My parents and I (and their two dogs) are driving across the US and I'm looking for a book (or 2, or 3) to help keep us entertained and awake. The problem is, we have pretty different tastes. Parent 1: Not a reader, but does like sci-fi, fantasy, and police procedural/mystery shows. Parent 2 likes literary fiction, memoirs, funny books, and nonfiction. I like feminist fiction, horror, and psyxhological thrillers primarily.
What I'm looking for: A book that is engaging and has an interesting plot without too much exposition, has a female main character (or prominent and well-written side characters), and is well-delivered in an audiobook format. I'm thinking a thriller, crime, or sci-fi book might fit the bill as long as the book is well-written. Bonus points if the book is funny, British, weird, or has an element of travel/road-tripping. For example, I'm considering playing Alice Isn't Dead first.
I know this isn't the easiest ask, so all ideas are welcome. Thanks so much!!!
by queercactus505
10 Comments
My mom and I listen to Malcolm Gladwell ✨
DUNGEON CRAWLER CARL
So my first thought when reading their tastes was Delores Claiborne. But the caveat to that is it does have a good amount of exposition. It’s a mystery and it has funny moments. The audiobook is one of the best I’ve listened to.
For comedy-mystery with a female MC, One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
The Lock-In series is a detective novel in a sci-fi setting.
Bonus: the main character’s gender is never specified. There are 2 versions of the audiobook, one with a female narrator and one with a male narrator.
Dog On It by Spencer Quinn. Mystery told by a private investigator’s dog. Dogs—good. Mystery—good. Some humor—good.
Margaret Atwood – sci-fi, literary fiction, feminist
The Mermaid by Christina Henry – fantasy, literary fiction, feminist
The Wind’s Twelve Quarters, A Fisherman of the Inland Sea, and Four Ways to Forgiveness by Ursula K. Le Guin – sci-fi, literary fiction, feminist
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver – crime, literary fiction, psychological thriller, significant feminist elements
World War Z by Max Brooks
This was actually my “gateway” book into the world of audiobooks. It’s nothing like the movie, it really does read like an oral history and the level of research that went into the different cultural perspectives is absolutely top shelf. There’s definitely some dark/political humor in there but I will admit that it is lacking on the humor aspect. Each chapter is a different perspective from around the world, so there are a lot of different characters but not in an overwhelming way. Despite having tons of characters from around the world, Brooks still manages to write characters that have depth, interesting backgrounds and complex personalities.
It was an audiobook before that was a super popular thing, so it started out as an abridged version that maybe accounted for 1/2 of the book, and then they added the lost files as a separate book. You can get the “complete” version that includes both recordings. It’s a full cast recording, which really is value added with some of the different accents and occasional use of foreign words.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
Here is an eclectic mix for you. All are great on audio and check several boxes each:
Starter Villain by John Scalzi
A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn (Veronica Speedwell series)
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise by Colleen Oakley
We Solve Murders by Richard Osman
Merle’s Door by Ted Kerasote
The Way I Heard It by Mike Rowe