This topic is divisive, but I am one of those people who believe that a well-performed audiobook can be better than the experience of actually reading a book. Sometimes my internal voice isn’t strong enough, and I like a variety of voices, or a really strong narrator to lead me through a good story.
So, I thought we could recommend each other some good audiobook selections:
My first recommendation is World War Z. I honestly find the original text, by itself, rather boring… But the addition of a full cast makes the experience much more engaging. It feels like you’re listening to ACTUAL interviews instead of reading transcripts. This book has some problems with representation, but I remember that it was a fun romp through a zombie story.
American Gods is another full-cast production that I absolutely love. Not only does Gaiman do the narration for the book, but all the lead voices are very strong, especially Shadow Moon.
Jefferson Mays didn’t do the voice work for Cibola Burn, book 4 of the Expanse series, and the fans reacted by down voting the book on Audible to oblivion. So much so, that they rerecorded it with Mays doing the narration. So, let me just say that Mays is as important to The Expanse experience as the writers are, imo… He is able to slip into ANY voice thrown at him. From Avasarala, deep Belter cadence, to any other voice he’s called forth to voice. His work here is truly incredible.
So, what can you all recommend? I have a few credits to burn.
Fiction:
Seconding The Expanse series, next book coming out in March. I am super excited The Dispossessed, Left Hand of Darkness by rsula K Le Guin
Culture Series by Ian M Banks
Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars series Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John Le Carre
Non Fiction: Planet Taco (history of Mexican food) Before The Storm, Nixonland and The Invisible Bridge by Rick Perlstein (essentially the history of the modern GOP) The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes (has one of the most harrowing sections of any audiobook I’ve ever listened to. Its a barrage of first hand accounts of survivors of the first atomic bombing.) A Savage War of Peace by Alistair Horne (history of the war for independence in Algeria) Debt the First 5000 Years by David Graeber Destiny Disrupted by Tamim Ansary (history of Islam and the Middle East) The Sting of the Wild by Justin O Schmidt (entomologist gets stung by lots of bugs, writes about it)
I went on a dozen extra long walks with the dog while on vacation, listening to this. It was extraordinary, beautiful, and very well-performed by Zach Appelman. (I do like Anthony Doerr a lot; scanning some reviews I see people critical of just how lyrical and poetic the book is, and I’m like yeah, it’s Anthony Doerr!)
(BTW, my library has a ton of audiobooks available through the Libby app — so highly recommended!)
NK Jemisin’s “Hundred Thousand Kingdoms” had me utterly enthralled, and also had such a good narrator i looked her up hoping she’d done more books. Very unique setting, great magic system, and totally incredible heroine.
I really enjoyed John Darnielle (of the Mountain Goats)'s two novels Wolf in White Van and Universal Harvester, the audiobooks for which are both excellently read by him, and feature incidental music he composed for them.
i know this is a two year old thread but i’m so glad to have found it. i have adhd and focusing on reading can be a bit difficult, but i’ve found that if i turn the lights low and pair an audiobook with a puzzle game (usually picross) or a sports game franchise/career mode (usually mlb the show) i can “read” for hours. it’s been a huge revelation as my adhd has changed in adulthood and i have been really missing the ease with which i read as a teen.
here are my favorites of the ones i’ve listened to this year:
assassin’s apprentice - robin hobb
east of eden - john steinbeck
piranesi - susanna clarke
master and commander - patrick o’brian
the golem and the jinni - helene wecker
currently listening to the dog stars by peter heller.
would love any recommendations for particularly well-read audiobooks, especially ones that you feel aren’t talked about enough!
The Handmaid’s Tale has been on my to-read list since the show started, which I declined to watch with my partner as I’d wanted to read the book first. Having since proven her right about the likelihood of my getting around to it… I had an audible* credit and saw that they had it read by Elisabeth Moss. I’m still fairly early, but unsurprisingly it’s an excellent reading. Of course, it’s probably not the way to go for an interpretation divorced from the tv show! There is an earlier edition read by Claire Danes - the samples of that I’ve heard are good too.
*incidentally, I hadn’t quite grasped the extent to which Amazon had monopolised the audiobook market. There was literally no other option to get the book I was looking for in the first place, grim stuff.
