My wife told me last night that she wants some audio book CD’s for Christmas. She has a long commute in the car (up to 2 hours one way) so I can see how this would be reasonable request. She isn’t all that picky or complicated. She loved all of the Harry Potter books on CD. She also likes mysteries and some chick type stuff. Basically anything that is good and interesting.
Any recommendations?
Any of the books in the Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, by Alexander McCall Smith would be great. They’re all read by Lisette Lecat who is an absolutely perfect reader. I read the books, then listened to them all again, she’s so good. There are a whole bunch of them and they’re all available on CD (they do go in chronological order):
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
Tears of the Giraffe
Morality for Beautiful Girls
The Kalahari Typing School for Men
The Full Cupboard of Life
In the Company of Cheerful Ladies
Does she like fantasy? If so, she’ll probably love Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books. They’re highly entertaining, and there are buckets of them (what, about 34 now?), so they’ll keep her company on her commute for quite a long while. I’d recommend some of the Watch books first, rather than starting with the first chronological book (The Color Of Magic), because they’re the punchiest, most interesting, and most comedic, in my opinion. They’re about the officers of the city watch, and in many ways they’re just police mysteries in a fantasy setting. The first of those is Guards, Guards!, then Men At Arms, Feet of Clay, Jingo, The Fifth Elephant, and Night Watch, which is an amazingly good book; you almost want to drive longer to hear what happens next. I haven’t read (listened to) the latest book, which is also about the watch.
Thank you both. I ordered a pick recommended by each of you. I think they were Night Watch and one in the Number 1 Ladies series that I am not sure of. Anyway, you can see that I am flying blind and I am sure my wife will appreciate someone helping me pick some audio books for her.
Just to be consistent, I’m going to recommend The Stupidest Angel - a tale of Christmas Terror by Christopher Moore. (I’ve recommended this audiobook about fifty times now.) It’s not as “innocent” as Pratchett’s books or Harry Potter, just in case that is an issue. Several of Moore’s other books are available and I see one or more of his books in almost every thread like this on SDMB.
As for mysteries, she probably, like most of us, has her favorite authors. That is probably the best way to go. Just because I like them I’ll recommend Tell No One, Gone For Good and No Second Chance all by Harlan Coben. (There is one more, the newest, but I can’t remember it’s name. It’s so good, I loaned it out and didn’t get it back.)
The women I know who like mysteries all seem to like Iris Johansen, Johnathan Kellerman and John Sanford. (I don’t know that being women has anything to do with it, I like them, too.)
And since this has become a list of favorite authors, I’ll add G.M. Ford (you think that’s a nom de plume?), George P. Pelecanos, Carol O’Connell and Tim Dorsey. Some of those are bound to have audiobooks available.
