# Amazon Audible—do you like it? Book recommendations? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [February 3, 2023, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-audible-do-you-like-it-book-recommendations/979264 "2023-02-03T15:30:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2023, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-audible-do-you-like-it-book-recommendations/979264/1 "2023-02-03T15:30:32Z")
So, I was browsing for a book to buy on Amazon and _Childhood’s End_ / Arthur C. Clarke piqued my interest. I saw that it cost 1 credit on Audible. I also saw that I had 12 credits accumulated. _Huh?_ So, silly me, I looked at my bank account statements and saw that I was charged $14.95 per month by _Audible_ for the past year. Then I realized I had signed up for Audible’s free trial last year, and forgot to cancel after the trial period. 🤡 Ok, no problemo, I enjoyed the Audible book I listened to during the trial period (_Kaleidoscope_ / Dean Koontz), so I might as well continue. With 12 credits on my account, I’ve got to find 12 books to listen to. I may or may not cancel Audible after I listen to them. **Question 1** : For those who subscribe to Audible, do you like it? Is it the best audiobook service out there? **Question 2:** What Audible books do you recommend (best stories with the best narration)? Now that I’m retired and no longer have to keep up with medical journals, I have more time to read for pleasure. My favorite genres have always been non-fiction science, history, and biographies. Stephen King has been my go-to non-fiction/horror writer. But, now I want to delve deeper into Hard Sci-Fi (though I’m not opposed to some good pulp fiction). I’ve read the _Dune_ / Frank Herbert series and a smattering of other Sci-Fi books. I’ve read some of the **Big Three** (Heinlein, Clarke, and Asimov), and wish to read/listen to more of their best works. Any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2023, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-audible-do-you-like-it-book-recommendations/979264/2 "2023-02-03T15:52:36Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > **Question 1** : For those who subscribe to Audible, do you like it? Is it the best audiobook service out there? I’ve been using it for so many years that I’m deep into sunk cost territory. I don’t know if it’s the best service, but it’s plenty good. I especially like that you can get refunds for books you don’t like without any hassle - there’s some fuzzy amount of serial refunding that’ll get you blacklisted from future refunds but I’ve never abused the system so don’t know the limits. > [@Tibby](#): > > With 12 credits on my account, I’ve got to find 12 books to listen to. I may or may not cancel Audible after I listen to them. You can suspend your account for up to three months. Your credits will remain but you won’t have to worry about racking up more monthly fees. I’ll come back to this thread later with some recs, though I don’t read much hard scifi. I’ve read quite a few good history books and biographies. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2023, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-audible-do-you-like-it-book-recommendations/979264/3 "2023-02-03T16:03:35Z")
I like the $5 add ons to Kindle books so I can split my time reading and listening. Does an Audible subscription support that? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2023, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-audible-do-you-like-it-book-recommendations/979264/4 "2023-02-03T16:04:56Z")
Yes, but I’ve never tried it. They call it WhisperSync, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2023, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-audible-do-you-like-it-book-recommendations/979264/5 "2023-02-03T16:09:02Z")
Three audible books I really enjoyed. Not sure if they’re available on Audible. _Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell_ by Susanna Clarke. Read by Simon Prebble. _Soon I Will Be Invincible_ by Austin Grossman. Read by Paul Boehmer and Coleen Marlo (the book had two first person characters.) _World War Z_ by Max Brooks. Look for the unabridged version. They had a full cast doing the various sections of the book. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2023, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-audible-do-you-like-it-book-recommendations/979264/6 "2023-02-03T16:25:57Z")
I liked it a lot back when I was still commuting to work most days. Now that I’m working from home, I don’t have large blocks of time that are well-suited to listening vs. reading a book, so my usage has dropped off. As for recommendations, a lot of the John Scalzi books are pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2023, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-audible-do-you-like-it-book-recommendations/979264/7 "2023-02-03T16:34:59Z")
The “Plus Catalog” is a large, rotating collection of audiobooks that are free to listen to for limited periods like every few months. Many “Great Courses” titles are often included in the free collection. The quality can vary quite wildly, both in content and audio. Sometimes the lecturer has a heavy accent that I can’t understand and can’t listen to even if I’m really interested in the subject. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2023, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-audible-do-you-like-it-book-recommendations/979264/8 "2023-02-03T16:52:51Z")
At a glance through my library… > [@Tibby](#): > > non-fiction science _The Demon Under the Microscope_ - the story of the search for antibiotics set against the backdrop of WW2. It’s been years since I read it but I remember enjoying it quite a lot. _What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions_ - if you like XKCD, this is a must-read. Wil Wheaton’s narration is admittedly a bit of an acquired taste. _A Short History of Nearly Everything_ - great book, great audiobook. I haven’t listened to any of Bill Bryson’s other books, but I’ve read a number of them and they’re very funny. _A Walk in the Woods_ is a classic. > [@Tibby](#): > > history, biographies. _The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey_ - TR is an endlessly fascinating man and this is about a lesser-known adventure of his. _Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption_ - highly entertaining biography of Louis Zamperini. _Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln_ - comprehensive and entertaining. _All About Me!: My Remarkable Life in Show Business_ - Mel Brooks’s autobiography and maybe the best narration I’ve heard. _Mythos_: this is a trilogy by Stephen Fry: _Mythos, Heroes_, and _Troy_. He is a deeply funny man who is deeply interested in Greek mythology, and even the stories you know about are a pleasure to listen to. Great Courses: I think the entire GC catalogue is also on Audible. Some of them are really great, but a caveat: very few of them are at all in depth. If you’ve already done a bit of casual reading on a topic you’re unlikely to get much out of a Great Course series. Pick stuff you’ve never bothered to learn much about. I can also recommend everything by Jon Ronson. He’s a long-form journalist with a knack for picking fabulous topics. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2023, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-audible-do-you-like-it-book-recommendations/979264/9 "2023-02-03T17:00:59Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > **Question 2:** What Audible books do you recommend (best stories with the best narration)? > > Any suggestions? **Young Mungo** by Douglas Stuart has been living rent free in my head since I listen to it on Christmas Break. The story is beautiful, sad, funny, horrible and the narrator uses a Glasgow accent (where the book is staged) and it’s perfect, really brings you in. I think about it all the time, and my lazy book club needs to get off it’s ass and finish it so I can talk about it with someone. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2023, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-audible-do-you-like-it-book-recommendations/979264/10 "2023-02-03T18:01:07Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Great Courses: I think the entire GC catalogue is also on Audible. I get all _The Great Courses_ on the video streaming service _Wondrium_. I recommend it highly. I started getting _The Great Courses_ years ago when they were only available on VHS tapes. My only problem with _Wondrium_ is they have so many ~~children~~ great courses, I don’t know what to do…and I’ve got to stop living in a shoe. 👠 ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2023, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-audible-do-you-like-it-book-recommendations/979264/11 "2023-02-03T22:12:16Z")
Patti Smith’s two volumes of autobiography, _Just Kids_ and _M Train_ are terrific. She reads both. Neil Gaiman reads many of his own audiobooks and is one of the best readers that you will ever hear. It seems like it would be a pleasure to listen to him reading legal documents. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2023, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-audible-do-you-like-it-book-recommendations/979264/12 "2023-02-03T22:24:49Z")
I’ve enjoyed all of Mary Roach’s books. Great road trip books. Lots of interesting information, written in a humorous style, but without a lot of characters and no complicated narrative to follow. They’re all about 8 hours long. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2023, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-audible-do-you-like-it-book-recommendations/979264/13 "2023-02-06T03:56:26Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > _World War Z_ by Max Brooks. Look for the unabridged version. They had a full cast doing the various sections of the book. I mentioned this specific version in a related thread a while back: > [@Recommend a good audiobook for driving](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-audiobook-for-driving/961911/2): > > Two I have and recommend, although they’re more sci-fi with some comedic moments are **The Martian** (nearly 11 hours) and **Snowcrash** (17ish hours). > > The writing style of The Martian, being mostly (not exclusively) an audiolog lends itself to the audiobook format, and Snowcrash is always a ton of fun. > > Otherwise, my favorite audiobook for travelling is the extended version of the **World War Z** (12ish hours) - since it’s also based on ‘interviews’ and works well as an audiobook, and as a bonus has huge scifi actor cast, it is excellent. And since each piece is shorter, you have a lot of chances to pause easily if you need to stop the trip for food/bladder breaks. > > Have a safe trip! Basically, any novel that feels like it should be read aloud is a fine pick. I also have a bunch of stand up comedian books: Carlin, Lewis Black, Dave Barry, and Denis Leary. To be fair though, I don’t have an audible sub though - they’ll offer 1-2 free audible credits a year as a trial membership, so I’ll take them, and cancel the sub before it renews. 99% of the time I want to read, not listen. The 1% is road trips, during which they are awesome. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2023, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-audible-do-you-like-it-book-recommendations/979264/14 "2023-02-06T04:11:27Z")
One of my favorites is The Right Stuff narrated by Dennis Quaid. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2023, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-audible-do-you-like-it-book-recommendations/979264/15 "2023-02-08T15:05:07Z")
I’d much rather use Overdrive/Libby. It’s free. Also, I don’t want the books after I’ve read/listened to them. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2023, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-audible-do-you-like-it-book-recommendations/979264/16 "2023-02-08T17:51:47Z")
I’ve been on the 24-books-a-year plan for years. I like the Great Courses and there’s a good range of books in different genres. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2023, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-audible-do-you-like-it-book-recommendations/979264/17 "2023-02-08T20:05:13Z")
The Great Courses are indeed a solid deal and I thought I couldn’t do better than a riveting 40 hrs Harvard history course for one credit or the summer I listen to Shelby Foote’s three part The Civil War for three. But now I am on Gibbon’s _The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire_, 126 hours to go! ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2023, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-audible-do-you-like-it-book-recommendations/979264/18 "2023-02-10T22:05:45Z")
Dorsey Armstrong is great. > **[Audiobooks matching keywords dorsey armstrong | Audible.com](https://www.audible.com/search?crid=37a48f31e9fe4d3ca379b674b8c786a4&i=na-audible-us&k=dorsey%2Barmstrong&keywords=dorsey%2Barmstrong&ref-override=a_hp_t1_header_search&sort=pubdate-desc-rank&sprefix=dorsey%2Barmstrong%2Cna-audible-us%2C320&url=search-alias%3Dna-audible-us&ref=a_search_c1_sort_1&pf_rd_p=073d8370-97e5-4b7b-be04-aa06cf22d7dd&pf_rd_r=CGTHKHNX6NQBWQ539E27&pageLoadId=6Qy12HjsSeRSFUB2&creativeId=792c6ece-15a9-4a32-b4ea-d95a6bbc6141)** > > Download Audiobooks matching keywords dorsey armstrong to your device. Audible provides the highest quality audio and narration. Your first book is Free with trial! ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2023, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-audible-do-you-like-it-book-recommendations/979264/19 "2023-02-11T00:13:45Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > **Question 1** : For those who subscribe to Audible, do you like it? Is it the best audiobook service out there? Audible almost certainly has the best selection of any audiobook service out there, at any rate. Every once in a while, a “recommend some audiobooks” thread pops up here on the SDMB. So if you don’t get enough recommendations here, you could search for those older threads (and I see that @ParallelLines has already linked to one of them). ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2023, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-audible-do-you-like-it-book-recommendations/979264/20 "2023-02-11T01:47:55Z")
The **Great Courses** are indeed _great_. What a great way to disengage from brain-draining junk TV and expand your mind with intellectual content! I just finished the course _Homeopathy for You and your Pets_ and can’t wait to sink my teeth into _A Critical Analysis of My Mother the Car_ and _The History of Bubblegum._ JK 😄 I did recently finish and recommend _Middle Ages Around the World_, _Great Masterpieces of the Imaginative Mind_, and _Intro to Paleontology_. Great Piano Works is up next. Egyptologist Bob Brier’s courses are still my favorite, though. I just finished the Audible _Childhood’s End_. It was good and not as dated as I expected. Just downloaded and started David McCullough’s _Truman_. So far so good. I’ve read nearly all of McCullough’s and Ron Chernow’s books (my favorite history writers). I recommend them all. _Truman_ will complete that bucket list. Then, it’s back to some more hard sci-fi. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-audible-do-you-like-it-book-recommendations/979264.md?page=2)