Aren’t audiobooks just great? You can consume all sorts of stories, often read by incredible narrators (or even sometimes a whole cast), while doing other things. Multitasking at its finest!
I’ve loved audiobooks since I was a kid. My sister and I had a collection of them on cassette tapes, and we would lie in bed in our shared bedroom (and then in our own rooms, too) listening to them at night. The Emperor’s New Clothes, Three Billy Goats Gruff, the Ugly Duckling (read by none other than Zoe Wanamaker, a.k.a. Madame Hooch from Harry Potter) – those are just some of the ones I vividly remember listening to.
Then, when we got older, we listened to a lot of Doctor Who stories, often read by the cast themselves. I especially remember David Tennant reading some of them, and the way he did Catherine Tate’s voice was just the best thing ever. We also started listening to full novels, especially books by Cathy Cassidy and Louise Rennison.
Now, I still love audiobooks. I don’t read them as often as I wish I did because I’m often busy or concentrating on work. Maybe I need to make it a goal each week to listen to a bit of an audiobook every day, or as often as I can. After all, I’ve found some of my favourite books from listening to the audiobook first, because a great narrator can add so much to the story! (I’ve written a whole post before about why audiobooks are great – you can read that here.)
I thought today I’d quickly show you the books I have in my Audible library. There are quite a few of them – some I’ve listened to, and a lot I haven’t. Let’s go!
First, the ones I have listened to…
- A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens – This magical adaptation of the famous festive story is a must-listen, especially around Christmas. With a whole cast and mixed with music and sound effects, it really brings the story to life.
- Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert – Meh. Wasn’t a big fan. It definitely wasn’t big magic for me. You can read my full review here.
- Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman – Ha. If you haven’t seen me mention this already, where have you been? This is my favourite book ever ever ever and it all started with my listening to the audiobook. LOVE IT. Read my review here.
- Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich – As a big fan of the show (well, the cast recording – I haven’t seen the show yet) I thought the book might help me piece together the story after only listening to the songs. It helped a lot, and I really liked it! I ended up buying a physical copy of the book. The audiobook weaves in some parts from the songs, which is really cool. My full review is here.
- Doctor Who: Sick Building by Paul Magrs – This is one of the Doctor Who audiobooks I said about! I’ve listened to Sick Building about a million times and would happily listen to it a million more. It’s so good and I wish they made it into a proper episode of the show!
- Flawed by Cecelia Ahern – Another one I really loved! The story was great and the narration made it even better. I have a physical copy of this too, and I want to read it again. Full review here!
- Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff – Now, oddly, this was a DNF for me, but I loved the physical book. This didn’t work very well for me as an audiobook, and I wonder if that’s because I hadn’t read the book already so I was a bit confused what was going on. It’s very odd to listen to when you don’t know how the pages are laid out. I think I need to give this a go now that I’ve read the book. Read my review here.
- On the Edge by Richard Hammond – I love this book, and I feel like I’ve had odd glances in the past when I’ve said it’s one of my favourite books because as an avid YA fiction reader, why would an autobiography by an ex-Top Gear presenter be one of my favourite books? My sister and I have loved him since we were teenagers, though, and his story about the time he slipped into a coma and nearly died while hitting world-record speeds in a jet car is just incredible.
- Scythe and Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman – These were the second and third books by Neal Shusterman that I listened to as audiobooks and I looooved them. The narration is SO GOOD and I think, even though I’ve pre-ordered the third book in the series as a physical copy, I might get the audiobook too. Read my review of Scythe here and Thunderhead here.
- The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness – I actually only listened to about half of this but then got the physical books and finished it that way instead. I really liked the audiobook though, so I’m not sure why I didn’t finish it!
- The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo – It’s okay. Has some good ideas and I loved some of Marie’s stories from when she was a kid or a teenager. I listened to the whole thing while cleaning my kitchen, funnily enough. It definitely makes you want to start tidying things!
- The Rosie Project, The Rosie Effect and The Rosie Result by Graeme Simsion – I really like these books and I’m glad I listened to them as audiobooks, because the narrator is great. He brings the character of Don Tillman to life perfectly! These were like Scythe and Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman, where I just had to carry on the series in the same format I started them. My review of The Rosie Project is here.
These are the ones I haven’t listened to yet…
(Let me know if you recommend any of them, i.e. if there I any I should listen to RIGHT NOW!)
- All I Know Now: Wonderings and Reflections on Growing Up Gracefully by Carrie Hope Fletcher
- Becoming by Michelle Obama
- Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak
- Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
- How Do You Like Me Now? by Holly Bourne
- I Was Born for This by Alice Oseman
- Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
- Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig
- Red Rising by Pierce Brown
- Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel
- Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
- Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller
- The Color Purple by Alice Walker
- The Girl with All the Gifts by M. R. Carey
- The Gustav Sonata by Rose Tremain
- The Hidden Oracle: The Trials of Apollo, Book 1 by Rick Riordan
- The Muse by Jessie Burton
- The Other Son by Nick Alexander
- The Power by Naomi Alderman
- The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More by Roald Dahl
- Try Not to Breathe by Holly Seddon
- Welcome to the Universe: An Astrophysical Tour by Neil deGrasse Tyson
Currently listening to…
- The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary
- The Shape of Water by Guillermo del Toro and Daniel Kraus
So, there you go – that’s my whole Audible library. Do you see any that you’ve listened to, read, or fancy reading? And let me know what’s in your audiobook library!
Have you tried audiobooks? If you haven’t, you can get a 30-day free trial and a free audiobook when you sign up for Audible, so there’s nothing to lose. If you sign up for a free trial using my affiliate link, I get a little bit back in return for recommending you!
