Maveric

one of my hobbies is listening to audiobooks, especially as I lay down to sleep for the night. I currently just started Coraline by Neil Gaiman. Gaiman also wrote for the Sandman and Swampthing comic books. He's got a few other novels which I hear as good, but I haven't had a chance to try.

I often do not have the time to sit in one place and read a paperback novel. I started listening to books on cassette when I started working the graveyard shift at a local convienence store. Oh the stories I could tell about that period in my life.

The first Audiobook I listened to was The Gunslinger by Stephen King, read by the Author. The thing about authors reading their own work is that they know how the characters speak and not just what they are speaking. Later, The Gunslinger was rereleased, but this time read by actor Frank Muller. Frank did an awesome reading but in his own unique way.

I really like the way Frank narrates, he acts out the voices and gives each character their own unique sound. Every book I've listened to that he has narrated, I have enjoyed.

So, that was numerous years and Audiobooks ago. Lately, I have been coming across numerous peices of crap that supposedly pass for story telling.

I was just wondering if anyone else listens to audiobooks? which ones? do you have a favorite narrator? Any recommended selections I should check out?

Even if you don't listen to audiobooks, but instead you actually read novels, please feel free to chime in. It's nothing but a google search to find out if there's a audiobook version.

I highly recommend anything by stephen king although he has a very bad habit of going into detail about things not essiential to the story. To me, the extra details make you feel more connected to the characters and setting.

I'd bee happy to discuss any of the numerous stories I have listened to if anyone is interested, and I'd love to hear any "must read/listen to" recommendations...

-Mav

Pellaz

I don't listen to audio books anymore, but when I was younger and regularly drove several hours, I tried a few. The most problematic aspect of it was making sure to get unabridged versions. I also didn't listen to anything I had/would read, so I quickly fell in love with Louis Lamour audiobooks. I'm not sure how they'd hold up to my opinion today, but at the time I enjoyed them greatly.

If you like Gaimans work, get American Gods as soon as you can. It's his only work to date that meets and possibly surpasses his work on Sandman. I also see from looking that Gaiman has an audiobook called Two Plays for Voices, and that there is not a corresponding book for it. If anyone has any info/opinions on this, I'd greatly appreciate them.

I also see that various Terry Pratchett books are available on audiobook. While any of them would be great, I'm certain, Night Watch might be a good one to start with. People WILL disagree with this I'm sure. It's comedic fantasy, and Night Watch offers one of the more serious/story driven books in the Discworld lexicon.

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Maveric

i've really been looking forward to listening to american gods but could only find it on cassette. cassettes wear out and damage to easily so I only purchase CD's. I'll probably have to get it online.

Cynthetiq

I'm going to suggest Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy. I enjoy it alot. It's also unabridged (unlike the BBC version) and the book is read by Pullman himself. There are some character actors for some of the voices.

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quest1mark

i just got an ipod and started purchasing (yes purchasing) music off of itunes. they also carry a huge selection of audiobooks. i havent gotten the chance to actually purchase an audiobook and listen to it on my ipod, but its something i really want to do.

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anleja

Wow, I was actually thinking of starting a thread like this, but I was under the false impression that only blind or illiterate (did I spell that right? I REALLY hope so) people listened to them.

I can listen to headphones at work, and I got tired of listening to the same songs over and over again, so I decided to check out some audio books from the library. The first I got was "Dogs of Babel" which was alright. The guy's voice was a bit strange when he spoke the female main character's part, but I guess I can't hold that against him. It is a pretty interesting story of a linguist who tries to teach his dog to communicate to him so he can learn the details of his wife's death, which only the dog witnessed.

The next was "World's End" by T.C. Boyle. He is one of my favorite authors, but sometimes in his writing you have to re-read a line to understand exactly what he is talking about, and it is hard to re-read a line when you have a tape-player that only plays and fast-forwards. I had trouble following it (I AM working at the same time, you know), so I think It'd serve me better to just read the book the old fashioned way.

Next was "The Grapes of Wrath." 20 hours on 15 cassettes. I'd never read it, thought I'd give it a try, being a classic and all. I got throught it okay, I think if I read it I would have a hard time getting through it. But on audiobook, if the part was boring, it wasn't much of a struggle to wait a few minutes until the next exciting event in the book happened. The guy reading it is very good, the book has many different characters and he does a pretty convincing voice for each of them (except Grandpa and Grandma, who have annoying voices, but they *spoiler* die soon enough anyway.

Now I'm listening to/reading "Life of Pi." I've heard good things about it, now that I'm almost done with it I'd recommend it. The main character is a boy from India, and the guy reading reflects that pretty well.

One more I almost forgot about was an audio version of the Darwin Awards, which is okay if you are in the mood of hearing story after story after story of people killing themselves with stupidity. Myself, it is okay in small doses.

quest1, I now want to check out itunes... they probably have a better selection than my library.