Audiobook recommendations wanted

[NewJeffCT]

I have a pretty long drive to work each day, so I've been passing time listening to audiobooks.

I'm just about done with Stieg Larson's Millenium Series (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its two sequels)

I've been through the audiobooks for A Song of Ice & Fire twice

And, I've also been through the Harry Potter series.

All 3 were read by British guys (Simon Vance, Roy Dotrice and Jim Dale -all excellent)

I also listened to John Slattery of Mad Men fame read "A Farewell to Arms" and Malcolm McDowell read "Brave New World"

Any suggestions for my next book or series of books? Obviously, my preferred genre is fantasy/sci-fi. But, I'm open to mystery/thriller books and others as well.

Thanks

[angstlessk]

1. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is the book that got me

doing audio books....

I just now downloaded A Peoples History of the US by Howard Zinn

[intheflow]

32. I've heard a lot of people say that Girl Gone was a page-turner,

they were disappointed with the ending. In fact, everyone I know who's read it said that. (I work a library, so I've met a lot of people who've read it!) Did you find that to be the case?

[angstlessk]

34. I would say the ending was not disapointing...but rather unexpected...

I am a mystery fan...and of course a democrat who loves liberal things...I now have

A People's History of the United States for ONE CREDIT!

[Baitball Blogger]

2. Someone said that the World War Z's audio book was well done.

[avebury]

3. Audible.com now offers really good audio

readings of The Hobbit and the Fellowship of The Rings Trilogy.

Orson Scott Card is a prolific writer of sci-fi/fantasy books. I would recommend Ender's Game to start with.

Jim Butcher - Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden series. Main character is a fictional detective/wizzard.

[yortsed snacilbuper]

4. Stephen King

The Gunslinger: The Dark Tower I
UNABRIDGED
by Stephen King
Narrated By George Guidall
Length: 7 hrs and 24 mins
Release Date: 10-06-03

[NewJeffCT]

8. Thanks

I snagged that today at the library right near my office.

[yortsed snacilbuper]

22. How's Roland doing,

so far?

[NewJeffCT]

23. so far, it's pretty good

just got to the part with the succubus.

[SEMOVoter]

26. Excellent choice

George Guidall is excellent!

[didact]

38. I was going to recommend this series too...if you like ASOI&F you'll probably enjoy this...

Great series! I liked ASOI&F a 'little' bit more, but Roland is da shite!

[NewJeffCT]

39. he reminds me of Clint Eastwood

from The Good, The Bad & The Ugly, and the related "man with no name" movies.

[SidDithers]

5. I'm an audiobook fanatic...

Just listened to Simon Vance do all 21 books of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series and loved them. Loved the Horatio Hornblower series too. Both those series are Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars.

Stephen King is always good. A really good storyteller, and sometimes narrates his own books. Listening to The Green Mile right now, but you could always go with the Dark Tower series. One of his that had me locked in was called The Long Walk.

The Hunger Games books were a good listen. Yeah, kinda juvenile, but sometimes you don't get to pay as close attention to an audiobook as you do to written text.

If you like Science Fiction / Fantasy, there's a series by John Flanagan called The Ranger's Apprentice that I really enjoyed. Again, it's kinda youth fiction, but it was really entertaining.

Avoid, at all costs, Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. OMG, about 4 books worth of story spread out over 13 or 14 novels. I couldn't get through it.

Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series isn't bad. Stephen R Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant were good too.

I'm like you. I've got about 45 minutes in each direction every day, plus, I usually fall asleep with earbuds in, listening to a book at night. Great way to pass the time

Sid

[NewJeffCT]

6. Thanks

good suggestions - I usually start with my local library, and I'm not sure how many books would be available there in audio format.

Before A Game of Thrones got popular via HBO, I had to drive all over Connecticut to find the audiobooks for that series at various libraries... I didn't want to pay the $80-$90 price tag for 30+ CDs for them. (I ended up buying a few of them when Borders was going out of business.)

[yortsed snacilbuper]

7. download overdrive

If you have a library card download overdrive then download audibooks from your library and then download audibook onto an mp3 player, I use Carnegie Library and they give you 21 days to listen to them, it is all free!

http://www.overdrive.com/

[Little Star]

10. How much does overdrive cost? Anything?

[avebury]

11. Overdrive shouldn't cost you anything to

download. I downloaded it from my local library's website.

[matt819]

46. Another endorsement for Overdrive

It's free. The selection depends on what your library system contracts for. Mine's okay - not great, but it serves me well enough. Then I sign up for the 24 books from Audible, which comes to $9 and change per book, which isn't bad. That said, it is striking sometimes how with more than 100000 books to choose from, I can't find a thing. And there certainly is a lot of nonsense on Audible.

[Little Star]

9. Can you listen to audio books with a Kindle 3G? Anyone know?...

I have one for reading ebooks and was wondering if I could use it to listen to audio books? Does it even have sound?

If not what would be the cheapest device to buy for audio books in my car?

I'm a little old and not very tech savvy.

[NewJeffCT]

12. The base model e-readers

do not have speakers - I know I have the "base" model of the Nook that came out in 2011, and that does not have speakers.

[Little Star]

15. Do you know how many GB would I need?

How does this mp3 player look for just listening to borrowed audio books from the library, nothing else?

Would this work?
SanDisk Sansa Clip+ 8 GB MP3 Player $56.08
http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Sansa-Clip-Player-Black/dp/B002MAPS6W/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1357165891&sr=1-3&keywords=audio+books+player

[yortsed snacilbuper]

16. Whatever mp3 player you decide to buy,

make sure there's an fm transmitter that will work with it, I Have a zune and they don't make zunes anymore but I can listen to it on my car radio with the transmitter. 8 gigs should be enough because you're supposed to delete the library recordings after you listen to them!

[Little Star]

17. Thanks for the help I really appreciate it.

[SEMOVoter]

27. You can buy a small internal transmitter for the car

I don't know what mp3 player you might have, but these are pretty cheap.

You can download audio files and then play on the car stereo by plugging into the car lighter.

Easy peasy

Edited to add link
http://www.amazon.com/August-CR150L-Transmitter-Player-Control/dp/B007CUG1MC/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1357621777&sr=8-10&keywords=in+car+transmitter

[charlie and algernon]

13. "Go the Fuck to Sleep" as read by Samuel L. Jackson

[kentauros]

14. What about radio theater?

I highly recommend ZBS Foundation. They have a good selection of sci-fi and fantasy, as well as mystery and thriller productions

[jumptheshadow]

18. Two suggestions

Lost to the West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilization by Lars Brownworth. Not sci-fi, fantasy or a mystery but a heck of a good audiobook. It's a really colorful history of the Byzantine emperors and the fascinating history of the Empire. It culminates in an operatic chapter that is really enthralling.

There's a free podcast series on the web that is a skeletal version of the book.

In the mystery genre, we return to Constantinople for The Janisarry Tree by Jason Goodwin. The protagonist is Yashim, the dignified eunuch who, by the way, almost always gets the girl...

[Paulie]

19. Some suggestions

The Hunger Games books were great.

The Dark Materials series from Phillip Pullman

The Takashi Kovacs series from Richard K. Morgan

All the Dune books are now available on Audible as well.

Thats a good start.

[TheMightyFavog]

20. The No. 1 Ladies Detective agency series

Adjoa Andoh is an amazing reader for this series.

[womanofthehills]

24. I love the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series

Now I'm listening to his 44 Scotland Street series.

[HeiressofBickworth]

21. I drive to California every September

One audiobook I recall that made an impression on me was The Last Queen of Castile by C. W. Gortner. It was the story of Queen Juana of Castile who was declared mad by her son and locked away for a long time. Her parents were Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain -- the ones who funded Christopher Columbus. It's an interesting story of palace intrigue and misunderstood feminism. Anyway, I really liked it.

Also, The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell, "Uhtred is an English boy of 9th century Northumbria, orphaned at ten, adopted by a Dane and taught the Viking ways. Yet Uhtred's fate is bound up with King Alfred, who rules over the last English kingdom, after the Danes overrun the other three. That war, with its massacres, defeats and betrayals, is the background to Uhtred's childhood, and leaves him uncertain of his loyalties." The descriptions of Viking battles are quite amazing.

Neither are sci/fi but I found both to be very good books for long drives.

[2theleft]

25. My boss listens to Carl hiassen audiobooks while he works out

He says the hilarity keeps him entertained so he doesn't notice the minutes crawling by when he's on the elliptical.

[intheflow]

28. I live by the audio book!

Last edited Wed Jan 9, 2013, 03:08 PM - Edit history (2)

My work commute is two hours round trip 3-6 times a week. I would die without audio books. Here are my scifi/fantasy picks:

11/22/63 by Stephen King. Not quite as scifi-y as a lot of his stuff, but engaging and the reader kicked ass!

Going Bovine by Libba Bray. This is a young adult book written in the first person about a boy living with mad cow disease. Awesome!

PastWatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus by Orson Scott Card. Future humans go back in time to try to right Columbus' genocidal bullshit.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Future where humanity basically lives their lives inside a computer program because the outside, real world sucks. When the guy who designed the program dies, he leaves his fortune to whoever can win a computer game he devised, based entirely on '80s pop culture.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Ancient gods come back to claim their supreme god rights over modern gods of the 21st century.

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. One brother is a schmuck, the other is magical. They never meet until adults. The schmuck's life will never be the same.

I also listen to a lot of biographies. I like ones read by the authors best. Here are my Top 5 in that category:

Here Comes Trouble by Michael Moore. His life leading up to making Farenheit 911. Much more interesting than you might think.

Born Standing Up by Steve Martin. His life leading up to becoming an insanely famous stand-up comedian.

Up 'Til Now by William Shatner. His life, told so obnoxiously it's almost endearing.

My Mother Was Nuts by Penny Marshall. If you can hack her nasal NY accent it's an interesting flashback on the '70s, '80s and '90s media culture.

Role Models by John Waters. Explore the seamy underside of Baltimore that shaped John Waters!

Safe travels and happy trails!

[NewJeffCT]

30. thanks

good ideas

[tallahasseedem]

33. Thank you for this!

I have a two hour commute as well and just started audio books today! I am "reading" The Big Short by Michael Lewis.

[intheflow]

41. Ah, if non-fiction's your thing, let me recommend these titles:

Outliers by (and read by) Malcolm Gladwell.

Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power by (and read by) Rachel Maddow

The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann

The Wordy Shipmates by (and read by) Sarah Vowell

Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach

[politicat]

29. Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden series works well.

Also, Susannah Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and the full cast of American Gods.

For narrators, I have never been unhappy with Kate Reading, Simon Prebble or George Guidell.

You know about Audible, right?

[GoCubsGo]

31. Check out your local public library.

Most of them have TONS of audio books. You can catch up on many of the classics, and there's a good chance they'll have some of the more recent books, too. When I was in my old job, I did a lot of microscope work. Audio books made the time go a lot faster. Outside of any of Tony Hillerman's Joe Leaphorn series, I don't have any to recommend.

[sharp_stick]

35. I like the Arkady Renko Series

from Martin Cruz Smith, I like Henry Strozier as a narrator.

The ones that come immediately to mind are: Gorky Park, Stalin's Ghost and Wolves Eat Dogs.

Also the Brandon Sanderson book Warbreaker. James Yaegadash as narrator is pretty good but he took a bit of getting used to.

Generally I'll listen to a lot of different stuff unless Scott Brick narrates it. I can't stand Scott Brick narrated books, his intonation has me complaining from start to end.

on edit: I screwed up the Brandon Sanderson book I heard on CD

[jp76]

36. Patricia McKillip for the fantasy genre

McKillip writes with beautiful style that is wonderful for audio books.

I like Michael Connelly's police procedurals, the Harry Bosch series. Great writing, lots of books.

[yortsed snacilbuper]

37. Jack Reacher

link

[NewJeffCT]

40. UPDATE - has anybody tried Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series on audiobook?

I see that Brandon Sanderson put out the final book of the series this past week, so I figured it might be interesting to go through again - I stopped in frustration somewhere around book 8 because it kind of seemed to be going nowhere.

[pokerfan]

42. This is going to be long

I love audio books for driving, exercising, etc.

Carl Sagan: Contact (read by Jodie Foster), Cosmos, Demon-Haunted World, Pale Blue Dot (some of it read by the author)

Douglas Adams: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (BBC radio version)

Frank Herbert: Dune

HP Lovecraft: At the Mountains of Madness, the Call of Cthulhu

James Gleick: Chaos, Faster, Genius, Newton (Faster is particularly fascinating)

Jean Shepard: A Christmas Story (it's about three hours so it has more material than the movie)

Jon Krakauer: Into Thin Air (Gripping tale of the 1996 Everest disaster)

JRR Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings (unabridged reading by Robert Inglis)

Larry McMurtry: Lonesome Dove (unabridged it's about 36 hours!)

Sebastian Junger - The Perfect Storm

Spider Robinson: Callahan Legacy, Callahan Chronicles, Callahan's Key, Callahan's Con

Stephen Ambrose: Band of Brothers, Undaunted Courage

Stephen Hawking: Brief History of Time & Briefer History of Time

Stephen King: The Shining

Thomas Paine: Common Sense

William Goldman: The Princess Bride

[NewJeffCT]

43. thanks

good list

[yortsed snacilbuper]

44. The Flight of the Phoenix

The Flight of the Phoenix
Edition: Unabridged
by
Elleston Trevor
Grover Gardner

http://sjrlc.lib.overdrive.com/C71F923B-D0A9-4399-A196-04F364D2F7CA/10/420/en/ContentDetails.htm?id=72023498-8893-464a-b55a-f7cbf0917f22

[matt819]

45. Here's a few

Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman - Riotously funny, and ridiculously well read
Midnight Riot and the two following, by Ben Aaronovitch - Same review as above - funny, clever, and the narrator is superb
Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver - a bit pedantic, but okay enough, read well by the author
The Joe Ledger series by Jonathan Maberry - Along with Jack Reacher, one of my favorite heroes
Alas, Babylon - a fantastic book
The Felix Castor series by Mike Carey
Any of the Pendergast books by Preston and Child - Some are better than others, and some are better read than others. Can't pick out any specific ones at the moment. But if you haven't read any yet, you have to start at the beginning.
The Orphanmaster's Son
Posadas County Mystery Series by Steven F. Havill - really lightweight, but decent storyteller, and well read

[AudibleClassAction]

47. Anyone ever lose Audible.com Credits for cancelling or having too many credits at one time?

I have been seeing tons of complaints around the web about Audible.com’s practice of seizing book credits that its users have already paid for.

Has anyone lost Audible.com credits after cancelling? Or lost credits for exceeding their monthly carry-over limit?

I am an attorney working on this issue and would love to speak with anyone who has experienced any loss of Audible.com credits. Our communications would remain confidential.

Feel free to contact me directly: [e-mail]

Thanks!
Knoll

[NewJeffCT]

48. thread necromancy

dead for over a year and brought back to life...

[NewJeffCT]

49. Another Update

I ended up going from books 1 to book 14 of the Wheel of Time. The middle books were tough to listen, but the two readers, Michael Kramer doing the male POV chapters, and Kate Reading, doing the female POV chapters, were very good.

Just went through the Robert Langdon books from Dan Brown. Dan Michael - the narrator - was outstanding - especially on The DaVinci Code. Seems like Langdon finds a tall, slender, beautiful and brilliant woman every book, though.

I also did the Divergent trilogy so I could discuss with my daughter. The first two books were good, but the guy reading Four's parts was only so-so, and it hurt book 3.