Can You Recommend Some Great Audiobooks?
Sunday, 9th November 2008 (by J.D.)This article is about Odds and Ends
When I was working at the box factory, I had a half hour commute every morning and every afternoon. I used this time to listen to audiobooks, going through about two per month.
Apparently, last winter I signed up for a one-year account at Audible. (I don’t remember doing this!) Since I haven’t been driving to work, I haven’t been listening to audiobooks, but now I have 18 credits that expire in ten days! I could use some recommendations.
I’ve listened to about 100 audiobooks over the past five years. My favorites include the Aubrey-Maturin novels, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Cloud Atlas, and The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series. I tend to like classics (Thomas Hardy, Charles Dickens, Willa Cather) and motivational books (Dale Carnegie, etc.). I’m open to anything, really, as long as it’s good in audio format.
Help me keep my book credits — and the $229.50 I don’t remember spending — from going to waste! (And, yes, I’ll cancel the auto-renewal as soon as I download these books…)
P.S. Yes, obviously this is off-topic…
I love to listen to anything from David Sedaris at work. Sometimes I’ll laugh out loud at my desk he’s so funny.
I don’t listen to audiobooks, but my husband is an artist & loves to listen to them while he paints. I was also going to suggest David Sedaris. One of his favorite is Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. You could also do the Harry Potter books if you haven’t read them.
If you like the really well written fantasy/comedy then try Terry Pratchett with Stephen Briggs narrating. Terry Pratchett is our favourite. My family has most of his work. “Thou Shall Prosper” by Rabbi Daniel Lapin is great too. My family owns a painting company and they use audible books a lot on their Nanos. “The Screwtape Letters” narrated by John Cleese is interesting. If you like Vampires then try “Pandora” by Anne Rice.
I’d suggest the Pulitzer Prize winning ‘A Confederacy of Dunces.’ I purchased it and was amazed by the voice acting, not to mention that it’s a great novel.
From Wiki:
“A Confederacy of Dunces is a novel written by John Kennedy Toole, published in 1980, 11 years after the author’s suicide. The book was published through the efforts of writer Walker Percy (who also contributed a revealing foreword) and Toole’s mother Thelma Toole, quickly becoming a cult classic, and later a mainstream success. Toole posthumously won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981. It is an important part of the ‘modern canon’ of Southern literature.”
I love the way Jim Dale read classics. He has a few out now, and some on Audible as I recall.
I also liked “Once upon a Town” by Bob Greene,
Anything by Neil Gaiman is good. He tends to get really excellent readers for his books. Lenny Henry did Anansi Boys, I forget who did American Gods but it’s good. Gaiman also read his books Coraline and The Graveyard Book and he’s a natural at it.
You might try Mike Leonards “The Ride of our Lives.” It was a PBS special about an american family trip across the states. If you want heavy duty listening, try one of Ronald Kessler audio tapes, such as Inside the CIA.
Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott
I second the Terry Pratchett suggestion — just recently listened to the latest, Making Money, after I got tired of my sons’ garbled reading of their favorite sections to me when driving. LOVED it! The entire Harry Potter series is great as well.
Elantris - Brandon Sanderson
just out on audio book. great fantasy book. (better than Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell in my humble opinion of course)
I enjoyed “Eifelheim”. It’s an SF story with a dual storyline (one in contemporary US and the other in medieval Germany). And it’s very well read.
I’ve heard really great things about the Patrick O’Brian books about Aubrey and Maturin, the series the movie “Master and Commander” was based on. The first one is “Master and Commander”.
The best audiobooks I’ve heard in quite a while were C.S. Lewis’s Narnia series. A friend let me borrow them, and the narration was great.
If you’ve already read the books, and are just looking for something inspirational, try the final book, “The Last Battle”. It’s narrated by Patrick Stewart (yeah, Capt. Picard), and is quite possibly the best narration out there (for any audiobook I’ve heard). Highly recommended.
You might find the following links helpful (I did):
http://ask.metafilter.com/15026/
http://ask.metafilter.com/95955/
JD,
Just wondering … why don’t you donate those audible points to someone who deserves them? Or why don’t you gift audiobooks to your friends for the holidays? I mean, look at it this way: you don’t recollect spending time/effort/money subscribing to audible, plus with the holidays coming up fast, you will need gifts for people you like. It’s a win-win situation … you don’t have to spend money all over again … and your gift-receivers would be happy with the gifts. What books should you get for your friends/family? The books that YOU like/liked and think that they should listen/enjoy them.
Just a thought!
Mahesh
I enjoyed the (free) Librivox recording of “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde ( http://librivox.org/the-picture-of-dorian-gray-by-oscar-wilde/ ).
I bought Ender’s Game from Audible a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. It’s one of my favorite books of all time, and the voice acting was especially excellent on this audio book. If you are a science fiction fan at all, you’ve probably already read this (it’s a sci-fi classic), but I highly recommend giving the audio book a listen anyway.
Which of the various Aubrey-Maturin audiobooks do you like? There are a few versions.
Thanks.
Guns, Germs and Steel –> AWESOME on audiobook
Also, Treasure Island was good . . .
As a side note, some public libraries now offer free audiobook downloads via the web to library card holders. San Diego Public Library is one example.
Don’t buy anything you can get for free from http://librivox.org/ …
-Wm
I highly recommend The Historian. I listened to it on audiobook and was completely entranced by it. It’s very long, but you’ll be sad when it ends.
So many great comments already, some of which are (unintentionally) hilarious. In no particular order:
1. Luneray, Eifelheim is my default link for constructing Amazon links for any of my sites. I’ve never read the book, but somehow that URL ended up as my base that I build from, as many readers have discovered (because I sometimes forget to change the ISBN).
2. Mahesh, I didn’t know I could donate Audible points. That’s an interesting idea. I may do it. But I’m a big enough reader, that I’m interested in keeping these myself if I can.
3. Chris, one of those Ask Metafilter links you posted is actually my question from three years ago!
4. Craig, I actually have Confederacy of Dunces in my collection!
5. I’m not a huge Pratchett or Gaiman fan, believe it or not. I should be, but I don’t like either one. (I thought Neverwhere was awful.) I could give them a try on audio, I suppose.
6. David Sedaris is a great suggestion!
7. Rachel, I like the Aubrey-Maturin books narrated by Patrick Tull. I think Patrick Tull is brilliant.
Thanks, everyone, for your recommendations so far. I don’t like hijacking this space for non-personal finance stuff. I try not to do it often. You’re very good to humor me.
Hapiness, by Tal Ben Shahar. He is a Harvard professor that teaches the most popular class at Harvard that teaches students how to find true hapiness, and guess what……………according to him you don’t have to be rich to be happy. There are a few parts that seem a little hokey, but oveall a great addtion to any collection.
I am an Audible subscriber myself, and I like the service. The books I’ve really like so far that I’ve got from Audible are:
Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything (or anything Bryson ever wrote, ever)
Elyn Saks’ The Center Cannot Hold (I could not “put it down”, a good example of riveting nonficiton)
Jerome Groopman’s Hose Doctors Think (helpful to anyone who sees doctors frequently)
Val McDermid’s A Distant Echo (just a good thriller!)
I’ll second David Sedaris! My favorite is Me Talk Pretty One Day.
Sci-fi comedy: Anything by Douglas Adams. I had most of his stuff on tape at some point.
Fantasy: Why not Tolkien?
Go for the Gusto: War and Peace (does anyone have the guts to even make this an audiobook?)
Poetry: The Song of Hiawatha (this would make a good audiobook, maybe)
I haven’t listened to many audiobooks since my commute went from 2 hours to 5 minutes, but I really enjoyed the works of Philip K. Dick and P.G. Wodehouse’s Jeeves books from my local library. Don’t know any of the details, but they were quite entertaining…
I am a long time and continuing audible customer, having listened to over 150 audio books. In fact I very much enjoyed Cloud Atlas myself.
If you enjoy classics, several of Jane Austen’s novels are availalbe at Audible. I can personally recommend “Emma” and “Mansfield Park”, both of which were wonderful and very well produced. Cormac McCarthy’s book “All the Pretty Horses” is also worth the time and “Lolita”, read by Jeremy Irons is fantastic. I second the earlier recommendation of “A Confederacy of Dunces” as well.
Finally I would recommend “His Excellency”, “Alexander Hamilton” and “The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.” (which includes several very powerful recordings of Dr. King’s speeches and sermons) if you are at all interested in compelling and inspiring historical biography.
My husband and I recently listened to “The Great Train Robbery” by Michael Crichton. It was a fascinating and well-written Dickensian heist story, with a lot of history thrown in. Very well narrated too.
Areas of my Expertise by Hodgman (yes, PC in “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC”);
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.
“The Big Over Easy” and “The Fourth Bear” by Jasper Fforde are great books. I listened to The Fourth Bear as I drove from Pittsburgh to San Francisco, and it kept my attention the whole time. These are intelligent and witty books, that incorporate well known fairy tales into the real world - resulting in entertaining, yet poignant stories.
I enjoyed Ellen’s audiobook, “It’s Always Something.”
Blink - Malcolm Gladwell
Anything by Malcome Gladwell for that matter.
Freakonomics
Jack - Jack Welch (former GE CEO)
Good to Great - Jim Collins
Anything by Jim Collins
Five Dysfunctions of a CEO - Patrick Lencioni
Anything by Pat Lencioni
Anything by John Piper they might have, but especially Desiring God.
Confessions of an Economic Hitman
Into Thin Air
Snowball : Warren Buffet Story
John Hodgman - Areas of My Expertise
Narrated by John and it is hilarious!
All the King’s Men.
It’s a little slow to start, but it gets absolutely fantastic. I can’t recommend it enough.
I tend to pick books based on the reader -
Anything read by Dick Hill, Barbara Rosenblat, Lorilei King.
And I second the suggestion of Harry Potter - they come alive with Jim Dale’s reading.
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party by M.T. Anderson is brilliant. It’s an extremely dark, extremely awesome story set just before and during the Revolutionary War, liberty, and property. It won the National Book Award. I have heard the sequel is as good, though it just came out and my library holds are backed up. I do not know how well the audio versions are read (I read incessantly but dislike audiobooks), but they appear to be unabridged.
Avoid spoilers if at all possible. No, really, I mean it.
I’ve got a fantastic recommendation for you, about a sad-sack middle-aged schlub who one day hops on the bike from his teen years, and starts on a cross-country trek! (obviously never heard of getting fit slowly).
best of all the story of the book is heart-warming as well: the author couldn’t get it published, but he worked as a narrator at an audio book company, and they published his book in audio format BEFORE he ever got a print contract… which happened after Stephen King listened to the book & praised it to the heavens.
the book? Memory of Running, by Ron McLarty. I promise you’ll love it.
I third John Hodgman’s The Areas of My Expertise. And if you’re interested in trying out some Neil Gaiman (also recommended) before you buy, his short story, A Study in Emerald might still be floating around on the net.
Yes to all David Sedaris. Also, anything by Sarah Vowell. My husband and I have both enjoyed “the Curious Incident of the Dog in the nighttime” by Mark Haddon, “Boomsday” by Christopher Buckley, “Rant” by Chuck Palahniuk, “Wickett’s Remedy” by Myla Goldberg and the “Memory of Running” by Ron McLarty.
I don’t know if anyone above me has made this recommendation, but Dean Karnazas the “Ultra Marathon Man” has released one of his books on tape; Confessions of a Midnight Runner. It’s inspiring, even if you’re not a runner. He is the perfect spokesperson for how fulfilling an adventurous life can be if you only give yourself the chance.
World War Z by David Brooks (Son of Mel)
A surprisingly well written and intriguing book about how different governments and regions of the world would react if a zombie outbreak actually happened. Okay as a book, but phenomenal as an audiobook due to David Brooks’ celebrity connections through his father, Mel Brooks.
Why Not? by Nalebuff
Predictably Irrational by Ariely
Sway by Brafman
Made to Stick by Heath
Collapse by Diamond
Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis
A Long Way Gone by Beah
I’ve been listening to books on the way to work also (got the books from the library). I started listening to some history books, something good for me that I might not read otherwise. This has been fascinating. I’ve read the following:
FOUNDING BROTHERS: THE REVOLUTIONARY GENERATION by JOSEPH J. ELLIS
JOHN ADAMS by DAVID MCCULLOUGH (the basis of the HBO miniseries)
1776 by DAVID MCCULLOUGH
HIS EXCELLENCY: GEORGE WASHINGTON by JOSEPH J. ELLIS
Along with 1776, I listened to a historical novel covering the same period:
GLORIOUS CAUSE by JEFF SHAARA
This has been quite educational and interesting. And puts some current events into perspective.
You spent $230 dollars one something you don’t remember? Is this GetRichSlowly or GetPoorIndistinctly?
I highly recommend Shalimar the Clown. Incredible production values and a fascinating story.
We can turn this into a personal finance recommendation. If you have a library card number, you may be able to check out audio books from online…I’m able to do it from Poland. I can download 6 books a week.
Once they are transferred to my device, they don’t expire, but otherwise, after 2 weeks, I think it is, they expire, and I can’t listen to them without redownloading them. They do allow some of them to be burned to cds.
So, in order to relate this to personal finance…don’t pay for something you can get from your public library for free!
Here’s my link from our local public library…http://digitalbooks.tblc.org/56029252-B1D5-4E04-8DFE-78A22388EFC0/10/285/en/Default.htm so you can see what I’m talking about.
Just in case you didn’t know.
You can download audio books from your local public library, so make sure you don’t buy one of the ones you can download for free. Make sure you check it out. Here’s our local library’s link for comparison. I’m reasonably sure it is around the country.
http://digitalbooks.tblc.org/56029252-B1D5-4E04-8DFE-78A22388EFC0/10/285/en/Default.htm
Another SciFi entry:
Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan.
Basic premise: The brain can be digitalized.
Read to find out the consequences for society: Why feed criminals when you can put their brains on hard-disks and sell the bodies? Why travel when you can email yourself? What about the soul? Why not live forever?
This is all couched in a detective story plot where an assassinated man hires our protagonist to foil future murder attempts.
Richard Morgan’s books are wonderfully well-written and present a full universe with slang and history, not just an oddball world for the action (as much bad scifi does).
Enjoy!
I second Bill Bryson’s “Short History Of Nearly Everything”. It’s a good one.
I also recently listened to “Shawshank Redemption”. The narrator sounded uncannily like Morgan Freeman so that was a great listen.
The best audiobook I’ve ever listed to is This Sceptred Isle. This was a BBC series about the history of Britain from the Romans to the present day. It’s hundreds of hours long (in multi-volumes, so would use up your credits nicely) and really fascinating - if you wanted something completely different!
For our 9000 mile round trip drive from Arizona to Alaska & back, Harry Potter kept my wife and I sane along the Alaskan Highway.
Get the British version, with Stephen Fry narrating. Phenomenal.
“Hot Flat and Crowded” by Thomas Friedman. I’m listening to it now, pretty interesting non-fiction and well-read.
‘Surely you’re joking Mr. Feynman’ is superb. Autobiography of Nobel prize winning Richard Feynman, he lead a very interesting life
The Harry Potter books are wonderful on audio book.
Audible downloads I’ve loved lately:
Any of PD James’ crime novels. If you like a crime novel which is more of a psychological/literary novel than a thriller.
The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins (Controversial, I know, but he’s a great reader and the book is very entertainingly written)
Under Milk Wood - the dramatisation with Richard Burton.
It’s All Too Much - Peter Walsh (very good motivational listening while decluttering)
Also, have you considered any of the Michel Thomas audio-only language courses? In my experience they’re the very best way to get a handle on a new language quickly.
Finally, if anyone in the UK is reading this, a warning. If you subscribe to the monthly plan *here* and you don’t use your audio credit in that month, it disappears! I was stung by this, and lost several months of credit because I thought it’d just accumulate.
There’s this really good audio, although it is rare and hard to find. Come to think of it, you can get it for free. It’s called “The Money Tape”. It is really inspiring. I’d just suggest coping with the MLM stabs, not falling for any sales pitch, and then listening to the tape over and over.
Caleb
http://www.mefinanciallyfree.blogspot.com
I’ll put in a plug for one of the best audio-books I’ve listened to in a while:
Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman
The autobiography of Richard Feynman, physicist and crazy character. Unfathomably more entertaining than you’d expect an autobiography of a physicist to be.
-gumnos
Sedaris is a great suggestion, not only because his are great/funny books, but he reads his own stuff for the audio books and his deadpan delivery is hilarious. Confederacy of Dunces is one of my favorite books of all time, so that’s also a good one. One of my favorite novels ever is Middlesex, so I would suggest that one if you haven’t read it already. Don’t know how good the audio version is though.
One of the few audiobooks I’ve listened to is Stephen King’s The Gunslinger, which was amazing.
george r.r martin’s series without a doubt. THE best fantasy novels ever written. each book is about 40-50 hours worth of listening, and the narrator Roy Dotrice is superb. the first book in the series is “A Game Of Thrones”. Patrick O’ Brian has always been my favourite author, but GRRM comes in a very close 2nd.
the only problem i see is that with only 10 days to download your books, you’ll possibly get the first book in the series, then after listening to it, you’ll have to rejoin to get the rest. then you’re back to square one. good luck. p.s. go to audible and read the reviews.
I definitely agree with everyone that David Sedaris is one way to go. Also, Sarah Vowell is fun nonfiction. I really enjoyed Assassination Vacation. Two of my favorite thriller authors are Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. The write solo and together (better together in my opinion). My favorite from them was STILL LIFE WITH CROWS. Both my husband and best friend who had never listened to audiobooks before LOVED it!!! My friend reads and has read all of their other books and my husband is waiting for me to get the others on audio.
Love, love, love your site! Keep up the great work and I wish you much success.
Jacci
Here’re a few audiobooks that I really enjoyed, not just because of the story but because of the reading/performing, also:
Bill Bryson - A Short History of Nearly Everything, In a Sunburned Country
Mark Haddon - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime
Orson Scott Card - Ender’s Game
E.H. Gombrich - A Little History of the World
Yann Martel - The Life of Pi
Some books I’ve listened to as audiobooks that I loved:
Between, Georgia by Joshilyn Jackson
A Slight Trick of the Mind by Mitch Cullin
The Thirteeth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven by Fannie Flagg
Based on your reading preferences, some books I loved reading in hard copy (but never listened to so I can’t attest to the audiobook reading quality):
Mr. Timothy by Louis Bayard
The Black Tower by Louis Bayard
Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys and the Battle for America’s Soul by Karen Abbott
The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant
I’m mostly a self help listener and have been listening to audiobooks for years, here are some of my favorites:
All Your Worth- By the Tyagis
Any of the “50 classics”
Life’s Greatest Lesson- Hal Urban
A Short History of Nearly Everything- Bill Bryson
Life Matters- The Merrills
The Road Less Traveled- M. Scott Peck
Today Matters- Maxwell (anything by Maxwell)
I have many others in my audible collection but these are the real gems.
If you can only try one of them try Today Matters.
Good luck.
Tim
Super Crunchers
Fooled by Randomness
The Black Swan
Freakonomics
Tipping Point
The above are all “popular business non-fiction”.
Otherwise, I’d suggest finding authors and books you already like and just grabbing some of their work “for the future”. (I.e., I really like Snow Crash, so I wouldn’t mind having an audio book of that for a random long car trip somewhere..)
I don’t know if Audible has them, but Stephen King’s “Dark Tower” series is quality listening time from start to finish. An excellent series of novels, read by the man himself.
I have listened to lots, but Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson is the best.
Jim Butcher- Harry Dresden books. The first book in the series is Storm Front.
The Dark Tower Series is fantastic to second Dominic’s opinion. I never heard the Stephen King readings of the book but the ones from Penguin audio are great.
I’m also a fan of the Ender Series - Start with Ender’s Game.
The Mist, also by Stephen King used to scare the crap out of me as a kid - only ever heard the audiobook.
P.G. Wodehouse is good - I like “leave it to psmith”
Also, consider Predictably Irrational.
By now, I’m fourth or fifthing David Sedaris. I’ve only listened to his books, never read them, and have heard that reading them is not nearly as enjoyable as listening to them … he adds so much humor with his inflections.
Ayn Rand
Atlas shrugged. Truley epic.
Some items I’ve enjoyed (a few have been mentioned already):
The Last Lecture - By Randy Pausch. This was surprisingly funny, and touching. Also a quick listen at a little over 4 hrs.
Assassination Vacation - Sarah Vowell. I LOVED this audio book, and can’t recommend it enough. It’s about the assassination of Lincoln, Garfield, and Mckinley, and Sarah Vowell’s touristy trips to visit important landmarks in connection to them.
1776 - David McCollough. Another surprisingly entertaining history book.
Manhunt: The 12 day hunt for Lincoln’s killer - James L. Swanson. Non-fiction about the Lincoln assassination and the manhunt for Boothe. I got this after reading Vowells “Assassination Vacation” and was enthralled. It’s surprisingly fast paced. I really think they could turn this into a great action movie.
Hope this helps.
James Marsters read some Jim Butcher books (Stormfront is the first one, I can’t remember the others) and it was awesome!
Jim Dale, who reads the Harry Potter books also does an amazing job.
You could also look into some non-fiction - Michael Pollan’s books (which I’ve read but not heard and are great) are available in audio format!
I like BBC radio dramas and the radio versions of 1930’s movies (try Lux Radio Theater) - they ‘re read by full casts, often with sounds effects, and are easier for me to follow than a single person narration. They’re also packed with drama, suspense and all that good stuff. Also, old time radio shows - love them! Audible seems to have a decent selection of all of the above.
I would suggest “Team of Rivals” a book about Abraham Lincoln appointing his opposition to his cabinet. Very interesting. I would also suggest anything by John Steinbeck, particularly “East of Eden”.
I second “A Game of Thrones.” Also “The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of The Oxford English Dictionary” by Simon Winchester. One of those books that made me want to take the long way to work.
They’ve already been mentioned, but these were all very good:
Harry Potter (all 7 books)
Narnia (all books)
The Hobbit
The Lord of the Rings
I like fantasy, so that’s what you get if you ask me for opinions.
Of them, The Hobbit was the most surprising because I hadn’t really liked it when I read it. But I enjoyed it much more when it was read aloud.
Stephen King’s Dark Tower Series
George RR Martin - The Song of Ice and Fire Series
Stephen King - The Shawshank redemption (this one STAYS on my mp3 player)
If you like baseball (and don’t hate the red sox), Faithful, by stephen king and stuart o’nan. I couldn’t care less about baseball or the Sox, but it was a good listen. They ended up writing about the Sox first world series win in like 80 years.
The Talisman and Dark House - by Stephen King
Nobody’s fool (forgot the author) - A movie was done with Paul newman, Bruce Willis et al. Another good story
OH! And the Kidd novels (same author as the “Prey” [Naked prey, hidden prey etc..] books)
Fool’s Run
The Empress File
Devil’s code
The hangedman’s Song
These four books are a great read. A little dated now, but an enjoyable antagonist with a serious computer/technology bent that operates on the questionable side of the law.
@Damian
Oh yes. I forgot about Snow crash. Excellent choice.
A second for Atlas Shrugged. Its great as an audiobook (especially on a long trip in the car!) Get the version read by Christopher Hurt.
What a great thread of comments - I’m an audible member too, and am always looking for the next great audio book…the reader matters as much as the text, so I appreciate all the great recos here!
Shadow Divers - Most gripping audiobook I’ve ever heard. Listened to this one on an 8-hour road trip, and upon arrival, sat in the car to continue listening for another 20min.
Neil Gaiman’s catalog - Any of them. They are all excellent.
His Dark Materials Trilogy, Phillip Putnum - these are done as an audio play, and a very fun listen.
Animals in Translation - Fascinating book about how animals think. Good non-fiction choice - I learned a lot about my dog from this book.
And finally, while I love Terry Pratchett, skip him on audio…there is something very lulling in the reader who does all of his stuff, and it makes me very sleepy.
Shadow Divers is really great Jenn. Mr Chiot’s and I loved that (we listened to it on a drive somewhere once).
I agree with the person above who recommend The Chronicles of Narnia series. As far as I’m concerned, they’re not just for children. I borrowed my parents’ awhile back (they originally bought them to listen to whilst driving around Ireland), and in addition to being great books, they are VERY well done in audio. It’s the kind of thing that you could listen to over and over again over the years. (I think you’re never too old for Narnia.)
I really enjoyed “Heat.” It’s a nonfiction tale of what it’s like for a nonprofessional cook to work in restaurant kitchens with the masters. Very cool.
If you liked Alexander McCall Smith’s Number One Ladies Detective Agency series you should try his other series:
The Sunday Philosophy Club- 5 books released, don’t know how many have made it to audio yet
44 Scotland Street- also 5 releases
Both are as entertaining and have the same endearing voice as the Detective series- just set in Scotland instead of Botswana! I dearly hope Mr. McCall Smith remains as prolific as he’s been the past few years.
I’ll second the nomination of “World War Z”, but it’s by Max Brooks, not David Brooks. It is one of the best audiobooks I have ever heard. The story is engaging and the production quality is top notch.
Right now I’m listening to Mary Roach’s _Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex_. It’s sometimes laugh out loud hilarious. I also recently listened to Salman Rushdie’s latest, _The Enchantress of Florence_ - the narrator has a few distracting vocal habits, but it’s a great story.
I listen to a lot of books, because my job is data entry and I’d go insane if it weren’t for audio books. (I do check them out for free at the library though.)
The best one I heard all year was “A Dirty Job” by Christopher Moore. The narration was terrific, the story was hilarious, and the irony was outstanding. Just the dialog between the main character and his “mentor” Minty Fresh is worth the price of the book.
The one I’m listening to right now is awesome. Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. I’m telling everyone about it.
I would highly recommend The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It is one of the most exquisitely written books I’ve ever read and the narrator does an excellent job. It is being sold as a young adult novel in the U.S., but don’t be deceived. This book is a must-read (or listen!) for adults as well.
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. Peter Jackson is making a movie from this one.
I liked “The book of lost things” and
Since Christmas is around the corner if you are looking for some lite reading try “a Christmas Caroline”(Devil wears prada meets scrooge). I have heard both of these in audio format.
It looks like you have plenty of recommendations but I have a few good ones. Sometimes great books are made incredible by who is reading them - Motherless Brooklyn performed by Steve Buscemi, To Kill a Mockingbird performed by Sissy Spacek, Everything is Illuminated by i don’t know but it is one of the funniest performances of great material ever. Other great (and well-performed) audio books I wholeheartedly recommend are: The English Passengers (funniest book on colonialism ever), Their Eyes Were Watching God, anything written and read by Toni Morrison, and The Known World (a recent masterwork). Enjoy!
Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential. Great book and Anthony does a really good job reading it as well.
Also, The World is Flat - if you haven’t read it yet.
This isn’t less money, but you could change your subscription to the one for 9.95 annually, your credits wouldn’t expire, and you could use them without pressure.
Just a different thought.
I’m sure this list will keep you going for years, but I also listened to part of “Blue Highways” by William Least Heat Moon, and it was excellent. It’s a chronicle of the main character’s road trip around the country, sticking to smaller roads and byways.
Getting Things Done is good to read every few months so you don’t fall off the wagon. I have the audiobook so I can listen in a few hours every few months. Might be a good one for you.
Also look at their business, management, self help, and financial books - these are the type you like to read anyway.
Colleen McCullough’s First Man in Rome series. Plus, Stephen King loves audiobooks and always does his up right.
I really like the Ender’s Game series. It’s read by Scott Brick, who also read “In Defense of Food”. I really enjoy this readings, and have begun to look for works read by him.
If you’re serious about -wanting- to like Terry Pratchett, try The Wee Free Men. I listened to it on the train this summer and loved it. I’m not a huge Pratchett fan, but this young adult book captivated, and the reading was really well done.
I find that Nick Hornby’s books are best read aloud. His voice becomes clearer, I think. Go for his fiction - High Fidelity or About a Boy - or, if you can find it, Fever Pitch, non-fiction about being a football (soccer) fan.
I also recommend the Dresden books, by Jim Butcher. The books are good and with James Marsters reading you can’t go wrong.
As so many others have said, David Sedaris’ work is just so much funnier when he reads it himself. I find his books a little ho-hum to read, but read aloud, he’s among the best humorists.
So happy to see “A Dirty Job” by C. Moore & “The Book Thief” by M. Zusak recommended. Both are outstanding though vastly different. “The Book Thief” should be required reading! “A Dirty Job” is laugh out loud funny!! Fisher Stevens read it & IS Charlie Asher.
May I also suggest: Their Eyes are Watching God by Nora Zeale Hurston (get the version narrated by Ruby Dee) FABULOUS!
Invisible Wall: a love story that broke barriers by Harry Bernstein (true story, set in England, pre WWI about a neighborhood where one side of the street is Jewish & the other Christian; very interesting dynamic especially when two of the mix fall in love.)
Haven Kimmel’s two memoirs. Listen & you’ll understand.
Life & Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson (you can’t really go wrong with Bill Bryson, one of the best travel writes out there; this is more of a memoir than travelogue but fun; also check out his other books: I’m a Stranger Here Myself Notes on Returning to American after 20 Years, A Walk in the Woods (about the Appalachian trail); Notes from a Small Island (about living in Britain). I love his stuff.
Garlic & Sapphires by Ruth Reichl (a fascinating story about a food critic in NYC & how she dressed up in different disguises which acentuated different parts of her personality, not always the good ones)
Gentleman & Players by Joanne Harris (a gripping mystery tale at an english boarding school with a surprise ending)
Unfinished Life by Mark Spragg (a surprisingly good story about a young woman who returns to the small town where she grew up to her child’s father’s,who’s dead, home to escape an abusive boyfriend)
Stolen Child by Keith Donahue (This is a clever, original book told from two POV. It is a story about goblins who kidnap small, unhappy children & replace them with one of their own who also was kidnapped before. A very viscious cycle but fascinating and intriguing.)
And of course the HP series is fantastic. So is the Outlander series read by Davina Porter, this may be out of your genre.
I know others have recommended David McCullough’s books please don’t skip “The Path between the Seas” about the building of the Panama Canal.
Enjoy!
I didn’t read all of the comments as there are so many. I like audio books as well but the cheap way to go about doing this is to go to the library and getting them for free.
Big Russ & Me by Tim Russert. Self narrated. It was great to be transported back in time and hear Tim’s steady voice tells the stories of his life.
I loved cloud atlas. Here are some picks:
FICTION
Life of Pi
Siddhartha
Anathem
Anything by Terry Pratchett
NON-FICTION
The power of Now
The four agreements
I’ve liked:
The Assault on Reason by Al Gore
Our Endangered Values by Jimmy Carter
Freakonomics
If you can get them as audiobooks I highly recommend Philip Pullmans Trilogy: His Dark Materials. 1. The Northern Lights/The Golden Compass, 2. The Subtle Knife and 3. The Amber Spyglass
I heard about them from the BBC 2003 “The Big Read” event where they took 3rd place. http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtml.
Whilst there are teen fantasy themes there are some brilliant underlying adult ones, specifically religious aspects and the discussion of the role of Church and God in society. They are truly the best books I have EVER read.
If you like mystery/thriller, I would highly recommend anything by James Patterson. The range of voices used in each book, the suspenseful music, and sound effects make them very engaging. I listen to them on my 6-hour road trips (one way) to visit my brother, and hate to get interrupted by a phone call! On my last road trip, I was listening to Patterson’s latest, SAIL, and actually flinched when I heard the “click” of the gun trigger firing on an empty chamber!
Life of Pi
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy–all 3 of the trilogy–READ BY THE AUTHOR, not the BBC broadcast (although that’s a good listen too)
Any James Lee Burke novel
The Philip Pullman Trilogy
A Wrinkle in Time–we first listened to this with the kids during a long road trip; thought the author’s {Madelaine L’Engel) lisp was going to drive us insane but got very caught up in the story and her lisp seemed right, somehow– I know this is considered children’s literature but it is pretty deep stuff.
The Janet Evanovich novels are HILARIOUS
Anthony Bourdain’s book about traveling around the world eating food.
I really like work by Augusten Burroughs, particularly I enjoyed “magical thinking”. I also liked “on intelligence” by Jeff Hawkins. “On writing” by Stephen King was pretty good too.
Have fun listening!
Weighing in late here, but if you liked Master and Commander, and you like Science Fiction, you might like Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series.
Think Master and Commander on with Dragons. The Narrator (whose name I can’t recall) is entertaining and very good.
Also, if you can find just about anything narrated by Paul McGann (Fluke is really good, or the British version of the Sharpe books)
I second (third?) Shadow Divers - absolutely gripping!
Anything by Neil Gaiman - particularly American Gods, but really anything.
I also second the Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett - entertaining and funny (I’m not the biggest fan of other Pratchett audio books, but this is an exception).
Ken Follett’s historical fictions - Pillars of the Earth and World Without End - absorbing and long (in a good way).
If you want something I found very inspirational and motivating you should try The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolley.
Honestly I found his voice and the chimes to be pretty weird at first, but besides that the content is great.
I highly recommend all the Dresden books. I love this series.
The Lincoln Rhyme series by Jeffrey Deaver is another great series and the reader is good.
Anything by Daniel Silva is great for a good international mystery series. Gabriel Allon is a great character and the books are well written.
Some of the Robert Ludlum books are also great to listen to.
Another good book is “The Company” about the CIA it’s a long read but it was a good one.
Even though I loved reading the books I personally did not like the reader for the George R.R. Martin Fire and Ice series.
If your looking for a fantasy series checkout the Belgariad series by David Eddings. It’s pretty good.
For SciFi books I really like the Miles Naismith Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster
Bujold. Super fantastic.
I could go on and on but don’t have enough time. You should post the list of books that you end up getting.
I just read The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, and I saw they had an audio version available.
The story was fantastic if you like family drama and dogs.
three words:
This American Life
You may have already read / listened to this … but Dave Ramsey’s “Total Money Makeover” is definetly a must read!
I second the Temeraire series (unabridged!).
Leo Laporte’s This Week In Tech podcast gets Audible books recommended by guests as the book of the week. They’re up to 167 so far - see here for a site that lists them all http://willhallmusic.com/category/audible/twit/
Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth (40 hours) and World Without End (45 hours) were both amazing. I actually listened to them back to back, they were that good. Definitely a good value, at only one credit each.
Some others that you might enjoy as a way of helping you choose future reading material are 50 Spiritual Classics, 50 Self-Help Classics, and 50 Success Classics. Each one spends about 10 minutes summarizing key books in each of those areas, providing an overview, background on the author, and why this book may or may not be useful to you.
Neil Gaiman’s Anansi Boys. Narrator is note perfect.
All the David McCollough (sp?) books are great on tape! I’m an audio-book-aholic!
Oh,ALL the books in the No. 1 Ladies detective Agency are excellent. Get them all!
Yow–tons of recommendations, here’s one more: Gene Wolfe. I don’t know if his stuff is available on audio, but I loved reading his Book of the New Sun tetralogy. Technically, it’s science fiction, but because it’s such a dark age and because of his use of language, it reads like a cross between science fiction and literature.
I’d definitely second Ender’s Game (and Ender’s Shadow); Surely You’re Joking, Mr Feynman; Life of Pi; and books by Bill Bryson and George R R Martin.
Heh, but to get this on topic, what about Auto University - getting audio books on financial and/or self-help topics, especially ones you go back to regularly for reminders? I’ve hit some prickly times, partially because I got off the basics. I’m going back to books and notes to get back on track. So any of the books you recommend to others, especially ones that would do good to listen to weekly or monthly:
Power of Now by Eckart Tolle
Ask and It Is Given by Esther Hicks
It’s Not About the Money by Brent Kessel
Barney Zick for creative real estate - this guy is hilarious and clever
T Harv Eker is very good too
I am not really a fan of the lord of the rings but on a 16hour car ride someone brought them along on audio tape and I found them to be pretty entertaining. I also like the harry potter audiobooks.
I’m working my way through the unabridged version of Dune on road trips. I don’t usually have the patience for science fiction about imaginary worlds, but I’m really enjoying this story. The link below is to a fairly new audio release that got great reviews for production value.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1427201439
If you talk to the friendly folks at Customer Service, they might help you as they did me…
I paid $10 to have my remaining annual credits extended another year, under some unlisted membership level. Bought me some time to browse for me and ask friends what books they’d like me to send them as gifts.
As for books, my favorite is “American Gods” by Neil Gaiman. “JPod” by Douglas Coupland is excellent. I love the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett, though I’m only 20 in. The better-rated David Sedaris books are fabulous. Relevent to your blog, “Nickled and Dimed” is interesting, though not deep enough for greatness. Same with “Freakonomics”.
If you like biographies, “Kiss Me Like A Stranger” by Gene Wilder is touching. Anthony Bourdain’s “Kitchen Confidential” goes back to his chef days and is good for a cringe and chuckle.
Gregory Maguire rewrites fascinating classic fairy tales told from the opposite view, with extra social and political pessimism. They’re tougher than I expected, but fun to flip sides. “Wicked” the hit Broadway musical is based on his wicked witches of Oz, but the book’s far from the fluffy production.
“Haunted” is the most disturbing book I’ve ever read, if you like screaming and throwing a book across the room to escape its horrors, a la Neverending Story. Hurts so good!
My favorite among the old-school books I think you prefer, is “The Secret Garden”. Good luck with your quest!
Honestly? Anything that you liked reading you will probably like listening to. I have a growing collection of audio books that I am listening to for the first time, but read years ago. Some of them I read 20 years ago, lol.
Listening to a book is a very different experience than reading a book. Like seeing Mama Mia on stage and then on screen. Each have thier merits, but they are very different events!
But since asked: I’ll ‘third’ the Harry Dresden books by Jim Butcher. They are read by James Marsters, and he does an amazing job. Fantasy with a dark humor. I have both read the books and listened to them numerous times.
I enjoyed Rex Pickett’s Sideways. A buddy tale about the wine country in California, made into a movie a couple of years ago.
Anything by Michael Chichton. I enjoyed Timeline, which I just finished.
The Lincoln Rhyme books by Jeffery Deaver are good mysteries. The first one was The Bone Collector (better than the movie, even if Angelina Jolie isn’t in it
)
For Comedy I would recommend Jasper Fford’s Thursday Next series, the first of which is The Eyre Affair. You do not need to have read Jane Eyre to enjoy it, in fact it might be better if you haven’t! Definitely Britsh Humor though.
More Mysteries: James Patterson’s Women’s Murder Club, the first of which is “1st to Die” I believe. Light mystery, but well done.
I could go on… but since you already have over a hundred other suggestions, I’ll stop here!
Another vote for librivox.com I am an audiobook addict, but just cant budget for it and this turns out to be a great solution all around. And dont forget your library, they may have a lot of stuff.
If you are paying, Terry Pratchett is very good on audio book and if you look at harry potter try the British reading, I think its better.
Sissy Spacek reading To Kill a Mockingbird just knocked my socks off. It’s my all-time favorite audiobook.
If you can find Walking Across Egypt by Clyde Edgerton, that narrator does a bang-up job too.
Have fun!!
How about Stephen Covey of ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ fame? I enjoy listening to him in the car.
How lucky!
Two short but wonderful audiobooks:
The Finer Points Of Sausage Dogs by Alexander McCall Smith (a marvellous reading by Hugh Laurie)
Mrs Dalloway - Virginia Woolf (mesmerizing to listen to)
Also, pretty much anything by P G Wodehouse lifts my spirits (ought to be unabridged and not dramatised) ‘Summer Lightening’ is a great introduction to his Blandings series, and it’s difficult to go wrong with the Jeeves and Wooster books.
David Sedaris is hilarious.
If you don’t mind cursing, they did a great job with Feed by MT Anderson. It’s a SF novel about some teens and the “Feed” that’s connected to their brains. It’s a good social commentary on the effect of advertising on today’s youth. That sentence makes it sound boring but it’s very fast paced and they have the “feed” playing in the background so you get a good sense of what the characters are experiencing.
My favorite of all time is Pride and Prejudice read by Flo Gibson. It’s brilliant! One of my favorite novels, and Gibson is a great reader.
There’s also an audiobook series of The Chronicles of Narnia that I quite like. The Horse and His Boy read by Alex Jennings in particular is good.
Enjoy! I love audiobooks.
I have to 2nd the “This American Life” suggestion. If I remember right 1 credit = 1 season of the show, so a whole bunch of episodes.
Also, Josh Waitzkin’s “The Art of Learning”.
I’ve read all of Bill Bryson’s book on Audible and loved every one. Start with “A Walk In the Woods.” Then do “In a Sunburned Country.” He is a great reader! I also loved Amy Tan’s “The Bonesetter’s Daughter.” As for books that have been personally very important to me, “Why People Believe Weird Things,” by Michael Shermer is excellent.
I listened to a book on tape last year called “Hard Love,” about teenage angst… and I thought it would be corny, but it was actually really good. You might like that one. Also I like to listen to comedians on tape, and I got Margaret Cho’s book on tape… it’s her autobiography, though what it’s called is slipping my mind right now. It is definitely crass at some points, but touching, funny, and even tear-jerking at some points.
Not sure if they have it, but I sat in on a meeting with two hedge fund managers this evening. They recommended Influence by Cialdini and Poor Charlie’s Almanack.
I wanted to recommend A Confederacy of Dunces, but see it has been suggested before me. I don’t remember who read the story , but he was amazing, I bought the book after listening to it.
Freakonomics is one of my all time favorites!
The Things They Carried Tim O’Brien
Agent Zigzag Ben MacIntyre
Legacy of Ashes Tim Weiner
The Blind Side Michael Lewis
The Year of Magical Thinking Joan Didion
Fierce Pajamas
Pillars of the Earth & World Without End by Ken Follett — I have both from Audible, and both are absolutely enthralling!
I love anything by Dean Koontz. Another favorite is James Owen. He is an incredibly gifted author.
I recommend the 4 hour version of Hamlet, put out by BBC about a decade or so ago. It features the voice of Kenneth Branagh, who I think is one of the best Shakespearean actors out there.
I also recommend the entire Chronicles of Narnia series, Corrie Ten Boom’s “The Hiding Place,” Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone with the Wind,” and Gary Chapman’s “The Five Love Languages.”
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress Free Productivity by David Allen
Great book on simple time management.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_Things_Done
I recommend “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coehlo.
Based on what you’ve said you like, I will second recommendations for almost anything by Terry Pratchett, and I also strongly recommend Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series, beginning with His Majesty’s Dragon. It combines Napoleonic warfare with dragons in a way that is, surprisingly, plausible, and the dragons are fully-recognized characters with their own problems.
Imagine the Napoleonic wars with an Air Corps!
Check and see if they have a Pillars of the Earth by Kenneth Follett audiobook! It’s a modern classic and by far the best book I’ve read.
One of my favorites that I listened to is Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie. Read by the author in a delightfully lyrical voice. A charming story.
Also An Ordinary Man: an autobiography by Paul Rusesabagina who inspired the film Hotel Rwanda, an excellently written story of how Mr. Rusesabagina, the hotel manager of the Hotel Diplomat and Hotel Milles Collines, owned by the Belgian company Sabena, saved 1200 lives during the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. Better than the movie, though equally tragic. If the reader wasn’t Don Cheadle, it was a man with a wonderful accent.
I started listening to Audio Books about 4 years ago when I wanted to listen to read the Harry Potter novels. The Jim Dale versions were fantastic.
Some of the best “audio books” I listen to are actually seminars. Best one I have ever heard:
JIM ROHN’S WEEKEND EVENT 2004
Full 3 day seminar on productivity, goals, and personal development.
Some other great ones I also listened recently to:
THE AUTOMATIC MILLIONAIRE by David Bach
GOALS by Zig Ziglar
GETTING THINGS DONE FAST by David Allen
RICH DAD POOR DAD and CASH FLOW QUADRANT by Robert Kiyosaki
Predictably Irrational is good, if you like Freakonomics, you’ll find it interesting. And it’s probably a must if you write a PF blog. Also, I liked Mean Genes.
I have to echo others and say that David Sedaris and Bill Bryson (everything by each) are MUSTS, as hearing the humorous reading by the authors is something you can’t miss. If you’ve only read the print versions of the books by these authors, you have to hear the audiobooks. have to. run don’t walk. Some of the Bryson stuff isn’t on audible, and I had to do some hunting. And a couple of his older books weren’t done in audio unfortunately.
I really liked all the Chuck Klosterman books, too. Hilarious. As was Microthrills by Wendy Spero.
Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life, Wayne Dyer (interpretation of the Tao)
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, Edwin Lefevre
iWoz, Steve Wozniak
Nothing’s Sacred, Lewis Black
The Beatles, Hunter Davies
Full Circle, Michael Palin
Fawlty Towers (radio versions!)
The Meaning of Life, and The Art of Happiness, Dalai Lama
Kiss Me Like a Stranger, Gene Wilder
Never Have Your Dog Stuffed, Alan Alda
The Pleasure of Finding Things Out & Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman, R. Feynman
Hughes, Richard Hack (fascinating Howard Hughes bio)
Mozart’s Brain and the Fighter Pilot, R Restak
On Writing, Stephen King
Audible member since march 2000, sorry for long list.
I also listen to audiobooks on my commute. I really enjoyed:
Mornings on Horseback, by D. McCullough (Teddy Roosevelt’s early life)
In Cold Blood, by T. Capote — it was riveting!
The Wal-Mart Effect
And the Earth’s Children series by Jean Auel: Clan of the Cave Bear, Plains of Passage, The Mammoth Hunters, etc.
Also, I have enjoyed everything I’ve listened to that was read by Edward Hermann.
Good to Great and Mavericks at Work (and no the latter is not about Sarah Palin)
JD.
I love Audible and have been a member for years. You can pay about 9 bucks to have the credits extended so you won’t lose them.
Here’s what I have purchased with my credits and enjoyed thoroughly! I love to listen to these books over and over again!
The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch
The Walmart Effect-(you’ll love this)
Blink, by malcom Gladwell
Anything by Seth Godin
Warren Buffet Speaks
Success through a positive Mental Attitude, Napolean Hill
The Go-Giver-bob Burg, (awesome!)
Learning Spanish Like Crazy
The Fountainhead by Ayne Rand
Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough (about TR Roosevelt!)
4 Hour work week, timothy ferris
The Intelligent Investor, Benjamin Graham
The Richest Man in Babylon-George Clason
Man’s Search for Meaning, Victor Frankl.
I listen to a lot of audiobooks, but I’m picky about the readers. My two favorites are:
All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren, read by Michael Emerson
This book is one of my all-time favorites and I’ve read it more than once, but I still got a lot out of the audiobook that I had missed in reading. Michael Emerson does a fantastic job with this.
Sahara by Michael Palin, read by the author
Michael Palin made a TV series about the Sahara, then wrote this book about the experience. This was everything an audiobook should be: fascinating subject, well written, well read.
I agree with everybody else who said you can’t go wrong with This American Life.
The audio archives at mises.org provide for many excellent (free too!) hours of listening, including full audio books. Geared toward Austrian Economics, I think it would be particularly suited to many readers of this blog.
Happy listening!
We have been listening to audiobooks for about 25 years now, my daughter and I. Both of us agree that the reader is critical to our enjoyment of the book.
I have to recommend ‘Old Man’s War’ and ‘The Ghost Brigades’ by John Scalzi.
‘God is My Broker’ and ‘No Way to Treat a First Lady’ by Christopher Moore
I, Robot - read by Scott Brick.
Favorite Readers - Scott Brick, George Guidall aka Alexander Adams, & Fisher Stevens.
Heh! I primarily review books - of all sorts - on my blog. As far as audiobooks?
Freakonomics
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I like Terry Pratchett on Audio but not to read - I think it is the narrator.
If you want a romantic fantasy that is really awesome : Poison Study.
World War Z is AWESOME
Hatred’s Kingdom (about Saudi Arabia)
What Went Wrong (The fall of the Turkish Empire with resonance for today.)
Islam : A Short History
The Frog Princess (great young adult read for the whole family)
Religious Literacy
How Doctors Think
American Theocracy
The Saudis
The Great Influenza (How medicine became what it is today.)
Beyond Belief
Sleeping with the Devil
Understanding Islam
UFOs, JFK, and Elvis (Richard Belzer’s ingenious conspiracy comedy.)
Um… I’m sort of a promiscuous reader.
‘Time Machine’, ‘Scarlet Pimpernel’, ‘War of the Worlds’, ‘Cosmic Computer’ and ‘Moby Dick’. All available from Audio Pod (www.audiopod.ca) with the absolutely best audio book delivery system I have ever seen. A simple ‘drag and drop’ interface with fully automated bookmarks. Also, anything read by Karen Savage or Roy Trumbull is great. I could, and do, listen to them for hours. Rachel (4 years old) really loves Beatrix Potter; Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny, only illustrated audiobook versions, of course, also available from Audio Pod.