I'm moving across country in a few days and will need help keeping my mind active and not daydreaming while I drive. Do you recommend any specific audiobooks? I'm not interested in mysteries, thrillers, or war stories, as I don't want to suffer additional nightmares in strange hotels. I am also wary of audiobooks that aren't consistent in volume.
Feel free to recommend one of your own books, if it's in audio format. I would love to hear a Hatracker's work.
Posted by KayTi (Member # 5137) on :
I haven't listened to that many, but the ones I've listened to in the last year or two have all been fabulous:
Harry Potter (I really love the voice talent - Jim Dale - he's also read the Dave Barry/Ridley Pearson books - Peter and the Starcatchers. I haven't listened to them but I keep meaning to...) The Golden Compass - this is unique in that it's performed by a cast rather than just a voice talent. I really enjoyed listening to this one (my kids did too.) Made to Stick - one of the more popular non-fiction books in the last year or two, like Blink or Tipping Point or Freakonomics (all of which I would also recommend but haven't personally listened to) - very interesting because it's got a ton of stories
We also listened to the Madeline L'Engle books - A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door, A Switfly Tilting Planet and enjoyed them last summer on vacation. They are all ready by Madeline herself. She passed away recently, so it's a bit of nostalgia there.
I hope you find some titles you can enjoy! We really like listening to audiobooks as a family now, it's funny how much of a relief it is to have someone *else* reading the story for me. I'm such a mom.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
I enjoy radio dramas, as opposed to just some guy reading the book. I'll recommend the BBC version of The Lord of the Rings---more faithful to the book than the movies---and it's easily found.
Posted by TheOnceandFutureMe on :
I spent a summer cutting grass and listening to audiobooks. My favorites:
The Wheel of Time series (at least until it starts being terrible at around book 7 - although that's Robert Jordon's fault, the recordings are still well done).
The Warriors Apprentice, and then The Vor Game, by Louis McMaster Bujold.
Magic Street, by OSC.
The Silence of the Lambs, by Thomas Harris.
Posted by JeanneT (Member # 5709) on :
Small but important typo -- that's LOIS McMaster Bujold. Posted by Bent Tree (Member # 7777) on :
That way you don' have to spend forty bucks on an audiobook. I just download the audiobook, burn it to cd or Ipod then buy the regular novel to make sure the Author recieves his cut.
Posted by halogen (Member # 6494) on :
I've been using audible for almost 4 years now. Here are my favorites.
A nice feature of audible is you can listen to the first 2-10 minutes of the story to see if it catches your interest.
[This message has been edited by halogen (edited July 27, 2008).]
Posted by AWSullivan (Member # 8059) on :
I listened to all seven Harry Potter books on Audio. Jim Dale is brilliant.
That's really about all I've listened to though.
Anthony
Posted by Lullaby Lady (Member # 1840) on :
I'll also echo the others about HP; they really fill the hours on the road, they're funny, and they're VERY well-read/voiced. Heck, I drove from Arizona to Idaho with all nine of my kids, and we didn't quite make it through HP-6! So we finished it on the way home.
Oh, and you can never go wrong with a great classic. You know, the ones you've always intended to read, but haven't done so yet? Your library probably has several. Austen or Dickens are some of my favorites.
Happy trails and drive safely!
~LL
Posted by aspirit (Member # 7974) on :
Ooh, plenty to consider. In 2001, my family listened to the Harry Potter audiobooks existing at the time, and I agree about the quality. My mother-in-law kindly agreed to travel with me this time, so I’ll check on her preferences.
