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Oct
27
Wanted: Audio Book Recommendations
2009 at 8pm Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky
So, I started a new job last week, and one of the beautiful perks is that I work out of a home office. Which means that Mondays and many mornings, I can pretty much slog up the stairs in my PJs, sit my iPod in its little speaker thingy, and get down with the productivity (which, by the way, is INCREDIBLE without all of the distractions of regular office life).
But the challenge is that when I’m not in the (home) office, I’m out working with team members in company locations throughout Richmond, so I spend a lot of time in the car.
AND I’M GETTING BORED!
So I’m thinking audio books are in order…..but I don’t really know anything about them. And that’s where you come in.
I usually read literary fiction, serious memoirs, and narrative nonfiction, and I’m not sure how much of that will translate well to audio, when I’ll need to be giving most of my attention to the road….but I do know that many of you love audio books and listen to a lot of them, and I would love your recommendations.
So fire away! Handsell me the audio books you think would fit me best.
I will be most appreciative, and the drives of Richmond will thank you. The happier I am, the less crazy gesticulating I do. And that’s good for all of us.
Related posts:
Okay, I have two recommendations that I think are just your thing.
The first is the audio of a book you’ve already read, so I’m not sure how you feel about that. Luckily, it is a book you loved. The audio of “The Help” is amazing. There are three different narrators and all of them are fantastic, they really bring the book to life.
The other one I don’t believe you’ve read (at least you didn’t have it listed in your book reviews). “America America” by Ethan Canin is lit fic, written as if it were the memoir of Cory Sifter, a man who is small town newspaper publisher reflecting back on his youth. Although his family was poor, he was given the opportunity to work for the richest, most powerful man in town, including helping with the Presidential campaign of Senator Henry Bonwiller. It is a fantastic coming of age story and the storyline with the Senator is fascinating. Then there’s the narrator, Robertson Dean. His voice is absolutely gorgeous and I totally have a crush on him now, even though I have NO idea what he looks like.
Welcome to the joys of homeworking! I hope you love it as much as I do. I was in the office last week and got absolutely nothing done–the productivity boost really is amazing.
But my best audiobook advice for you is: leave your comfort zone. I cannot enjoy litfic in audio form, not really anyway. Audiobooks were the way I first got into Rex Stout mysteries and the joys of P.G. Wodehouse, and I would definitely recommend trying out something like that rather than your usual fare.
My husband and I listened to The Absolutey True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie recently, read by the author, and we both thought it was fantastic. It did take a little time to get used to Alexie’s reading, but I would highly recommend it.
I’m horrid at choosing books for others, even when I KNOW they like certain authors – mostly because I love books so much that it’s merely a couple of weeks between saying that *I* like a book and buying it for myself! lol
But the BEST Audiobook I’ve EVER heard was “Wizard’s First Rule” by Terry Goodkind. It’s pure fiction (well, science fiction, but in a horses and swords kind of way), but the guy doing the reading is SO good. Most audiobooks I’ve heard are stale, but the guy who does this one actually gets into it and does voices and whatnot. That’s the hard part about finding a good one – you can’t tell until you hear it whether they’re any good at keeping attention or not. If you’ve got the chance to sample listening to your choices, do that! It makes a BIG difference!
Good luck!
I love rereading on audio books. Some of my favorite British classics (Austens, Brontes, even Tolkein) have worked well on audio.
Cormac McCarthy lends himself well to audio for some reason. Also, David Sedaris is better in audio than in print.
And I’ve found that some popular fiction that seems repetitive and annoying is less annoying on audio. (I think I need the repetition when I’m listening.) Literary fiction is usually tougher for me to focus on. Shorter, simpler stories seem to work better.
Since I am planning my fourth and final cross-country move in a few months, I am on the lookout for audiobooks as well. On my last roadtrip I listened to Rupert Everett’s autobiography Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins. It was amazing. His voice is calming almost to the point of being hypnotizing and his stories are incredible. Although he is not a huge name, he has worked with EVERYONE. It is so interesting to hear his point of view of everyone from Madonna to Julia Roberts. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone.
I also just listened to Official Book Club Selection: A Memoir According to Kathy Griffin this weekend. Although Kathy is not for everyone, I really enjoyed her book and I reviewed it here:
http://abookhoarder.blogspot.com/2009/10/official-book-club-selection-kathy.html
Congratulations on the new job! So envious (in a good way) that you can work from home … I usually work one day per week from home and wish it could be more. As for audios, some recommendations:
- The 19th Wife, by David Ebershoff
- The Sugar Queen, by Sarah Addison Allen
- Unaccustomed Earth, by Jhumpa Lahiri
- The Center of Everything, by Laura Moriarty
- She’s Come Undone, by Wally Lamb
- The Bible Salesman, by Clyde Edgerton
- A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini
Hope this helps!
I find that my favorite audiobooks, regardless of genre, are those in which the narrator is so fully integrated with the material, it’s as if the protag is speaking, not a third party. By the same token, I often find that the worst audiobook narrators are the authors themselves. Go figure.
Anyway, a list of what I consider great listening experiences:
1984 (by George Orwell; narrated by by Simon Prebble)
DEAD I WELL MAY BE and THE DEAD YARD and THE BLOOMSDAY DEAD (by Adrian McKinty; narrated by Gerard Doyle)
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO and THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE (by Stieg Larsson; narrated by Simon Vance)
IN COLD BLOOD (by Truman Capote; narrated by Scott Brick)
LIFE OF PI (by Yaan Martel; narrated by Jeff Woodman)
ODD THOMAS (by Dean Koontz; narrated by David Aaron Baker)
SHANTARAM (by Gregory David Roberts; narrated by Humphrey Bowers)
STORM FRONT (by Jim Butcher; narrated by James Marsters)
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (by Harper Lee; narrated by Sissy Spacek)
WHAT WAS SHE THINKING [NOTES ON A SCANDAL] (by Zoe Heller; narrated by Nadia May)
If you haven’t checked it out yet, take a look at the guest blog post I wrote over at Books on the Nightstand about WAITING FOR COLUMBUS (by Thomas Trofimuk; narrated by Grover Gardner.)
Most “true” audiobook fans go for unabridged recordings and those audiobooks that are not “dramatized” or “full cast recordings” (they usually include sound effects and can be very distracting.)
I’m sure you’ll quickly develop a taste for certain narrators (and maybe even a loathing for certain others!)
You know you’re hooked though, when you sit in your driveway for the extra time it takes to finish a CD or file!
Nicole mentioned Wodehouse, and I’ll second that…it really is fun to listen to Wooster and Jeeves. Other than that, I tend to stick to non-fiction in my audiobooks.
I have two recommendations of my own. I’m pretty sure you saw my Gang Leader for a Day review. I think you’d like it because it’s almost like a memoir…it’s a decade in the life of Venkatesh. And the narrator is awesome…he really brings the people in the projects to life.
However, hands down, the best narrated audio book that I’ve listened to is Brother, I’m Dying. It’s a memoir, about Edwidge Danticat’s childhood in Haiti and also about the lives of her father and uncle. You can read what I thought here:
http://www.fizzythoughts.com/2009/07/brother-i%E2%80%99m-dying.html
Warning though… I pretty much ruin the ending if you like mystery in your memoir.
I wouldn’t recommend litfic while you’re driving; you’ll find yourself miles down the road with no clue how you got there or all of a sudden you’ll realize you have no idea what’s going on in the book! I like to go with something that’s not too hard to keep up with. Right now my fav in this vein are the Hamish MacBeth and Agatha Raisins series by M. C. Beaton.
I agree with several of the suggestions above, as well as these (which I don’t know if you have read any of them yet):
- The Guernsey Literary..etc – this one is great on audio because all the characters have different voices and you can really get into the story because of that.
- Anything by Malcolm Gladwell – he narrates himself and he’s an awesome storyteller.
- Freakonomics – interesting and easy to half concentrate on and still get the point
If you’ve ever read YA, or have any interest in YA, most YA is really great for audio in the car because it’s not complicated or hard to focus on.
Books I’ve listened to recently that you might enjoy are
Looking For Alaska
Olive Kitteridge
Tallgrass
I really loved
The Beekeeper’s Apprentice in audio as well.
Good luck!
Hi. Lately while driving to and from work I have listened too the first three Dexter books by Jeff Lindsay. They are really funny in a dry (and dark) humour sort of way and while the storylines are not that great, the way Nick Landrum reads Dexter is truly very entertaining. If you miss a bit while concentrating on the road, you will still get whats happening in the book. I didn’t think they would be my thing at all (especially after I saw a few eps of the show) but I just love them.
Other good audio books: (Less fluffy)
This Book Will Save Your Life – A.M Holmes (I love this book)
Very Loud and Extremely Close – Johnathon Safran Foer
Bachelor Kisses – Nick Earl (an australian author, its very funny)
One Flew over the cuckoos nest – great to listen too on tape
The Virgin suicides – Jeffrey Eugenides
Oh I’d love to know too. I’m wanting to start listening to some while going on walks and runs. Will you do a follow up post with everyone’s recommendations??
The best audio books I’ve listened to are Child 44 and Testimony.
I second Heather’s Guernsey recommendation too! I hope you enjoy listening to some good books!
I just finished Dracula which was free this month on Simply Audio. I’ve read it before but the narrator did a nice job so I enjoyed listening to it. It’s only 3 hrs too.
I just finished Paper Towns, by John Green–that was good. Probably my favorite audiobook to date was We Need to Talk About Kevin, by Lionel Shriver. It took me awhile to get into, but once I did, it was amazing.
I commute to work and have been listening to audio books for quite some time. Recent ones that I’ve loved were Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah, The Camel Club series by David Baldacci and Meg Gardiner’s The Dirty Secrets Club.
I use my MP3 player to listen to books. That way, if I’m really into the story, I can take it with me wherever I might be. I found that listening to the CD version in my car that I’d park in the driveway and sit because I wasn’t at a good stopping place and that just wasn’t working. So, I either use an adapter to play my MP3′s through my car speakers, or only use one earplug. Either way works for me.
One recommendation is to find a library that has an online check out. It’s awesome for checking out books and downloading to an IPOD or MP3. That’s how I get the majority of my audios.
Enjoy!
PS….One more that is probably the best audio EVER was Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. Highly recommend!
When I am driving and listening to audiobooks, I sometimes have a hard time focusing. My mind wanders a bit and I find that I cannot give the book my full attention since I need to also drive
Therefore, the audiobooks I enjoy most in the car are lighter reading or brain candy. In that spirit, two that I have recently are enjoyed are: The Appeal by John Grisham and of course the Harry Potter books which are actually quite compelling and feel like live theater!
I just finished listening to The Road by Cormac McCarthy and it was amazing. Loved it. I would highly recommend that one.
I love light mysteries for my driving around town time. Most of the stuff I truly enjoy on audio is stuff I probably wouldn’t like as much if I sat down with the paper version to read.
The Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters (read by Barbara Rosenblat) is a fun series about a Victorian era Egyptologist/Archaologist and her husband. It’s a ton of fun.
The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series as read by Lisette Lecat is a delight.
Another fun series has been the Peter and The Starcatchers series by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson – they’re targeted to kids, but ignore that and enjoy anyway. It’s a series that’s a ‘prequel’ to the Peter Pan story. Jim Dale reads them and they’re awesome.
Also – someone already mentioned this but avoid abridged versions like the plague. An abridged audio book is not the story the way it was intended to be told.
Yikes – I forgot!
Still Life by Louise Penny – first in the Armand Gamache series. I recently listened to this one and loved it. I definitely plan to continue this series in audio format.
Oh, I LOVE audio books. I highly recommend an account with audible.com if you are going to be buying them regularly. I listen on my ipod while driving. I find that it’s not a distraction — with spoken word I can still listen quite well.
I also use the library some as well.
Memoir lends itself well to audiobooks. Some that I loved were The Glass Castle and Eat Pray Love (read by the author) and Every Mother is A Daughter by Perri and Sheila Klass — excellent.
Jodi Picoult’s audiobooks are fantastic, because they use narrators just like she does in her book — switching viewpoints and voices. I especially liked My Sister’s Keeper and 19 Minutes.
I also find that I am more patient with nonfiction in an audiobook if it’s well-read (I always try to listen to a clip before I jump in).
Two YA books that were great listens are The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams.
My first audio book was This I Know Is True by Wally Lamb. I enjoyed it.
I listened to a bunch of audio books this summer while I was driving between Madison and the Twin Cities (about a 4.5 hour drive). I liked all of them, so here are my recommendations:
The Wordy Shipmates – Sarah Vowell
Assassination Vacation – Sarah Vowell (her voice is a little weird, but I didn’t mind)
Into Thin Air – John Krakauer
Undress Me In the Temple Of Heaven – Susan Jane Gilman (This one was AWESOME! I almost didn’t want to get out of the car so I could keep listening. I think it’s abridged though, which annoyed me after I found out.)
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle – Barbara Kingsolver
The Zookeeper’s Wife – Diane Ackerman (I think)
I haven’t reviewed any of these yet, but all of them were interesting and helped pass the time. Good luck picking some!
recently I listened to The 19th Wife and Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society after I read the books. They both live up to the praises that bloggers sing.
Now you are talking my language..LOL I love audio books and some great ones have been: The Namesake and Unaccustomed Earth ; Lahari, The Commoner; Schwartz, Olive Kittridge; Saving Fish From Drowning and The Bonesetter’s Daughter, Amy Tan; The Art of Racing in the Rain; Stein; The Road; McCarthy; Middlesex, Eugendies
hope that helps with your commute.
These are awesome! I’ve wanted to read Gilman’s first one (Hypocrite in a Poufy White Dress) and Temple of Heaven…I think those might be my first selections. And I’ve been hearing so many great things about Sarah Vowell lately. Those will go on the list, too!
I don’t know if I’ll post everyone’s recommendations since you’ll be able to see them all here in the comments, but I will definitely post reviews of the ones I read.
I LOVE the Dexter series on Showtime and have been really curious about the books. I’m glad to know they’re so good on audio. Thanks!
I don’t read much YA, but I’d like to be more exposed to it, so maybe audio is the key for me….and I’ve enjoyed all of Gladwell’s books, so I can totally see why those would work. He has a new one out right now, right?
Hmmm….I’m not attached to mystery, but I don’t want to know the ending. However, I do trust your opinion, so I’ll put this one on the list and then go back and re-read the review after I listen.
I know you’re a perfect one for this because of what you and your husband do! And I LOVED your guest post at BOTNS (have I mentioned yet that you NEED a blog?) I will definitely check out some on this list, and I think I’ll have to listen to WAITING FOR COLUMBUS once the story isn’t quite so fresh for me, if for nothing else than to hear your hubby read it.
Yeah, I don’t think I’ll be listening to much lit fic because I would just forget where I was going and drive on by. I’ve seen Sedaris live and think I’ll wait for his next book before I try him on audio, since I’ve read the ones that are out….but several ppl have mentioned McCarthy, and I will have to do that.
I loved that book…and I’m so curious about how it would translate in audio without the benefit of all the great illustrations…
“Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” by Jonathan Safran Foer. The narrators are just bringing this work of fiction to life in such a way that it will stay with you for a long time after the story ends.
I actually keep a whole “Great as audio” shelf in Goodreads (http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1282435-molly?shelf=great-as-audio), but some recent stand-outs have been The Book Thief and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. And I wholeheartedly agree that Sedaris is best on audio.
I recently listened to UNDRESS ME IN THE TEMPLE OF HEAVEN on audio. It was abridged (sigh!), but SO good that I’d like to pick up the book to see what was cut (or get the unabridged audio).
It’s an author-narrated memoir of two recent college graduates’ attempt at a year traveling around the world. The venture into Communist China, and the plans change.
Audio books have kept me from committing vehicular manslaughter numerous times! I choose by narrator; many great books are narrated so poorly that I give them back to the library and read them as text instead.
I heartily agree about anything Lisette Lecat and Freakonomics, which was so engaging I drove into a concrete freeway divider. (Careful!)
I loved the narration for Orlando; the biography Elizabeth and Mary; Stephen King narrating Bag of Bones; The Time Traveler’s Wife; and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. I loved Snow Falling on Cedars, but the narrator mispronounced a lot of words! Also, I love the Sweet Potato Queens and The Kite Runner, but those authors shouldn’t narrate their own books.
I listen to audio books while folding laundry and cooking. Try that too!
The Secret Life of Bees
The Undomestic Goddess
Why? Audio books with accents are divine and you’ll find yourself using their dialect all day, it’s great fun.
I like any mystery novels written by women, read by a woman. If I have a good audio book I will offer to drive anyone anywhere and I will find the oddest excuses to head back to my car!
Right now I have The Secret Life of Bees, after I plan to reward myself with a fast, juicy fiction read. In this category my fav would be:
Eric Jerome Dickey, Chasing Destiny
If it’s accents you’re looking for (and wonderful novels to boot!), check out the audio editions of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and The Help. I loved the books and have heard nothing but fantastic things about the audio.
[...] I asked for audio book recommendations a few weeks ago, several of you suggested that memoirs work well on audio, and Dawn recommended [...]