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Old 12-31-2018, 05:56 PM   #1
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Default Audiobooks - Recommendations & Reviews

I think this is a little different than the "What ya reading?" thread.

The last few months I've got into listening to audiobooks while I drive or work. I really enjoy the ones that are read by the author or by someone with a bit of flare. A stale narrator is easy to drown out.

Here are a few that I've listened to recently that are great:

Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike - Written by Phil Knight. Narrated by Norbert Leo Butz. A fun auto-biography on the founder of Nike. Not necessarily a "business book" but interesting for anyone who has a started a business or has an interest in the business of sports and sports apparel.

This I Know: Marketing Lessons from Under the Influence - Written and Narrated by Terry O'Reilly: Terry's podcast on marketing and advertising is fantastic. This is a bit of an extension to it but expends on concepts and stories about advertising and marketing that has gone right and wrong. Focuses mostly on stories from the late 70s to the present.

Lord of the Rings - BBC Radio Play: A bigger production than a normal audiobook. It's a full-on radio play with Ian Holm playing Frodo (he played Bilbo in the LOTR movie). Great voice acting and production values.

Beastie Boys Book - Written by the two remaining members of the group (Michael Diamond, Adam Horovitz). Narrated by them, as well as 30+ celebrities. Open the spoiler to see the list.
Spoiler!
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Old 12-31-2018, 07:22 PM   #2
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Almost Interesting:The Memoir by David Spade

I listened to this on a 10 hour drive and the drive went by quickly. I think it helps if you like Spade’s humour, though. He cracks me up so I loved it.
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Old 12-31-2018, 07:45 PM   #3
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World War Z. It's ####ing amazing.
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Old 12-31-2018, 08:10 PM   #4
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World War Z. It's ####ing amazing.
The movie tie-in edition looks awesome.

Narrated by: Max Brooks, Alan Alda, John Turturro, Rob Reiner, Mark Hamill, Alfred Molina, Simon Pegg, Henry Rollins, Martin Scorsese
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Old 12-31-2018, 08:30 PM   #5
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I don't know anything about the tie in, because the book and movie have nothing to do with each other outside of the title. But yes, the voice cast is amazing. Alan Alda is a highlight. And it just lends so well to an audiobook format - the book is a series of interviews, so it just makes sense.
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Old 12-31-2018, 10:13 PM   #6
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I don't know anything about the tie in, because the book and movie have nothing to do with each other outside of the title. But yes, the voice cast is amazing. Alan Alda is a highlight. And it just lends so well to an audiobook format - the book is a series of interviews, so it just makes sense.
I've never read the book so I didn't hate the movie like many of the book readers did. I've downloaded it so I'll give it a go next.
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Old 01-02-2019, 12:49 AM   #7
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We always have a couple audiobooks for our road trips. Currently listening to Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence by Max Tegmark.

Two others I've thoroughly enjoyed are The World Without Us and Countdown: Our Last, Best Hope for a Future on Earth?. Both by Alan Weisman.
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Old 01-08-2019, 09:36 AM   #8
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World War Z. It's ####ing amazing.
Just finished it. Damn, you were right. That was a hell of cast.
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Old 01-08-2019, 10:00 AM   #9
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World War Z. It's ####ing amazing.
I'm about halfway through (and I own read the book a couple years ago) but this is a hell of a recommendation. One of the best audiobooks I've heard.

Any others along this same vein?
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Old 01-08-2019, 10:18 AM   #10
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What app are people using to listen/stream audiobooks with? Audible or something else?
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Old 01-08-2019, 11:04 AM   #11
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The 10th Anniversary of American Gods is supposed to set the bar for full cast production audiobooks. It's not available on Audible so I haven't listened to it yet.
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Old 01-09-2019, 09:44 AM   #12
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For a family road trip, the entire Diary of a Wimpy Kid series is hilarious.
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Old 01-09-2019, 09:48 AM   #13
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What app are people using to listen/stream audiobooks with? Audible or something else?
I always use Audible. Not very cheap, but the convenience is great.

Check out LibriVox (an app). You can get a lot of great audiobooks for free. We've listened to all of the Ann of Green Tables books on that. I fataing hate those books, but my family likes them and the narrator was definitely good. Someone with the last name of Savage.

Library is a good option - my FIL drives a ton and he listens to almost everything that comes out for free.
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Old 01-09-2019, 10:02 AM   #14
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The 10th Anniversary of American Gods is supposed to set the bar for full cast production audiobooks. It's not available on Audible so I haven't listened to it yet.
Sure it is. I have it. Listened to it before I started watching the show. It's good.
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Old 01-09-2019, 12:02 PM   #15
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Quote:
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What app are people using to listen/stream audiobooks with? Audible or something else?
I use audible as well. I used to download them but I was never able to find a solution that saved my spot well enough, so I ended up there. I enjoy business/psychology type books quite a bit, so the ability to take a 30 second snippet and save it with a single button is incredibly valuable. There's been plenty of times when I've had one of those "hey I read about this in that book" and easily dropped in and found the clip I needed.
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Old 01-11-2019, 08:25 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KTrain View Post
I think this is a little different than the "What ya reading?" thread.

The last few months I've got into listening to audiobooks while I drive or work. I really enjoy the ones that are read by the author or by someone with a bit of flare. A stale narrator is easy to drown out.

Here are a few that I've listened to recently that are great:

Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike - Written by Phil Knight. Narrated by Norbert Leo Butz. A fun auto-biography on the founder of Nike. Not necessarily a "business book" but interesting for anyone who has a started a business or has an interest in the business of sports and sports apparel.

This I Know: Marketing Lessons from Under the Influence - Written and Narrated by Terry O'Reilly: Terry's podcast on marketing and advertising is fantastic. This is a bit of an extension to it but expends on concepts and stories about advertising and marketing that has gone right and wrong. Focuses mostly on stories from the late 70s to the present.

Lord of the Rings - BBC Radio Play: A bigger production than a normal audiobook. It's a full-on radio play with Ian Holm playing Frodo (he played Bilbo in the LOTR movie). Great voice acting and production values.

Beastie Boys Book - Written by the two remaining members of the group (Michael Diamond, Adam Horovitz). Narrated by them, as well as 30+ celebrities. Open the spoiler to see the list.
Spoiler!
I just wanted to quote this and say that the Beastie Boys Audiobook is a masterpiece! If you’re a fan, you’ll love it. It really just has everything between being hilarious and at the same time the nostalgia and some sadness as well. I’m not finished yet, but it’s just great.

And the funniest part I have hit so far is the “Oral History of Cookie Puss”.
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Old 01-15-2019, 08:46 AM   #17
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Well I'm a bit annoyed that amazon gift cards don't work with Audible.

Anyway, I signed up with Audible about a year ago and love it. Looks like I purchased/redeemed just under 30 books or free audible originals for the year, but I admittedly quit on about 1/3 of them. I'm fine with that- its a different world from reading a book and takes a while to figure out the genres work for you if even a small percentage of your attention is elsewhere.

I'm utilizing the return feature sparingly, although I am not sure how cautious you need to be on this? Anyone know? Just be honest with returns and Audible wont call you on it? I generally only claim a return if I quit fairly early in the book. Perhaps returned 3 over the year. Used my monthly credits, purchased the 3 credit pack a couple times and purchased a few books individually- although the credit pack seems to be the best option unless you are dealing with books on sale.

Favorite audiobook of the year for me had to be The Pillars of the Earth, and favorite audible original was West Cork.
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Old 02-01-2019, 08:57 AM   #18
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I'm about 8 hours in 11.22.63 by Stephen King and it's fantastic. The novel is presented in first person and narrator is owning the character. Definitely worth adding to your listening list.
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Old 02-05-2019, 08:41 AM   #19
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I'm about 8 hours in 11.22.63 by Stephen King and it's fantastic. The novel is presented in first person and narrator is owning the character. Definitely worth adding to your listening list.
This one might creep into "favourite book" territory for me.
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Old 02-05-2019, 08:43 AM   #20
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I'm surprised more people don't find the narrator of 11.22.63 incredibly annoying- particularly his dim witted southern voice for Sadie.

Prefer Will Patton on the more recent Stephen King books. And James Franco was actually pretty good on The Dead Zone.
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