It’s Audiobook Week over at Devourer of Books. I always have two or three audiobooks going at any given time, so I thought it would be fun to join in the audiobook love. Here’s the breakdown: I must always have an audiobook in the car for myself, usually on CD. Right now, that’s The Wake of the Lorelei Lee by L.A. Meyer, narrated by Katherine Kellgren. (I would happily listen to her read a grocery list.) My eight-year-old son also needs a separate book for when he’s in the car. We’re doing Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire at present. And sometimes (like right now), I’ll listen to a different audiobook on my iPod at home for when I’m doing things like washing dishes or folding laundry. I’m still finishing up Goliath by Scott Westerfeld, which I started for the 48 Hour Book Challenge last weekend. (I also keep a couple of print books going for myself and one to read to my son, but that’s a story for another day.) I grew up in a family that read aloud instead of watching TV, so I transitioned easily from having a family member read to me while washing dishes or driving to listening to audiobooks.
Today’s discussion topic from our lovely hostess Jen was our favorite audiobooks of 2012-2013. Here’s what I’ve been listening to since last June (mostly, I hope, and deliberately skipping the couple that just didn’t work for me):
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. Read by Khristine Hvam.
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham. Read by Jim Weiss.
Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne. Narrated by Frederick Davidson.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Read by Jim Dale.
Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale. Full Cast Audio.
The Raven Boys. Book 1 of the Raven Cycle. by Maggie Stiefvater. Read by Will Patton.
Harper Hall Trilogy by Anne McCaffrey. Performed by Sally Darling.
Will Sparrow’s Road by Karen Cushman. Read by Katherine Kellgren.
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. Read by Steve West and Fiona Hardingham.
Reckless by Cornelia Funke. Read by and Lionel Wigram. Translated by Oliver Latsch. Read by Eliott Hill.
Looking back at my whole list, I’m impressed to see that there were really only two books that I listened to that were so awful that they didn’t make this list of good audiobooks. My very favorites of these were The Night Circus, Raven Boys and The Scorpio Races. But really, all of the books above had me longing for more time doing otherwise less than pleasant tasks so that I could get more story, thinking about them even when I wasn’t listening.
Do you like audiobooks? What are your favorites?
alibrarymama 
The Night Circus has gotten quite a few mentions today… I need to look into the audio version.
It’s narrated by Jim Dale, who will always be the voice of Harry Potter to me – but I found that The Night Circus felt similar enough in creating that vivid magical world that it worked really well for me.
I really enjoyed the audio of Daughter of Smoke & Bone too. I loved The Scorpio Races but read that in print – think I might go back and experience the audio.
I love Maggie Stiefvater in audio because you get her original music for the pieces, and when the story is told in alternating viewpoints, they have different narrators for each character. It does such a good job of bringing the story to life, not just reading it aloud.
Those are some great selections! Some were already on my TBL list, but the only one I’ve already listened to is Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I read The Night Circus in print, but may revisit it on audio, I loved it so much last year.
Funnily enough, I loved Night Circus enough that I went out and bought it in print after listening to it from the library, so I could reread and lend to friends.
I’m seeing Night Circus a lot on good audio book lists so looks like I’ll have to get to that one soon 🙂
I’d love to hear what you think if you do!
I’m looking forward to listening to audiobooks with my son. Right now he just gets to listen to whatever I choose (he’s one).
Yay! That worked for me until my son (and now daughter) got old enough to start repeating words. Suddenly I noticed that expletives are always said more loudly and distinctly than any other words in the book, and I started listening to only kid-appropriate stuff when they were in the car.
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