Audiobook recs?

[telophase]

So we'll be on a cruise right after the wedding, and I recall from last time, the drugs that make being on a large boat bearable for me* also render my eyes (temporarily) unable to focus on very fine lines, such as print. So I am going to be stocking up on audiobooks for the duration.

Rec me audiobooks! Listened to anything recently that captivated you? Fiction or nonfiction, either's fine.



* I get awful motion sickness. Do not rec the wristbands to me: not only are they placebo, but they compress the wrists and as I have tenosynovitis, this would be a Very Bad Thing Indeed for me to wear for a week. Also, if you rec other remedies, be prepared for me to politely ignore you. :) Ginger may work, but I am NOT going to get on a weeklong trip without something I KNOW works on me.

Comments

[hunningham]

Okay, I've just wandered in from somewhere (network?) and I don't know your reading tastes or what works for you and what doesn't, but these are some which I liked a lot. Hope it's useful

Walk in the Woods, or anything else by Bill Bryson
Bryson is a travel writer who's extremely popular in the UK, and has a very gentle wry sense of humour. This and his other books are a mixture of travel experiences, background reading, history and general anecdotes. Interestingly, I've enjoyed listening to his books much more than I've enjoyed reading the print version - some books just read aloud that well.

Any of the Patrick O'Brien Aubrey & Maturin books
If you're not read any of these before, there's a very good summary from Jo Walton Again, I like the books and they just read aloud brilliantly.

True Grit, by Charles Portis, read by Donna Tartt
I got this one because of a review by rachelmanija Well worth it - and Tartt matches the narrator perfectly.

Any of the William stories, read by Martin(?) Jarvis
These started as a series of BBC Radio 4 years ago and just took off from there. Short stories, originally published from the 1930's onwards. When listening to these, I've had to pull the car off the road because I've been laughing too hard to drive.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, read by Charles Prebble
Here I loved the original book and got the audio version because the amazon reviews were just full of people saying "... but even better if you listen to it.." Very true. I got this one on CDs about six years ago - the current audiobook is available from amazon.co.uk for 2.87

A good place to look for reviews of audiobooks is Sue Arnold's column in the Saturday Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/suearnold

[telophase]

Thanks! I love Bill Bryson, so I am inclined to think positively of your other recs. :) I've tried to get through JS&MN a few times in paper, but been thwarted--I still keep intending to read it, so maybe the audio version will work out better.

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

OH yes. I hadn't been much into audiobooks before, but I think it's because I hadn't heard good examples. I HIGHLY recommend the audiobooks of Lois McMaster Bujold's Sharing Knife series - The Sharing Knife: Beguilement, TSK: Legacy, TSK: Passage and TSK: Horizon. Fabulous books, AND a really amazingly good reader.

http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_2?asin=B002V8KZAE&qid=1331869598&sr=1-2
http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?asin=B002VA9SVO&qid=1331869598&sr=1-1
http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_3?asin=B002VA8X3I&qid=1331869598&sr=1-3
http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_4?asin=B002V9XB6I&qid=1331869598&sr=1-4

I'm seriously considering trying other audiobooks just on the basis of that reader.

I hope you have a wonderful trip. I've wished I could ever go on a cruise. Enjoy!

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Thank you--for the recs and the good wishes. :). This'll be the second cruise I've ever been on (it's the same as the first), and the previous one was at the tail end of hurricane season, so we got hurricane-season prices with much less risk of a storm. And as we didn't care about the actual stops, even if there'd been one and the ship had to reschedule the shore trips or go to different ones, it would have been just fine. We didn't think thAt we'd like 'cruise life,' but it turns out there's plenty to do and lots of places to go and be alone or with just a few others on the ship, so you don't have to be surrounded by lots of other people at all times.

[sleary.livejournal.com]

I'm currently listening to The Lies of Locke Lamora while jogging. It's excellent -- the narrator sounds like Black Adder doing a Jack Sparrow impression, which is perfect for the story.

I love the Dresden Files audiobooks, but I can't listen to them in the car because James Marsters's voice blends too well with the road noise. Not sure if that would be a problem on the ship.

Moon Called was well done. I haven't tried the others in the series, but I think they used the same narrator.

The unabridged Time Traveler's Wife is great. I adore the narrators on that one. The abridged version is atrocious; they literally took out all the sex, drugs, and rock and roll. The characters are punk fans, for crying out loud!

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Thanks! And re: Time Traveler's Wife: WTF?! Wow. I've listened to a few abridged novels, back when I lived in CS and Hastings was the only game in town when it came to renting audiobooks, and the only one where it worked OK was (Edward?) Rutherford's _London_, because that was a set of interconnected short stories about London through the ages, so thy could leave half of them out without screwing up individual character arcs.

Also, I am disappoint that the only full cast audio version of World War Z appears to be abridged. :(

[estara.livejournal.com]

Stephen Fry's English Delight Radio series - if you like considering the English language
Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie and Emma Thompson in Saturday Night Fry - Radio show from the 80s
The full cast production of Ellen Kushner's Swordspoint, narrated by the author (There's another full cast production of hers which was nominated for the Audies - The Witches of Lublin)
Any of Eddie Izzard's Stand-up routine recordings

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I've got the Fry series on English. We listened to the segment on puns on the way to family for Christmas one year, which was a mistake as it mean I was forced to endure puns from Toby and his dad for three solid days. *twitch*

Thanks! I'll take a look at the others!

[estara.livejournal.com]

There are FOUR of the English Delight series now ^^ - roughly 4 to 6 half hour programmes each.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I'll definitely have to check into that, then! Thanks!

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

If you haven't read Steven King's On Writing yet, now is the time. He reads it himself and it's fantastic.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I read it many years ago, and enjoyed it. I'll consider the audio version--I do like books about writing. :)

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

He's a really fantastic reader of his own work. His website says he's read some other stuff on audiobook too, including some of his short story collections.