom Hanks read The Dutch House and thoroughly enjoyed it. Since then, it’s been audiobooks round trip. We’re getting ready to make that trip again, but we’re still newbies with in this area, so I’m bookmarking this thread. Thanks!
Our son rowed in HS and college and told me to read this book to understand the sport as rowing is not much of a spectator sport, and I only got to four races during those eight years. I loved, loved, loved the book–and it’s long, perfect for a cross country trip (so is Grant BTW). Going to the top of my list for this trip out.
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Rather than audiobooks I enjoyed listening to courses from The Teaching Company during my commute. Many libraries carry a selection as does audible.com They have courses by college professors on all kinds of topics: history, philosophy, science, economics, music, linguistics, etc.
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Just finished (and loved!) Eartha & Kitt A Daughter’s Love Story in Black & White - Kitt Shapiro authored and read. Very interesting.
Also a recent finish: Hello, Molly - Molly Shannon authored and read - what a life she’s had! I had zero idea.
Viola Davis: Finding me - Viola Davis authored and read - wow.
Who I Am - Pete Townshend authored and read - yes, THE Pete Townshend of The Who - soooooo good.
Can you tell which genre I like listening to?
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Stiff by Mary Roach the author. I found the history interesting and her reading it made it less creepy imo.
OK, this is not a recommendation but just an anecdote - I used to listen to audiobooks - massive numbers of CDs - when I drove 3 hours RT to work for about 10 years, 20+ years ago. One of these books, and I cannot remember the title for the life of me, had a minor character with a name I loved so much that I tucked it away and ended up giving my first-born that name.
The character was a prostitute in a brothel.
My kid has never quite known how to react to this.
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Bill Bryson–I love his books. “A Walk in the Woods” is one of my favorites. BUT they have to be narrated by him. He has a great voice and knows how to tell a story. If he isn’t the narrator then don’t bother. Lots of great travel stories. “At Home” is another fav.
David Sedaris–same. He is known for being a storyteller and just about everything he’s written is much better on audiobook. Every Christmas I Iisten to “Holidays on Ice”. “Santaland Diaries” (an essay in Holidays on Ice) is hilarious–being an elf at Macy’s.
My other favorite book of his is “Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim”
Garrison Keillor–another oldie but the best is “Lake Wobegon Days”. Again, he is known as a storyteller so the audio is always better read by the author than reading it yourself.
A. J. Jacobs–I think he started as a writer for Entertainment Magazine from it’s early days. He has a ton of really fun “social experiments”. Great narration by Geoffrey Cantor. The first I listened to was “The Know-It-All” where he embarked on reading the Encyclopedia Britannica cover to cover. “The Year of Living Biblically” had him living for a year according to rules of the old testament (or at least trying). Fun to see what he’s up to next!
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One that is topical for CC members is Lacy Crawford’s “Early Decision.” The author worked as a private college admissions coach for several years, and based this (fictional) book on her experiences. The narrator could have used a better editor (some mis-pronounced words and such) but her talent for voices is amazing - so many different characters and each voice is distinctive and recognizable. Both the author and the narrator really bring the characters to life.
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I enjoyed “The Dutch House” with a zoom book club. Glad to know it was good as audio book. But what I really hope for is a film version, so we can see that cool house!
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Great title for this thread.
I have just recently started audio books.
Spare- impressed with Harry’s narration, many emotional moments made more poignant with his voice……
Delia Ephron- expected a humorous book, ,like her sister, Nora.
Oh boy, her harrowing tale, about her cancer journey, but so well told by her, but it’s intense.
Greenlights- Matthew McConaughey- listened because it’s so highly reviewed and didn’t disappoint, amusing and interesting life story told with actors skill, inflection, emotion, and humor.
Looking forward to finding some gems on this thread. Thanks for starting this @groundhog74
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Hi all! I am not an audiobook listener (what are you doing on this thread, garland???–you may be thinking).
Just dropped in for a favor–if you come across a great book but listen audio and so post it here, would you please also mention it as a great read (in whatever form), on the books thread? I don’t want to miss something good and get so many great recommendations there.
Thanks! 
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Fair ask! This thread allows us to sift through audio book recs easier but posting it on the book thread as well, makes it an overall good read.
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