As was noted in yesterday’s post, we here really like books. But, I think, more than that, we enjoy good stories, in whatever form, or through whatever medium they happen to be told, especially if they involve plenty of good characters, well-planned action, and/or elaborate hand gestures…As was also noted, we also tend to focus mostly on books, since that seems to be our preferred story-drug of choice.
But the truth of the matter is that reading a book can often feel like 
more of a luxury than a daily event, precisely because the world does seem to move too quickly sometimes, stealing the chance to stop and reading, and making it difficult to stop by the library and pick up a new book. And it is for precisely such occasions that audiobooks are so valuable.
Audiobooks offer all the intellectual and imaginative stimulation of reading, while still leaving your hands free to work, cook, cook, clean, or drive. A number of our patrons swear by audiobooks to get them through a workout, or through the drive to and from work during rush hour.
Another, less frequently discussed perk of audiobooks is how much they can enrich a story, and offer details that books can’t. In the special cases where an author narrates their own works, you can get a sense of how the book sounds in the author’s head; Bill Bryson’s work is some of the best in this sense. In books with invented languages, such as the Dune series, the chance to hear the characters can add to the story immeasurably. Sometimes it’s as simple as learning how an obscure word is pronounced (fecundated, for example, a word that comes up in David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas). Also, for those who aren’t visual learners, audiobook are often more effective for retention and learning than reading.
Finally, thanks to Overdrive, our digital library platform, audiobooks are available 24/7…even when the library is closed. For information and help with downloading, give us a call!
So, with that in mind, here are a few audiobooks, some selected by patrons, that are sure to keep your mind working and allow yo to be productive at the same time:
Lolita, Read by Jeremy Irons: It’s already been scientifically determined that Jeremy Irons has a nearly perfect voice, so it is no surprise that this audiobook is a nearly perfect work of art. Irons revels in Nabokov’s use of language, his pathos, and the awful love story and haunting tragedy that is Lolita. This is a story that stands or falls on the audiences’ perception of the narrator, and Irons offers a powerfully insightful performance, making listeners feel Humbert Humbert’s fear, pain, and hopeless longing in a way that you don’t always get through reading. I do accept that I am biased about this book, but this still remains my favorite of the library’s audiobook collection.
‘Salem’s Lot, Read by Ron McLarty: It took a little bit of time for McLarty’s narration to grow on me, but it’s now become a yearly tradition for me as the leaves begin to turn and winter begins to whisper through the air. There is something much more unsettling about being read a scary novel, rather than reading one–the story envelopes, and eventually chills you. McLarty just gets the understated terror of Stephen King’s masterpiece, building the pace and tension almost imperceptibly, making this book feel as much a tragedy as a nightmare. He also does a killer Maine accent, which makes the inhabitants of the doomed ‘Salem’s Lot feel that much more real as their story gradually unfolds.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Read by David Timson: David Timson is a hero of mine. When it was realized that there was no complete, comprehensive recording of all 60 of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Holmes stories, Timson set out to rectify the situation–by locking himself in a recording studio (not seriously) and single-handedly crafting a distinct and recognizable voice for every single character in the canon (this is completely true–you can watch a bit of it here). It’s incredible not only for his energy and inventiveness, but for the fact that the voices are sustained over such a long period of time. Perhaps more so than any other narration, Timson gets the relationship between Holmes and Watson perfectly, balancing their tempers and talents to help listeners realize just why their friendship is so timeless.
Dead Wake, Read by Scott Brick: I’ll be honest–my ears are in love with Scott Brick. Which is terrific, since he has been narrating consistently since 1999 in every genre you can imagine. Eric Larson’s newest release on the sinking of the RMS Lusitania in 1915 is one of Brick’s most recent recordings, and he is terrific at non-fiction works, but he has also lent his voice to novels by Isaac Asimov, Orson Scott Card, Frank Herbert, Dennis Lehane (and yes, he can do a Boston accent), and Tom Clancy, to name a very small sample. Though subtle, his accents and inflections are generally spot-on–especially in Brad Meltzer’s books; Meltzer and Brick are friends, and Meltzer has been known to add characters to the story with unique accents, just to keep Brick on his toes (check out Zero Game for some examples).
The Luminaries, Read by Mark Meadows: There are some books so rich, so complex, and so detailed that you simply want to hide away and devour them whole. These are the kind of books I like to read, as opposed to hear, simply so I can savor each detail and character in depth. Mark Meadows, however, managed to wring every drop of drama, and every nuance from each character. Seriously, I am terrible with names, but simply from listening to Meadows’ inflections, I knew precisely who was talking, and how they were feeling. This book is like listening to a friend, rather than a narrator, and I whole heartedly recommend it for those looking for a long-term audiobook relationship.
Trigger Warnings, Read by Neil Gaiman: Some people are made of magic, and Neil Gaiman is one of those people. I don’t understand how he can read as well as he writes, but he does. I picked this book because it is his most recent, but check out everything else he has written or read. Right now.
Snow in August: Pete Hamill’s tale is a moving story of friendship, crossing cultures, and loving baseball, between a Jewish rabbi and a Catholic altar boy in 1940s Brooklyn. The rabbi, a Czech who fled the Nazis on the eve of World War II, teaches the boy Judaism while the boy, who is Irish, teaches the rabbi English and baseball. When anti-Semitic hoods attack the rabbi, the boy goes to his defense. The New York Times Book Review called this one “Magic….This page-turner of a fable has universal appeal.”
The Kite Runner: Khaled Hosseini’s modern-day masterpiece is an epic tale of fathers and sons, of friendship and betrayal, that takes us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the atrocities of the present. The story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father’s servant, it is set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption, and it is also about the power of fathers over sons-their love, their sacrifices, their lies
A Thousand Splendid Suns: Another winner from the great Khaled Hosseini, this one about two women, Mariam and Laila, who are born a generation apart but are brought together by war and fate. They witness the destruction of their home and family in war-torn Kabul, losses incurred over the course of thirty years that test the limits of their strength and courage. Together they endure the dangers surrounding them and discover the power of both love and sacrifice, as they become allies in their marriage to the violently mysogynistic Rasheed.
The Glass Castle: Jeannette Walls book has been featured here before–and with good reason. Her writing is wonderfully powerful, and this memoir, though heartbreaking, also the life-affirming about surviving a willfully impoverished, eccentric and severely misguided family. The child of an alcoholic father and an eccentric artist mother, Walls described her family’s nomadic upbringing, during which she and her siblings fended for themselves while their parents outmaneuvered bill collectors and the authorities in a story that is hard to forget.
Heaven is for Real: When four year old Colton Burpo made it through an emergency appendectomy his family was overjoyed at his miraculous survival. What they weren’t expecting, though, was the story that emerged in the following months, a story as beautiful as it was extraordinary, detailing their little boy’s trip to heaven and back. This true story, retold by his father but using Colton’s uniquely simple words, in a tale that was also made into a feature film.
