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

[Movingonmymind]

So far, I have loved The Paying Guests, Christmas Carol (narrated by Tom Baker), Pompeii by Robert Harris. Also non-fiction Pompeii by Mary Beard and Born to Run. HATED Harry Quebert affair as badly-written, sexist tripe and also a cheapy Northanger Abbey download with a really clangy narration- should have forked out for the Juliet Stevenson narration. Wondering what next and any alternative sites to Amazon/audible?

If anyone comes across a CD of Anne Fine's The More the Merrier (read by Julian Rhind-Tutt) please will they tell me where I can find another copy? DS and I love it, but we wore ours out playing it in the car. For anyone with DC who like a funny story in the car, it's hard to beat. We also liked Jack Dee reading Diary of a Killer Cat.

Have just listened to Sissy Spacek reading To Kill a Mockingbird - fabulous. Now onto Kathryn Stockett's The Help with 'multiple readers' who aren't named on the box, and that too is great - the voices are wonderful. A couple of years ago I also really enjoyed Dan Stevens reading 'My Dear I wanted to Tell You' by Louisa Young - Matthew from Downton. Perfect voice.
I too use them when driving and can't focus if it's either too complex or too slow - Victorian novels with all the background/description don't work as I lose the thread too easily.

If anyone knows any good readings of Georgette Heyer, I'd be grateful. I love her books for amusing relaxation and any readings I've heard have never lived up to her language!

What a great thread! I usually listen while doing something else too so my recommendations aren't literary heavyweights.
The Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch already mentioned is brilliant. The narrator Kobna Holdbrook-Smith is amazing at capturing so many very different voices.
Simon Vance is another good narrator. I like The good thief's guide series by Chris Ewan.
The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd is one of my favourites.
Surprised myself by liking Robert Galbraith's detective books read by Robert Glenister. I got bored by The casual vacancy and gave up.
Kate Shugak novels by Dana Stabenow.

Can we keep this thread going? I do prefer recommendations as some readers are so much better than others. Sometimes I have found books (on audible) through a search on the narrator if I find one I like. The sample sometimes isn't long enough to tell.

Thanks for all the recommendations.

I'd love for this thread to keep going too, as I have two long drives each week and depend on audible books! Has anyone tried listening to My Brilliant Friend and/or any of the other Elena Ferrante books on audible? I was thinking of giving them a go.

I tried listening to My Brilliant Friend but couldn't get on with the narrator's American accent. It jarred and I gave up. Plus found it hard to keep track of who was who.

I tried listening to My Brilliant Friend but couldn't get on with the narrator, who is American. It jarred.

I've just listened to the new recording of Pride and Prejudice read by Rosamund Pike which is really good.

In the last couple of months I've also listened to all three volumes of the Lord of the Rings read by Rob Inglis. I have always avoided this in the past because I love the BBC radio dramatization but I finally gave in and got an unabridged reading after listening to the sample of him reading it. He just sounds right.

The only thing I've really had an issue with recently was a YA book called the Hound of Rowan where the american narrator attempted a British accent for some of the characters. It was painfully bad and meant I couldn't bear to listen...

Good to know, Quog. Funnily enough, although I'm a Yank myself I find American narrators are often jarring. Will hunt for something else for this week's journey.

My best listen of last year was the Ancilliary Justice series by Ann Leckie.
I did actually read the book alongside listening to the audiobook, which I never do - but I loved Adjoa Andoh's narration and couldn't bear to miss any, so even when I got ahead reading I still had to listen!
And now I'm wanting to listen to everything she has narrated

Serendipity - I didn't mean that I found all American narrators of audio books jarred but that this one did. She wasn't very good imo and it would have sounded better to me narrated by someone with an Italian accent. But, having said that, it is probably one I would rather read, that way I can keep better track of all the names.

Understood, Quog! I should've been more clear myself. I tend to find them jarring when reading books that aren't set in the US or about Americans, much as I would have found it jarring for a British narrator to read To Kill a Mockingbird.

I finally gave up on listening to Cold Mountain and downloaded it to my Kindle to finish off. Now off to audible to look at the ones people have recommended up thread ...

Morning, for me it's when there's a mismatch of accent- my major bugbear is R4 drama, some if their actors have atrocious American accents! Guess Equity rules and all, but still.. Love East of Eden but not going to try the current drama as i know i'll find it maddening! I love many American narrators, John Chancer is next for me reading Grapes of Wrath. Also Old Man & The Sea with the wonderful voice of Donald Sutherland.

I have just finished listening to "Something To Hide" by Deborah Moggach and I thought it was EXCELLENT!!
Really good story with lots of twists and turns so when you think you've worked it out you haven't, and the narrator, Josie Lawrence (I got given this because I'm a Josie Lawrence fan,) makes it sound almost as if there is a whole cast reading it as she uses different voices to great effect.

Also anothe vote for the Lord Of The Rings and Hobbit radio dramatisations.

For a classic freebie, am quite enjoying Vanity Fair narrated by Steohen Fry from R4. His narration is wonderful, though less fond of the actress who plays Becky, sadly. It is one of my most my favourite books ever and I must say that while i find it pleasantly enjoyable to listen to this abriged audio version, I DO get so much more from reading the original in paper form. I think sometimes you just can't beat curling up with paperback in your hands. Audio is a good easy access way to fit more books into one's life, but I rarely seem to muster the 100% concentration i do for reading. Anyone else find this? Not sure it's a problem as i do still enjoy the books, but i ultimately derive less pleasure from them this way having put less effort in.

For a fabulous and appropriate accent, try How to Be Brave by Louise Beech, narrator has a beautiful north of England accent. I just finished it today and was about to rave about it on the 50 books thread, but just popped into this thread while waiting for the new 50 books thread to get started. And what a great thread this is!

Whoever mentioned Wolf Hall - yes. If you are going to commit to 24+ hours of listening, you've got to like the narrator's voice. His was spot on. I was a little bit in love with Cromwell by the end.

I've been listening to The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer this week. Non-fiction but very good. Hoping to listen to some more today. It's fascinating stuff, debunking some of the myths we believe about how life was in medieval England. Their fashions were bonkers, especially the pointy shoes that made walking upstairs impossible, and cuffs on tunics so long you could trip over them.

In honour of Alan Rickman, have added his narration of The Return of the Native to my list. Just sampled it, going to really miss that wonderful voice- so wonderful, according to today's Independent that it was voted one of the most perfect for its tone, speed, frequency, intonation and woods per minutes. RIP

Just added How to be Brave to my wish list, Museum -- thanks for that.

Another one that I meant to mention earlier was The Love Song of Queenie Hennessy. Again, it had an excellent narrator, who did great accents for the different characters.

I ended up downloading The Martian for my drive on Thursday. It's not my typical kind of book, but I have to say it is so far a 9/10 for a road trip audiobook! Engaging story, told in short bursts, neither too complex to keep up with while paying attention to the road nor too slow to maintain interest and stay awake! The narrator is also quite good (American, though he does passable Asian accents for a couple of characters). I gave it a 9 rather than a 10 because it's a bit heavy on chemistry and MacGyver-style concoctions, but that's a minor niggle.

Ok (abridged) The Beach, freebie from R4. Enjoyed as little as expected, plugged on as doable, short and kind of wanted to know what happened. But not well-written, unlikeable characters. I know, partly the point but still.

The only reader I particularly look out for is Fenella Woolgar. I first heard her do "How to Be a Good Wife" by Emma Chapman, which was an unexpectedly great story. Then she narrated Kate Atkinson's "Life After Life", which is one of my favourites anyway.

Her voice is marvellous - very RP, but consistently downbeat. I'm quite sure her reading added a strangeness and iyher-worldly quality that suits both books. I wasn't sure I liked her at first, but now I positively look out for her.

I like Bill Bryson reading his own work. For an example of the bad - Jack Dee reading his memoir was awful - dull story, awkward narration. By contrast Alexei Sayle reading his own memoir was delightful.

• other-worldly, clearly.

A question - to justify the double post. How does everyone feel about abridged versions? I saw the PP talking about The Beach (and YY that's a strangely compelling but ultimately shite book about awful people) but I'd have binned the freebie as soon as I saw it was abridged. I get flashbacks of Readers Digest collections and I Just Can't Do It.

I can't get on with abridged stories and tend to avoid them because they miss out such huge chunks of the plot that it's not always easy to follow. I listened to the R4 adaptation of David Mitchell's The Bone Clocks and had to abandon because it was incomprehensible to me and yet when I read the novel later it turned out to be one of my favourite reads of 2015.

I think it does depend. Some can be done well, but yes, I try and listen to the full version when I can.

YY to Americanah, Adjoa Andoh narration is excellent..really enjoyed the story being caught between two continents, first love, and racism in America

I think Adjoa Andoh is a brilliant narrator of audio books. I've listened to others she's narrated and enjoyed them too. She has an amazing range of voices that makes a lot of other narrators seem flat in comparison. She's done a lot of radio plays on R4 in the past and I think her versatility really shines through.