Those with audio books - favourite narrators?

[Shosha1]

As I'm in the high risk group, I wont be going anywhere for a while.
I love audio books and originally ' read ' my favourite authors. Often found tho I didn't like the narrator.
So I started to choose by narrator and have found joyous books i never would have.
Who are your favourites.
Mine include Angus King, Carolyn Bonnyman, Peter Forbes, Aoife McMahon and Davina Porter.
Really dont like Jonathon Keeble, his womens voices are just so off for me.
Dont really like many American narrators either.
So come on introduce me to some new ones.

Following. I'm wondering whether to download audible or not. Do you use an app for it? How does it work?

Kobna Holbrook Smith. At least I think that's how it's spelt.
He narrates a few but mainly for me Ben Aaronovich's Rivers of London series and he's spot on

Correcting my spelling. It's Kobna Holdbrook-Smith lol

@TwatCat yes I use the app on my phone, tablet and laptop. I also can use it on Alexa and have the app on my fire TV. 3 year old DGD uses that as she can choose her own easier although she can now get Alexa to understand her.
I knit a lot, so can listen and knit.
@Lima45 he was one of the narrators that took me to a new book 😀

I love RC Bray. He does tne Martian (which I've now listened to 3 times) as well as lots of futuristic apocalypse type stuff which has little literary merit but I listen to for the sound of his voice.

I love Aoife McMahon too, just listened to another of hers.
I like Jason Isaacs narrating the Jackson Brodie series.

@Frenchfancy I find American voices difficult, but yes he is one I could listen to.
Quite like Scott Brick as well.

@Lima45 I agree Kobna is perfect for Peter Grant. I love listening to him!
I also really enjoyed Emilia Fox reading pride and prejudice.

I really like Kobna Holdbrook-Smith too. Really brings the Rivers of London series to life for me.

I'm particularly fond of Seán Barrett. He's quite prolific; he reads Mick Herron's Jackson Lamb series, and Henning Mankel's Wallander books. Lots of others. Terrific voice.

I do like a good Scottish or Irish voice.
Steve Worsley reading Stuart McBride is brilliant. Also love Steven Cree reading The Lighthouse Keeper.

Juliet Stephenson
Stephen Fry (not just for Harry Potter, his Greek Myths books are very good too)

Sherry Baines and Martin Jarvis!

Hattie Morahan

I've listened to a few John Scalzi books narrated by Wil Wheaton, I wasn't sure at the start as I mostly remember him as the whiney Wesley Crusher from STNG, but he has a great reading voice. I'm not bothered by the nationality of voices, but I like them to match the location of the novel. So American narrators for novels set in America etc.

There's also two Jodi Taylor books that I listened to (The Nothing Girl and The Something Girl) the books were good, but the narrator (Lucy Price-Lewis) was so soothing that I bought another completely different book by a different author because she was the narrator.

Can't go wrong with Stephen Fry and Richard Armitage.

I just listened to Bodies from the Library (2vol) new anthologies of lesser-known classic-era murder stories narrated by Philip Bretherton Alistair from As Time Goes By.

He is a fantastic narrator! Among the best and I'm an avid audiobook listener. Hoping he does more. Excellent at shifting voices for different characters.

I also like Imogen Church.

Recently listened to a book narrated by Juliet Stevenson - she was amazing at doing all the different voices.

Can you look books up by narrator?

Anyone else cringe inside when most male narrators have to put on female voices? They always seem to make us sound either decrepit or brainless.

Someone that I would love to listen to is Roger Allam (from Cabin Pressure), but when looked on Audible he's narrated quite a few Jeffrey Archer books, and I couldn't bear that.

This is a good article with interviews with some of the most popular ones:

www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/books/2019/nov/16/throat-hurts-brain-hurts-secret-life-of-audiobook-stars-tim-dowling

My personal favorite is Stephen Pacey. You just can't believe all those characters are one person.

Chamomileteaplease yes, that often does annoy me. I think they go up too high and get very thin and reedy sometimes when they try to do a female voice. Sometimes it's fine though, for instance I know that the John Scalzi books have plenty of female characters but I don't have any recollection of being annoyed by the way that Wil Wheaton did their voices.

I agree the American voices are often not as good. I don’t think they have the classical training to do make something out of just reading one text for 20 hours.

I have had enjoyed listening to Timothy West, Prunella Scales, Simon Callow - I’ve actually enjoyed listening to their voices as much as the stories. Also Jill Balcon doing the Cazalet Chronicles and Sam Dastor doing Rudyard Kipling’s Kim.

Simon Vance and Juliet Stevenson. I could (and do) listen to them both for hours.

@ElspethFlashman ooh yes I really rate Steven Pacey

I agree, to a point, about male readers struggling with female characters. (I also think it applies the other way around sometimes as well.) I really like Val McDermid's Jordan and Hill books, and generally rate Saul Reichlin as a narrator. But he makes Carol Jordan sound so hesitant and wispy! Not her character at all. I always imagine Hermione Norris reading it instead.

Joanne Frogett, Celia Imrie (Terry Pritchett), Steven Fry (anything),

Pratchett obviously 🙄