Audio Favorites

Ariana Mayıs 29, 2022

Carrie at Books and Movies wrote a great post about her favorite audio books last week. It got me thinking about the role audio books play in my reading.

I discovered audio books in 2002, a year I spent an inordinate amount of time behind the wheel of my car. My main source of audio books then was the public library. Late in 2003, I became member of audible.com and have had a membership ever since. My time in the car has decreased considerably, but my audio book habit has continued. My listening preference is fiction (occasionally even a best-seller I wouldn't pick up and read), but I've also enjoyed lighter non-fiction and memoirs.

Here are some of my favorites:

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri

-an outstanding collection of short stories very effectively read by two different narrators

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

-a collection of stories about life in a small Maine town, each featuring an appearance by larger-than-life character Olive Kitteridge

-the narrator's Maine accent contributes to it's audio success

Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle

-examines the problem of illegal immigration by putting a 'face' on both sides of the issue

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

-an elderly man recalls his younger years travelling with the circus

-effectively done with two readers

The History of Love by Nicole Krauss

-a very unusual love story with a literary twist

-read by multiple narrators

I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron

-very funny essays about growing older and other feminine issues

-read by the author

Digging to America by Anne Tyler
-two very different families meet at an airport while picking up their adopted Korean daughters and form a life-long friendship