I have a long, solo road trip coming up and I think it would be nice to have a lengthy audiobook cued up for it, but the problem is I just have not enjoyed being read to since I was about six years old. So what I'm looking for is an audiobook of an excellent book where the production of the audiobook itself is excellent and worth listening to regardless of the content. Sort of the equivalent of reading a book in a genre you don't enjoy but you like the book anyway because the writing is excellent.
I tend to read classic literature (specifically I'm a huge Austen fan), but not really picky about genre with the exceptions being horror, dark romance, or depressing books generally (gotta keep at least a little positive balance in the hope bank!)
Thanks!
by My_Poor_Nerves
6 Comments
I’m a big fan of the new audio versions of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series that came out a few years ago. PYRAMIDS and THE TRUTH both work pretty well as standalones and have especially well chosen narrators. Audible also has a really fun full cast adaptation of Alison Bechdel’s DYKES TO WATCH OUT FOR.
The Eyre Affair
I would recommend finding autobiographies that are narrated by the author (I’m glad my mom died and Seth Rogen’s yearbook are favorites of mine), or pop-science-esque books on topics that are interesting to you (I like Yuval Noah Harari, Mary Roach, and Bill Bryson). Otherwise, there are full-cast or graphic audio renditions of classics (there are lots of good recs here) that I find fun.
The Hobbit read by Andy Serkis is fabulous.
Goose Girl by Shannon Hale has a full cast audiobook, which you might prefer to a single reader? It’s YA, but it’s light and fun. I’ve listened to it a quite a few road trips.
World War Z with the full cast. It’s so good! Each section is narrated by a different voice actor and it’s super well done. The book is completely different from the movie they made. One of my favorites!
American Gods by Neil Gaiman and The Alienist by Caleb Carr have the same narrator and he’s wonderful. Another that’s really well done is The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova.