Audiobook Recommendations

[odiakkoh]

If there's already a thread about this I apologize, I couldn't find it.

I recently got interested in audiobooks and have learned every quickly that the narrator can make or break the listening experience. I was wondering if everyone can recommend me some of their favorite audiobooks.

Currently I'm listening to Choke that is written and narrated by Chuck Palahniuk. I think he did a great job narrating his own book and I'm saddened that it's the only book he narrated.

[Shack70]

The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie is a fantastic audio book. The narrator does a great job on the voices.

http://amzn.to/kfzEQh

[Xanthe]

Stefan Rudnicki does a very good job of narrating books, so if he's listed as the narrator you'll be able to get into the story and not be distracted by the reading. I enjoyed his reading of David Weber & John Ringo's "March Upcountry" series. I've also listened to other audiobooks where he was the reader and enjoyed those too.

[anamardoll]

Audiobooks I've heard lately where the reader really nailed the book:

1. Tim Curry in A Series of Unfortunate Events
2. ??? in the unabridged Millennium Trilogy (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo + sequels)
3. ??? in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies + Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters
4. Suzanne McCormick in The Hunger Games trilogy
5. ??? in Meyer's "The Host"

Audiobooks I've heard lately where the speaker phoned it in:

1. ??? in The Forest of Hands and Teeth.

That last one was AWFUL. As you say, a bad narrator is a terrible experience.

[jgaiser]

Currently listening to Country Driving by Peter Hessler, narrated by Peter Berkrot. An extremely interesting look at China by a longtime resident.

In the summer of 2001, Peter Hessler, the longtime Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker, acquired his Chinese driver's license. For the next seven years, he traveled the country, tracking how the automobile and improved roads were transforming China. Hessler writes movingly of the average people - farmers, migrant workers, entrepreneurs - who have reshaped the nation during one of the most critical periods in its modern history.

Country Driving begins with Hessler's 7,000-mile trip across northern China, following the Great Wall, from the East China Sea to the Tibetan plateau. He investigates a historically important rural region being abandoned, as young people migrate to jobs in the southeast.

Next, Hessler spends six years in Sancha, a small farming village in the mountains north of Beijing, which changes dramatically after the local road is paved and the capital's auto boom brings new tourism.

Finally, he turns his attention to urban China, researching development over a period of more than two years in Lishui, a small southeastern city where officials hope that a new government-built expressway will transform a farm region into a major industrial center.

[SeaBookGuy]

For those who like thriller/horror/suspense, try Sharp Objects. Myself, I'm not a fan of that genre but loved the book anyway!

I find most authors should not be reading their own work ... leave it to a professional!

[Pickering]

I really like the way Jim Dale reads the Harry Potter books

[Solitaire1]

I'd recommend the audiobook "Infinite Crisis" by Greg Cox. It features a full-cast recording and it really gets you into the action. Each performer nails his/her character perfectly and the narrator ties everything together.

[tennoel]

Bossypants by Tina Fey, read by Tina Fey, available on overdrive from your local library.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Pickering

I really like the way Jim Dale reads the Harry Potter books

I personally prefer Stephen Fry's narration in the British audiobook versions of Harry Potter.

[orlok]

Stephen King reading his own Full Dark, No Stars. Works really well.

[Frida Fantastic]

I actually haven't listened to an audiobook yet, but I've been following several podcast series in the style of old time radio shows at Decoder Ring Theatre: http://decoderringtheatre.com/ They have a superhero pulp-adventure set in the 1930s and a detective noir set in the 1940s. The voice actors are all professionals from the Toronto theatre scene, so that's kind of hard to beat. I enjoy them so much I actually pay them money every month even though the podcasts are free, just so I can access the scripts and special features and stuff.

[Xanthe]

Thanks for that link to Decoder Ring.

[Pickering]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I personally prefer Stephen Fry's narration in the British audiobook versions of Harry Potter.

I haven't listen to Fry's version, but judging from his other work I'm sure it's good too.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I personally prefer Stephen Fry's narration in the British audiobook versions of Harry Potter.

Originally Posted by Pickering

I haven't listen to Fry's version, but judging from his other work I'm sure it's good too.

Well I haven't heard the Jim Dale version, but I can't imagine it's better than the esteemed Mr Fry.