EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up Book Club discussion

What audiobooks do you recommend?

I highly recommend The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as narrated by Stephen Fry.

Great question - I have been reading a lot of audiobooks lately.

I would highly recommend audiobooks in cases where the dialogue may be hard to follow or understand without a narrator. One such example is Don Quixote. If I were to have read it opposed to listen to it, I likely would not have picked up on a lot of the wit in the dialogue. It also helped in the cases of The Iliad/Odyssey. Really any older book containing what I call "period speech."

As for good narrators, I support your recommendation of Hitchhiker's read by Stephen Fry. I would also recommend White Oleander read by Oprah Winfrey and The Alchemist read by Jeremy Irons. Memoirs read by the author are also typically good (especially funny celebrities), as you hear their story and writing style in the voice they intended.

I also have Ready Player One read by Wil Wheaton and Aristotle and Dante Explore the Secrets of the Universe read by Lin-Manuel Miranda on my to-read specifically because of the narrators.

Sorry if this was a bit long-winded - I look forward to hearing other recommendations!

I love this topic! I only just found audiobooks this year and have been getting them from the library regularly.

I've especially enjoyed non-fiction works narrated by the author, it's cool to hear the story in the original voice.

My favorites so far have been Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman by Lindy West, anything by Erik Larson and of course the Harry Potter series!

This year I had a change in my schedule and now I end up driving 1+ hours daily. It is such a good opportunity to listen to audiobooks and boost my reading challenge.

I keep looking for the next audiobook to find because I hate starting a book for it to end up boring or the narrator is just horrible.

I love the recommendation of Don Quixote! It's always been on my to-read list, but I dread it, knowing it is more likely to be a boring read.

Another great read is It narrated by Chuck Benson (not Steven Weber), he does great character voices!

I have a couple of tasks that I do every day at work that require barely a third of my concentration, so I listen to audiobooks while I do them.

The Riyria Revelations series written by Michael J Sullivan, narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds is one of my absolute favorites.

I enjoyed His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik, narrated by Simon Vance.

There's a full cast version of Dracula that I thought was really good too.

Tim Curry narrated a version of Journey to the Center of the Earth that was really good.

Redshirts by John Scalzi was a good sci-fi story, and Wil Wheaton did a good job with the narration on that one too.

I haven't listened to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them yet, but a couple months ago they released a version read by Eddie Redmayne. I'm sure it will be great.

The Chimes by Charles Dickens was just ok, but there's an audio version narrated by Richard Armitage. I could listen to that man read the phone book and be fascinated. So there's that, lol :)

Tania wrote: "What audiobooks do you recommend?

I highly recommend The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as narrated by Stephen Fry."

I haven't tried Hitchhiker's Guide narrated by Stephen Fry
I liked the rest of the series narrated by Martin Freeman a lot.

I also recently purchased a version of The Godfather by Mario Puzo, narrated by Joe Mantegna. I'm looking forward to it.

The Woman in Black was a really great audio book!

Not My Father's Son

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was one of my favorite books when I was a child. Several years ago I listened to Patrick Fraley's narration, and he did such a great job on the dialect that it's now my go-to recommendation for threads like this. I will eventually listen to his Tom Sawyer and others, too.

This thread is great. I am always on a hunt for the next Audiobook.

I've tried few and these were my favourites:
- You're Never Weird on the Internet a memoir narrated by the author Felicia Day herself. It brought so much joy to my geeky heart. However, apperantly the book has few illustrations/comics that the author refers to sometimes. I haven't checked the physical book yet.

- A Man Called Ove narrated by Joan Walker. This is actually one of the books read in this group, it was so deep yet so easy to follow and listen while driving or walking. Brought me some tears and laughs every now and then.

- Me Before You narrated by Jo Hall, ... et al. A really beautiful chicklit, if I am allowed to call it that. Not a big fan of chicklits myself but this was genuinely good.

I highly recommend listening to the peculiar children trilogy on audiobook if you have not read it already

If you listen to a lot of audio books you will inevitably find a narrator you love. I find that books read by Campbell Scott, Stephen Lang and a few others don't even need to be "my kind" of books. I just like listening to them!

I have enjoyed many audiobooks but 2 very different audiobooks I enjoyed recently were Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson and Everything You Want Me to Be by Mindy Mejia.

Heft byLiz Moore. This book was so great on audio.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
Heft
Allegedly
Everything You Want Me to Be
Campbell Scott
Stephen Lang

Just decided to try an audio book as I have a couple of very long business trips coming up where I have to drive. So I am listening to The Invisible Bridge. Seems like a good way to enjoy a book.

The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer? Or one of the other books by that title?

I'm not good at listening to stories read aloud to me, and my mind won't let me count an audiobook as a book read! Y'all got me curious though, so this morning while running errands I used the LibriVox app to try to listen to Moby Dick (since I don't plan on ever reading it). Kept realizing I wasn't paying attention, although that might be because it is indeed a rather dull story! So.... I have no recommendations, but I know I don't recommend Moby Dick!

It took me a few books to get the hang of it.

I started with easier stuff: science fiction short stories from librivox, and children's books on CD from the library. I still don't listen often, but love to on long trips, and fully plan to as I get older and my eyes get even worse.

It *definitely* counts! Take the word of school-teachers who have said so. Remember, there's learning to read (which you've done, obviously) and then there's reading to learn (which is when the learning is what counts, no matter how the reading is accomplished).

Well said Cheryl, I love that! As a teacher I can totally respect and agree with that. I began reading daily 3 years ago for the specific goal of improving my reading proficiency (always been a slow reader), so that's why I decided audiobooks don't count for me. Your comment gives me the idea to take it to the next level (now that I've improved my reading speed and retention of details read) and start working on listening and focusing on auditory comprehension. A bit ADD over here, lol, which is why listening to a long story is a task for me. Glad you got me thinking about that, it's actually a great idea.

If you have any good, short, starter audiobook recommendations on LibriVox, let me know!

I am open to all genres except romance.

I really do like the short sci-fi collections that they have. I picked up Spoon River Anthology, Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie, and The Picture of Dorian Grey for my next road trip. Also, I bet A Christmas Carol would be great, especially if you've only seen movies.

(Do remember that these are volunteer, not professional, readers, and narration and sound quality aren't always terrific. Most are just fine, though.)

I'll try some out, Cheryl, thanks! Lol, I noted the dull narration of Moby Dick, it made me wonder how my students feel when I read books aloud to them!

One thing with Librivox is that the narrators are very hit or miss. I would recommend starting with a book that has multiple versions of recordings because you are more likely to find a version that appeals to you. I was introduced to Alexandre Dumas in Librivox and would recommend the Count of Monte Cristo. It's exciting enough to keep your attention, I think. Abstract novels are hard in audio. I tried the Sound and the Fury once, and had to rewind so often just to get the gist.

Thanks for the suggestion, Joanna!

Sarah, I bet your students love to listen to you. It's much different with a 'narrator' you know than a stranger. I've always known the part of the day when the teacher reads to the class to be everyone's favorite.

Good advice, Joanna.

Yes, Cheryl, it is by Julie Oringer and it is The Invisible Bridge. I did have to really focus on the story but I was on the treadmill so it worked out well for the first chapter.

I've never heard of LibriVox - gotta check that out! Any other audiobook apps that people would recommend?

I use Hoopla, which my library supports, and many libraries do. Overdrive has audiobooks too, but the nice thing about Hoopla is that it is more of a subscription service. You don't have to wait for a book to come available, the content is always available. You just get 15 borrows a month. It also has ebooks, movies and music.

I use Overdrive, also through the local library, so free. I like that it syncs on all of my devices so I can listen on my phone, my Nook, Alexa or in my car and the app always knows where I left off.

I've tried to get Overdrive on my Nook but couldn't figure it out. If anyone has trouble with that, the librarian at my school informed me that if you take your device to the local library they will help you install it.

I have to admit that when my children aren't home, I go to the librarian for help with ALL my "tech" stuff! O_o

Lol, this past school year our school got a technology specialist on campus. I drove ours crazy because of how far behind I am on understanding rapidly advancing technology!

That's exactly why I own a Nook instead of a Kindle. I like being able to walk into any B&N and have an actual person show me how to do what I can't figure out!

I'm currently listening to Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and I highly recommend it.

I also loved The Handmaid's Tale narrated by Claire Danes and The Bell Jar narrated by Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Also, An Ember in the Ashes and A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir were both really good audios.

Current featured blog on goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/9...
Year's best audiobooks

I just finished The Gates by John Connolly. It was absolutely hysterical. I would also recommend Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series--very easy to listen to without missing too many details.

I just finished listening to The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd. Loved it! Highly recommend this book as an audio read.

Megan wrote: "I'm currently listening to Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and I highly recommend it.

I also loved The Handmaid's Tale narrated by Claire Danes and ..."

I really didn't care for An Ember in the Ashes at all, but the quality of the audiobook is what made me finish it.

I have listened to many audiobook, and a few were truly outstanding. My faves:

Harry Potter series read by Jim Dale. (He played the villain in the original Pete's Dragon, and he is a genius!)

His Dark Materials trilogy narrated by author Philip Pullman and a full cast. Brilliant. Really comes to life.

Angela's Ashes read by author Frank McCourt. Don't think I would have picked up on the humor as much if I had read it myself.

Lolita read by Jeremy Irons, who played Humbert Humbert in the film and makes the character sympathetic and intriguing.

I prefer audio when books are simpler to understand, since I'm usually multitasking when listening.

World War Z, the complete cast version, was my first audio book and I would recommend it to anyone getting in. Its basically short stories, so you don't feel like you are lost.

Ready Player One narrated by Whil Wheaton was great as well.

Most of my preferred list is comedic... so here goes.
Off to be a Wizard, the Magic 2.0 series, narrated by Scott Meyer is a very short, silly series that has no real value but helps speed time along.
We Are Legion, the Bobiverse series, by Dennis E. Taylor is great if you can deal with constant view shift and a very lonely premise. Its incredibly Sci-fi, in a Star Trek Original Series sort of way, not filled with action.
A Dirty Job narrated by Fisher Stevens is amazing! Not only is this the best book I've read by Christopher Moore, but Mr. Stevens is great at creating characters and relaying the silly jokes. Its a tragedy the rest of Moore's book's aren't narrated by him.

So I finally listened to a couple of short stories! I've always loved Levar Burton, so when my friend informed me that he has a podcast called Levar Burton Reads, I immediately checked it out while on a road trip to Austin. I listened to 2 stories and LOVED them! Can't wait to listen to the rest, and I definitely recommend that podcast!

I used to have a lot of trouble following audio books, so I would just listen to books I'd read previously and wanted to revisit while I worked out. That way if I zoned out, I at least knew the story and didn't miss much.

But then I listened to The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood read by Katherine Kellgren and I don't think I could ever read it without her voice in my head. It's a juvenile fiction and the whole series has been fantastic so far, though it isn't finished yet.

I am currently listening to The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K Le Guin read by George Guidall and it's interesting so far - I'm not very far into it so we'll see how it goes! I appreciate when the narrator can do voices that are unique enough to be recognizable.

I listened to the Joy Luck Club once - it was so hard to keep all the mothers and daughters straight. And which mother had which history? And which daughter had which storyline? Great book but hard to listen to and keep straight!

Kerri wrote: "I am currently listening to The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K Le Guin read by George Guidall and it's interesting so far - I'm not very far into it so we'll see how it goes! I appreciate when the narrator can do voices that are unique enough to be recognizable. ..."

Guidall is one of my favorite readers.

Kandice wrote: "Guidall is one of my favorite readers."

I really enjoyed him! I'm going to have to look for more by him - he really made the characters distinctive!

Kerri wrote: "Kandice wrote: "Guidall is one of my favorite readers."

I really enjoyed him! I'm going to have to look for more by him - he really made the characters distinctive!"

He reads a lot of Stephen King, if that's up your alley, but really, anything he reads gets me because his voice is so great.

Just finished Make Lemonade audio - it was lovely! Virginia Euwer Wolff

I am listening to The Martian read by
R. C. Bray. Fantastic!!

I listen to audiobooks a lot while commuting so I appreciate all the recommendations. :)

I recently finished Water for Elephants
Read by David Ledoux & John Randolph Jones. Really enjoyed it. :)