<p>I like to listen to books when I drive, especially when driving long distances. The books I like for that purpose are often different from the ones I love to read from the page (or the Kindle). For one thing, they cannot be so deep that I cannot concentrate on the road ahead and the idiot drivers thereon. Profundity requires that I push the rewind button too often! The successful candidates tend to be plot driven and nicely written. </p>
<p>I listen to a lot of mysteries on recorded books while making and packing truffles. There’s a woman called Barbara something who does a fabulous job reading Lisa Scottoline mysteries and others. Right now I’m listening to Elmore Leonard’s The Hot Kid read by Arliss Howard, who is doing a great job. I’ve also listened to a fair number of John Sanfords, and some Jeffrey Deavers. </p>
<p>I like mysteries on CD that are NOT NOT NOT abridged! There is nothing worse than an abridged book.</p>
<p>I also like to listen to history, and to things like <em>Guns, Germs, and Steel.</em></p>
<p>yes, Consolation, I should have included that in my criteria: NO ABRIDGED VERSIONS!!!</p>
<p>I make frequent trips to 2 destinations that are 7 hours and 13 hours away, respectively. I also have a 45 minute commute each way, every day.</p>
<p>The last time I made the 13 hour trip, I listened to a Faye Kellerman-Peter Decker detective story. Diverting but not high art, I had to pay attention to keep all the people and clues straight, which helped me to stay awake. The only problem was that the CD was not well manufactured; I lost the first seconds of each CD (or was it the last? I don’t recall).</p>
<p>mountains, that is a good idea. I read the book, but I would imagine the “voices” add something to the experience. Not sure I liked the book well enough to “read” it again, but I think that others should consider listening to it.</p>
<p>On a long trip to Montana recently we listened to A Walk In the Woods by Bill Bryson and narrated by him. I love the book but had read it years ago so it was fun to revisit it.</p>
<p>Onward, I was planning on recommending the same book! We listened to it on our way to North Carolina where we were going to do some Appalachian Trail hiking. Listening to Bill Bryson read it was GREAT- loved his impressions of people!!</p>
<p>I like Robert B. Parker audiobooks a lot - both the Spenser and the Sunny Randall detective stories are well-read and easy listens. Some pretty funny dialogue, too.</p>
<p>I listened to *Skinny Dip<a href=“Hiassen”>/I</a> in the car on my first college driving trip with mathson and it was hysterical, we’ve enjoyed other books of his since as car listening. I like David Sedaris, but you can get tired of too many stories in a row. We recently listened to *Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar . . .: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes *
by Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein. Oh and we listened to Ruth Reichel’s tales of disguising herself to be the New York Times restaurant critic. It was great and she reads it herself. Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise - I’m sure her other books would also be fun to listen to - I enjoyed reading them anyway.</p>
<p>Interesting to see the recommendation for Selected Shorts, I absolutely cannot stand that program. I’m not a fan of short stories in general, but there’s something about the way those stories are read that just irritates me. I’ve only been able to listen to a handful to the end.</p>
<p>Consolation–you are probably thinking about Barbara Rosenblatt, who is a fabulous reader! I would recommend her reading of any Amelia Peabody mystery. Her accent and voices add so much.</p>
<p>I would listen to Alexander McCall Smith’s No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. That way you know how to pronounce the African names.</p>
<p>My local library has downloadable audiobooks for free. What a bargain!</p>
<p>Same here. My d can listen to her ipod while at work; she downloads books from the library site. Right now she’s listening to Sense and Sensibility. She’s recently finished The Outsiders, The Whale Rider, Ender’s Game, Anne of Green Gables. No trips to the library and no money expended. :)</p>
<p>I “read” a number of the Harry Potter books that way. My youngest was not reading or not reading well enough when they were coming out so I bought the talking books for him. We were also traveling a lot by car those years, so I would use them. I also got the Lord of the Rings trilogy. </p>
<p>I am going to be checking out our library for downloadable books as my MIL is having increasing problems reading even with magnifiers and glasses these days.</p>
<p>Any of the Frank McCourt books (Angela’s Ashes, 'Tis, Teacher Man). He reads them himself and he’s a masterful story teller.</p>
<p>Obama’s books. Also read by him. I could listen forever.</p>
<p>My Losing Season by Pat Conroy. A coming of age story…especially good for those of us who are parents of boys (although…hopefully none with childhood’s as painful as his.) I imagine his other books would also be good because many have been made into movies (Prince of Tides and The Great Santini)</p>
<p>The things they Carried by Tim O’Brien. Another coming of age story…that also has significant meaning for any of us that grew up during the Viet Nam war.</p>
<p>The Great Gatsby. Since my daily commute takes me by what was the smoldering dump referenced in the book , I found this one particularly interesting to listen to on my commute.</p>
<p>An unabridged version of Prisoner of Azakaban got us through being stuck in the car for hours crossing a mountain pass a few years ago ( there was a chain of accidents).
Jim Dale does the American version, but I have since learned that Stephen Fry, reads the British versions of the Harry Potter books.</p>