What are /r/audiobooks' favorite Products & Services?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

Oregon Publishing is the company that is ripping off librivox books and changing the narrator's name and passing them off as their own.

You can find the original book from the sound sample here and the sound sample should be obvious here

This book is legally free and anyone paying money for it is literally giving money to people that steal the work of others and deny credit.

I use smart audiobook player for android devices.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ak.alizandro.smartaudiobookplayer

Works well and has a sleep timer in case I fall asleep listening.

Children of Time written by Adrian Tchaikovsky and narrated by Mel Hudson. Excellent story, superb narration! Listened to it twice in the last 8 months or so and it was just as enjoyable the second time.

>The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age - a world terraformed and prepared for human life.

>But all is not right in this new Eden. In the long years since the planet was abandoned, the work of its architects has borne disastrous fruit. The planet is not waiting for them pristine and unoccupied. New masters have turned it from a refuge into mankind's worst nightmare.

>Now two civilizations are on a collision course, both testing the boundaries of what they will do to survive. As the fate of humanity hangs in the balance, who are the true heirs of this new Earth?

First Law series - Joe Abercrombie

Replay - Ken Grimwood

On Writing - Stephen King

Red Rising series - Pierce Brown

People Who Eat Darkness - Richard Parry

The Curious Case of the Dog in the Nighttime - Mark Haddon

Grim Noir chronicles - Larry Correia

A River Runs Through It - Norman MacLean

The Martian - Andy Weird

Helter Skelter - Vincent Bugliosi

Check out <strong>The Knife of Never Letting Go</strong> by Patrick Ness. It's about a young man on the run on a colony world where all male thoughts are audible to anyone nearby (yes, even male dog's thoughts). Nick's performance in that book was so fantastic it prompted me to hire him for my own. ;)

By the way, he's also a really nice guy.

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Best,

Geoff Jones

Author of <strong>The Dinosaur Four</strong>

Narrated by Nick Podehl

Try The Troop By Nick Cutter. Not scary but will make your skin crawl.

He's in my top 3. His reading of KingKiller Chronicles (main novels) by Patrick Rothfuss is fantastic.

<strong>We Are Legion (We Are Bob)</strong> by Dennis E. Taylor, narrated by Ray Porter. It's both light and spacey. Also a damn good audiobook. If you like it, there are two sequels.

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Best,

Geoff Jones

Author of <strong>The Dinosaur Four</strong>

Narrated by Nick Podehl

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Check out <strong>Carrie</strong> by Stephen King, read by Sissy Spacek.

• bullied relentlessly as a kid - check
• gets revenge - check
• gritty - check
• even kills them - check
• no teenage romantic crap - check

It fits your request in every way except he is a she.

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Best,

Geoff Jones

Author of <strong>The Dinosaur Four</strong>

(Narrated by Nick Podehl)

Have you read the &quot;Bill Hodges trilogy?&quot; (Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, and End of Watch). If not, I recommend you read them first.

The Outsider feels like a spiritual successor to those books. (I could say more, but that would be spoiling.) As with the Bill Hodges books, it's primarily a mystery/ police procedural in the beginning, and then supernatural elements show up later on.

My two biggest complaints:

1) In The Outsider, when the supernatural stuff does show up, it's a bit jarring. At the halfway point, one of the characters literally says something like: "What if there's a supernatural explanation for all of this?"

2) As with many of King's books, I found the climax to be a bit ho-hum.

That said, it's a seriously addictive listen. I devoured this book. King's writing is as engaging as ever and Will Patton's narration is top shelf. His performance of a woman named Lovie is laugh-out-loud unforgettable.

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Best,

Geoff Jones

Author of <strong>The Dinosaur Four</strong>

(Narrated by Nick Podehl)

I learned about these books here as well, and also thank those who recommended them. (I have joined their ranks.)

I understand your difficulty getting hooked. The world-building wasn't always clear to me. I struggled at times to understand what was going on at each location and how they were relevant to one another. This persisted some for me throughout the trilogy. I also found myself wondering what the characters wanted. What were their ultimate objectives? What were they after? The only reason I mention these (minor) gripes is to help manage expectations. Just grab it and hold on for the ride. The characters are wonderful and the plot twists are delicious.

As for the performance...

Say one thing for Steven Pacey. Say he knows how to narrate a fucking audiobook.

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Best,

Geoff Jones

Author of <strong>The Dinosaur Four</strong>

Narrated by Nick Podehl

On Android the Smart Audiobook player is the best.

In my car though, where I normally listen, I far prefer to use my ancient Sandisk Sansa e200 8GB mp3 player, with Rockbox firmware.

Yes. This has to be the most confusing audiobook ever and audible is not fucking helping.

tl;dr: buy me: https://www.audible.com/pd/B00BIKAVHS

Explanation: this is the unabridged full cast version with the good cast. It's amazing. But it says "abridged"!? When this version was first released, there were missing parts. Maybe intentionally, maybe not. Also audible labeled this as abridged and for some reason refuses to change it. Maybe intentionally, maybe not. And the sales and marketing team pitched it as a "movie tie in" to cash in on what they thought would be a highly regarded Brad Pitt movie. Even though it has nothing to do with the movie except for the shared IP. But the text is 100% from the book and is the 100% unabridged version of the book. And the narrators are the who's who of nerd royalty.

I fall asleep to audiobooks too and had issues with uncomfortable earbuds - the best thing that’s worked for me is this thing called “cozy phones” where it’s sort of like a sweat-band, with padded speakers built in.

I got mine on amazon and they’ve worked great, I think these are the ones: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013P19QWI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_CVYYzbZC2JBXJ

Everyone here has said Smart. I personally prefer Listen Audiobook Player. But having used both I think they are very similar in functions and it's really just a personal; choice of liking one over the other.

Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn Trilogy. If you haven’t already been through it, you are a perfect match. It is still my favorite series ever. The first 3 are the trilogy while the remaining books are a completely different story set in a different time. If you like Stormlight you’ll love Mistborn.

This is a sequel to the book "Lock In" which did the same thing: 1 version by Wheaton, 1 by Benson. It's because the gender of the main character is never mentioned.

For me, the question is not really "what to listen to," so much as it is "what to do while I'm listening." I often need to be doing something mindless and wrote while I listen.

Things like walking the dog, folding laundry, mowing the grass, or commuting a familiar route help me. These chores and activities give me something to do while I listen, and that keeps my mind from wandering. If I'm just sitting and listening, I can get distracted thinking about other things. If I'm doing something that requires focus, I also stop paying attention.

If your five-hour drive doesn't require too much navigation, that sounds like something that might work me. For me, that kind of drive keeps my mind occupied just enough.

It's been ages since I read Cujo, but I remember liking it. A collection of King's short stories might work well for you also, giving you shorter chunks.

Good luck!

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Best,

Geoff Jones

Author of <strong>The Dinosaur Four</strong>

(Narrated by Nick Podehl)

Program: Audacity, it's great for what you want and it's free. Microphone: USB, something like Blue Microphone Snowball or similar. That should do.

The Silmarillion I wouldn't say most people but a lot of people. And I'm really not just talkin about the audio version. I have argued with my friend for many years that it is the best Tolkien book. I think it's just a hard sell outside of hardcore fans.

• Audible -- not free, but reasonably priced (you can pay regular price, or buy "credits" for $13-ish, to use to buy books), and generally has the best selection of new/best-sellers.

• iTunes store -- also not free, less reasonably priced than audible, but quite decent if you have an iPod that you like using.

• BooksFree.com -- ironically not free at all. It's a netflix-style subscription service, where you pay a monthly fee to get them to mail you something, then you mail it back. The price depends on how many books you want to have at once, but even for one-at-a-time it's about $20/month or so.

• Your local library! -- most have an option to borrow audiobooks for free on CD

• Your local library again! -- many have an option to "borrow" digital copies of audiobooks via an app called Overdrive. However, they still follow a one-at-a-time policy, so (unlike other digital versions) you might have to wait in line if other people already have what you want.

• libvrox.org is basically the Gutenberg Project for audiobooks -- all free, but not professionally read for the most part. They have user-submitted readings of things in the public domain, including classics and things like the 9/11 report.

I personally love Smart Audiobook Player. The full version is $2.

You can slow the books by 0.1 as low as 0.5, or speed it up by 0.1 as fast as 2.5.

http://bit.ly/2Bf41rn

It has many other features that I appreciate.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ak.alizandro.smartaudiobookplayer

Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson

Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card

The Martian - Andy Weir

The Lion's Game - Nelson DeMille

The Stand - Stephen King

Old Man's War - John Scalzi

Band of Brothers - Stephen E. Ambrose

Shogun - James Clavell

Ready Player One - Ernest Cline

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! - Richard Feynman

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick (Audible title is Blade Runner, read by Scott Brick)

Tears in Rain by Rosa Montero, read by Mary Robinette Kowal

Light by M. John Harrison

Virtual Light by William Gibson

Otherworld by Tad Williams

There's a few more listed at:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sci-fi-fantasy/8-books-to-read-after-watching-westworld/

But while for example Karen Memory was really good I would not say it is anything like Westworld.

Reminder (partly to myself) - When purchasing from a 2-for-1 sale, if there's a book you're on the fence about, make sure it's the first book you select. The second book should always be one you're more confident you'll like. The first book is the one you can return.

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Best,

Geoff Jones

Author of <strong>The Dinosaur Four</strong>

Narrated by Nick Podehl

The book that's on sale right now is really good: https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Seven-Principles-for-Making-Marriage-Work-Audiobook/B004TTRJI4?ref=a_special-p_c3_lProduct_1_13&amp;pf_rd_p=a53b23bd-c247-4f90-90bf-33e64605d5f4&amp;pf_rd_r=2HAPG3VG3P7CQT9GVJYA&

But you both need to be working on it. The book in conjunction with a marriage therapist would probably work best.

Two more free:

• Patti Smith: Words and Music
• Les Liaisons Dangereuses

I just listened to a wonderful Librivox recording of Great Expectations (read by Mark F. Smith), and I lost hours of sleep, it was so good.

(here's the link for the recording):

https://librivox.org/great-expectations-by-charles-dickens/

Stephen King’s 11-22-63 is 35hrs of awesomeness.

OK...here's one that I hope fits, even though it's 10 hours and 45 minutes. Off to Be the Wizard by Scott Meyer and narrated by Luke Daniels is fantastic.

I think the best for cost is a cheap unlocked Android with 8gb memory, or and expandle SD Card slot.

My favorite app is Smart Audiobook Player, it allows great tracking for large files or books (most important feature, as you Never want to lose your place.)

for example, my copy of game of thrones was a CD rip, its over 1GB, and its broken into chapters by character name, like the hard copy. It's would be a nightmare to keep your place w/o a well designed app.

Also, Having an Android device allows you the option to purchase books directly from your favorite store, or add DRM Free books manually

One problem with giving too many suggestions is that it becomes overwhelming, and the lack of additional descriptions means that it doesn't help as much when trying to filter down a huge collection. Here's my top two suggestions instead:

1. Seveneves, by Neil Stephenson. The author is famous for having written Snow Cash, which many consider to have been the inspiration for creating Google Earth. Seveneves tells the story of what would happen if the Earth were pending destruction and humanity had to escape to space in order to survive. It was one of my favorite books in 2016.

2. Homeland, by R. A. Salvatore. This series is a must if you're into traditional D&D or other RPGs. It follows the life of a Dark Elf, commonly known as the Drow, and his interactions with other races. Started binging it this year but took a break after book 6 or 7. I intend to continue reading it at some point, but although I've been enjoying the series it does drag on a bit too long at times.

John Hodgman's Areas of My Expertise series is so much fun in its audiobook version. In book form, it's mainly a parody of the old-fashioned Poor Richard's Almanack, filled with useless lists and false trivia, which is funny but not everyone's cup of tea. But in audiobook form, Hodgman collaborates with guest narrators and has Jonathan Coulton sing songs, and it's a wild ride with ongoing jokes about how Paul Rudd is meant to be the narrator, and the looming threat of Ragnarok.

A Short History of Nearly Everything, it’s a science book but it’s funny and entertaining. Nothing technical just a lot of cool info about all kinds of stuff.

https://www.audible.com/pd/A-Short-History-of-Nearly-Everything-Audiobook/B002V0KFPW

Highly recommended, the narrator is super good.

I really enjoyed The Once and Future King, which you can buy as five volumes in one on audible. (It's 33 hours for one credit!)

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https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Once-and-Future-King-Audiobook/B00546D584?qid=1539374228&amp;sr=sr_1_1&amp;ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1&amp;pf_rd_p=e81b7c27-6880-467a-b5a7-13cef5d729fe&amp;pf_rd_r=827W4J8WDX8MWNW3NQB4&amp;

Expeditionary Force sounds like your next series.

Or The Expanse if you want something more serious.

does anyone know if these books are just ripped from librivox and published on audible? i get suspicious when everything is in the public domain and i see a spanish title match. the names don't line up, but i'm not good enough to compare voices.

https://librivox.org/el-extrano-caso-del-doctor-jekyll-y-el-senor-hyde-by-robert-louis-stevenson/

https://www.audible.com/pd/Classics/El-Extrano-Caso-del-Doctor-Jekyll-y-el-Senor-Hyde-Audiobook/B07FMWYHKQ

A Short History of Nearly Everything. It's funny, informative, and interesting -- perfect edutainment. It reminds me of a series of extended podcasts.

Each section is basically stand-alone which is great for the car. Rest stops don't break your flow as much. If someone wants to tune out and do their own thing, they can jump back in later without having to catch them up on a plot. And if you don't want to take breaks, keep it going and there's a new chapter waiting for you.

Only just started Red Rising Trilogy It has phenomenal reviews and so far so good (only a few hours in). First person for the protagonist. Cheers

Check out The <strong>First Law</strong> trilogy by Joe Abercrombie, narrated by Stephen Pacey. It's dark (but not as dark as GoT). It upends many conventions of the genre. It's got delightfully intricate characters. And the narration is quite simply as good as it gets.

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Best,

Geoff Jones

Author of <strong>The Dinosaur Four</strong>

(Narrated by Nick Podehl)

I liked the second one but /u/egomann is right. Cut your losses after four. If you want good, thoughtful science fiction, I would recommend Peter Hamilton's Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained.

I can't attest to the audiobooks but have read both and deeply enjoyed them. There are more books set in the Commonwealth but these two work on their own.

Sorry, I should have done a quick Google search first...

I found "Smart AudioBook Player" which looks like it will do exactly what I want.

Is this the app that's usually recommended?

The <strong>First Law</strong> trilogy is my go-to fantasy recommendation for fans of Game of Thrones. First Law is darker and more adult than LotR, but not as dark and adult as GoT.

The characters and action are outstanding. The world building isn't the strongest, but it's not bad. The narration is second to none.

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Best,

Geoff Jones

Author of <strong>The Dinosaur Four</strong>

Narrated by Nick Podehl

Check out <strong>the First Law trilogy</strong> by Joe Abercrombie, narrated by Steven Pacey. It's a modern fantasy saga that really upends a lot of the conventions of the genre. The characters are tremendously compelling, all with multiple shades of grey. Pacey's performance is top tier. You won't be disappointed!

In case the Audible link doesn't work in Norway:

Book 1 is The Blade Itself

Book 2 is Before They Are Hanged

Book 3 is Last Argument of Kings

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Best,

Geoff Jones

Author of <strong>The Dinosaur Four</strong>

(Narrated by Nick Podehl)

Have you read <strong>You</strong> by Caroline Kepnes? It's a perverse first person account of man stalking a woman in New York City. The characters are all delightfully despicable. The writing and narration are so compelling I kept listening when I had other things to do.

Disturbing, dark premise, dark themes. It meets your criteria.

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Best,

Geoff Jones

Author of <strong>The Dinosaur Four</strong>

(Narrated by Nick Podehl)

I think maybe there aren't many long horror series because no one is left alive after more than a couple of books. :)

Check out the <strong>Wayward Pines</strong> trilogy by Blake Crouch, narrated by Paul Michael Garcia. It's only three book, but I think you'll enjoy it. It's about a secret service agent investigating a missing person in a small Idaho town where everything is too good to be true. Flavors of Twin Peaks, The Fugitive, and The Twilight Zone, and it should satisfy your "monster of the week" itch.

If you enjoy it, try some of Crouch's other books. They aren't series, but at least they will give you more to read.

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Best,

Geoff Jones

Author of <strong>The Dinosaur Four</strong>

(Narrated by Nick Podehl)

(Stand-alone "monster of the week" novel)

The unabridged version (full text) of Fight Club is five and a half hours long. The dramatization would be more like a radio play with some sound effects and different actor for each character. Rather than reading the text straight, they would act out the most important dialogue and simplify other parts of it to cut the time.

If I really like a story, I'll often listen to more than one version, unabridged for the full story and a dramatization for the energy.

This is a thing! Audible has a 10 minute audiobook of narrators reading a restaurant menu. I promise, it's audible's silliness not mine, but I'm tickled to pass it on. :)

Menu Excerpts from Our Favorite Newark Restaurants

Don't be silly. Winds of Winter isn't going to be finished.

:). :). :)

Best,

Geoff Jones

Author of <em>The Dinosaur Four</em>

(Performed by Nick Podehl)

Not this week but next week, Brandon Sanderson's <em>Oathbringer</em> will be out next Tuesday the 14th. In case anyone had a credit left.

Check out <strong>Pines</strong> by Blake Crouch. It's about a secret service agent exploring a mountain town where everything is too good to be true.

Best,

Geoff Jones

Author of <strong>The Dinosaur Four</strong>

(Narrated by Nick Podehl)

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers is awesome and treads some ground I'm not used to seeing in sci-fi stories. It's like a space roadtrip with some great characters. It also has a sequel I really enjoyed.

Also, someone else suggested the Bobiverse books and I gotta second that, excellent series.

I like to listen to dense biographies and non-fiction that I might not get through in book form. Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow was great in audiobook form. I also listened to a biography of Albert Einstein that was pretty good (though a little overly technical and repetitive). I'm listening to a Bill Bryson book now. For some reason these hold me in audio format better than fiction...

I really enjoyed Expeditionary Force

Yes!

You - by Caroline Kepnes The bad guy is the first person narrator. The voice actor is Santino Fontana and he's the creepiest best stalker/killer voice ever.

It has a sequel called Hidden Bodies. Same narrator.

Not fine literature - this is just a creepy cool book that far exceeds its written form by having a phenomenal voice actor do the narrating.

They are celebrating 20 years of Audible with 20 days of special offers. It looks like it will be a great month for cheap/free audiobooks!

https://www.audible.com/mt/audible20?ref=a_home-page_c0_zing_0&amp;pf_rd_p=08aacdbf-ab6f-4214-824b-4b1452a0a720&amp;pf_rd_r=V04033XMM51H59J0CTDX&

What you are looking for is Smart Audiobook Player

It uses the gyro in your phone, and you can set it for multiple intervals. Then it starts to taper off, if you're asleep great, if you're not, you just bump it, and DING! continues at full volume.

I use it and every morning just go back 1 interval.

I have only recently got into audiobooks but I really enjoy listening to autobiographical books, particularly when read by the author. My stand out favourite is 'Born a Crime' by Trevor Noah, but also: Barack Obama's 'Dreams from my Father', Paul Kalanithi 'When Breath Becomes Air' and JD Vance 'Hillbilly Elegy'. Even books I wouldn't normally read, like Kevin Hart's autobiography are so much more engaging when you hear them. You can really hear the authenticity in the way they tell their stories.

Also full cast audio-dramas especially the BBC dramas e.g. The old Hitchhiker's Guide and Neil Gaiman adaptations.

As for what I didn't enjoy... Probably really information-packed nonfiction. I tried listening to 'A History of Western Philosophy' by Bertrand Russell and gave up. I retained very little, and I spent more time rewinding over passages I didn't understand than actually enjoying my listening to it. Definitely couldnt listen to it while driving or walking. I found it does work well if you also read along with the physical text/ebook though

I'd like to add Smart AudioBook Player for Android to this list.

This combines the best of all offline audiobook players IMHO.

I discovered this app when trying to figure out how to adjust the low/high frequencies even more than what my vehicle could handle (epecially with low quality audiobooks from OverDrive), and this app made it more acceptable.

Most of the app feature are free, but some, such as the equalizer, are 'pro' (but cheap). The free version allows you to try the pro features for 30 days, so you can easily judge if it makes a difference.

edit: added link, fixed typos.

Since you said the generic "smartphone" and not iPhone, I'm going to assume you're using Android. If that is the case, then you can use any music player to play music and at the same time use Listen Audiobook Player to play your audiobooks. Listen Audiobook Player has a setting that lets you disable the "audio focus" that normally is used to prevent two apps playing audio at the same time. In Listen's settings go to "Automatic Behaviors" and uncheck "Audio Focus".

Disclaimer: Listen Audiobook Player is my app.

14

By: Peter Clines

Narrated by: Ray Porter

Series: Threshold Universe

Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins

Unabridged Audiobook

https://www.audible.com/pd/14-Audiobook/B0089Y7K0M

First person story about a guy with a minimum wage dead end job that moves into a weird apartment building. The more he looks into the building more he finds it doesn't make sense. There is a part about a girl sunbathing topless early on, and an intimate seen later in the book, but it is not really graphic.

The <strong>First Law</strong> Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie, narrated by Steven Pacey. It's a dark/adult fantasy series (though not as dark & adult as GoT) with genre-bending plot twists, ridiculously engaging characters, and the best narration you will ever listen to.

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Best,

Geoff Jones

Author of <strong>The Dinosaur Four</strong>

Narrated by Nick Podehl

Check out <strong>You</strong> by Caroline Kepnes, narrated by Santino Fontana. It's about a stalker in NYC and the woman he sets his sights on. The book is told from the point-of-view of the stalker and the writing and narration are so compelling you (may) find yourself reluctantly sympathizing with him. It's definitely creepy.

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Best,

Geoff Jones

Author of <strong>The Dinosaur Four</strong>

Narrated by Nick Podehl

If your problem with Audible is that after your two monthly credits you have to pay higher prices, note that on the annual plan I find as soon as I exhaust my credits they offer me the chance to buy more credits for $9.50 each (which is what the 24-credit annual plan averages out to.) Alternatively, you can renew the annual plan early, getting another batch of 24 credits anytime.

Still not cheap if you're doing 10+ books a month, but slightly better.

Check your public library for, e.g., Overdrive. Librivox has free audiobooks of works in the public domain.

In the area of science fiction & fantasy there are site like PodCastle, Escape Pod, Clarkesworld & Lightspeed Magazines offering free short stories via podcast.

Missing Microbes by Martin Blaser, narrated by Patrick Lawlor.

I've been getting interested in the gut microbiota after taking Rob Knight's coursera course and this was a recommended book from the course. Blaser presents an interesting theory about how antibiotic overuse has led to a host of what he calls 'modern plagues' like asthma, obesity, GI disorders, etc. I am a little wary that he is overselling the role our microbes play in these diseases, but I find a lot of his arguments persuasive. He also argues that H Pylori which is often seen as a pathogen that should be eradicated actually has protective benefits to humans - which I gather is a controversial opinion in the medical community.

The narrator is ... not so good. I'll admit it's a tough job to read a book with a lot of scientific terms, but his cadence is too repetitive. I've also noticed a few weird pronunciations and mistakes (additive was read as addictive). But it's still listenable.

BARBARA ROSENBLAT!!!!!!!!!!

I'm listening to one of her books now and I am again blown away by her ability to do accents and make distinct characters. Unfortunately, while she has recorded hundreds of books, most of them are chick lit and that's not super popular in this sub.

But I think it's very telling that she has not only done so many books, she has done so many series of books. It seems that once an author works with her, they don't want to work with anyone else. She has 300 results listed on Audible alone (and not all of her works are on Audible).

The first book I listened to was Murder in an English Village. She weaves in and out of accents and genders like a full cast.

I haven't listened to anything by Scott Brick until just this week. I'm listening to <strong>The Survivor</strong> by Gregg Hurwitz, narrated by Scott Brick. (I got it through the current 2-for-1 sale.) For what it's worth, I'm enjoying his performance of this book. It's a gritty crime thriller with heavy doses of tragedy and testosterone. Brick seems to capture the right tone, at least to me.

I also think it's worth mentioning that there's more to a narration than just the narrator. From what I've gathered, audiobook productions vary wildly from title to title. Sometimes a director and a producer will work with the narrator. Sometimes the author will be involved, but I'm not sure that's always the case. I get the sense that sometimes the work is just farmed out. It's possible Brick has been involved in some productions that didn't get the care they deserved.

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Best,

Geoff Jones

Author of <strong>The Dinosaur Four</strong>

(Narrated by Nick Podehl)

I listened to Rhett Bruno's The Circuit, narrated by Jefferson Mays.

Space Operas are an interesting genre, they can be as intricate as a Persian rug motif or as clean, elegant and functional as an AKEA piece of furniture.

In the first category I count Dune ( with its Mentats, Bene Gesserit , Navigators, Tleilaxu, Spice ) in the second category I count "The Circuit" ( and its Hands, Tribute, Arcs, Adam and Gravitum). While Herbert spent much of the time building entire civilizations details into the rich tapestry of his epic novel. Mr. Bruno invest the reader's time by guiding him to a rich amalgam of action settings.

Characters in Mr. Bruno's work are not as well developed as in Dune ( in some cases the character's motives are paper thin), yet he manages to provide an very enjoyable whooping 28 hours of entertainment. I enjoyed this book and applaud the sheer endurance of Mr. Bruno in this tremendous undertaking.

while it will not replace Dune as the object of my reverence as the model to which all books of this genre should aspire ( and to which this book appears to pay silent homage to), nor Steven R. Donaldson's "The Gap Cycle" which currently holds my favorite spot. It was a pretty good read with a very good performance by Mr. Mays as a narrator.

In the interest of full disclosure, I did get a token from the Author to read this book but this in no way tainted my opinion.

Thank You Mr. Bruno for the token but more for the entertainment that this book brought.

Edit: fixed misguided attempts by phone to correct my original text.

Check out librivox. It’s a volunteer driven public domain audiobook collection. That may give you a good starting point to build your portfolio.

https://librivox.org/pages/volunteer-for-librivox/

The Alex Verus Series is similar to the Dresden series and even hints at it during the first book. I would highly recommend it if you like the Dresden series.

Amatka by Karen Tidbeck, narrated by Kristen Potter. I loved this book. It's a novel about a world where in order for something to keep its shape, like a table, it has to be frequently named as a table. It sounds like a silly idea, but it's a remarkably beautiful story. It's kind of an eerie mystery. The narrator was excellent. My only complaint is that I'm pretty sure she pronounced the name of the main character wrong. It doesn't matter, though. It's the same narrator as Station Eleven, and even though the plots of the two books have nothing in common, they have a similar feel. I've been recommending this book to everyone. It's great even for people who never read fantasy. It's a simple, beautiful story.

A lot of male authors are terrible at female voices and most female narrators I've come across don't attempt character voices.

However...

There is the curious case of Penelope Rawlins, who was so bad at male characters voices I gave up reading the sequel to The Last Werewolf, Talulla Rising because she was so godawful.

And by happy chance, the Audible sample starts exactly where she's doing a male character voice, who is ALSO French, so you get two awfulnesses for the price of one.

Bill Bryson's &quot;A Walk in the Woods&quot;

It's the author's memoir of when he and a friend hiked the Appalachian trail. Bryson is humor-heavy but not distractingly so. I haven't heard this one as an audiobook but I read it as a paperback and I do have another audiobook where he reads his own work and I love it. So I feel confident recommending his reading here. I'd give it 4 out of 5. The middle third of the book lags a bit compared to the strong beginning and end.

Librivox.org has free audiobooks, I use their app to listen but there are other different ways. It is all public domain books (old) with varied recording quality but the price is right. A search outside of their site for best or most popular librivox recordings is recommended

Could be relevant: The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber.

It's largely about how developing and putting systems in place can create efficiency and standardize quality. Sounds pretty obvious, but I gleaned some tips and inspiration from it for my business (self employed, photographer).

Try Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods."

Dawkins autobiography, "An Appetite for Wonder," is quite enjoyable as he narrates it himself.

One of my favorites is David Attenborough's "Life Stories." They're short stories about himself and quite well written ... and delivered!

"Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" might also appeal to you.

Most books need to be listened to at 20-30% increase in speed. There are very few books have I listened to which required more (none) or less (one or two) than that standard range. I think audiobook narrators have a standard to try to reach an average words per minute so the average person can listen and comprehend what they're saying. I think the standard should be raised 20% since I have to go to almost every book to increase the narration speed to 20, 25, or 30% faster, depending on the narrator.

Anyway, I answered your survey at 1.25 speed since that's the closest average for my listening.

On Android, Smart AudioBook Player is the best third-party app for listening to audiobooks. You can fine-tune playback speed like on Audible (though only in tenths, not twentieths like Audible, and my normal setting there is 1.2x since you can't make it the .05 faster, and 1.3x is sometimes too fast), make bookmarks, set sleep timer. Pretty much everything Audible can do, but it works with audiobooks from any source, including Audible if you download it to your device. I just congregate all my audiobooks and almost exclusively use Smart AudioBook Player.

Bobiverse

This dude Bob with a type of Tony Stark-like personality dies and his 'mind' so to speak, gets transferred into a computer. He's then sent into space as an exploratory probe with the capability to expand and create copies of himself. The perspective shifts to the various bobs in the universe so you basically see what's happening everywhere.

It has its serious moments, but it's made me laugh constantly too.

https://www.audible.com/pd/Cibola-Burn-Audiobook/B00K7PP15W?qid=1548951818&amp;sr=1-1&amp;ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1&amp;pf_rd_p=e81b7c27-6880-467a-b5a7-13cef5d729fe&amp;pf_rd_r=6JGNAZVSB5P30NKDPE1J&

"Galaxy Outlaws: The Complete Black Ocean Mobius Missions, 1-16.5" by Mikael Naramore a really funny sci-fi series and one of the best uses of an audible credit.

"https://www.audible.com/pd/Galaxy-Outlaws-The-Complete-Black-Ocean-Mobius-Missions-1-165-Audiobook/B079YYJK47?qid=1548633157&amp;sr=1-1&amp;ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1&amp;pf_rd_p=e81b7c27-6880-467a-b5a7-13cef5d729fe&amp;pf_rd_r=9VTPF6HEB67T8DHCB..."

Check out <strong>Pines</strong> by Blake Crouch, narrated by Paul Michael Garcia. It's about a Secret Service agent investigating a small town in Idaho where everything is too good to be true. The author says it was inspired by Twin Peaks, but it also has strong flavors of The Twilight Zone and The Fugitive. There are two sequels if you like it.

Here's the publisher's summary:

>Wayward Pines, Idaho, is quintessential small-town America — or so it seems. Secret Service agent Ethan Burke arrives in search of two missing federal agents, yet soon is facing much more than he bargained for. After a violent accident lands him in the hospital, Ethan comes to with no ID and no cell phone. The medical staff seems friendly enough, but something feels…off. As the days pass, Ethan’s investigation into his colleagues’ disappearance turns up more questions than answers. Why can’t he make contact with his family in the outside world? Why doesn’t anyone believe he is who he says he is? And what’s the purpose of the electrified fences encircling the town? Are they keeping the residents in? Or something else out? Each step toward the truth takes Ethan further from the world he knows, until he must face the horrifying possibility that he may never leave Wayward Pines alive…

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Best,

Geoff Jones

Author of <strong>The Dinosaur Four</strong>

Narrated by Nick Podehl

I've been on a Gaiman kick and just finished The Ocean at the End of the Lane yesterday. I had read the book (traditionally) previously, but Gaiman narrates his stories far better than my brain ever could and so the audiobook was a much richer experience this time around.

Like most of Gaiman's material, TOATEOFL is a whimsically gothic/dark fantasy; this one being about a boy's life that flips upside down after an opal miner rents out his old room. Lots of cools stuff in it like ancient folk, surreal monsters, and twisted realities (and kittens, too.) And like most of his stories, Gaiman sneaks up on you and yanks on your heart strings at just the right moment.

TOATEOTL is is 5hrs and 48min long and is narrated by Neil Gaiman, himself.

Try being a Librivox volunteer. They will help you with setting up your recording equipment and will critique a test recording. After that you have the entire Gutenberg project as source material for you to record whenever you like and there will be millions of people grateful that you made the effort. If you are into sci-fi they do a regular collection of short stories (currently up to volume 81) and are constantly rescuing golden age sci-fi and fantasy novels. They are always looking for new voices.

Also Librivox has a great community and resources to help people get started at any skill level with a modicum of technical expertise. Librivox is particular good for the hobbyist who isn't out to make a quick buck or get overwhelmed with technical requirements like at Audible's ACX.

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https://librivox.org/pages/volunteer-for-librivox/

I finished <strong>White Fang</strong>, by Jack London, narrated by John Lee, which was free a short time ago as part of Audible's listener appreciation week.

It's a quick listen (<8 hours) with good narration, but the story meanders a bit too much for me. Most of it is told from the point of view of White Fang himself, a dog-wolf hybrid, but it's a distant point-of-view, never really tight and close. As a dog lover, it made me sad to hear about the abuse White Fang and some of the other dogs went through, but again, the descriptions were somewhat detached, making it easier to stomach.

&nbsp;

Best,

Geoff Jones

Author of <strong>The Dinosaur Four</strong>

(Narrated by Nick Podehl)

I see lots of suggestions here that I agree with and at least one that I'm adding to my wish list.

Here's one more:

<strong>Saturn Run</strong> by John Sandford and Ctein, narrated by Eric Conger, is about the the political, scientific, and interpersonal maneuverings required to make Earth's first interplanetary mission, a "run" out to investigate an alien signal coming from Saturn. There's a large cast, and while the characterizations aren't the most complex ever, they are rounded out enough to get to know everyone and keep them all straight.

&nbsp;

Best,

Geoff Jones

Author of <strong>The Dinosaur Four</strong>

(Narrated by Nick Podehl)

<strong>The Road</strong> by Cormac McCarthy. It doesn't get much darker.

&nbsp;

Best,

Geoff Jones

Author of <strong>The Dinosaur Four</strong>

(Narrated by Nick Podehl)

Children of Time was a weird, wild ride unlike anything else I have read or listened to in the genre. Up until the very end I really didn't know where it was going. 4/5 stars for both the story and the narration for me. It has a bit of everything you mention, while not falling into any of the normal tropes.

Got the complete Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes "canon" as it is called last February.

I am alternating it with other titles by other authors, as it is many separate stories.

Amazing book bang for the buck - 62 hrs and 57 mins for one credit.

<em>Mythology</em> by Edith Hamilton is pretty classic. Audible is currently running a 2-for-1 sale and it is one of the eligible books.

>So unless they changed the names.

that's what i'm thinking. it's legal as far as i know, but i'm not a big fan of it if the narrator can't make money off it :/

https://librivox.org/the-hound-of-the-baskervilles-version-2-by-sir-arthur-conan-doyle/

ch 1 4:17 from librivox lines up with the audible sample:

https://www.audible.com/pd/Mysteries-Thrillers/The-Hound-of-the-Baskervilles-Audiobook/B07F7VP4LY

and several of the narrator's other works are included under the name as well.

Desert Solitaire - Edward Abbey, For Whom the Bell Tolls - Ernest Hemingway, The Martian - Andy Weir, Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand, Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway. Favorite audible narrator: Grover Gardner (Titan by Ron Chernow, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer and many many more). Favorite librivox narrator: Adrian Praetzellis ( https://librivox.org/reader/1331 awesome narration of each Siddhartha, Kim, & My First Summer in the Sierra).

I think that almost any book with a good narrator is better in audio form than in book form. Narrators bring books to life.

When you read a printed book, unless you have a really consistent reading schedule, you have to get back into it every time you pick it up. You have to remember which character is which. You have to "recalibrate" all of the voices in your head. A decent narrator pulls you back in right away.

I certainly feel that my book is better in audiobook form than in print form. Nick Podehl bought nuances to the characters that made it a joy to listen to, even though I had read it hundreds of times while writing it.

Spideratari is definitely right about Cormac McCarthy. He should get a special call out in this thread. His writing style is so stream-of-consciousness it feels like oral storytelling, not written words.

Best,

Geoff Jones

Author of The Dinosaur Four

(Narrated by Nick Podehl)

This is a great way to get the second and third books in the <strong>Pines</strong> trilogy by Blake Crouch.

Best,

Geoff Jones

Author of <strong>The Dinosaur Four</strong>

(Performed by Nick Podehl)

Have you read Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin? Very few of the characters (and there are lots) are 100% good or bad.

Best,

Geoff Jones

Author of The Dinosaur Four

Lies My Teacher Told Me by Loewen. It's less a history book than a sociology book on how the way that history is taught (in the US) affects us.

I bought my first copy of this book in ~1999 while literally cutting school, and have since bought and given away at least a dozen copies of it. If you like Zinn, you should read Loewen.

I have been thoroughly enjoying Monster Hunters International. I fully screwed up on the listening order and it still was amazing, I would however highly recommend starting from the beginning.

https://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/Monster-Hunter-International-Audiobook/B004RGQ6UQ

Check out Red Rising by Pierce Brown. There are two sequels out and one on the way. It straddles the line between sci-fi and young adult. I think it will find a place on your list.

Best,

Geoff Jones

Author of The Dinosaur Four

The Jungle by Upton SINCLAIR

Historical Fiction written by Upton Sinclair who researched the conditions of the meat industry in Chicago as a journalist. Very dark and interesting.

https://librivox.org/the-jungle-by-upton-sinclair/

The Expeditionary Force series has all the books available to read for free for Amazon Kindle Unlimited subscribers, and the first audiobook for the Columbus Day (book1) is free too. So you can read and listen to the first book for free to decide if you want to continue the series. Books 2-5 are available on Audible for $7.95, cheaper than credits, so don't use a credit to buy them.

https://www.amazon.com/Columbus-Day-Expeditionary-Force-Book-ebook/dp/B01AIGC31E

Kindle Unlimited is $9.99/mos. I think it's worth subscribing for at least 6 months because I could easily find 10 books and audiobooks per month that I was able to enjoy. After clearing off all the books I was interested in reading/listening too, the subscription is probably of less value and not worth it for most people.

The Bobiverse Series is another excellent science fiction series on Kindle Unlimited.

https://www.amazon.com/Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse-Book-ebook/dp/B01LWAESYQ/