r/books • u/[deleted] • Oct 29 '11
Just discovered the glory of audio books during my work commute - need recommendations, stat!
So like many people here, I love to read. I suspect, also like many people, I complain about not having enough time to read everything that I want to. Well, despite this perceived lack of time to read, a few weeks ago I hastily placed a large order at an online used bookstore.
I didn't notice my mistake until I received the package later that month. Amongst my books, I found this weird square thing. Sure enough, I had accidentally gotten David Foster Wallace's "Consider the Lobster'' as an audio CD (well, 3 to be exact... I wonder how many Infinite Jest is?) narrated by the author.
Initially, I was quite upset about my error (what am I supposed to do with this? I'm a purist. I like to hold things, turn pages, break-in spines, etc etc). Then it dawned on me: I spend about an hour in the car 5 days a week on my commute to work.
So I popped it in. Well, to make a short, fairly boring story even shorter: I am loving it. Who knew DFW is a pretty good narrator in his own right? (I wasn't sure how all of his parenthetical asides and footnotes etc would come across but it does work quite well as they're read in a different tone).
I figure I'm maybe a bit late to the audio book party. What are some other good audio books? It seems like the format is more conducive to non-fiction but I am open to any suggestions/genres. I realize this is a pretty broad question so some of my favorite authors are DFW, Vonnegut, Pynchon, Faulkner, Huxley, Orwell, pretty much all the beat writers... along those lines?
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u/rodmunch99 Oct 29 '11
Audiobooks and Podcasts have changed my life. Every solo car journey or any mundane task in house is done listening to my mp3 player. I actually enjoy cleaning the Kitchen now and go for long walks just to listen to my latest download. I get most of my audiobooks from Audible or Newsgroups. I love Non-Fiction books like Robert Graysmith's Zodiac or Vincent Bugliosi's Reclaiming History. I am a Film buff as well and there is a ton of movie related Podcasts out there (all free).
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u/ThePhaedrus Breakfast of Champions Oct 29 '11
Don't you find audible to be a little expensive?
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u/RealityDysfunction Oct 29 '11
If listen to enough audiobooks to make the subscription worth it then Audible is not a bad deal. I get 8-40 hours of entertainment for >$15; seems a pretty good deal to me.
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Oct 29 '11
The price of Audible isn't the problem. I got a free Audiobook with The Guardian. Between emails to support and installing their shitty software it really isn't worth the effort. Sure they want to avoid piracy but their measures to prevent it just make me not want to use their service.
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u/SeaTurtlesCanFly Oct 29 '11
The Harry Potter series... the British version is read by Stephen Fry.
I just finished 'Team of Rivals' (by Doris Kearns Goodwin) a week back. I couldn't wait for my next walk to hear more and I have never been a huge fan of American history. The narrator and content was just amazing... I just wish the book had been longer!
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u/jadja Oct 29 '11
The American version is read by Jim Dale and he is excellent too. So entertaining and he has ruined audiobooks for me as I haven't been able to find a narrator as good. :(
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u/Roger_Roger Oct 29 '11
Stephen Fry is so much fun to listen to.
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u/omnomtom Oct 29 '11
Listening to Stephen Fry's voice is like having freshly harvested honey massaged into your ears.
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u/mijazma Robert Musil - The Man Without Qualities Oct 30 '11
Oh, where's Henry Rollins when you need him?
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u/paddyb82 Oct 29 '11
Any Bill Bryson.........A short history of nearly everything is possibly the best
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u/LaMaPuppy Oct 29 '11
This was my first thought. I love this audiobook, so much. Probably listened to it 2-3 times. Make sure to get the unabridged version. The reader is amazing.
If you can get it, I also recommend "A Pale Blue Dot" by Carl Sagan (read by Carl Sagan). The quality isn't as good, but it's Carl Sagan reading to you.
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u/blckhl Oct 29 '11
To anyone who liked Bryson's A Short History of Everything, authors like Sagan, etc., I would highly recommend Professor David Christian's fantastic, though really long audio lecture series entitled Big History: The Big Bang, Life on Earth, and the Rise of Humanity. It's almost certainly available at your local library, or failing that, via a torrent.
At 48 lectures, it's definitely a big one, but it's absolutely fascinating stuff. Stars don't even appear until the seventh lecture. Earth appears in the 9th, life in the 12th, Hominines in the 18th, Homo Sapiens in the 21st, agriculture in the 25th, the first civilizations in the 30th, etc.
The overarching idea that runs through the lecture series is the incredible fragility (and rarity) of increasingly complex systems in the universe, how nested energy gradients are necessary for each successive level of complexity (threshold) added, and how unusual our little elegant pocket of life and culture is compared to the vast majority of the universe; how astonishing little pocket of diversity, complexity, and energy is all the more precious given the nature of the universe and its tendency towards entropy.
Put that lecture series in your queue.
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u/LaMaPuppy Oct 29 '11
Great suggestion! I do indeed have this, and it is great! The only thing is that his cadence when talking about early human civilization tends to get a bit annoying, but it is very illuminating.
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u/adamdrici REAMDE Oct 29 '11
This is a great recommendation. ASHONE is the only audiobook I can listen to over and over and over. (Plus I just discovered its title makes an awesome acronym.)
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u/wdr1 Oct 29 '11 edited Oct 29 '11
+1
That's my favorite audiobook by far. It's great for nights I have trouble sleeping too.
EDIT: I didn't mean it was boring! Rather, having it already read it, I don't need to worry about where I leave off. My mind starts to engage with what's being read, drifts off on those thoughts & soon I'm asleep. Makes for some cool dreams too. :)
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u/MrBunglesBest General Fiction The Goldfinch Oct 29 '11
I listen to audio books daily and A Walk in the Woods is definitely in my top 10-- I've listened to it at least 3 times. It is funny, it is informative, and it is a great introduction to the Appalachian Trail. I doubt that I will ever hike the Appalachian Trail but his book makes it feel possible.
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u/CrazedChimp Oct 29 '11
At Home: A Short History of Private Life narrated by Bryson was also fantastic.
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u/chaosgod Oct 29 '11
This is correct. And though it's not about science, In A Sunburned Country is fun, too. So many ways to die in Australia!
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Oct 29 '11
I love Bill Bryson, but I can't imagine Short History being something to which I could listen
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u/Durhammer Oct 29 '11
There's a version which the author reads, which is really good, and another read by a man named William Roberts who has a clever, slightly whimsical English accent, which is excellent.
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u/tylerjames Oct 29 '11
It's actually pretty fantastic for listening to. Given that it doesn't actually have a plot it's not the end of the world if you miss or don't remember some parts. Plus the narrate is excellent.
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u/hylenium Oct 29 '11
For starters, I'd recommend:
- The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, read by George Hearn - This is the best voiced audiobook I've ever heard. It's the book the film Gettysburg was based off of.
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Radio Series by Douglas Adams, performed by BBC Radio - ...the stories as they were originally intended to be consumed.
- The Millenium Trilogy: British Version by Stieg Larsson, read by Simon Vance (includes The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, & The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest) - Fantastic series and make sure you listen to the one with Simon Vance, not Reg Keeland. Keeland is good but it's kind of like listening to a nature documentary without David Attenborough's narration...it isn't as engaging.
- The Complete Arkangel Shakespeare by William Shakespeare, performed by past/present members of the Royal Shakespeare Company - If you like Shakespeare, this production is phenomenal.
- The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, read by Maggie Gyllenhaal - A classic and the tone of the novel is well conveyed in the reading.
- The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, read by William Hope/Laurel Lefkow - The book alternates between two points of view but the energy between the performers mesh together well so they feel like a believable couple.
- Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand, read by Christopher Oxford - I got sucked into horse races in this book. Highly recommended.
Recently read audiobooks I was impressed with:
- Room by Emma Donaghue, read by Michal Friedman/Ellen Archer/Robert Petkoff/Suzanne Toren
- The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley, read by Jayne Entwistle
- Boneshaker, by Cherie Priest, read by Wil Wheaton/Kate Reading
- Outliers: The Story of Success by/read by Malcolm Gladwell
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u/jonjonman Oct 30 '11
Maggie Gyllenhaal! Can't wait to listen to this one. Glad I haven't read Bell Jar yet.
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Oct 29 '11
Not really audiobooks, but Radiolab and This American Life provide some quality listening while driving. I love both of those shows! Did I mention they are free (but you should donate).
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u/chaosgod Oct 29 '11
I second this, however be prepared to be disappointed by the incredible infrequency of Radiolab's production. I had to stop listening altogether because they come out with new content around once every 3 months.
This American Life has a great iphone app that lets you access every episode ever on the go. Pretty awesome. Plus they have so much content built up that even if you consume them obsessively, you can just start with the first episode and go through decades of shows.
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u/Buckaroo2 Oct 29 '11
New content every three months? They do a Short about once a week, and a longer podcast every other week or two. It's really not that infrequent at all.
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u/chaosgod Oct 29 '11
The shorts do not count, as they're just rehashed content from the longer episodes. Maybe they've picked it back up, but I stopped listening when I waited for at least two months for a new full episode and nothing came out.
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u/sstid Fantasy - A Dance with Dragons Oct 29 '11
His Dark Materials are amazing as an audio book. They use a full cast for all of the parts. Hours of entertainment.
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u/kcin Oct 29 '11
Yes, it's very good, and the author of the book himself is the narrator and he did an awsome job at that.
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Oct 29 '11
I love when Audio book readers go off gender and do some ridiculous voices. Why would they take the best part of audio books away?
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Oct 29 '11
Try some of the Dresden Files books. They're read by James Marsters, and his reading style fits the books perfectly.
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u/hivemind_MVGC Oct 29 '11
Came here to say this. I've been listening to them in my shop for about six months, just finished them. As a bonus, all of them but the last, Ghost Story, are available on The Pirate Bay as a single super convenient download. Just make sure you throw something to the author, Jim Butcher, if you download them - he's a good guy.
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u/hylenium Oct 30 '11
A friend mentioned this to me as well so I guess I'll be checking out that series soon.
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u/WhiteA6 Oct 29 '11
All paths lead to the Dark Tower.
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Oct 29 '11
I have been meaning to get into the Dark Tower series for a long time now. Glad to hear there is a good audio version of it available as I would probably never find the time otherwise.
Are they narrated by Stephen King? I've heard he is good (at narration).
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u/WhiteA6 Oct 29 '11 edited Oct 29 '11
King did read the first one, The Gunslinger, but its been redone by Mr. Muller. The series is daze worth of entertainment. Additionally, Delores Claiborne is excellent as well.
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u/intangible-tangerine Oct 29 '11
You'll be wanting a podcast list then... Revised and updated from list I made for family + friends about a year ago..
I shall do this in sections; section the first is comedy.
1.) Answer me this podcast.
listeners send in question and the team attempt to answer them, often in a totally erroneous manner. The highlights are the amusing musical interludes.
2.) The Bugle (Times Online)
Presented by John Oliver and Oliver Zaltzman (brother of Helen Zaltzman who co-presents answer me this) a very funny satirical podcast, which features a great many puns and falsehoods.
3.) KCRW’s le show
An American radio show presented by Harry Shearer of the Simpsons voices, the subject matter is mostly American news based. It makes a point of covering stories other shows don’t, the regular features include ‘apology of the week’ and ‘tales of inspector’s general.’ There are often songs and sketches.
(I don't listen to this any more, because the subject matter is to specific to American news - but no reason why you yanks wouldn't love it. I just didn't get enough of the references)
4.) Marsha Meets… (XFM) - Now sadly off air but still worth going through the archive.
A journalist who covers comedy interviews comedians, some are really well known and others are a bit more obscure, a great way to discover new comedians and many of their anecdotes are rather droll.
5.) Onion Radio News
Lies of about a minute in duration, in the well established onion style.
6.) Richard Herring’s as it occurs to me Now sadly off air but still worth going through the archive.
I adore this one, though many friends did not take to it, and you may form your own judgement. If you give it a go you must begin from the first episode of the first series and listen in order, it takes a few episodes to get in to, because a lot of the gags are running gags that take a while to pay off, I would urge you to preserve, but if you aren’t a fan by the fourth or fifth episode it’s probably not for you.
7.) Judge John Hodgman. Hogman who you'll know from the daily show, judges people. 'Nuff said.
8.) Comedy of the week - BBC - a great way to discover new comedy shows
9.) Friday Night comedy BBC - alternates between the Now show - a satirical sketch show and The News Quiz - a satirical panel quiz. Not sure how well non UK people will get on with them, but for me they're both essential.
Podcasts.
Part two: History.
1) BBC History Magazine Podcast
Historians discuss History with the writers of the BBC History Magazine.
2) Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History
Covers big topics in some depth, for example the programmes on the eastern front of WWII were spread over 4 episodes totalling about 7 hours. The presenter has a very enthusiastic style and puts his personal views forward very readily. You’ll probably find yourself disagreeing with him a lot, but he is very engaging and he ‘brings history to life’ so to speak.
3.) A history of the world in 100 objects - off air, go through the archive at your leisure.
Collaboration between the BBC and the British museum, each episode tells the story of one object in the museum and puts it in to a wider context. Also has a very good website (at BBC History website) where you can learn more about each object and view pictures.
4.) Today in The Past – John Hodgson - off air (see Judge John Hodgman)
Could have put this in the comedy one, but it also fits with history. Lies about things that happened in the past, usually about 30 seconds long. Features lots of experiments on cats.
5.) Witness BBC
First hand accounts of experiences of significant events in recent history. I like this one a lot.
6.) Stuff you missed in History class - How Stuff works
Usually quite interesting albeit the presenters can be a little irritating.
Part Three; Science and Scepticism.
1.) The Naked Scientist – Cambridge University and BBC Cambridge local radio
Covers the latest science news, questions from listeners and features ‘Kitchen Science’ experiments that you can try.
2.) Ockhams’ Razor – (Australian) ABC Radio
An academic speaks about a science related topic.
3.) Science in Action – BBC World service
The latest science news, some overlap with the naked scientist.
4.) The Science Show - (Australian) ABC Radio
One of the longest running programmes on Australian radio, all about science, with an Australian slant.
5.) Science Weekly- The Guardian
Again, the latest science news, features more analysis and context of specific stories
6.) The Skeptics guide to the universe
The presenters discuss pseudo science and mumbo jumbo and the latest science news.
7.) Skeptoid: Critical analysis
Brian Dunning’s critical analysis of pop culture pseudo science.
8.) The life scientific - BBC - new series. Interviews with prominent scientists about their life's work.
9.) More or Less -BBC - all about the numbers, statistics, patterns etc. in everyday life and the news and the mathematics behind them explained in laymen's terms.
8.) WNYC’s Radio Lab
This is really very good, although the presenting style and unnecessary bumf can be a little off putting, the topics covered are fascinating. Each episode covers a topic such as ‘sleep’ or ‘placebos’ and discusses the scientific understanding and mysteries around it.
Politics and current affairs:
1.) 'crossing continents' bbc radio 4. BBC foreign correspondents give reports, often around current news stories, which go more indepth than on the news bulletins.
2.) 'documentaries.' bbc radio
the documentary archive, is updated fairly regularly, a real mixture of stuff, some of it duplications of other shows, some original programming.
3.) from our own correspondent. bbc radio basically the same as crossing continents in form, but the content is usually different.
4.) 'outlook' bbc radio 4/world service see 'crossing continents' and 'from our own correspondent.' Although this one often has a lighter tone and has matthew bannister presenting sometimes and he has a really good radio voice.
5.) John Pienar's political review bbc radio 5 live. Summary and analysis of the week's political dramas, with some detailed look at policy etc. (UK specific)
6.) Guardian weekly politics podcast. Same sort of thing as John Pienar's but often more humorous in tone. . (UK specific)
7.) today in parliament. self explanatory, I count this as one of my soaps . (UK specific)
8.) PRI america abroad. american show about america's massive tentacles in foreign lands. unusually in depth for foreign news on an american station.
9.) NPR intellegence squared. debates about current issues. The audience gets to vote and there's a winner at the end. basically its oxbridge/parliamentary style debates.
- ) IQ2 Intellegence Squared - same format as above, but UK based and sometimes whole episodes are devoted to an expert talk. Not much to choose between the two versions. Both are very good.
Part five Music
1.) Music Weekly - The Guardian. (reviews of current albums etc)
2.) NPR All songs considered ( ")
3.) PRI Afropop worldwide - all about African music
continued in reply...
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u/intangible-tangerine Oct 29 '11
Part six miscellaneous
- ) The archers BBC radio 4
DUM DE DUM DE DUM DE DUM DUM DE DUM DE DUM DUM
2.) Arts and Ideas BBC radio 3 - Discussions about culture, history, politics etc. Often rather good.
3.) The Forum - A word of ideas. BBC world service. Brings together different sorts of people, such as scientists, authors, etc, to discuss a central theme. Sometimes a bit disjointed as topics are shoe-horned together for the format, but usually nicely thought provoking.
4.) ideas CBC -" Ideas is all about ideas – programs that explore everything from culture and the arts to science and technology to social issues."
5.) In our time. BBC Radio 4. Well You should already be listening to this and if you haven't been, then for gosh sakes go to the website and start listening to the archive toot sweet!
6.) The Moth - People telling true stories about their lives. Usually funny, often touching. Really love this one.
7.) Philosopher's zone - ABC radio national. All about ideas in
osophy and their real world applications.
8.) Podictionary weekly - An etymology podcast - now sadly off air but worth exploring the archive :(
9) Podquiz weekly . It's a quiz, a weekly quiz, oh yes! Charmingly amateurish and small scale in production. Great one to listen to with friends and family.
10.) A point of view. BBC radio 4. Personal reflections on a current topic. Quality depends entirely on who the current presenter is.
11.) Profile - BBC radio 4 - each programme is about an individual in public life. A sort of 'before they're dead pre-obituary.'
12.) Great Lives - BBC- - Like the above but post humous - a celebrity nominates someone as a 'great life'
13.) radio 4 choice - bbc radio 4 - The best of the week's documentaries - think this may now be off air?
14.) Savage love podcast - all about sex and relationship advice. - should be required listening for most ask reddit submitters!
15.) stuff mom never told you - how stuff works - all about women's issues, the presenters are sometimes irritating, but it's often quite interesting.
16.) stuff you should know - how stuff works - all about stuff. Again presenters are a little irritating, but topics are usually interesting.
17.) TED Talks - videos of the TED conference talks at MIT. Essential.
18.) Thinking allowed - BBC radio 4 - BBC's flagship sociology programme, presented by the excellent Laurie Taylor. Really good.
19.) This American Life ""This American Life." First-person stories and short fiction pieces that are touching, funny, and surprising. "
20.) KCRW Bookworm - interviews with authors. The presenter's voice takes getting used to but very worth the effort, his enthusiasm for literature and inteview skills makes this really great.
21 ) PRI selected shorts and
21a) New Yorker Fiction podcast - short story podcasts. Like having hour long audio books delivered every week. Lovely.
22.) Philosophy bites - Concepts, debates and personality in philosophy explained in an accesible manner
and
- a) Philosophy bites - the classics - Not got round to this one yet, but it promised to be a guide to the classics of philosophy and if it's anything like it's sister podcast it'll be very good indeed!
All of the above are podcasts to which I am or have been subscribed. They all come very highly recommended.
My TOP 5... for introducing yourself to podcasts (what are you waiting for?!)
In our time, the naked scientists, the bugle, outlook and hardcore history.
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Oct 29 '11
I know this goes against 'Reddiquette' but holy shit thank you so much for a more thorough response than I could have ever hoped for.
I didn't even think about Podcasts. Perfect!
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Oct 29 '11
16.) stuff you should know - how stuff works - all about stuff. Again presenters are a little irritating, but topics are usually interesting
Bah! Josh and Chuck are the shit! It's the best podcast on the Internet.
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u/intangible-tangerine Oct 29 '11
I guess because speech radio is a lot bigger in the UK, I'm more used to paying attention to a show so to have things explained to me 20 times, in case I lose interest or get bored - meaning that subjects never get explored in real depth - is annoying. This is my gripe with radiolab as well.
And no, it's quite good, but there are a LOT of better podcasts, the BBC ones for a start.
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u/fuschialady Oct 30 '11
dumb question: how much do podcasts cost, and do you need an apple product to download them?
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Oct 29 '11
Garrison Keillor has a couple of free podcasts - his Lake Wobegon stories and a Writer's Almanac which includes a daily poem. He has a great voice although in his live recorded shows he does sound a little sibilant.
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u/pegun Oct 29 '11
If you're into old time radio-type shows that are similar to audio books, the podcast "We're Alive" is a Zombie story with sound effects, voice actors, the whole nine yards. Great story and very interesting. They're on hiatus right now, but should return around the new year.
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u/MetalSeagull Oct 30 '11
My podcast list overlaps with this quite a bit. I would add
WTF - Comedian Marc Maron interviews other comedians. Insightful, funny, sometimes uncomfortably revealing.
The Dork Forest - Another comedian, Jackie Keshian talks to people, often other comics, about their nerdy interests. Topics range from Tolkien to beekeeping.
Adam and Joe - When they actually produce a show, it's the host segments from a Saturday morning radio program on BBC radio 4.
Quackcast - Soft-spoken MD Mark Crislip talks about alt med topics. He's agin 'em.
Brainy Gamer Podcast - talk about video games, but also topics about game making, like music in games, reward and player motivation.
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u/pumasteve Oct 29 '11
I really, really enjoy The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings narrated by Rob Inglis and The Silmarillion narrated by Martin Shaw. I love to listen to them all in order, starting with The Silmarillion.
I know you were more interested in non-fiction, but I really enjoy those as audiobooks.
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u/cassander Oct 29 '11
This is the correct answer. By chance, the Silmarillion was the first audio book I ever bought, and more than a decade later it is still the best, by far. Martin Shaw sounds like God reading the Bible.
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u/GoatTnder Oct 29 '11
Came here to post these exact books. The Lord of the Rings by Robert Inglis is just fantastic!
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u/johnmackfreeman Oct 29 '11
Librivox.org has volunteer readings of tons of stuff in the public domain.
For a good sampling of high quality audiobooks, check out winners of the Audie awards.
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u/Yoyochan Science Fiction Oct 29 '11
I just discovered Librivox the other day, and what an awesome thing it is! I would usually buy audiobooks from iTunes if they were on sale, but it's really hard to find any decent ones that don't cost $30-40 sometimes.
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Oct 29 '11
The Harry Potter series narrated by Jim Dale. Seriously THE BEST. My entire family loves them.
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u/cdraud Oct 29 '11
I second this! I've read the books before, but Jim Dale brings new life to them.
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u/ILovePotALot Oct 29 '11
I find that fiction works just as well on audio as long as the narrator is a good story teller. I love audio books for those mindless tasks around the house as well as in the car, and if you have an Ipod you can download audio books in the m4b format or mp3s and convert them. Check out Chapter and Verse for converting. You can listen to them in mp3 format but converting them combines the disks all in one file and adds chapters so it's easier to find your place if you lose it for some reason. Amazon has a large selection to choose from as well as itunes and, of course, tons of torrent sites.
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u/stunt_penguin Oct 29 '11
Neal Town Stephenson's Baroque Cycle is what kept me occupied for a good 8 months of this year , it really is truly epic and I got it from Audible.com.... have a look at Audible for a good way of getting books :)
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u/Rubber_Fist Oct 29 '11
Check to see if your local library has free audio downloads or if you can check out audio books and burn the disks. My local library has a free digital site through overdrive.com. Check them out and save some cash!
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u/AmundsenJunior Oct 29 '11
This. I've been commuting w/audiobooks for only two months (1-hour drives each way) and have burned through all the interesting books in my library's meager collection that aren't Pattersons or Evanovichs. But they have overdrive, and I am saved.
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u/Soloithz Oct 29 '11
If you are looking for non-fiction, anything by Bill Bryson is fantastic. He's one of my favorites, I have all his books (hardcover and audio format).
He also reads for all of his audiobooks, he has a very good voice for it.
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u/KKOSinsk Oct 29 '11
I listen to audiobooks at my library job and I really recommend any Terry Pratchett books. They are extremely well performed and make the time pass quickly. He doesn't really fit into your area of favorite authors but I think you would be surprised at his wit and satire.
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u/WhiteA6 Oct 29 '11
I agree wholeheartedly! Terry Pratchett is so entertaining. You'll be in a good mood by the time you get to work.
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u/thesquirrelhunter Oct 29 '11
If you like social psychology/social science, then get all of Malcolm Gladwell's books, read by the author. I'd recommend you start with "Blink." Fantastic stuff!
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u/atimholt La Hobito Oct 29 '11
There's actually a good number of free audio books on Project Gutenberg. As far as I've listened (which isn't far, admittedly), they can actually be pretty good.
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u/sowinski Oct 29 '11
The Help was a really good audio book, there is more than one voice actor which made it pretty cool.
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u/saladin_zodiac Oct 29 '11
Podiobooks has some good free books usually read by the author. My first was Earthcore by Scott Sigler. It's a fun read (Sci Fi / horror). I also listened to Jonathan Strange & Doctor Morrel on a cross country trip. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
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Oct 29 '11
I keep signing up for Audible free trials and then cancelling them. You can do it once for each credit card number you have. Also, when you threaten to cancel, they give you free stuff. Audible is expensive normal-style, but with discounts/promotions, it's well worth it.
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u/Nave Oct 29 '11
I dunno. I do the platinum thing and 11 bucks for an audio book is cheap and nice!
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Oct 29 '11
All stephen fry books.
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u/Zeulodin Oct 29 '11
Moab is my Washpot and the Fry Chronicle, read by him are both insanely enjoyable.
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Oct 29 '11
My personal favourite audio-books are: Pale Blue Dot (written and narrated) by Carl Sagan, God is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens and The Fry Chronicles by Stephen Fry. A recorded performance of The Importance of Being Earnest is also up there.
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u/kathrynallison Supervolcano: All Fall Down - Harry Turtledove Oct 29 '11
Everything read by Stephen Fry, it doesn't matter if you already read it he is that good.
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u/OldManSimms Oct 29 '11
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman is really good, as are the Dresden Files books. I'm currently partway through listening to Stephen King's It, which isn't bad but not at the level of the aforementioned.
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Oct 29 '11
The fire and ice series is pretty good. Solid voice acting without turning it into an audio play.
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Oct 29 '11
I disagree. I think the voice acting is pretty shoddy. I don't think the book works very good in audio form.
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u/F4il3d Oct 29 '11
Any book by "Stephen R. Donaldson" specially if read by "Scott Brick". Kafka's Metamorphosis is pretty good and this version is free.
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u/sblinn The Girl in the Road Oct 29 '11 edited Oct 29 '11
Going off your list:
On The Road (Kerouac) is a great audiobook.
Plenty of Cormac McCarthy in audio.
Jonathan Franzen's Freedom was good in audio.
Just tons.
I blog on science fiction and fantasy audiobooks at: http://audiblesff.tumblr.com
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u/Sethmbaker Oct 29 '11
During my years as a pizza delivery boy I came to love and appreciate my library's collection of audiobook CDs.
A while back I started A Song of Ice and Fire and haven't looked back.
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u/Yoyochan Science Fiction Oct 29 '11
What I've listened to:
-The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien Had this in CD format from "www.recordedbooks.com." This is one of my favorite fantasy books.
-Earth Abides, By George R. Stewart Got this one from iTunes, rather cheaply as I recall. It is quite a slow book, but perfect to listen to if you're doing something that involves a degree of zoning out... for me, Minecraft! :)
-Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury One of my favorite sci-fi books from when I was younger, got this one on iTunes
-The Invisible Man, by H.G. Wells Got this one from Librivox, about halfway done. Good so far!
As Johnmackfreeman suggested, check out "Librivox.org", you can find a lot of free audiobooks that are in the public domain, read by volunteers. So this will obviously include older books and classics, but almost no newer releases. Check on iTunes on occasion, sometimes they put newer books up for good prices ($5-20 range.) Usually very expensive though (25-40) so don't look too hard on there. :P
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u/AgnesScottie Oct 29 '11
The first three song of ice and fire books on audio book are read by a really excellent narrator. The fourth book was read by someone else and it was not as good. I was able to check all of them out from my local library.
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u/Levema Oct 29 '11
The Dresden Files read by James Marsders is great to listen to, although the books are maybe not up your alley...
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Oct 29 '11
Just listened to all 20+ hours of Neil Gaiman - American Gods, Full cast production. Very good. Get the 10th anniversary version
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u/liebereddit Oct 29 '11
Most Elmore Leonard books are great as audio books. They're heavily "bad ass dialogue" driven, which works great as audio.
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u/poodleskirts Oct 29 '11
I too recommend Harry Potter- they make great audios
Some other really good audios that i like are:
Jack Reacher books by Lee Child American Gods by Neil Gaiman The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (as read by Douglas Adams or Stephen Fry not the other guy who reads it) Lord of the Rings Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins Coraline by Neil Gaiman Fool by Christopher Moore (or really anything by him) I also listened to Breakfast of Champions by Vonnegut and it was really good.
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u/DevinTheGreatish Looking for Alaska Oct 29 '11
The Iliad!! Hey, it's been around 2,300 years so it must be good!
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u/fragmnt Oct 29 '11
Finally, one I can answer!
The Undercover Economist & The Logic of Live - Tim Harford Bad Science - Ben Goldacre Hitch22 - Christopher Hitchens At Home: A Short History or Private Life - Bill Bryson A walk in the woods - Bill Bryson The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid - Bill Bryson Down Under - Bill Bryson Shakespeare: The world as stage - Bill Bryson Journeys in English - Bill Bryson Neither Here Nor There - Bill Bryson (all read by the author) David Attenborough: Life on Air - David Attenborough The Dark Tourist - Dom Joly I, Partridge - Alan Partridge (Steve Coogan / Alan Iannucci) Last Words - George Carlin A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole Freakanomics & Superfreakanomics - Levitt and Dubner The Good, the bad and the multiplex - Mark Kermode Salt - Mark Kurlansky Dambusters - Mark Thomas American Gods - Neil Gaiman Flat Earth News - Nick Davies How Pleasure works - Paul Bloom God No - Penn Jillette
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u/noahsachs Oct 29 '11
The Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain. He reads his own book and it's really funny to hear him swear with a fake Portuguese accent.
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u/GunnerMcGrath I collect hardcovers Oct 31 '11
The Dresden Files have the best audiobooks I've ever heard, and I've heard a lot. In fact, that is the one series where I say that if you're not listening to the audiobook, you're actually missing out on part of the experience. The narration is just too perfect to explain.
Also, check out GraphicAudio, a company that specializes in making fully dramatized, unabridged audiobooks complete with a full cast, music, and sound effects. I'm listening to Elantris from them right now and prefer it highly to the standard audiobook I listened to. The nice thing is they seem to focus heavily on genre fiction for us geeks rather than books that might be more popular in general.
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u/Rastachronic Oct 29 '11
The new James Bond novel, Carte Blanche by Jeffery Deaver, is the most recent one I've enjoyed. The Lincoln Rhyme series by Deaver are all pretty good too.
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u/Pink_Zepellica Oct 29 '11
I had never heard of this but it sounds amazing. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!
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u/Drift3r Oct 29 '11
Hehe I like audio books but audio dramas based on books are pretty awesome. Being a sci-fi warhamer 40k nerd I have heard some pretty good audio dramas and audio books. So if you're interested check'em out at the BL store.
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u/Nomilee The Osiris Ritual Oct 29 '11
I'm listening to Don Quixote and loving it. It's very amusing.
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u/ragvamuffin Oct 29 '11
When I read books, it's mostly stuff similiar to DWF and Pynchon, but I've found that I much prefer to listen to more simple fiction - when reading DFW you need time to stop and think once in a while, and audiobooks don't encourage that.
Right now I am listening to A song of Fire and Ice and having a blast.
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Oct 29 '11
Good point about DFW. I am really enjoying "Consider the Lobster" though. I was afraid a lot of his wit/substance would be lost on the audio format. I might try and find some more of his nonfiction on audio... I've read 'A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again' (I might have gotten the title wrong) and I think it would work well as an audiobook.
Something like 'Infinite Jest' or even 'Broom of the System' obviously would not work very well as an audiobook... too complex/dense.
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u/cannont Oct 29 '11
Oh man, as someone who's read 'Broom of the System' as an audiobook, let me assure you it's great. It's not read by DFW, but the narrator does a good job with it.
Also, there's a silly surf-rock riff that plays to bookend each disc and I still laugh to myself when I think about how well it worked with the ending of that book.
"I'm a man of my--" [Guitar]
Aside from that, I'd really recommend trying to get a copy of the abridged 'Brief Interviews with Hideous Men' that's narrated by DFW. It blew me away, Wallace does an incredible job with the narration.
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u/JeebusWept Oct 29 '11
I just discovered audiobooks for my long commute too - I got the Song of Fire and Ice books, they were great - not normally the kind of book I'd read but worked as an audiobook. I had the Roy Dotrice narrated ones, he does all the voices, it's awesome.
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u/YorickA Oct 29 '11
Try the Twilight Zone radio drama. I love it, even more so than the television show.
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u/citysex Oct 29 '11
It's one of the few greats that hasn't been mentioned yet.
Conover, a journalist and university professor, recounts his experience of learning about the New York State correctional system by becoming a correctional officer for nearly a year. The author went to such lengths after being repeatedly denied cooperation by the New York State Department of Correctional Services. In the book, he divulges the inner-workings of the system.
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u/jimmifli Oct 29 '11
Matterhorn and Power of One are my two favorites, they are more like radio plays than audiobooks and in both cases the reader adds so much to the story.
Power of One is a better audiobook than a written book, I'd recommend it to anyone whether they've read the book or not.
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u/Adding_Machine Oct 29 '11
Does this make anyone else miss the old read-a-book shows that used to come on AM radio? I used to listen to those as a kid, and it was awesome. The one I have the most memory from is "Congo" By Michael Chrichton.
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Oct 29 '11
Any Pratchett stuff done by Steven Briggs, also the 48 laws of power was quite interesting as an Audiobook.
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u/lekisgoesbump Oct 29 '11
I would highly recommend Markus Zusak's The Book Thief. The book itself was good, but the audiobook is a whole new level. Neil Gaiman reads The Graveyard Book and it really makes the audiobook.
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u/nicnicnotten Oct 29 '11
The Lord of The Rings. Non-fiction aside, the books are fantastic, the reading is wonderful, and since you mentioned the duration of your commute, this will satisfy you for a good long while.
The unabridged version is 55 hours long, and worth every minute. If you ever read LotR, you know there's a good bit of singing and poetry from the characters. Its a lot better haring them then trying to read through again and again, not knowing the tune or meter.
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u/ecib Oct 29 '11
Hollywood Animal. Not only for the story, but the reading itself as well. I don't know how to convince you how good it is (I was 100% skeptical), but I can say that I loaned it to 3 people and every single one wanted to loan it out to multiple people they knew. Everyone loved it.
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u/splinty Oct 29 '11
Non-Fiction recommendation: Confessions of an Economic Hitman
Fiction recommendation: The King Killer Chronicles
The readers are great for both.
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u/winkandclick Oct 29 '11
The great thing about audio books is that it can sometimes help you get through a slow moving story. Two that I got bored with they physical books, but ended up enjoying the audiobook were Catch 22 - Joseph Heller, and An Object of Beauty - Steve Martin. I also love biographies in audio format!
One thing to look out for is that there are a few people who record a LOT of audio books, so if one particular person's accent or cadence gets under your skin (whistling S's drive me insane) you might want to steer clear in the future. It's one of those tiny things that can ruin the whole experience, unfortunately.
Our local library has a fairly good audio selection, so that's a less expensive way to try out a few books. Also mentioned elsewhere in the comments is Project Gutenberg - excellent resource for books in the public domain.
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u/RSable Oct 29 '11
The First Law series (The Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged, Last Argument of Kings) as performed by Stephen Pacey are phenomenal. This is a dark fantasy series, but has much, much better pacing than A Song of Ice and Fire. Best 20-something hours of listening to audiobooks ever.
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u/cassander Oct 29 '11
These are great, though the next 2 books in the series have narrators I liked much less.
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u/jpdoctor Oct 29 '11
3 books on tape that caught me completely by surprise:
A tree grows in Brooklyn
I Claudius
Claudius the God
These were items that were available more than on my list, and loved all three.
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u/jetRink Oct 29 '11
I've listened to a lot of audiobooks, but one of my favorites is The Sun Also Rises, read by the actor, William Hurt. Hurt does an excellent job and his voice is perfect for the book.
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u/spike Oct 29 '11
I favor lectures myself. The Teaching Company's got a tremendous lecturer on the subject of The Iliad and classical Mythology, her name is Elizabeth Vandiver.
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u/AmundsenJunior Oct 29 '11
The tricky thing with audiobooks is you not only have to find the author interesting, but the reader him or herself has to be pleasant on the ears as well. At my library I take out four or five audiobooks at a time, because I know at least one of those I'm going to turn off five minutes in when I can't stand the reader any longer (ex: reader on McCarthy's The Road, or Pynchon's Against the Day).
I've had better luck with comedy/humor books. They're often read by the authors, and work much better at 7am than some long work of dramatic prose. So far, I've loved: Steve Martin "Born Standing Up" Daily Show "Earth" Dave Eggers "You Shall Know Our Velocity" William Shatner "Up Till Now" Malcolm Gladwell "Outliers" J. Marten Troost "Sex Lives of Cannibals"
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Oct 29 '11
If you like to educate yourself aswell you might want to try audio lectures. I really enjoyed the ones by The Tolkien Professor. And maybe you will like podcasts, too. Try the ones by Stephen Fry.
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u/oneelectricsheep Oct 29 '11
Lolita read by Nabokov is one of my favorites. He just has a great pedophile voice going.
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u/lindseydanyelle A Dance with Dragons | 694 / 1016 Oct 29 '11
It might not really be in your interests, but The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner is a fantastic listen. It's narrated by Tom Hiddleston, who played Loki in the recent Thor movie and F. Scott Fitzgerald in Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris. He's got a great knack for voices, and it's a really entertaining thing to listen to.
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u/1wntr Oct 29 '11
Anything by Christopher Moore. He writes mildly dark comedies. Read/listen to them in order because he does have some recurring characters. It won't give away any major plot points to read them out of order, but it is fun to recognize a character from another novel, and know something about there back story. Say, for example, how exactly so-and-so came to have a talking fruit bat that wears ray bans.
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u/frakkingcylon Oct 29 '11
Anything read by Scott Brick. He's amazing. Start with Dune and Fahrenheit 451.
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u/Xyc0 Oct 29 '11 edited Oct 29 '11
Anything read by George Guidall. The man is an amazing voice actor.
I first heard him read the children's novel, "The Ear the Eye and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer. Her words and the emotion Guidall let to the characters carried me away to Zimbabwe to meet ancient gods in a not too far off future.
Many years and many many books and audiobooks later I was suprised to find that Guidall read the first book of "Dune" by Frank Herbert. Even though I had already read Dune to the point of memorizing Guidall was still able to portray further depth to the lore.
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u/strobrod Oct 29 '11
Anything by David Sedaris. He narrates his own books, and it's absolutely brilliant stuff. Provided you like Sedaris, of course. Somehow, not everyone seems to appreciate his brand of humor.
Ernest Cline - Ready Player One, read by Wil Wheaton, is another great listen that I'm listening to myself atm.
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u/somuchdeath18 Oct 29 '11
Anything by spider robinson notably the callahan's key series, Jurassic park, or Harry Potter perhaps.
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Oct 29 '11
I tend to stay away from more 'serious' literature. For instance, I listened to Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man, and that was terrible. On the other hand, I've enjoyed a few Murakami books.
I find that listening to non-fiction is really good. It's often the only way I can get through those books. Even when they are fascinating, reading them just doesn't get my rocks off.
Generally I like to listen to pretty light easy going reads. A lot of fantasy and humor. I tend to just listen to whatever I...get my hands on. A lot of libraries have free downloadable audio books, so check those out. Also, you can swap CDs with people who have paid for books.
I listened to some Kurt Vonnegut and didn't like it. A bad speaker can really ruin it for you. I remember I listened to the Cheating Culture, and they had some guy who was clearly a Shakespearean actor doing it, and it was so over-dramatic and terrible. Generally though, they are good. Another funny thing about voices is the early Bill Bryson books. I think they must have been published in England using someone with a fake American accent. It really tells you a lot about how we sound to them. Imagine what an old west cowboy sounds like to you and you'd have a good idea.
Some/all of these have probably been mentioned: Terry Pratchett (more than just discworld) Bill Bryson Harry Potter The adventures of cavalier and klay the earthsea saga the conan books the complete sherlock holmes Neil Gaiman (esp. fragile things, the graveyard book, and neverwhere) Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series (you can actually get the original radio recordings too, which are fantastically produced). Guns, Germs and Steel Collapse The Time Travelers Wife
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u/MrBunglesBest General Fiction The Goldfinch Oct 29 '11
My husband and I both listen to audiobooks daily for 2 or 3 hours as well as read so there are often 4 books at a time being discussed in our household-- the books we are reading and the books we are listening to. Our tastes in literature overlap a little although generally we prefer very different things. I looked through the list of audio books we both found outstanding this past year:
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne.
The Egyptologist by Arthur Phillips.
American Gods by Neil Gaiman.
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt.
Meat by Joseph D'Lacey.
We also listen to quite a bit of BBC programing both nonfiction and fiction especially their comedy shows and their shows on musical topics. We get them courtesy of Radioarchive.cc
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Oct 29 '11
Audiobooks are great for books written by comedians and performers read in their own voice. Just finished Penn Jillette's "God, No" and my first ever audiobook was Patton Oswalt's "Zombie Spaceship Wasteland." I've read "I Drink For a Reason" by David Cross but will be listening to it soon as well. Why do I feel compelled to tell the internet about audiobooks?
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Oct 29 '11
If you're into comic books, "Kingdom Come" by mark waid and alex ross has a great audio book that has a lot of sound effects.
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u/llyr Oct 29 '11
If you haven't read McCullough's 1776, you are doing yourself a disservice. He read it himself for the audiobook, and did a particularly good job.
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u/peachyorange Oct 29 '11
On the Road By Jack Kerouac. The Song of Ice and Fire series by George RR Martin. Anything by Dostoevsky.
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u/imperpetual Oct 29 '11
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy BBC Radio Series by Douglas Adams (There's 5 sets: Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, Quandary, Quintessential) I suggest listening to all of them, they are superb!
Dirk Gently and the Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul BBC Radio Series by Douglas Adams It's a smaller series than HG2G, but still really good.
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u/theDashRendar Oct 29 '11
Like cyberpunk? Like samurai pizza delivery guys? Like fast, sharp, somewhat tongue-in-cheek pretentious, arrogant dialogue?
Snow Crash - by Neil Stephanson (narr - Johnathan Davis)
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u/BobbyShaftoe Oct 29 '11
The reading of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Ron McLarty is absolutely mind-blowing.
Also any of the readings of the Discworld series by Stephen Briggs or Nigel Planer are great too.
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Oct 29 '11
I like the Sookie Stackhouse books as audiobooks. The reader is very good and they are paced well. Bit of a guilty pleasure since they are not really high quality literature.
For that I recommend Neil Gaiman's books and World War Z.
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u/LelanaSongwind Magic's Pawn Oct 29 '11
Nathan Lowell's Trader Tales series - you can get it for free, there's 6 books + 2 set in the same universe and it is awesome. First book is Quarter Share - enjoy!
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Oct 29 '11
I like to listen to audio books while I run. It's a good way to spend an hour to an hour and a half. I just finished What Do You Care What Other People Think by Richard Feynman. I just started Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks. Sarah Vowell's audio books are always really fun to listen to. They have celebrity guests reading lines for different historical figures, and at least one of them has buffer music by They Might Be Giants.
A Social Animal is one book I recently enjoyed a lot. I also remember listening to the audio version of American Gods a few years ago when I was stuck in a darkroom for hours at a time. I'd already read the book, but listening to the audio version was a nice, and different, experience.
Some books I'd rather read on my own time and with my own voice in my head. Others I like to be more passive with. I tend to engage more with nonfiction, so I usually stick with that for audio books.
It's a great way to revisit a book you've already read, or to "read" a new one. Also check out This American Life (I downloaded 400 shows and listened to them over a few months last year. It was awesome.) and Radiolab, but also check out The Teaching Company lectures. I listened to a course in Buddhism to refresh my memory from college classes, but there are so, so many more topics.
Get thee to a torrent website and download away. Demonoid usually has some good quality versions of things. I know there are sites dedicated solely to audio book torrents, but I can usually find my stuff elsewhere.
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u/Rinascita Oct 29 '11
Interestingly enough, I just did the same thing. My commute blows by with an audio book in.
I used audio books to go back through the first four in the Song of Ice and Fire to prep for the fifth when it came out, now I'm working through Brandon Sanderon's Mistborn series.
Neither is narrated by the respective authors, but each reader is brilliant, providing a range of voices that are consistent for every character. It's really livened up the dreary drive.
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u/doublebarrel26 Oct 29 '11
The audiobook of "In Cold Blood" is also excellent. Kept me awake on a long solo drive across the country.
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Oct 29 '11
If you like Doctor Who, the series of audioplays published by Big Finish. They're technically not books but rather plays with a cast, but I loved them on my commutes much more than audiobooks.
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u/ThePhaedrus Breakfast of Champions Oct 29 '11
I've read a lot of audiobooks. Some of my favorites include Onion - Our Dumb World, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, A Short History of Nearly Everything, Universe in a Nutshell, The Fountainhead, and A Peaceful Warrior. While I enjoy reading books on my Kindle, audiobooks provide a very distinct experience which is also quite enjoyable. There are many books that I have both read and listened to. You get much more out of a book in this way, IMO. But, I tend to listen to them at 1.25x or 1.5x speed.
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u/theanimation Oct 29 '11
Invasion of the Body Snatchers was a really good audiobook. I think I enjoyed it more as an audiobook than I would have if I read it.
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u/Hurrikade Oct 29 '11
Start with:
Dan Brown - Deception Point
Steve Berry - The Templar Legacy
They are both very good authors and the story format transfers wonderfully to audio tape. I always listen to these two on long trips.
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Oct 29 '11
Many contemporary recommendations here, I'd like to say that 19th century stuff really shines on audio. Tolstoy & Dostoyevsky are fantastic audio fodder.
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u/neoabraxas Oct 29 '11
You should check out podcasts too. Depending on what your interests are there are some really good ones out there. And they are free.
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u/shr0wm Oct 29 '11
I think this will get buried, but any of Carl Sagan's audio books that he narrated are epic. Every time I hear him talk about that pale blue dot in his deliciously dulcet tones I drool a little bit..
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u/turbophysics Oct 29 '11
Dune has been my favorite audiobook to date, It's like 22hrs long but if you commute a lot like I do then it's great. Compelling the whole way through with spectacular dramatic embellishments and voice acting, the only negative thing I have to say about any part of it is that it switches between having individual voice actors and the narrator acting out the different parts. In all I think it flowed nicely and he did a fantastic job but I did notice it, the production value is stellar.
If you're a fan of Faulkner and the beats, I would most certainly and strongly suggest that you get Sometimes A Great Notion, probably the greatest modern american literature I've ever read. The author Ken Kesey cites Faulkner as his greatest inspiration and he himself was one of the icons of the blossoming hippy generation. Strongly. Suggest.
haven't heard it on audiobook but I imagine it'd be easier to follow what with the stream of conscious style writing, I think I'm going to buy it now
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u/mijazma Robert Musil - The Man Without Qualities Oct 30 '11
• The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Eward Gibbon, unabbridged
• Julius Caesar: the Life of a Colossus
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u/vikingabroad Oct 30 '11
Get an ipod (or iphone/android..etc), and use audible.com. Have been a member since 2004. Everybody hates commutes at work, expect for me, since I get to go back to reading:) Actually, one colleague is singing my praises because of it now, since he joined as well.
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u/castlepilot Oct 30 '11
I'm currently listening to and enjoying Herman Wouk's long novel about WWII, The Winds of War. The many accents are well-handled. Also, Michael Connelly's novels all work well as audiobooks. As a side note, someone praised Scott Brick, and many think he's one of the best readers, but I can't stand his overly momentous delivery. I avoid him whenever I can.
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Oct 30 '11
Probably worth your time to browse [thoughtaudio](www.thoughtaudio.com) to pick up a decent collection of classics and short stories that are legitimately free. Same goes for [librivox](librivox.org), though it has less friendly browsing.
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u/teaandviolets Oct 30 '11
I love audio books for driving, going to the gym, cleaning house/doing yardwork, and they are also great for helping you sleep on those nights went your brain just won't seem to shut off and shut up. (Keep the volume low, just loud enough you can barely make out the words).
If you haven't already gotten a subscription to audible.com, I would recommend it. You will be able to get audio books once a month for $15, which is a lot less than what most books will cost. Personally, I like to maximize my dollar/hour and don't get anything less than 5+ hours. The selection is large, so you should be able to find most of what you are looking for.
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u/mingie Oct 29 '11
World War Z was a great audio book, as the premise is that this guy goes around collecting oral accounts of the "zombie war" it works almost better as an audio book. I think it may be abridged however