Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Pretty much anything Stephen King but especially Holly and all the books narrated by Will Patton. His books are not all horror (honestly most aren't) but are phenomenal (almost all of them, truly). I highly recommend if you haven't gotten into him before.
I adored The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni who otherwise write Russian spy novels.
I loved the Bear Town trilogy by Fredrik Backman. I didn't listen to them all in a row because I didn't want them to be over. The first one was my favorite.
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. (I've read all her other books and love many of them but haven't listened to them so can't speak to the narration but this one was excellent).
Slightly similar to Demon Copperfield but about a girl is The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah. Neither are particularly easy books (tough subject matters) but both very good.
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. I'm setting this one in its own category because it was wonderful.
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. The TV show is good once you're done with the book. It's a period piece with great costumes and sets in addition to being a good story.
If you like Historical Fiction - The Rose Code and the Alice Network by Kate Quinn, All the Light we Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (I also liked Cloud Cuckoo Land although that I wouldn't qualify it as quite historical fiction), The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, Rules of Civility by Amor Towles (not technically historical fiction but very much set in an era), The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri, and The Other Einstein (about Einstein's wife) by Marie Benedict.
Anything John Grisham narrated by Michael Beck. His voice is pure silk and the books he narrates are some of Grisham's best.
If you like "smart chick lit" I would recommend The Wedding People by Alison Espach, Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez, The Whispers by Ashley Audrain, The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren, Who Do You Love, Little Earthquakes, That Summer, Mrs. Everything, and The Summer Place by Jennifer Weiner, Cassandra in Reverse by Holly Smale, The Secret Bridesmaid by Katy Birchall, The Restoration of Celia Fairchild by Marie Bostwick, When We Believed in Mermais by Barbara O'Neal, Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, and When Life Gives You Lululemons by Lauren Weisberger.
Anything by David Sedaris (also many good memoirs read by the author but his are generally my favorites).
If you like family sagas, Tom Lake (read by Meryl Streep) and The Dutch House (read by Tom Hanks) by Ann Patchett , Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson, The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo, Hello Beautiful by Ann Nepolitano, and Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson.
For sci-fi lite (I'm not a big fan in general but Project Hail Mary above was my favorite suggestion) Annie Bot by Sierra Greer, The Martian also by Andy Weir, The Humans and The Midnight Library (not really sci-fi but sort of) by Matt Haig, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Susan Collins (prequel to The Hunger Games), The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield, Roadkill by Dennis E. Taylor, The Passage Trilogy by Justin Cronin (and if you want to read something completely the opposite, his other novels are amazing reads and are not at all sci-fi), and Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (then watch the show on HBO).
For slightly oddball fiction, Now Is Not the Time to Panic and Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson (I did not like The Family Fang), The Librarianist by Patrick deWitt, They're Going to Love You by Meg Howrey, and The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin (who wrote Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, which I put in another category).
For thrillers, Going Zero by Anthony McCarten, The Family Holiday by Shalini Boland, Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister, and You (and sequel Hidden Bodies) by Caroline Kepnes (not narrated by Penn Badgley who was the actor on the TV show but by Santino Fontana, who is amazing).
For YA books, The Bridge by Bill Konigsberg, How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, Every Summer After by Carley Fortune, Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo (has a sequel that I haven't gotten to yet), and The Gatekeepers by Jen Lancaster.
I have enjoyed several Jodi Picoult books including The Book of Two Ways, Leaving Time, Wish You Were Here, and Mad Honey, (I also liked The Storyteller but didn't like one of the narrators so I would read this one instead).
Michael Connelly books narrated by Titus Welliver (who plays Bosch in the TV series) are good. The narrator who does the Renee Ballard books is also good.
Sorry if my categorizations aren't perfect, and I apologize for not giving you a single favorite (well, I did with Project Hail Mary)!
PP thank you for taking the time to write this out.... it's truly appreciated and exactly what I was looking for when checking DCUM book club this morning!
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