Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

Ok fellow readers I need a good audiobook to distract my brain from pain that’s making me not able to focus enough to read a regular book. I tend to like YA, urban fantasy, historical fiction, and thrillers best. I have already finished all the categories for the challenge this year.

11/22/63 I usually hate Stephen King but I really enjoyed the audio production of this, although be forewarned, it is 30 hours.

Girl With All The Gifts, Any of Trollope read by David Shaw Parker, Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, Wee Free Men, Knife of Never Letting Go, and Sabriel.

These are all audiobooks that I enjoyed. Trollope is long, but David Shaw Parker is a great narrator. Historical fiction.

Knife of Never Letting Go and Girl with All the Gifts are thriller, YA, urban.

Absolutely True Diary by Sherman Alexie is read by the author and wonderful.

I love Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett and read by Stephen Briggs. I'm not sure if it fits your catagories, but it really whisks one away to another world and is very funny. Great play with language. They say laughter is the best medicine.

Good luck! Hope you feel better soon!

I loved listening to The Book Thief but then again it is one of my favorite books. Also, I listened to the entire Series of Unfortunate Events and I think it was better than physically reading them. Trevor Noah's Born a Crime was also a really good read. Hope this helps!

Becoming by Michelle Obama - fantastic!!

I see this is old but I wanted to say I agree with the Wee Free Men - and all of the Tiffany Aching books. I listened to that one over and over when I was in the hospital. I love the Nac Mac Feegle and their accents are fun on audio.

Also recommend Born a Crime by Trevor Noah - he's got a great voice and I love when he speaks a bit with other languages. Khoisan in particular is so neat to hear.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is fantastic - the whole series. I'm currently alternating between two audiobooks and like them both - The Picture of Dorian Gray (new version read by Ben Barnes) and Andrea Vernon and the Corporation for UltraHuman Protection read by Bahni Turpin. Both are really good.

Daisy Jones and the Six. It's a full cast recording and the book was written as a series of interviews so it's perfect on audio!

I generally do not like audiobooks for various reasons, and when I do listen to one, when doing a long drive or flight for example, it is always a book I've read before. However, I do have some go to readers/books:

Anything read by Jim Dale. I first listened to his Harry Potter readings. And totally fell in love. I've since listened to his Jules Verne, Dickens, and a few others. Love them all.

The Diaries of Adam and Eve by Mark Twain - read by Mandy Patinkin and Betty Buckley. These are performances and absolutely mesmerizing. The works are brought to full life.

A Christmas Carol read by Patrick Stewart.

Obviously my love of the theater influences what I like in an audiobook reader. And perhaps that's one of the problems I have with audiobooks -- most are just read, not performed. Whatever. I just highly recommend those.

Late to the party but I just finished Last Christmas in Paris: A Novel of World War I

The audio was AMAZING.

Abbie wrote: "Daisy Jones and the Six. It's a full cast recording and the book was written as a series of interviews so it's perfect on audio!"

I second this. I've heard many people say the interview format was difficult to read but the audio is fantastic.

I love love love the book You by Caroline Kepnes!! It's not a book to listen to without headphones! But I absolutely fell in love with the narrator's voice!

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik was wonderful, but 18 hours. I absolutely loved The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky although I could see the narrator being an acquired taste.

A Man Called Ove: I finished this one about a week ago and it had me crying my eyes out. I was so glad I decided to listen to it.

To Kill a Mockingbird: Sissy Spacek is an incredible narrator. I'm listening to this now and I'm all in.

Any of the Harry Potter books. Jim Dale is great.

I loved Where She Went, the follow up to the YA novel If I Stay by Gayle Forman. The narrator was fantastic!

It's more of an audio dramatization, but I really enjoyed William Shakespeare's The Tempest, with Sir Ian McKellen playing the role of Prospero.

A Gentleman in Moscow. Wow.

Never Let Me Go
The Dutch House
The Martian
The Ten Thousand Doors of January

Anything by Holly Black! The Cruel Prince is freakin awesome. Not sure if you're into fairytale retellings but Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly was soo good! I totally read the same type of book and I have more audiobooks than physical books! Lol

Michelle wrote: "Never Let Me Go
The Dutch House
The Martian
The Ten Thousand Doors of January"

I definitely agree with The Dutch House. Tom Hanks did a fantastic job!

Also, for anyone who likes fantasy, James Marsters narrates all of the books in The Dresden Files series. His voice is perfect for it.

Seconding the Dresden Files read by James Marsters.

Wil Wheaton is also a great audiobook narrator. He does a lot of John Scalzi's sci-fi, as well as Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.

If you haven’t done The Golden Compass—or haven’t for a while—I’m just finishing. It has a full cast, so that adds some spark. I’ve just ordered up book 2.

If you like celebrity readers, I enjoyed Steve Martin (especially his own The Pleasure of My Company); Stephen Frye (almost anything); and Frances McDormand (I did Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, maybe not your vibe but it’s short and fun).

Finally, Ali Smith reading her own essays in Public Library and Other Stories had me in a near swoon.

The audio thing has been working great for me, especially in this crazy time of year with all the cleaning and commuting and shopping and traveling and wrapping and so many other things keeping me in constant motion. Good luck with reclaiming your groove.

I wanted to revive this thread and see if anyone has any new audiobook recommendations? I have a credit at audible and while I could easily pick out a zillion books I want to read, I'm looking for one where the audio version in particular is spellbinding. I prefer realistic works, set in any time and for any age.

If anyone else is looking for something, my suggestions would be:

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev (I may use my credit for this one, it was just fabulous!)
Song Yet Sung
The Heretic's Daughter

The audiobook I just listened to is Tom Lake by Ann Patchett. The narration by Meryl Streep is sublimed.

Any of the John Scalzi books read by Wil Wheaton. I love listening to him!

I recently finished none of this is true which has a full cast and it was fantastic! I also will vouch for spinning silver, a man called ove, Daisy Jones and the 6, and born a crime

Practical magic by Alice Hoffman. truly a masterpiece

I recently listened to How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water and this book was MEANT to be listened to.

After listening to at least 20 samples and changing my mind about as many times, I went with Schindler's List. My library no longer has a copy of the book, and given the subject matter, I suspect I will need to read it in very short segments, so having my own copy makes sense.

Next time I get an audible deal too good to pass up, I'll be back!! :D

I second the recommendation of Born a Crime, read by Trevor Noah.

Also on my five star audio list,
Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield, historical fiction
Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I don’t seem to like reading her books, but this audio was fantastic. Several narrators.
A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher - YA with magic and I found it funny.

I find myself getting into a lot of audiobooks this year for some reason. Though when I listen to them I have to read along with the physical copy. It's the only way I retrain any information.

Currently I've started this one:

Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma

I like Elizabeth Peter's books about Egypt.

Leona wrote: "I like Elizabeth Peter's books about Egypt."



Yes Barbara Rosenblat is fantastic reading those!! She didn't read the earlier books in the series, and I haven't listened to those so I don't know if they are just as good.

Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy is amazing on audio. it's narrated by Barrie Kreinik and she does an incredible job hitting the perfect accent and tone. It was one of my favorite books of the year.

Meredith wrote: "I second the recommendation of Born a Crime, read by Trevor Noah.

Also on my five star audio list,
Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield, historical fiction
Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins..."

Meredith wrote: "I second the recommendation of Born a Crime, read by Trevor Noah.

Also on my five star audio list,
Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield, historical fiction
Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins..."

You recommended A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking. This book was so fun as an audiobook! Very funny and great characters.

The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History is being released on Feb. 27th.

I'm excited for this one. I read 1/3 of it last year, but because of how long it is I couldn't finish. I'm hoping that by doing a read-along it will help me finish it.

Has anyone listened to The Frozen River or The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina? Both are on my TBR and the samples of both seemed good. I'm leaning towards Inheritance.

i recommend

Nadine in NY wrote: "I recently listened to How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water and this book was MEANT to be listened to."

Was just about to mention this! The audiobook definitely enhances the reading experience as the narrative revolves around a woman talking about her life through recorded interviews. The audio production is top notch!

I just finished Only Human and it was a FANTASTIC full cast audiobook. The books are written as only dialogue, so it's better as an audiobook than read with the eyes.

If you like SFF and you haven't read it yet, start with Sleeping Giants & enjoy. They are funny and exciting and heartwarming and thought-provoking and not too long.

American Gods The full cast version is *chef's kiss*
Sing, Unburied, Sing I forgot who read it but it broke my heart
The Poet X The author, Elizabeth Acevedo read it and it just feels like I'm listening to spoken word poetry in a nice club with a glass of something good to sip on.

Remarkably Bright Creatures. The narrator for the voice of the octopus does an excellent portrayal of snarky. Loved it!