The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

This is for the task where you have to listen to an audiobook and do something physical. I have two David Sedaris audiobooks I can use, and I think he's better on audio than in print. But I'm getting a bit tired of him right now (I listened to two of his book for the last challenge). I'm wondering if anyone has suggestions for books that are GREAT audiobooks, especially those which are as good or better in audio form than in print form.

I think The Road (Cormac McCarthy) and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Mary Ann Shaffer) were amazing audiobooks, and am looking for something in that vein.

Bonnie wrote: "This is for the task where you have to listen to an audiobook and do something physical. I have two David Sedaris audiobooks I can use, and I think he's better on audio than in print. But I'm getti..."


how about harry potter

I've heard that Lolita read by Jeremy Irons is wonderful, and I plan to use this one if I can ever get it from the library. The waiting list is a few months long!

I am not a fan of audio books, but I loved Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne, narrated by Jim Dale.

Jim Dale is usually a really good narrator. In addition, there is a set of audio books for the Chronicles of Narnia Series that is really more of a dramatic reading with multiple characters and sound effects that is really good (I think it was produced by Focus on the Family).

Some of my favorite audio books:

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
The Book ThiefThe Secret Life of BeesAcross the Nightingale Floor Journey to Inuyama Episode 2 (any of the Otori series)
The Color of Magic
A Thousand Splendid Suns

I especially recommend Potato Peel Pie and The Book Thief! :)

I'm not really a fan of audiobooks either, but I decided that I'm going to listen to Meg Cabot's The Princess Diaries because Anne Hathaway is reading it and since she actually PLAYED the character, I'm hoping it'll be good.

Hi Bonnie: I have really enjoyed listening to Alexander McCall Smith's -- The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series.

I love to hear the different accents and pronunciations that I would mangle in my mind if reading it on my own.

I'm not too keen on audiobooks but I downloaded a few of the Harry Potter books (Jim Dale version) and a few of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander books when I had a subscription to audible and they're all very good.

Mary Beth wrote: "I've heard that Lolita read by Jeremy Irons is wonderful, and I plan to use this one if I can ever get it from the library. The waiting list is a few months long!"

Me too! I've been waiting forever. And just when it came in I was in South Korea so I couldn't get it and had to get back in line!!

Neil Gaiman does a wonderful job with both his Stardust and his The Graveyard Book. Since Halloween falls in the middle of this challenge, Ron McLarty's narration of Stephen King's Salem's Lot is very well done (and very scary!). David Suchet's narration of Murder on the Orient Express was incredible. (I tend to listen to a lot of audibooks as I have a fairly long commute).

Oh, I also listened to John Ritter's narration of 'Stargirl' by Jerry Spinelli for the Summer Challenge, and enjoyed it.

AND Tim Robbins narrated the audio copy that I used for The Great Gatsby. I loved his narration!

I really enjoy audio books! They make my time in the car feel so much more productive.

I also listen to books in the car and I agree a good reader is key. Some I have listened to recently were Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen, The Christmas Train by David Baldacci, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, The Shack by William P. Young, and some of the Predergast novels by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.

Stephanie wrote: "I also listen to books in the car and I agree a good reader is key. Some I have listened to recently were Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen, The Christmas Train by David Baldacci, Water for Elep..."

Ooh yeah, Water for Elephants was another terrific 'read'. :-)

I am a huge fan of Jim Dale. In addition to the HP books, he's narrated Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Around the World in 80 Days, Peter Pan, and A Christmas Carol.

Martin Jarvis is also excellent. His narration of A Tale of Two Cities is wonderful. He also narrates the Jeeves books by P.G. Wodehouse, The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells, Three Men in a Boat (to say nothing of the dog), Robinson Crusoe, Prince Caspian, The Metamorphosis, The Merchant of Venice, The Historian, Great Expectations, a number of books by Dick Francis, and more.

I really enjoyed Fisher Stevens' narration of The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch. I just found out he also narrated A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore, which is a great book.

Gary Sinise is awesome narrating Of Mice and Men.

A Thousand Splendid Suns was great on audio.

The Following narrators I have yet to hear for myself, but come highly recommended from others:

Frank Muller narrates:
Motherless Brooklyn - Jonathan Lethem
All the Pretty Horses - Cormac McCarthy
The Left Behind series
a number of Stephen King novels, including the Green Mile
Billy Budd - Melville
a number of John Le Carre
a number of John Grisham
The Great Gatsby
Interview with a Vampire
Moby Dick
A Map of the World - Jane Hamilton
On the Road - Jack Kerouac
The Pearl - Steinbeck
A Walk to Remember - Nicholas Sparks
and many more..

Simon Prebble narrates:
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell
1984
Animal Farm
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Journey to the Center of the Earth
On the Beach - Nevil Shute
and many more....

George Guidall narrates:
The Accidental Tourist - Anne Tyler
American Gods - Neil Gaiman
The Cat Who.... books
The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen
Crime and Punishment
Ethan Frome
The Hour I First Believed - Wally Lamb
I Know This Much is True - Wally Lamb
The Man in the High Castle - Philip K. Dick
Night - Elie Wiesel
The Pact - Jodi Picoult
Snow Falling on Cedars - David Guterson
Widow for One Year - John Irving
and many more

Tim Curry narrates the Lemmony Snicket books - I haven't heard them, but I bet he's great.

I've also heard great things about Lolita narrated by Jeremy Irons.

I also enjoyed Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book in audio. I'm currently almost finished with the audio version of Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides and I've enjoyed the entire reading.

If you're looking for YA, a friend who is a children's book buyer thinks that L.A. Meyer's Bloody Jack series on audio book is the best she's ever heard...

I've only ever listened to one book on audio Wicked (I don't recommend it) but I've been told by people who do that Ella Enchanted is really good.

Jeremy Irons?! Can I get a woot woot. I will listen to anything narrated by that man. I want him to narrate my life.

In a related comic:
http://xkcd.com/93/

Also, if any of you watch Dr. Who, there's a few audiobooks read by David Tennant, the 10th Doctor.

I love audiobooks. My favorites are (narrator in parentheses):

*Airman by Eoin Colfer (John Keating)
*Artemis Fowl books 1-5 by Eoin Colfer (Nathaniel Parker) - I just realized that I haven't actually READ any of these books, because the audiobooks are just that good.
*The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale (Full Cast Audio)
*The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (Stephen Fry) - I couldn't stop listening! It was A-MA-ZING. Plus, it's only 5 discs... very short for an audiobook.
*I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak (Marc Aden Gray) - Fabulous book, plus the narrator has a FABULOUS Australian accent... :)
*The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch (Erik Singer)
*Princess Academy by Shannon Hale (Full Cast Audio)
*Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar (Full Cast Audio)
*Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli (John Ritter)

The audiobooks done by Full Cast Audio have a full cast of readers... so it's a lot like listening to a movie. Love them! Unfortunately, they only do Juvenile/YA stuff...

Does Jim Dale do Harry Potter with an american accent? Stephen Fry does the UK audiobooks. It seems weird they get another brit to do the american version.

Lindsey wrote: "Jeremy Irons?! Can I get a woot woot. I will listen to anything narrated by that man. I want him to narrate my life."

Hee! Don't we all?

And I'm loving all the suggestions. Good stuff!

Jim Dale is amazing - I loved listening to him read the Harry Potter books. He's the only reader of audiobooks that I've ever listened to and thought "I really need to find other audiobooks read by this guy." I do agree that Neil Gaiman does a good job with his books - I listened to Stardust and one of his short story collections.

The MOST AMAZING audiobook I've ever listened to was Inkheart read by Lynne Redgrave. Her reading was superb.
Others that I have enjoyed include
Sabriel, read by Tim Curry,
Book of a Thousand Days
and My Antonia.

I also really liked Richard Mitchley's reading of The Grey King, but that is the fourth in the Dark Is Rising series.

If there's any Star Trek or Zachary Quinto (plays Spock in the new movie and Sylar on Heroes) fans, he narrates the audiobook that the movie is based on. It's actually really good. I just listened to the first chapter.

Pudwood wrote: "Does Jim Dale do Harry Potter with an american accent? Stephen Fry does the UK audiobooks. It seems weird they get another brit to do the american version."

Nope. British accent. I have no idea why they would do that.

Lindsey wrote: "If there's any Star Trek or Zachary Quinto (plays Spock in the new movie and Sylar on Heroes) fans, he narrates the audiobook that the movie is based on. It's actually really good. I just listened ..."

If you were that book, what would you be called? (I love Star Trek AND Zachary Quinto... quite convenient...)

Haha, sorry, I'm a goof. It's just calledStar Trek. If you go on iTunes, it says Star Trek movie tie-in. It's by Alan Dean Foster.

And I understand, I am OBSESSED with Spock and with Sylar so when I found out Zachary Quinto was playing him, I almost died.

I listen to audiobooks more than I actually read, and some of you have already mentioned some I enjoyed. I agree that David Sedaris is better in audio. I also just recently listened to Motherless Brooklyn, and with the main character having Turrets(sp?)Syndrome, I think the narrator did a fabulous job, just amazing. I also enjoy CJ Critt as a narrator, she has narrated Barbara Kingslover's Bean Trees and Pigs and Heaven, and also narrates the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich, (one of my guilty pleasures). Two others where I particularly enjoyed the narration were Middlesex and Snow Falling on Cedars.

I just posted, but thought I would share a story with fellow audiobook lovers. My uncle got a Kindle for his birthday, and he was telling me about the feature where it reads to you, since I told him I listen to most books. I told him I would still prefer the narrated audiobook, and he could not understand why. That thing sounds like my GPS is reading to me! Don't get me wrong, I would love a Kindle, but not for audiobooks.

You can put audiofiles onto your Kindle. However, I much prefer audiofiles than the Kindle reading to you. It does not have the same inflection.

If you don't want to spend a lot on an audiobook and don't have time to head to your library check out www.booksshouldbefree.com or www.librivox.org here they have a huge collection of all the great classics to download for free.

I just checked out from the library the audio version of Brideshead Revisited, and was happily surprised that it is narrated by Jeremy Irons. I can't wait!

I am a member of Audible and I get two new Audio books every month for $22. I love the Reacher books by Lee Child, anything by Neil Gaiman, The Steig Larssen books, the Help by Stoddard, here are so many good audio readings. Check out anything read by actor John Rubenstein or ay of the Evanovich books. Also boy Meets Boy. Feel free to reply and ask about audiobooks because I have heard a lot of them.

Cait wrote: "I am a huge fan of Jim Dale. In addition to the HP books, he's narrated Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Around the World in 80 Days, Peter Pan, and A Christmas Carol.

Martin Jarvis is also exce..."

My very first audiobook was The Jungle The Uncensored Original Edition narrated by George Guidall and I've been in love with him ever since - but don't tell my husband.

All of the Harry Potter books have great audio versions. I also very much enjoyed the audio version of The Book Thief

The audiobook of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell was incredible; it's what got me so obsessed with that book. I also love any of Neil Gaiman's that he narrates himself. But I definitely agree with Megan that Lynn Redgrave reading Inkheart is hard to top!

Also does anyone know if we're supposed to listen to the entire audiobook over multiple exercise sessions or just listen to as much as we can during one session?

Kristina wrote: "The audiobook of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell was incredible; it's what got me so obsessed with that book. I also love any of Neil Gaiman's that he narrates himself. But I definitely agree with..."

I love the books that Neil Gaiman narrates himself. He's got that awesome voice.

I am seriously about to punt all of the library systems i have access to! About 90% of their downloadable audiobooks are only available on windows! What about us poor Mac users? We want Jeremy Irons too! It's so distressing! I was this close!

And now what is going to happen is that it is going to come in at the library back home while I am at college. Woe.

All you audiobook listeners who are mac users (if there are any of you), do you have this problem?

Julia,
I feel your pain about the limited availability to download audiobooks for Macs. But please don't blame the libraries. We can only buy what the vendors make available, which is mostly Windows. If a company had a downloadable audio book service with great selection AND everything came for Windows and Macs librarians would buy it in a nanosecond. Until that day I'll still be checking out the CDs.

Also to get back to the topic at hand, I really enjoyed listening to "I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman" by Nora Ephron. It was great at the gym, even if I got some strange looks for laughing while on the treadmill.

Jen

Kristina wrote: "The audiobook of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell was incredible; it's what got me so obsessed with that book. I also love any of Neil Gaiman's that he narrates himself. But I definitely agree with..."

Multiple sessions, unless you're doing some kind of marathon and can get it all in one go.

I do most of my reading via audiobooks during my commute.

If you like David Sedaris, you might enjoy Bill Bryson. He's funny.

These are some of my favorites that I can think of off the top of my head:

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
The Thirteenth Tale
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver
Deep Dish by Mary Kay Andrews
We're Just Like You, Only Prettier: Confessions of a Tarnished Southern Belle by Celia Rivenbark
Nickel and Dimed On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich
Hannah Swensen series by Joanne Fluke
Agatha Raisin series by M.C. Beaton
The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis

Found a book called Prince of Thieves A Novel by Chuck Hogan, and the audiobook is read by Donnie Wahlberg <3 It's available on iTunes.

Agreed. Jim Dale has to be one of my favorite narrators.

And Cait wrote that "Tim Curry narrates the Lemmony Snicket books - I haven't heard them, but I bet he's great." I listened to the first book, and I just adored him as a narrator. Eventually I'll pick up the rest of the series, as long as I can listen to Curry as narrator.

I also have enjoyed the narrator for the Stephanie Plum mysteries by Janet Evanovitch as well as Barbara Rosenblatt reading Nevada Barr's mysteries.

I think the worst narrator I remember was Peter Thomas reading Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt. I used it with my 5th graders, and talk about boring monotone. I'm glad I found better readers for other books or else those kids would have had a bad impression about audiobooks!

I have really been enjoying Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

These may have been mentioned already as I didn't look through all the posts but I enjoyed the The Thirteenth Tale, Secret Life of Bees, and Dave Robicheaux books by James Lee Burke.

I don't have a ton of experience with audio books - but one of my favorite narrators is Steven Rudnicki. It seems that he's mostly worked with Orson Scott Card. His readings of the Ender's Saga were fantastic.

There's a pretty sizable list of books he's narrated here on Amazon if you're not into sci-fi.