# Recommend an audio book for a 10-hour drive
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-audio-book-for-a-10-hour-drive/203874
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [September 26, 2003, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-audio-book-for-a-10-hour-drive/203874 "2003-09-26T00:39:41Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@ResIpsaLoquitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ResIpsaLoquitor)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2003, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-audio-book-for-a-10-hour-drive/203874/1 "2003-09-26T00:39:41Z")
I’m in Michigan visiting my fiance this weekend. I decided that listening to my entire CD collection for the drive yet AGAIN was getting a little boring, so I decided to get an audio book for the 10-hour drive from Philly to the midwest.
For the trip out, I got _The DaVinci Code_ by Dan Brown. I rather liked it. I thought the characterization was a little flat, and I was particularly disappointed that the protagonist wasn’t really developed until the LAST part of the story. Still, I found the plot riveting, and I listened to all 6 hours of the story almost consistently throughout my trip.
I’m going back in a few days. Since the fiance and I are going to the bookstore sometime this weekend, I’d like to get another audio book for the drive back. Anybody have any recommendations? At this point, I’m impartial: although I like fiction (particularly with an action element), I’ll listen to anything. If you can recommend a good self-help book or recipie book, I’ll take it.
I will say that I’m considering John Grisham’s _The King of Torts._, but beyond that I have nothing specific in mind. Your thoughts are appreciated.
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### Author:  [@TheDerf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheDerf)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2003, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-audio-book-for-a-10-hour-drive/203874/2 "2003-09-26T01:01:01Z")
hmm, I’ve listened to my share (I drive alot!)
If you like James Patterson, I’ve really enjoyed the Alex Cross novels (even the ones I’ve “read”). The voice acting on those is better than other I’ve heard (having 2 actors, one for the “good” guys and one for the “bad” guys helps keep things organized, easier to follow.)
I’ve also enjoyed the T. Jefferson Parker books, but I’ve never read them in print. I don’t have a lot of choice at my library, so I tend to get things that I’ve either read, or sound like my cup of tea. No literature explorations by audio-book (don’t won’t to wreck b/c I was caught up in an exploration of great lit!)
I also listened to one by James Herbert (I think) I don’t remember the name, but it was about a “pretty-boy” actor who dies and comes back as a “Quasimoto” character. Very dark, very fun.
I also liked Peter Straub on audio-book. The Dark Tower series was fun, as was LOTR. “Black House” by Straub/King was good.
Anywhoo
my $.02
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### Author:  [@TheDerf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheDerf)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2003, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-audio-book-for-a-10-hour-drive/203874/3 "2003-09-26T01:03:03Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by TheDerf \*
> **. . . don’t won’t . . .**
D’OH! :smack:
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### Author:  [@Papermache\_Prince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Papermache_Prince)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2003, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-audio-book-for-a-10-hour-drive/203874/4 "2003-09-26T01:51:52Z")
I like listening to Terry Pratchett’s fantasy fiction, read by Nigel Planer. For non fiction, I liked _In the Heart of the Sea: the Tragedy of the Whale Ship Essex_ by Nathaniel Philbrick. This is the true story that inspired _Moby Dick_. An anti-recommendation: I couldn’t finish _Jolie Blon’s Bounce_ by James Lee Burke.
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### Author:  [@Ultraviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ultraviolet)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2003, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-audio-book-for-a-10-hour-drive/203874/5 "2003-09-26T01:55:11Z")
The best audiobook I ever listened to was [Motherless Brooklyn](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/069452364X/ref=lpr_g_3/102-5040952-2381719?v=glance&s=books) by Jonathan Lethem.
> [@](#):
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> Lionel Essrog, a detective suffering from Tourette’s syndrome, spins the narrative as he tracks down the killer of his boss, Frank Minna. Minna enlisted Lionel and his friends when they were teenagers living at Saint Vincent’s Home for Boys, ostensibly to perform odd jobs (we’re talking very odd) and over the years trained them to become a team of investigators. The Minna men face their most daunting case when they find their mentor in a Dumpster bleeding from stab wounds delivered by an assailant whose identity he refuses to reveal–even while he’s dying on the way to the hospital.
It’s an amazingly gripping story. However, if you do listen to it, get the book tape read by Steve Buscemi. He does an amazing job with Lionel’s verbal tics. (Of course, it helps if you like him as an actor).
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### Author:  [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2003, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-audio-book-for-a-10-hour-drive/203874/6 "2003-09-26T02:42:59Z")
Anything read by George Guidell or Frank Mueller. Dark Tower series as read by Mueller (The Gunslinger, Drawing of the Three and Wizard and Glass are currently available, Wastelands is having reprint problems) and Dune (Guidell) are fantastic.
Ender’s Game for a little lighter fare (I’m listening to it for the umpteenth time as I type this) or Bag of Bones (Stephen King) or Airframe (Michael Crichton).
Stick with authors and genres you like. You can get totally immersed in a good audio book and not realize how much time has passed.
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### Author:  [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2003, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-audio-book-for-a-10-hour-drive/203874/7 "2003-09-26T03:01:56Z")
Just finished _Our Game_ by John LeCarre. It was terrific.
Before that a wonderful biography of Daniel Boone.
Check out some non-fiction, it really works well as an audio book. I’ve had good look with biographies (_Theodore Rex_ and _John Adams_, travel especially Bill Bryson (who’s irritating me greatly at the moment) and general non-fiction (_Germs_ was pretty memorable.) Both Jimmy Carter’s and Walter Cronkite’s auto-bios were great.
The Harry Potter books are great on tape. Tim Curry doing the Lemony Snicket books is hilarious.
I love books on tape, even mediocre ones.
Got a Dick Francis going at the moment.
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### Author:  [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2003, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-audio-book-for-a-10-hour-drive/203874/8 "2003-09-26T03:20:01Z")
The Blair Brown/Stephen King reading of _Rose Madder_ is really good, and unabridged, so it should last you the whole time.
Jeremy Irons’ reading of _Lolita_ is also unabridged, and simply gorgeous to listen to. Irons really brings out the beauty of the language.
I love almost anything Tim Curry reads, but his reading of Umberto Eco’s _Foucault’s Pendulum_ has to be his best. Abridged, unfortunately, so I think it’s only 5 or 6 hours.
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### Author:  [@pesch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pesch)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2003, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-audio-book-for-a-10-hour-drive/203874/9 "2003-09-26T03:59:45Z")
I’d recommend something from the 20-volume series by Patrick O’Brien, about Jack Aubrey, Royal Navy sea captain during the Napoleonic Wars, and his good friend, Dr. Stephen Maturin. Borders is carrying the Books on Tape series, read by Patrick Tull, so you can pick it up in CD or cassette format for between $35-55. They’re long books, one of them can easily take up a big chunk of the 10-hour drive.
The series opens with “Master and Commander,” followed by “Post Captain.” They’re good for introducing Aubrey and Maturin, and since part of the time they’re on land, they contain scenes of courtship and society reminiscent of Jane Austen. but I’m partial to “Far Side of the World” and “Desolation Island” myself. They’re in the middle of the series, when POB was really hitting his stride (although the other books are no slouches, either).
In short, if you like C.S. Forester’s Hornblower series, there’s a good chance you’ll love this. Best thing about listening to it on tape, the way the books are read can help you understand the nautical terminology, and you can learn to pronounce the words correctly.
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### Author:  [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2003, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-audio-book-for-a-10-hour-drive/203874/10 "2003-09-26T10:50:45Z")
The [BBC radio dramatisation](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0553456539/103-3866216-2449459?v=glance) of the _Lord of the Rings_ is superb - it was produced in 1981, and I grew up listening to it alongside my reading of the book - as a result my imagining of the characters was strongly influenced by these actor’s voices. Interestingly, Ian Holm, who played Bilbo in the Peter Jackson films, plays Frodo in the radio play.
Grim
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### Author:  [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2003, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-audio-book-for-a-10-hour-drive/203874/11 "2003-09-26T15:13:28Z")
Check out some old radio shows. Burns and Allen, stuff like that.
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### Author:  [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2003, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-audio-book-for-a-10-hour-drive/203874/12 "2003-09-26T15:54:07Z")
My very favorite audio book is _A Year in Provence_, read by the author, Peter Mayle. It’s not very long, though.
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### Author:  [@Deptford](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deptford)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2003, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-audio-book-for-a-10-hour-drive/203874/13 "2003-09-26T17:08:10Z")
What **pesch** said, go with an O’brian. Personally i’d start you off with “Post Captain”. Incidentally **pesch** if you like a well read Historical novel i’d recomend the “Flashman” books read by Timothy West.
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### Author:  [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2003, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-audio-book-for-a-10-hour-drive/203874/14 "2003-09-26T17:17:46Z")
I second the Harry Potter audiobooks. Even if you’ve already read them, give them a try. Jim Dale is awesome! He does wonderful voices and excellent narration. I enjoy listening to the audiobooks more than reading the books themselves–which is unusual for me.
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### Author:  [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2003, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-audio-book-for-a-10-hour-drive/203874/15 "2003-09-26T17:27:03Z")
I have a long commute and read a lot of books like this. Anything you’d like to read on paper is a good choice. If you don’t like the genre, or the author, being on tape won’t help you enjoy it.
If you’re really not picky, avoid tapes performed by the author - the ones read by actors (most of them) will hold your attention better, not least because they’ll annoy you the least. But just go to your library and browse; something will catch your eye.
The best performances, regardless of subject matter, I’ve come across are David Ogden Stiers’ Tom Clancy novels. “Major Winchester” can do any accent, age, or gender convincingly, and keep dozens of them going in a book without missing a syllable. Even though I’m not really a Clancy fan, I’ll listen to his books just to admire Stiers’ acting work.
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### Author:  [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2003, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-audio-book-for-a-10-hour-drive/203874/16 "2003-09-26T17:32:42Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by grimpixie \*
> **The [BBC radio dramatisation](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0553456539/103-3866216-2449459?v=glance) of the _Lord of the Rings_ is superb**
I second this recommendation – it’s spectacular. Ian Holm is a wonderful Frodo and Bill Nighy is the definitive Sam Gamgee. And Peter Woodthorpe’s Gollum is just spectacular. 🙂
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### Author:  [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2003, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-audio-book-for-a-10-hour-drive/203874/17 "2003-09-26T19:15:44Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by grimpixie \*
> \*\*The [BBC radio dramatisation](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0553456539/103-3866216-2449459?v=glance) of the _Lord of the Rings_ is superb - it was produced in 1981, and I grew up listening to it alongside my reading of the book - as a result my imagining of the characters was strongly influenced by these actor’s voices. Interestingly, Ian Holm, who played Bilbo in the Peter Jackson films, plays Frodo in the radio play.
>
> Grim \*\*
Is this the nine-CD set? I don’t really care for that one.
There are also unabriged audiobooks of both _The Hobbit_ and _The Lord of the Rings_. I don’t know how good they are, as I haven’t had time to listen to them.
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### Author:  [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2003, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-audio-book-for-a-10-hour-drive/203874/18 "2003-09-26T19:29:18Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Tangent \*
> \*\*I second the Harry Potter audiobooks. Even if you’ve already read them, give them a try. Jim Dale is awesome! He does wonderful voices and excellent narration. I enjoy listening to the audiobooks more than reading the books themselves–which is unusual for me. \*\*
The Harry Potter US audiobooks aren’t bad. I intend sometime to give the UK ones a shot sometime. Of course, the latest one is 52 pounds, which is far more than the US one when you can go to Costco and pick it up for maybe 40 bucks. The narrator is Stephen Fry, and I have no idea how he is.
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### Author:  [@Clint\_in\_Wichita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clint_in_Wichita)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2003, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-audio-book-for-a-10-hour-drive/203874/19 "2003-09-27T00:50:22Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by asterion \*
> \*\*Is this the nine-CD set? I don’t really care for that one.
>
> There are also unabriged audiobooks of both _The Hobbit_ and _The Lord of the Rings_. I don’t know how good they are, as I haven’t had time to listen to them. \*\*
They are all unbelievable. They retail for $50 per book…I bought all 3 LOTR books on Ebay for $45.
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### Author:  [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2003, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-an-audio-book-for-a-10-hour-drive/203874/20 "2003-09-27T03:56:57Z")
When I produced audiobooks, my favorite of all that I worked on was _Even Cowgirls Get The Blues_, by Tom Robbins and read by the incomparable Michael Nouri, who by the way was an absolute joy to work with.
At the time it was available in an abridged (4 hour) and unabridged (9 hour) version. It was released by Dove Audio, now unfortunately a defunct company, but you can probably find a copy somewhere. A delight to hear.
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