5 On Friday: Five Books Worth a Listen

You guys know I read a lot. Heck, a good amount of my posts this year have been about books in some form or another. And while I enjoy traditional dead-tree book or eBook, I’ve gained a new appreciation for audio books as well. When I tell people this, they say something like “I could never do audiobooks, I don’t think I could pay attention.” Or something like that. But the way some of these books have phenomenal performances. Here are five to start with.

1. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman Performed by…Everyone. This was the first audiobook I tried and it is amazing. Instead of a traditional audiobook, it’s a BBC radio adaptation and it has a seriously impressive cast. Christopher Lee, Natalie Dormer, Benedict Cumberbatch, and more. It’s also fairly short at just under four hours. It’s a great place to start your audiobook journey.
2. The Dispatcher by John Scalzi Performed by Zachary Quinto. This is a short sci-fi mystery story that I don’t want to go too much into because spoilers. So let’s just leave it at that.
3. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams Performed by Stephen Fry. I love Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, and have read it in the traditional format several times. But the audio version is amazing. I’d even say it’s better. Stephen Fry gives an amazing performance that had me literally laughing out loud. The rest of the series is read by Martin Freeman, which is good as well. But Stephen Fry really nails it.
4. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim Written and Performed by David Sedaris. It might be because I heard some of David Sedaris’s work on NPR before I had ever read anything by him, but I really feel like Sedaris is meant to be listened to instead of read. The way he tells his stories just comes across so much better in this format in my opinion.
5. The Hepatitis Bathtub and Other Stories Written and Performed by NOFX. I listed this as my favorite audiobook of the year. And as I said then, this is a story that is fascinating even if you aren’t a NOFX fan.

If none of these books catch your interest, another option to look into is to use audiobooks to catch up on classics you haven’t read yet. Many classic books are free for the Kindle, and if you have the Kindle version you can get the audio version for a very low price.  I paid around $1-$3 for classics such as Pride and Prejudice, A Christmas Carol, and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. GoodReads has a list of some of their favorites read by celebrities. Definitely worth checking out.

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