Farewell to Arms by Hemingway. I didn’t set out to read it, it just happened to be in the car I was driving. The plot is straightforward and the dialogue clear; but the story is powerful. Not something I’d’ve read on paper but I’m glad I did
It’s not an audiobook, but if you’re a fan of history, particularly World War 1, then Dan Carlin’s six-part series “Blueprint for Armageddon” is fabulous. That’ll give you 20+ hours of content.
Carlin’s a self-proclaimed “non-historian”, but his storytelling is very compelling.
My two favorites are the aforementioned WW1 one and the other one on the Pacific theater in WW2. I already knew almost everything he said in the WW1 one, whilst knowing almost nothing about the Pacific Theater one - both were super interesting.
I love listening to the Wheel of Time series read by Kate Reading and Michael Kramer
Over two hundred hours of story and amazing performances.
And for multiple short listens I’ve recently enjoyed biographies by Amy Poehler, Anna Kendrick, Nick Offerman and Tina Fey. I enjoy them because they are in an industry completely different to my own, and fabulously entertaining.
I have that on Audible and found it hard to keep track of the characters, and couldn't imagine trying that while driving. Maybe one needs to have already read the comics to appreciate the story (I haven't)
I don't know that it is appropriate for a drive, exactly, but Anne Hathaway reading the Wizard of Oz is one of the best audio books I've ever listened to, period.
My only hesitation for a drive is that you might get too comfortable. It is like a loving mother reading to you while you're comfy in bed. She does different voices for the main characters, so she has her scarecrow voice and her Wicked Witch of the West voice. It is super underrated as I have never really heard anyone talk about it.
How long is your trip? George Guidall reading Don Quixote is good. Also there's this book called Death in Yellowstone, which is just hours of short descriptions of people who have died in various ways in Yellowstone. Something like that can be good if you're talking or concentrating on the road and can't follow a detailed plot.
I'll always have a fondness in my heart for "Guns, Germs, and Steel" by Jared Diamond, and I have always enjoyed "The Stand" by Stephen King although I think it requires being in a certain mood to listen to it. "Born a Crime" by Trevor Noah was really good, because I think he's a good storyteller, he has a good voice for narration, and just the right amount of "funny" without it being forced
The Martian
Ready Player One
Project Hail Mary
Name of the Wind
Dresden Files
Eye of the World (Wheel of Time)
We Are Legion (We Are Bob)
The Blade Itself (First Law Trilogy)
Dungeon Crawler Carl
The History of Ancient Egypt (Bob Brier lecture)
Food: A Cultural Culinary History (Ken Albala lecture)
If you like fantasy, "The Eye of the World" by Robert Jordan. A new narration by Rosamund Pike was recently released corresponding to Amazon's release of their live-action series of this series.
Overall, it's a well written, engaging story that begins an amazing series, should you become interested and desire to continue reading/listening. Weighs in at nearly 33 hours, so there's no way you'll have to start something different midway. And if you like it, there are 13 more installments in this epic fantasy.
This question is phrased weirdly because it's not like I listen to the same audiobook over and over every time I take a long drive. Presumably you're looking for "good book that worked well in audio format and is long enough to keep me occupied on a long drive".
I've been on road trips that lasted over a year. Some options that kept me stimulated:
* Most audio plays that target public radio (BBC, ZBS, etc). Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, Ruby the Galactic Gumshoe, etc etc.
* Anything from the Teaching Co. Pick a subject that interests you, you won't be disappointed. If you don't know where to start, go with Robert Sapolsky's "Biology and Human Behavior".
* Bill Bryson's "A Short History Of Nearly Everything" is worth calling out for length and breadth.
* High-budget podcasts. Not "a couple guys jabbering about how to cook" but the crafted ones. Serial is the obvious example, but there are a million more. This American Life. Planet Money. S*Town. The Agent. Darknet Diaries. If your podcast app is halfway decent, the discovery algorithm should keep you busy forever.
I often circle back to What's Rangoon To You Is Grafton To Me, a radio play developed from a short story about a summer hitch-hiking adventure from Brisbane to Sydney in the 1970's.
The Harry Potter series (seven books) as well as all the Sherlock Holmes stories (three volumes). By the time I get through both, it's been years, and I can start again at the beginning. :)
> as well as all the Sherlock Holmes stories (three volumes)
You may be interested to know Stephen Fry has done a 71 hour recording of all the Sherlock Holmes. He has an excellent voice for audiobooks.
The whole thing is a single item so if you're on Audible (for example) it's just one credit. And in a similar way to the ITV Jeremy Brett TV versions of Holmes, you get the whole canon of work with the same artistic vision.
Ed Tong’s recent release, An Immense World, is an exploration of the unique sensory worlds of creatures throughout the animal kingdom. I enjoyed listening to it while my sensory world was confined to a car.
I've been traveling throughout SE Asia for the past few months which requires long flights and bus rides. I just finished up The Martian by Andy Weir and read by RC Bray, and am about 1/3rd the way through Project Hail Mary, also by Weir and narrated by Ray Porter. Both are fantastic if you're in to hard science fiction. Also, I think the choice of narrator makes or breaks whether or not an audiobook is good. In both audiobooks, the narrator has done a great job keeping me captivated with the story.
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[ 9.1 ms ] story [ 140 ms ] threadCarlin’s a self-proclaimed “non-historian”, but his storytelling is very compelling.
Over two hundred hours of story and amazing performances.
And for multiple short listens I’ve recently enjoyed biographies by Amy Poehler, Anna Kendrick, Nick Offerman and Tina Fey. I enjoy them because they are in an industry completely different to my own, and fabulously entertaining.
My only hesitation for a drive is that you might get too comfortable. It is like a loving mother reading to you while you're comfy in bed. She does different voices for the main characters, so she has her scarecrow voice and her Wicked Witch of the West voice. It is super underrated as I have never really heard anyone talk about it.
Listend to all of them on my multiple coast to coast (USA) drives, and can't reccomend 'em highly enough.
I've been on road trips that lasted over a year. Some options that kept me stimulated:
* Most audio plays that target public radio (BBC, ZBS, etc). Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, Ruby the Galactic Gumshoe, etc etc.
* Anything from the Teaching Co. Pick a subject that interests you, you won't be disappointed. If you don't know where to start, go with Robert Sapolsky's "Biology and Human Behavior".
* Bill Bryson's "A Short History Of Nearly Everything" is worth calling out for length and breadth.
* High-budget podcasts. Not "a couple guys jabbering about how to cook" but the crafted ones. Serial is the obvious example, but there are a million more. This American Life. Planet Money. S*Town. The Agent. Darknet Diaries. If your podcast app is halfway decent, the discovery algorithm should keep you busy forever.
[-1] http://www.simonrumble.com/psychedelicatessen/
[i] http://www.simonrumble.com/psychedelicatessen/rangoon_edited...
The versions on audible have great readers IMO.
You may be interested to know Stephen Fry has done a 71 hour recording of all the Sherlock Holmes. He has an excellent voice for audiobooks.
The whole thing is a single item so if you're on Audible (for example) it's just one credit. And in a similar way to the ITV Jeremy Brett TV versions of Holmes, you get the whole canon of work with the same artistic vision.