Sean Connery reading. Elegant, no?
Okay, I am not a big talking book person. What's your favorite audiobook? I need something for a six-hour trip. Well, twelve if you include coming and going? Something that will really make the hours pass? I know from the past that the reader is half the allure.
15 comments:
Galileo's Daughter, by Dava Sobel
My library only has the book, but I will take that out on my return. Thanks.
One of my favorite books is Sunset & Sawdust by Joe R Lansdale but it is a tough call on the audio book. Lansdale himself reads the abridged version but his voice is so great with its east Texas drawl (which is exactly how he writes) it is almost worth it. The full version is decent but I wish Joe had read the full text himself. I am kind of opposed to abridgments anyway.
I always like comedy books for a trip. Steve Martin's memoir Born Standing Up was a good one, if you like him that is. I love Sarah Vowel's stuff on audio too. I still have to do her newest one The Wordy Shipmates.
My husband loves Sarah Vowell, great idea. And who doesn't like Martin.
Yay! Audiobook recommendations.
My favorite book from last year, listened to on audio, was Don Winslow's The Dawn Patrol. It's a surf/beach/mystery thing and the reader, Ray Porter, nails the performance, the beach inflection, and even is good at the female characters. Another book I read earlier this year, The Shanghai Moon, by S. J. Rozan, is read by Samantha Quan and she does an excellent job.
Depending on where you're getting your audiobooks, you could get a couple Hard Case Crime books and listen to one each way. Best audio of HCC is Donald Westlake's Somebody Owes Me Money.
History wise, David McCullough reads his 1776 book. It's the shortest of his modern books and might fit within that 12-hour window you have. Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis is another good one.
And there's always Shadow of the Wind. The reader, Jonathan Davis, is one of the best readers out there.
Now, I'm curious: tell us what you pick.
Loved Dawn Patrol. One of my favs from last year, too. My husband has read the histories. Maybe the Rozan one. I'll check my library website. Thanks, Scott.
What bound-pages book should I audit?
Does your library have any of the Caedmon plays on their Harper Audio reissues? I know HA put THE GLASS MENAGERIE and a small slew of the others back out.
http://www.audiobooksonline.com/351175.html I genuinely enjoyed that one, and there's one with a Very generic title edited by MH Greenberg that featured a William Campbell Gault story...and a Lawrence Block...but they're kind of hard to find. Much better than the Leonard UP IN HONEY'S ROOM and Pelecanos THE NIGHT GARDENER, the cutouts I've most recently listened to, even though they were both OK.
J. B. Priestley's DELIGHT, if you could find it (but it's only good for an hour). A drive to Indy?
Yes, Indy. I'll look into the Caedmon, but I doubt it. An hour would be good. Our attention span are short. Thanks guys.
I've never listened to one. It just seems kind of alien to me.
Your trip one way will go down easy if you get Donna Tartt's reading of True Grit. She really does it justice; she may even improve on the text.
Another talking book my library doesn't have. Funny to have another writer read it. I may look for it at a store.
Last Thanksgiving we took a long trip (10-hour drive, one-way) and listened to Michael York reading Huxley's "Brave New World." Although I'd read the book before (admittedly many years ago), I thought York did a great job of bringing out the different characters and ideas. My husband had not read the book, and he thoroughly enjoyed York's reading. As for our kids...all of them had their i-pods firmly clamped on!
(In the past, we've also enjoyed listening to mysteries. P.D. James, Ruth Rendell, and Elizabeth George are great on long trips.)
As I'm looking these up, I am amazed at how recent the audiobooks are at our library. Have they never heard of classics?
Whoops, they do have Brave New World. Thanks, Deb.
I think several of the Cadfael books are available in audio book format, though what your library will have, who knows? If you want action, most of the Clive Cussler books are available in AB format.
Whatever you choose, HAVE FUN!
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