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?

Today's daily deal Sweet Caress by William Boyd is a good one. I read it recently and thoroughly enjoyed it.

What just tried that, and it actually went up to £35.00, so you got a good deal. I've got a couple of credits in stock so I'll get it when I've finished my current book. It sounds great.

brittany. I've just finished listeningand IMO It's definitely worth using one of your credits to buy it. I had 2 credits to use so have bought one of her other books "The Owl Killers" (with same narrator) and The Year of the Runaways by Sunjeev Sahota.

Just remembered 2 other audio books I'd recommend The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguru (another book I didn't want to turn off) and The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson (I had to stop listening to it on the tube as I kept snorting with laughter)

Grifone - At home read by Bryson himself is probably nearly as bad for it's narration. Fascinating subject and it kept me going.

Just bought Peter May's Entry Island on the strength of its reviews. Never read his stuff before but persuaded by daily deal. Think will save for a long journey or something.

Sort Brittany. I did a search for it with the intention of using a credit and it came up cheap, very lucky!

I would also say it's definitely worth using a credit for and k have also being searching her other books !

Might get entry Island Today as its on the deal.

Also I got sweet caress as I LOVE William Boyd and it was on my wish list.
I'm going to be busy!

Well having downloaded audible after reading this thread I am an audiobook convert! Just finished David Mitchell's The Bone Clocks / all 29 hours which I would never have persevered with in paperback. Loved it!

😊 it's a brand new medium, really, isn't it?
When it works well for me it's sublime- a fantastic narrator such as Juliet Stevenson or David Tennant reading a gripping, well-written book, almost one's own personal theatre, nothing beats it!

Otoh, I've listened to a couple of duds which were killed by the narration so works both ways, I guess.

Wondering about today's deal, The Tea Planter's Wife, anyone read it?

moving audiobooks are fantastic. I love being read to. You are right - a good narrator makes all the difference. On today's deal I am not convinced by the reviews.

I had a look at The Tea Planter's Wife but it didn't really appeal to me. DH bought the paperback a while ago (he quite likes sweeping family sagas) so might ask him what he thought of it when he gets round to reading it. Itching to get stuck into an audio book once the DC have gone back to school, although this coming week is going to be rather busy.

Yes, came to same conclusion. Far too many negative reviews.

Thanks to posters who recommended library service free audiobooks, what a treat 😄 Just spent a happy hour or so browsing a fairly comprehensive range of books to add to my wish list, and no £ to pay, result!

I've very recently started listening to audiobooks and read two so far - Passenger 23 by Sebastian Fitzek, which had a stupid story and crap dialogue but a great cast, and The Woman who Went to Bed for a Year by Sue Townsend. That was slightly better but I wouldn't recommend either. The narration from Caroline Quentin in T.W.W.W.T.B.F.A.Y was superb, though.

Just downloaded The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark from the library. Judi Dench is the narrator.

Thanks for the recommendation, Southeast, have added the Spark to my library wishlist. Loved Adrian Mole first time round, but novelty wore off, I think, and was very much of its time, she hasn't got better with age imho.

Antimatter I also have listened to At Home and while Bill Bryson is a little tedious he is listenable and you get used to his narration while never being excited by it. But the Roberts guy who reads A Short History is just really annoying. If he mentions a French or Australian character he has to put on the accompanying accent - it is just awful, awful stuff.

LibriVox also has a lot of classic audiobooks free that are downloadable. I use that, the library and occasionally find things on youtube which I've found great for trying before buying. Gutenberg also has free classics.

Amazon also has a thing where if you buy kindle books that have an audiobook, you can buy the audiobook for way cheaper on Audible (like £3.99 compared to £17+). If you have kindle books, you can go through their listings on amazon to see if you can pick up an audiobook cheap. I think the audiobooks have to have whispersync, but not sure on that yet.

The audiobook I enjoyed most lately was a children's book I listened to with the kids in the morning that I'd originally come across on Youtube but has since gone on the amazon list (it's how I found out about the audible thing): The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White. Done by the author and included him playing the trumpet. That just made the whole book really come to life and we all loved it.

I'd only looked up the book when one of my kids found a quote from it elsewhere, found the youtube audio book and played it as a laugh as the kids have hated listening to audiobooks before. Now I've looked up tons of places for audiobooks and they have requests for the queue. The wonders of falling into internet rabbit holes sometimes.

Today's daily deal is Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell - £2.99. Just bought :)

Was just coming on to post the same Quog. Bought here too - it was on my daily deal wish list

I've been downloading books from iTunes but maybe need to look into joining Audible?

My recommendation is anything by Trollope read by Timothy West, who is the best reader I ever heard and perfect for Trollope - captures every nuance.

Also trmpted but didnt get on with Bone Clocks by audio. Gabe up all a bit random Nd confusing and rather lost patience with it

Coo- have found itunes much cheaper for oneoff audiobooks but small range. Library servicd excelkent & free!

I am hooked on my Audible books. I don't get nearly enough time to read, but I am getting through more books on Audible than I do in paperbacks. I can listen whilst doing really dull stuff (folding washing, tidying kitchen, going to pick up children, car journeys if they're not with me). Love it.

My last one was Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie which a few people have mentioned. Anjoa Andoh is the most amazing narrator - I really missed hearing her voice when I'd finished it! I also enjoyed Wild by Cheryl Strayed, The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna and The Miniaturist. I'm listening to We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates at the mo and really loving that too. A good narrator makes such a difference. No real duds so far. I downloaded The Beautiful and the Damned but struggled with it - can't work out yet whether it's the story, the narrator or whether I was too distracted when I started listening.

My boys love Harry Potter read by Stephen Fry (obviously) and the Lemony Snicket books which are read by that guy from the Rocky Horror Show... Tim Curry? I love listening with them. Also Diary of A Wimpy Kid

It's been a busy week with not much listening time but today I'm finally getting into The Year of Living Danishly and thoroughly enjoying it. Love the gentle humour, well written and a good narrator too.