<p>D and H are taking a 3 day road trip in December. I am looking for suggestions for books on CD that would interest a 22 yr old female and a 50 yr old male.
D listened to the last Harry Potter book on her last long road trip. Both of them did not care for the Dragon Tattoo series. Also I want to be able to get them from the library so not brand new is better.</p>
<p>What types of stories do they like? I have listened to a variety of genres from Stephen King to James Clavell to Jean Auel and enjoyed them all…the more complex books would be tough to listen to and keep track of the characters had I not already read them. When DH & I listened to a Clavell book, we stopped it every 30-60 minutes and I made sure he knew what was going on, so shorter, simpler books may be a better start.</p>
<p>I like listening to memoirs in the car. They are a little easier to keep up with through all the starting and stopping. Alan Alda has a couple of very good ones. Bob Dylan’s Chronicles is great. I believe its read by Sean Penn. They both might be able to relate to the one about female singers from the 60s, Just Us Girls, I think.</p>
<p>Did two long weekend trips recently (4-5 hours each way) and another 2-hour trip today. I listened to two books on tape: Jodi Picoult’s House Rules and Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. Both were long, but kept my interest throughout. Lots of medical stuff in Verghese’s book (it’s fiction)–he’s a doctor and a writer.</p>
<p>My high school senior and I really enjoyed Skinny Dip by Carl Hiassan, but it’s a bit raunchy in parts. Very funny and a bit of a mystery. We listened to a bit of *On the Road *by Jack Kerouac once, unbeknownst to us the CD player was on random and we didn’t realize there was a problem until it repeated a piece! On another trip I listened to [Amazon.com:</a> Cane River (9780446530521): Lalita Tademy: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Cane-River-Lalita-Tademy/dp/0446530522]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Cane-River-Lalita-Tademy/dp/0446530522). It’s worth having the paper version around though, as there are family photos that you will miss otherwise.</p>
<p>H and I are avid audiobook listeners. Where our tastes coincide may be a starting point for your pair: </p>
<p>Anything by Grisham or Dick Francis…these tend to be self-contained, so you don’t have to worry about earlier character development, and the narrative is pretty straightforward so they lend themselves to listening in the car.</p>
<p>Any of the female detective series: VI Warshaski, Kinsey Milhone, Sharon McCone. For fun, anything by Janet Evanovich or Diane Mott Davidson–although H eventually tired of these, they are very entertaining.</p>
<p>Some miscellaneous suggestions: Rule of Four, Kite Runner, Art of Racing in the Rain.</p>
<p>If they’re interested, can agree on a topic to learn about, and your library has them, there are lots of college professors who lecture for the Teaching Company and Modern Scholar.</p>
<p>Hope they have fun!</p>
<p>thanks for some of the suggestions. I am now going back through the Best book read thread and making some notes.
So far have ordered Water for Elephants from the library.
Am considering Art of Racing in the Rain
Something by Sedaris
Three Cups of Tea
Maybe something by Jodi Picoult (don’t know if H will enjoy)
H likes mystery but he has already read so many.
What do people think about The Hobbit?
Or maybe some myths?</p>
<p>The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey is a great historical mystery. I just borrowed it from the library on CD to re-“read” it. I also liked the early Elizabeth George mysteries.</p>
<p>House Rules (Jody Picoult’s newest book) is about a teenage boy who has Asperger’s and is accused of murder. The story line is quite good and Picoult has really done her research on autism (at least it seemed that way to me). Like most of her books, there’s a “twist” to the ending. I think this book (and I’ve read all of her novels) is particularly good. My favorite is her first–My Sister’s Keeper with House Rules as a close second.</p>