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I'm thinking of getting some more audiobooks for listening to in the car, does anyone have any recommendations of what books or stories are particularly good or are well adapted to listening?
In the past I've listended to the Artemis Fowl stories and found that older children's books were great - if you get distracted for a moment you haven't lost the thread and don't have to rewind to figure out what's going on!
I also love the HHGttG so would consider any other radio plays as well!
cheers
Mrs Pondo listens to Stephen Fry reading the Harry Potter books when she goes to sleep, so I get to hear them a lot, and I think they're ace. 🙂
Another Harry Potter listener here. Another bonus is that they're free to download from most libraries in MP3 format.
unfortunately not all available as audiobooks but some are and they are great fun: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flashman_Papers
lots of Alan Bennett stuff available as audiobooks, I like the autobiographical stuff best
also we have the full Lord of the Rings which would cover you for driving to outer Mongolia and back 🙂
Most, if not all, of Joe Abercrombie's books have been made into audiobooks and narrated by Steven Pacey - former 'Blakes 7' actor - he really gives the stories life and gives the characters different voices.
'The First Law' trilogy is particularly good and both adults and kids will get the humour on different levels... though the language can be 'colourful' at times!
If you like Hobbit and Harry Potter I suspect you may well like these.
Listened recently to:
Fry Chronicles - Steven Fry's early autobiography.
It's Only a Movie & Hatchet Job by Mark Kermode
The Secret Race by Tyler Hamilton - interesting listen about the Armstrong drug years and the ways they went about beating the drug testers.
Scary, Monsters and Super Creeps (plus another book that i can't remember which is an autobiography) by Dom Joly, very funny.
In additon to this, if you like Waking Dead and that sort of thing there is a podcast radio show, called "We're alive" from itunes or www.zombiepodcast.com, it is an ongoing show with about 20 hours to listen to so far for free which passes the commute to work.
Gorky park + others by Martin Cruz Smith read be Brian Cox.
Very good.
Also Philip Marlow stories read by Eliot Gould (if you like that kind of thing) the latest ones that were on BBC were even better. not sure of availability though.
Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne is a cracking listen, not a storybook as such but more a philosophical treatise on life and his experiences as he travels round various countries in the world with his folding bike, another good listen is "The Daily Adventures of Mixerman" who is music producer "Eric Sarafin" and the book is a warts and all expose of recording a dysfunctional band with the antics that entails trying to turn a sows ear into a silk purse.
Even if you have no interest in music production it's a brilliant expose of a major record lables expensive cock up
I'm a huge fan of audio books, listen to loads of stuff I wouldn't have 'read' (old and not my usual genre's) and also re-listened to loads of stuff I already owned (I prefer sci-fi). Really like being about to do other stuff and listen to them, eg: when riding alone, it's what I listen to, also there's no need to have both headphones in for audio books vs music. Though I prefer the intimacy of headphones over connecting my phone to the cars speaker system. Loads of great narrators out there, Mr Fry's Harry Potter is great and an almost unbelievable length if you listen to the whole series (not sure he was ready for that when he signed up). I've listened to loads and even tried to 'follow' some but like acting, they don't always get the type of book (roles) you want to read. Scott Brick though is up there, described as the "golden voice" (try justin cronin's "the passage" or even the classic "dune") & have been surprised by the likes of Will Wheaton (John scalzi novels and Ready Player One by Ernest Cline).
Pam Ayres autobiography- the necessary aptitude
She reads it aloud to stop you reading it and doing her voice in your head anyway
Quite entertaining too
On a long journey I sometimes listen to comedians tour CD's.
My favourite is Roy Chubby Brown 😳
Listening to Roy chubby brown for more than the millisecond it takes to recognise who it is and turn it off would resort in an attempt to kill myself by battering my forehead off the steering wheel till i managed to seperate my brain from my spinal cord .
I actually cry tears of laughter.
I love WRONG comedy. Hate politically correct humour.
Alan Partridge