# Need audiobook recommendations please **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 16, 2008, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-audiobook-recommendations-please/449551 "2008-05-16T14:19:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-audiobook-recommendations-please/449551/1 "2008-05-16T14:19:16Z")
My mom just got a job that will have her driving over two hours a day and she’s asked me to recommend some audiobooks. I listen to them all the time, but we don’t have very similar tastes. So far I’ve recommended Wally Lamb’s I Know This Much is True (because I loved it and I push it on everybody). I’ve got a couple others in mind but I know it’ll be more effective to just ask y’all. She’s not much of a reader so chances are good she won’t have had it before. Something really plot-driven would be perfect. Also, she’s been depressed lately, so nothing too hopeless, and she’s my mom, so nothing too embarrassing for me. 🙂 I appreciate any suggestions! ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-audiobook-recommendations-please/449551/2 "2008-05-16T18:37:59Z")
I loved \*The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime \* as an audiobook. I stayed in the car after getting to my destination to hear a little more, more than once. I also liked _A Year in Provence_. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-audiobook-recommendations-please/449551/3 "2008-05-16T18:53:35Z")
I have been listening to [the Complete Unabridged Chrinicles of Narnia](http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Chronicles-Narnia-Box-Set/dp/0060793260/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210963417&sr=8-1) recently. It’s a fantastic production, with some amazing readers. (Lynn Redgrave, Michael York, Patrick Stewart, Derek Jacobi, Alex Jennings, Jeremy Northam, and Kenneth Branagh each read an individual book.) [Doublestar](http://www.amazon.com/Double-Star-Robert-Heinlein/dp/0786117451/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210963711&sr=8-1) as read by Lloyd James (by Heinlein) is a better audiobook than it is a book. [American Gods](http://www.amazon.com/American-Gods-Audiobook-Cd-Unabridged/dp/B000JFRFRM/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210963821&sr=8-1) and [Anansi Boys](http://www.amazon.com/Anansi-Boys-Neil-Gaiman/dp/0060823844/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210963871&sr=1-3) were both great audiobooks. Those are all fun plot driven books that are really well done as audiobooks. What kind of stuff does she like in particular? I might have more suggestions. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-audiobook-recommendations-please/449551/4 "2008-05-16T19:20:47Z")
Ah, Curious Incident, that’s a good one. The Chronicles of Narnia is an interesting thought. She listened to the Lemony Snicket books a while back because the kids wanted her to, and I’m sure she doesn’t know the Chronicles. I love them myself. Mom doesn’t really read. She’s had a few things off the bestseller lists, like DaVinci Code or Nicholas Sparks. So that leaves a lot open. My other ideas so far are The Green Mile (though I’m sure she saw the movie), and The Life and Times of The Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson. Maybe the James Herriot books? ---
**Author:** ![MsFancyPlants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@MsFancyPlants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsFancyPlants)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-audiobook-recommendations-please/449551/5 "2008-05-16T19:22:44Z")
_Blue Highways_ had me so engrossed that when I got to my destination, I couldn’t remember anything about the drive itself. Is that **too** good to listen to while driving? ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-audiobook-recommendations-please/449551/6 "2008-05-16T19:26:55Z")
I enjoyed several audiobooks back when I had a long commute. My favorites were _Torpedo Juice_ by Tim Dorsey, and the Tales of the Otori Trilogy - _Across the Nightingale Floor_, _Grass for His Pillow_, and _Brilliance of the Moon_ by Lian Hearn. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-audiobook-recommendations-please/449551/7 "2008-05-16T19:30:42Z")
Oh, Blue Highways is read by Frank Muller! That’s a plus. That reminds me, I’d also thought of getting Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell. It’s one of the children’s books I somehow missed growing up so I’ll probably get it for myself when I’m finished with my current series. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-audiobook-recommendations-please/449551/8 "2008-05-16T19:31:58Z")
[QUOTE=Dung Beetle] Ah, Curious Incident, that’s a good one. The Chronicles of Narnia is an interesting thought. She listened to the Lemony Snicket books a while back because the kids wanted her to, and I’m sure she doesn’t know the Chronicles. I love them myself. Mom doesn’t really read. She’s had a few things off the bestseller lists, like DaVinci Code or Nicholas Sparks. So that leaves a lot open. My other ideas so far are The Green Mile (though I’m sure she saw the movie), and The Life and Times of The Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson. Maybe the James Herriot books? [/QUOTE] Thurnderbolt Kid is a good one, so it In a Sunburned Country. [A Walk in the Woods](http://www.amazon.com/Walk-Woods-Bill-Bryson/dp/0552152153/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210965888&sr=8-1) is my favorite Bryson book, but I don’t listen to his books as audiobooks much, so I can’t vouch for them as audiobooks. Oh and while I was on amazon getting that link I saw links for two other great audiobooks. [Into Thin Air](http://www.amazon.com/Into-Thin-Air-Personal-Disaster/dp/0739343793/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210966044&sr=8-2) was…brilliant. I remember going to my car on my lunch breaks just so I could hear more. And [The Devils Teeth](http://www.amazon.com/Devils-Teeth-Survival-Obsession-Americas/dp/0739320440/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210966252&sr=8-1) about great while sharks. An amazing story well told, and I have always been facinated by sharks. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-audiobook-recommendations-please/449551/9 "2008-05-16T19:32:13Z")
What you like to listen to depends upon your reading tastes. It varies considerably. My suggestions: 1.) Check out your local library. Most have several audiobooks in both casette and CD format. You can listen to several and find what genres you like, and which authors. 2.) If i plan to buy an audiobook to listen to over and over, pick something you’d like to read more than once. For me, that’s geberally nonfiction or a classic. I’ve listen to James Burke’s books more times than I can count. 3.) I like classics a lot YMMV, but I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve listened to **The Iliad, The Odysset, The Prince, Edgar Allen Poe**. 4.) Mysteries are a good bet. I’ve got several Nero Wolfe and Sherlock Holmes recordings that I listen to several times. 5.) Look at bargain stoes and book stores and library sales. You can often pick up cut priced audiobooks ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-audiobook-recommendations-please/449551/10 "2008-05-16T19:42:04Z")
I like listening to mystery series on Audiobook. Gives me a little instant recognition what’s going on, and also helps me keep going with a story when if it were a book I’d want to throw it across the room. Nevada Barr’s Anna Pigeon books.(love the national park settings, want to slap Anna regularly) Walter Mosely’s Easy Rawlins mysteries–which are also historical fiction about being African American in the 1960s(ish). The history of race relations stuff is kinda neat, and mostly well wrapped into the stories, but does take some getting used to. Sue Grafton’s Alphabet series(A is for Alibi) (which I’ve read, not listened to, but have heard recommended) the Mrs. Pollifax novels by Dorothy Gilman. Stephanie Plum by Janet Evanovich–widely recommended, but drove me absolutely batty even in an abridged format. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2008, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-audiobook-recommendations-please/449551/11 "2008-05-16T23:24:03Z")
I produced and edited audiobooks for a few years. Two of my personal favorites that I worked on were: _Even Cowgirls Get The Blues_ read by Michael Nouri. If you can find the unedited version all the better. _A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court_ read by Carl Reiner. Mark Twain’s classic book interpreted to perfection by the master. ---
**Author:** ![Figaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ea666f/32.png) [@Figaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Figaro)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2008, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-audiobook-recommendations-please/449551/12 "2008-05-17T00:54:04Z")
Things I’ve enjoyed the most recently are The Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy and short stories by David Sedaris.