Audiobook recs?

[pinotgrig]

I try to keep a good mix of audio, kindle, and traditional books going but am running low on audiobooks. I try to always have one going - any recs for me? I like most genres, though my least faves are romance and sci fi.

TIA!

[ufcasey]

I have a shelf of books that I listened to the audiobook: www.goodreads.com/review/list/7383561-holly?shelf=audiobook

But based on your preferences of it being non-romance/sci-fi I'd suggest the following that were really good as audiobooks and were great books in general:

Once We Were Brothers by Balson (historical fiction/mystery/fiction)
Homegoing by Gyasi (historical fiction)
Little Fires Everywhere by Ng (fiction)
The Hate U Give by Thomas (ya fiction)
Unbroken by Hillenbrand (non-fiction)
A Man Called Ove by Backman (fiction)
Be Frank With Me by Johnson (fiction)
The Scorpio Races by Stiefvater (ya fiction)
The Kind Worth Killing by Swanson (mystery/thriller)
Shrill by West (non-fiction)

[monkeyfeet]

Also, we all agreed Born a Crime was it would have been good in audio.

[mrspez07]

Just finished the audio of My Grandmother told me to tell you she’s sorry.
Amazing on audio!

[susiebw]

I listened to Ken Follett's Century Trilogy on audiobook, and it was fantastic. Fall of Giants is the first one.
They're quite long, is the only caveat - not sure if that's a deal breaker for you.

[pinotgrig]

Jan 9, 2018 20:15:25 GMT -5 mrspez07 said:

Just finished the audio of My Grandmother told me to tell you she’s sorry.
Amazing on audio!

Added this one - thanks!

[pinotgrig]

Jan 9, 2018 16:01:15 GMT -5 ufcasey said:

I have a shelf of books that I listened to the audiobook: www.goodreads.com/review/list/7383561-holly?shelf=audiobook

But based on your preferences of it being non-romance/sci-fi I'd suggest the following that were really good as audiobooks and were great books in general:

Once We Were Brothers by Balson (historical fiction/mystery/fiction)
Homegoing by Gyasi (historical fiction)
Little Fires Everywhere by Ng (fiction)
The Hate U Give by Thomas (ya fiction)
Unbroken by Hillenbrand (non-fiction)
A Man Called Ove by Backman (fiction)
Be Frank With Me by Johnson (fiction)
The Scorpio Races by Stiefvater (ya fiction)
The Kind Worth Killing by Swanson (mystery/thriller)
Shrill by West (non-fiction)

Thanks for the links! I’ve read a lot of these, but added some of the others tomy list. 😊

[litskispeciality]

I heard "Ready Player One" read by Will Whi-ton (family guy fans) is really good. I enjoyed "Sharp Objects" by Gillian Flynn as an audio book. I can't remember the reader but I liked the voice. "The Night Circus" was ok, I found audio was easier to follow.

[aurora]

My go-to favorites are JK Rowling's Cormoran Strike series (written as Robert Galbraith). I'm also enjoying Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache novels and Stephen King's Bill Hodges trilogy. It's funny, because I don't read all that many mysteries overall, but I seem to be drawn to books like these in the audiobook versions. I do think it's easier to listen to series in audiobook because after the first one I'm already into the characters, which I have a harder time with in the audiobook version.

In non-fiction my favorite is probably I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai.

[litskispeciality]

Yes Cuckoo's Calling audio (written by Robert Galbraith) was so much easier to understand in audio format. It's long, but I found I finished it faster as it has a pretty good story.

[susiebw]

Oh! I listened to all of Gillian Flynn's books and really enjoyed them.

[jentervention]

Listening to Born a Crime now. Highly recommend.

[jmliongrrrl]

I really enjoy Neil Gaiman's books on audio. His voice is perfection reading his stories. I've done rereads of the Harry Potter and Outlander books as audiobooks and loved them as well (and the Scottish accent is fun to listen to) .I just finished listening to Hillary Clinton's What Happened and thought she did an amazing job with it (though I'm not sure if you're interested in politics or not).

[pinotgrig]

Jan 12, 2018 9:08:22 GMT -5 litskispeciality said:

I heard "Ready Player One" read by Will Whi-ton (family guy fans) is really good. I enjoyed "Sharp Objects" by Gillian Flynn as an audio book. I can't remember the reader but I liked the voice. "The Night Circus" was ok, I found audio was easier to follow.

I really liked Sharp Objects on audio, too! I’ll check out the other recs - thanks!

[pinotgrig]

Jan 12, 2018 10:43:16 GMT -5 aurora said:

My go-to favorites are JK Rowling's Cormoran Strike series (written as Robert Galbraith). I'm also enjoying Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache novels and Stephen King's Bill Hodges trilogy. It's funny, because I don't read all that many mysteries overall, but I seem to be drawn to books like these in the audiobook versions. I do think it's easier to listen to series in audiobook because after the first one I'm already into the characters, which I have a harder time with in the audiobook version.

In non-fiction my favorite is probably I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai.

It’s funny you mention listening to more fiction on audiobooks - I’m the exact same! It seems to be a good genre because it’s engaging but doesn’t usually require a ton of brainpower/time to process.

I’ll check out the other ones you mentioned; I did like Cukoo’s Calling so it’s good to know the audio version was well done.

[captainobvious]

Audible original - The Home Front: Life in America During WWII. (Narrated by Martin Sheen.) It's an interesting look at the time period.

[secretlyevil]

What Happened by HRC

Once we were brothers was AHHH-mazing.

[secretlyevil]

I just finished Ready Player One, it was great.

[bex]

Jan 13, 2018 19:40:44 GMT -5 pinotgrig said:

Jan 12, 2018 10:43:16 GMT -5 aurora said:

My go-to favorites are JK Rowling's Cormoran Strike series (written as Robert Galbraith). I'm also enjoying Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache novels and Stephen King's Bill Hodges trilogy. It's funny, because I don't read all that many mysteries overall, but I seem to be drawn to books like these in the audiobook versions. I do think it's easier to listen to series in audiobook because after the first one I'm already into the characters, which I have a harder time with in the audiobook version.

In non-fiction my favorite is probably I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai.

It’s funny you mention listening to more fiction on audiobooks - I’m the exact same! It seems to be a good genre because it’s engaging but doesn’t usually require a ton of brainpower/time to process.

I’ll check out the other ones you mentioned; I did like Cukoo’s Calling so it’s good to know the audio version was well done.

I definitely lean towards fiction for audiobooks - mysteries, thrillers, etc.  I think they're easier for me to process. Usually when I'm reading a book I spend the first 30 pages flipping back and forth to figure out characters, and that's usually easier with audio books.

I'm another one who liked the Cormoran Strike books on audio. The Maze runner books were pretty good too.

[msmerymac]

Jan 9, 2018 18:37:24 GMT -5 monkeyfeet said:

Also, we all agreed Born a Crime was it would have been good in audio.

I listed to it on audio as read by Trevor Noah. Very good.

[secretlyevil]

I started Born a Crime on my commute this morning, I think I’m at chapter five? Anyway, y’all were right, it is so good.

[revjen]

I'm enjoying the Hannah Swensen series on audio, although she's starting to irritate me lately. Dan Brown's Origin was really, really good. It went back to the DaVinci Code and Angels & Demons. I disliked the one before this. A lot. Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole was good on audio as well.

[1yeartogo]

The Tea Girl if Hummingbird Lane was a good audiobook. Also, Life by Keith Richards, however it was a little too long for my taste.

[itsme]

I agree with The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane as being a good audiobook. I started listening to The Ex by Alafair Burke and it has me wondering what the heck is going on which is a good thing. I am really enjoying it.

[secretlyevil]

Adding:

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman - warning takes place in Scotland, narrator has very thick Scottish accent, personally it added to the story for me but some might find it distracting.


Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate - *****

[wesleycrusher]

As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes was enjoyable. I love audiobook memoirs read by the author.

[pinotgrig]

May 18, 2018 13:52:16 GMT -5 secretlyevil said:

Adding:

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman - warning takes place in Scotland, narrator has very thick Scottish accent, personally it added to the story for me but some might find it distracting.


Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate - *****

I’m listening to Eleanor Oliphant right now and am loving the narrator. Eleanor’s voice is perfect and this is one of the ones I think is better listened to vs read.

[mrspez07]

I’ll add The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah to this list. Very good.

[secretlyevil]

The Hate U Give - the narrator is fantastic and really took the story to a new level IMO, even though the story was great on its own.

[MrsAxilla]

I came to start a thread DESPERATELY seeking audio books recs for a non-audio book listener and saw this was bumped and didn't feel right about a new post - lol. I'm out of town working all weekend on a very tedious, very non-engaging task and I've blown through my backlog of podcasts and am about to go NUTS!!! I'll check out some of these, but please share any new recommendations.