Okay, my AudibleListener subscription renews in a couple of weeks, and I’m going to cancel before it does since I’m way behind on listening right now. In the meantime, I have a number of credits I need to use up.
Interested in stuff for me (interested in SF, aviation, technology, and really good nonfiction) or good kids dramatizations/stories for my 5-year-old. Already have the NPR Star Wars dramatization in my cart. (That’s for both of us. ;)
So, any suggestions? Really great books you’ve read or listened to that are on Audible?
I’ve been sort of considering getting my mother a subscription to this, but hoo, boy, those prices seem insane. I can pay 15 bucks a month subscription and she gets one credit? One? That’s just unreasonable.
It saddens me that the unabridged and thoroughly brilliant reading of “The Terror” by John Lee is out of print right now, and audible has only the abridged version read by someone else. That would’ve been my first recommendation.
So instead, I’d recommend:
SEABISCUIT read by Campbell Scott. Even if the subject seems fairly dull to you, in the hands of author Laura Hildenbrand it comes alive. Scott’s reading is thoroughly wonderful through and through.
Depending on how well your 5-year-old handles books, you can go two ways with Pulitzer Prize winning author Michael Chabon. I really enjoyed the audible version of GENTLEMEN ON THE ROAD, which is a Kipling-esque adventure yarn set in the 10th Century in the old Jewish kingdom of Khazar (Chabon originally wanted to call it “Jews With Swords”.) If the kid can handle a LONG story, you might want to give Chabon’s SUMMERLAND a try. The author wrote it for his kids, trying to create a modern-day fantasy world…the book is probably best for kids 9 or over, but just sayin’.
The Aubrey Maturin novels are pretty good. There are two readers, and apparently people argue over which one is better with religious fervor. I have two of them read by Simon Vance, and they’re funny and good.
