Books on "tape"

Mistwell · Jan 17, 2008

The Harry Potter books were excellent on audio disc.

Werdnam · Jan 17, 2008

I listen to audio books on runs, and I've found some excellent recordings of classics. I recommend King Solomon's Mines , Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and Around the World in 80 Days. If you like mysteries, I can also highly recommend the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series; the performer is excellent. (Later books in this series can only be considered mysteries in a loose sense, but I have enjoyed them very much.) The recording of Ender's Shadow is also good.

I can't comment on cost, though -- so far, I've checked out all my audiobooks from the library, most of them electronically. (I have one of those other digital audio players that plays nice with Microsoft's DRMed formats.)

EricNoah · Jan 17, 2008

I've listened to Collapse by Jared Diamond, 1984, Master & Commander, and a few others in recent months.

Sarigar · Jan 18, 2008

EricNoah said:
I've listened to Collapse by Jared Diamond, 1984, Master & Commander, and a few others in recent months.

Collapse was educational, yet the audio would drag in parts. With non-fiction it is hard to blame the voice actor, however a good actor can help. Freakonomics was quite interesting, as was Devil in the White City in parts.

EricNoah · Jan 31, 2008

I finished Master & Commander and have moved on to I, Claudius. The narrator's voice sounded kind of dry at first but after hearing the first chapter he has a rather "amused" sound to his voice that seems just perfect.

Ashy · Jan 31, 2008

The Wandering Men's first podcast featured an audio excerpt from "Fiend Fighter" - a part of our novel, Skein of Shadows. I read it and did the voices and I have to tell you - it is NOT as easy as it sounds! I really had to watch my intonation and pronunciation throughout it all; that's a mental exercise that I think not many people do often.

Oh - the podcast's completely free, and yes, we're doing more excerpts.

Olgar Shiverstone · Feb 1, 2008

My wife and I have killed a *lot* of time between the Wheel of Time and A Song of Ice & Fire in audio book format on the iPod. Makes travelling & chores much less onerous.

Don't forget you can usually get books on CD from a library, or rent them from places like Cracker Barrel. Rip to mp3 and listen on iPod (they work like music, which isn't as convenient as an audible audiobook, but it gets you there). Delete when the book is complete. Or pick up books on CD at swap meets for loose change (I got an entire Hobbit + LotR dramatization on CD for next to nothing once).

And depending on what you like to listen to, there are a ton of free podcasts out there. Lots of good gaming stuff (Fear the Boot!), the whole NPR library ...

Steel_Wind · Feb 1, 2008

Olgar Shiverstone said:
My wife and I have killed a *lot* of time between the Wheel of Time and A Song of Ice & Fire in audio book format on the iPod. Makes travelling & chores much less onerous.

Agreed. George RR Martin's SoIaF series read by Roy Dotrice (shame he did not do AFFC) is amazing.

I am on my third time through the audio books. It is like slipping away in to another world in a way that reading them doesn't quite manage.

I know how LAME that sounds. But it is nevertheless true.