Audiobook recommendations- shall we share our highlights & duds??

Thanks for replies. Should have said that I wanted to listen without headphones. Anyway, have ordered a Samsung YP-K5, with slide-out speaker (advertised as 'retro'!).

You can listen on several devices. I listen on phone, iPad, and laptop. The audible website says the number of devices you can use.

I listen on my on my phone using the Audible app.

Question re the other end of downloading - what device is best for listening to audiobooks on, do you find?

Just found this thread after searching for audio book recommendations.

I've just finished Under the Dome by Stephen King. and just before that The Stand by Stephen King. I've never read any Stephen King books as I'm not a great fan of horror writing (I read James Herbert books as a teen and they put me off for life) but these were recommended when I joined Audible and I was trying to get my money's worth by getting the most hours listening.

They are both BIG books, the Stand is 47 hours. I didn't really know what that meant in terms of an audio book as I am a very quick reader. I couldn't believe that one book could last me a month. It did (and then some). Both books are really well narrated and I really enjoyed them. I was quite surprised at how often Stephen King quotes scriptures, and his uses of good vs evil, but thought that his story telling really leant itself to the media of Audio books.

Thanks to this thread I have downloaded Americanah which I am really looking forward to.

There are some great books in the current 3 for 2 deal. I have my eye on a couple if Bill Bryson's, the Fall of Hyperion, Perdido Street Station and a few more.

In the end I thought that Apple Tree Yard was excellent but so very tense that it made it an uncomfortable listen.

I liked May We Be Forgiven by A M Homes and Where'd You Go, Bernadette even though I felt the ending was predictable.

I also enjoyed Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal, I might not have liked it as much if it hadn't been read by Jeanette Winterson but the fact that she had written and read it herself added to it's poignancy.

After reading the good reviews on here I listened to Absolute Pandemonium read by Brian Blessed and loved it.

Finally I listened to Without The Moon by Cathi Unsworth, it was bleak but an excellent murder mystery.

Just bought today's daily deal Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter, after listening to the sample. It's very short (less than two hours) but sounds beautiful.

I found this on another page and thought you would appreciate it here. I am currently listening to his book 22.11.63 and loving it

bookriot.com/2016/06/02/exclusive-watch-stephen-king-gush-love-audiobooks/

Also audible are doing their buy three books and get £10 credit at the moment if anyone is interested.

I enjoyed We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves and The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer.

I listened to The Financial Lives Of The Poets but was irritated by the sounds of rustling paper (the script?) early in the book.

On the back of recommendations on this thread I'm listening to Apple Tree Yard. I'm on chapter 7 and suddenly it seems to be getting better, which is just as well because until now I've been finding it irritating!

Thank you everyone for all the recommendations, I have pick up several new choices to try from this thread. Big Audible fan, and as PP mentioned, tend to 'add audible' to any kindle books I buy. They are so reasonable that it is not worth using a credit. I avoid anything abridged absolutely . I have particularly enjoyed the John Le Carre spy novels, Cabin Pressure, Ed Reardon's Week and a whole assortment of Austin. I do prefer dramatisations, so long as it the full version. Loved war and peace... I listen to them over and over as I fall asleep so can justify buying myself one a month.

The only one I have had to stop reading was Not Quite Nice written and read by Celia Imrie. The book was a harmless bit of froth, but her voice just grated on me. Maybe i was muddling her up with her character in No Commitments... Noone in our book group enjoyed her reading. Sigh.

Lol Mermaid no but maybe I should have asked them! It would be interesting to see how "Not-as-big-as-Medium-Sized-Jock-but-bigger-than-Wee-Jock-Jock" translates .

Bobby a big fan of all Discworkd narrations here too, especially the Stephen Briggs ones. Loved The Dark Materials as well. The kids and I have just finished listening to Stephen Fry reading the Harry Potter books and feel strangely bereft now they are over 😔.

In the past, I have loved:

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud

The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan

Terry Pratchetts Disk World

All books by Phillip Pullman (in particular His Dark Materials Trilogy)

All books narrated by Stephen Fry

All books written and narrated by Bill Bryson

On your recommendations; I'll look out for Adjoa Andoh, Mary Beard, Wolf hall, IQ84 & Bernard Cornwell Last Kingdom series on Audible... and much much more 😊

Properly laughing at that, Grifone. So they didn't offer you a free learn to speak Hebrew with it then? :o

It is frustrating when I was enjoying the story but every now and then it stalled. Good novel and I shall read it instead.

That is a shame Mermaid and it must be very frustrating. I have been lucky in that I have only ever once had to do a return and that was because I ordered the Wee Free Men in Hebrew rather than English. I am currently listening to 11.22.63 and it us wonderfully narrated.

Not bought any of the deals this time. Feeling grumpy with Audible today because I've had to return yet another book to them. I used a credit to buy Alison Weir's novel about Katherine of Aragon but it kept skipping and there were gaps where I couldn't always tell whether a chunk was missing or it was just a narrator's pause :( Lost a bit of confidence in their downloads right now.

Anyone bought in the 3 for 2 deal on at the moment? I am tempted by the Magicians by Lev Grossman but undecided if I want the hard copy or the audio.

Has anyone listened to Don Quixote? It's today's daily deal. .. reviews look good. I haven't read the book. .

evelynj also keep an eye on the Book People for box sets of audio CDs. It may be a little cheaper than using audible for some titles. I bought lots from them in the earlier years for the car.

evelynj search for whatever children's books your three year old likes and listen to a sample. My youngest has listened to books my older kids picked and enjoyed them, though didn't necessarily get it all. There's stuff like Harry and his Bucketful of Dinosaurs and Julia Donaldson books etc

I didn't fancy anything from the 2 for 1 offer either.

Loving Americanah though. Just wow!

I have a backlog of unplayed books in my library - Any Human Heart, The Lowland, The Lollipop Shoes, The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy and something or other by Muriel Spark with Kensington in the title...

Credits building up and lots of juicy things on my wish list. I've been too busy to listen as much as usual and I'm looking forward to a day when I can have a proper listening marathon.

Ooh, just discovered this thread! Downloaded the goldfinch about 6 months ago as really wanted to read it but too lazy to lift a big book!

Loved it, also the Robert Galbraith ones & my sister lives on the mantelpiece.

Then IQ84 having not read any Murakami for nearly 10 years even though I love him. It was totally great! Have the heart goes last but want to get through a few paperbacks. Only bought so many as had racked up lots of audible credits.

Are any of the. children reads suitable for an almost 3 year old or is that asking too much? I'm pretty sure my 6 yo would love them for our big summer car journeys.

I have just switched my membership from 1 credit per month to the 24 book annual membership . My kids love audiobooks as well so I think it will prove a good investment. Earlier I bought today's Daily Deal 'The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. I adore being read to!

Yes :)

Company of Liars by Karen Maitland. Gripping story, narrated very well.

This week I'm listening to The Tent, The Bucket and Me by, and narrated by, Emma Kennedy. Really enjoying this - it was a daily deal earlier this week.

Hi all, we have been a bit quiet here recently. Are you listening to anything interesting? I am almost finished Apple Tree Yard and have just started Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows with the kids. Both great so far.