Hi everybody,

as we don't have a thread like this (at least the search function didn't show anything) I thought it would be nice to have one. And guess what, by pure chance I'm also looking for a nice audiobook that keeps me awake during my morning comute to work, etc (I'm walking, so a real book is sadly not an option).

The only audiobooks I really tryed so far were the Harry Potter ones and they were surprisingly good (ironically I prefer the US version). But I'm open to any genre, but I think currently something non-fiction would be nice. And preferably unabridged.

Any ideas?

i've got the audio versions of The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, by Stephen Donaldson, its a fantasy novel series that I highly recommend.

Dunno about non fiction sorry.

I quite liked the first modern Doctor Who audiobooks (the ones read by David Tennant). Tennant voicing Rose is hilarious. ;)

LibriVox is a huge community of people who produce and share legal audiobooks for free. Highly recommended. Reader quality varies of course (as has to be expected from non-professionals), but if you have trouble understanding someone, you just pick the next book. The community built around the site is also quite helpful and constructive, encouraging comments to help readers improve.

AudioBooksForFree.com also has a pretty large selection. Reader quality varies a lot.

You may also find the links on this page useful.

Holy crap, looks like I stumbled into an Rabbit's hole! :-)

Thanks for the links, there's bound to be something to get my interest..

Don't blame me for missed classes later. ;)

But yeah, that's exactly the way I felt when I discovered these sites. :)

I don't normally listen to audio books, but I did listen to Neil Gaiman's American Gods: 10th Anniversary Edition . Its full cast, and very good. Its also full of American culture though, and I know that is a huge turn off to a lot of people on these forums. If your one of them, then you will likly hate this book, but If not then it may be worth looking into. It is fiction though.

As for non-fiction, I have heard really great things about Guns, Germs and Steel. I haven't read or listened to it myself, but I did watch the documentary, and it was really interesting.

I was just about to post this recommendation so consider it seconded.. infact any neil gaiman audiobook

oh and SLJ reading "go the fuck to sleep" ofc...

Well, I'm an avid listener to the pop culture happy hour on NPR, so I guess I'm good ;-).

I don't listen to a lot of audiobooks, but being a big Conan fan, I did listen to The Phoenix on the Sword, voiced by Todd McLaren. It's pretty good, though I think Todd should have done better with some of the villains' voices. Nevertheless, have a listen if you like low-fantasy.

http://www.amazon.com/Coming-Conan-Cimmerian-Original-Adventures/dp/1400162238/ref=tmm_abk_title_0

I tried to listen to a few audio books but notice they are hard for me to pay attention to. But if you're interested in pop psychology, then Malcolm Gladwell's audio books are fun edutainment (if misleading at times) just that he tells a very good non fictional stories about various social science concepts and his voice isn't annoying and is easy to understand.

Also, it can be really hard crossing a street while listening to an audio book. I tried various times to listen to them but kept noticing I almost got hit by cars cause I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have. I do recommend whatever you listen to be on the light side so you can still pay attention to your surroundings. Hence, even though I found the actual book Guns, Germs and Steel to be really good that someone else mentioned in this topic, I would not recommend listening to an audio book if there are cars since the book is relatively complicated to understand at times even though it was written for a lay audience.

The one read by Jim Dale?

I quite like the Terry Pratchett audiobooks. However I have noted each one has 2 versions:
- there is an abridged one (often by Tony Robinson) that I tend to avoid as I want the whole book.
- Then there is the Unabridged ones usually read by Stephen Briggs or Nigel Planer. These ones are fantastic and I thoroughly recommend them if you like Pratchett's humour.

Yes, he was brilliant. Maybe it was that I've head him for three books before trying the english speaker, but I liked him better.

And no, he doesn't speak with an american accent ;).

Yes, the guy is brilliant. I don't find him as a very good actor:
http://www.jim-dale.com/carry_on_films1.htm
but as a voice-actor, wow - just wow.

I stumbled upon version of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (or it might have been Resturant at the End of the Universe) and it was read by Douglas Adams. It was really interesting to hear it stratight fron the horses mouth, as he knows how he wanted things said, where to emphasize etc... I don't know where you can find it though. I found it on a torrent site, and I've been looking to find a copy anywhere, but can't... So I recommend it, just don't know where to get it. If you happen across it, let me know :-)

BTW, I agree about the Potters, Jim Dale had a better presence about it.