You have to find actors /readers that you like. The best ones read a lot of books.

Also, most books are terrible. I enjoy listening to “classics” more than recent best sellers mostly because they are better written and thus more pleasurable to listen to.

The voice acting took a long time for me to get used to. I agree when it’s bad it’s cringe inducing.

I always sample before starting an audiobook because some narrators ruin it for me. The new fad is for using people with heavy international accents. I think accents are beautiful and love to listen to them, yet there needs to be a pronunciation minimum. The BBC does well at this. They have corespondents and anchors from everywhere, many with lovely accents. But all are able to pronounce clearly, legibly in English. Not true of about half the recent audiobooks I’ve tried.

Anonymous wrote:The narrator matters at least as much as the author for audio books. You have to listen to the samples before buying

I agree.

Other audio books I liked:
Remarkably Bright Creatures
The Martian
Born a Crime
Mary Jane (by Jessica Anya Blau)
Dead Wake
Hidden Figures
The War That Saved My Life
Shoe Dog


I have definitely returned books when the narration just didn’t work for me.

Yes, my DC who is dyslexic prefers the automated voices because otherwise he hears the book through someone else’s interpretation. Th3 earliest kindle had that as an option and we miss it terribly.

Bumpi g this thread because someone recently made a new post asking for audiobook recommendations.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which ones didn’t you like?

The Fever by Megan Abbott
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
Look Alive Out There by Sloane Crosley

Some voices are grating. Try other narrators. You can listen to samples before buying.

Apples Never Fall
Project Hail Mary
American Dirt
Unbroken

This and The Martian were SOOO good. I tell everyone they MUST listen to Project Hail Mary (you'll know why when you hear it, it's more than just a good narrator).

Interestingly, I hated the narrator from Apples Never Fall...

I loved The Martian too!

I included a variety of different narrators - thought maybe one would catch her ear.

I used to read Michael Connelly's books (The Lincoln Lawyer, etc.) but his Bosch books are read by Titus Welliver, who plays Bosch on the TV show, and I love his voice, so now I listen to them.

Michael Beck does many of John Grisham's books and I adore his voice. It's like southern cotton candy, that's the only way I can describe it.

As mentioned, Will Patton is excellent and I also weirdly like Stephen King's own narration of his books. I don't know why because he has a nasal-sounding voice but I like it.

Sutton Foster does some chick lit, like a book by Jennifer Weiner, and her voice is nice and cheerful.

I love Edoardo Ballerini and have listened to books he narrates even though I wasn't interested in them otherwise.

Santino Fontana is also wonderful and does a great job with slightly sinister characters. I actually listened to You before I saw Frozen and I immediately pegged him as the bad guy.

Finally, anything by David Sedaris is hysterical and his voice makes it even better.

I don't love modern fiction for audiobooks but the classics really come alive:

Just finished Great Expectations and am listening to Endurance right now (same narrator, Simon Vance).

I've loved:

To Kill a Mockingbird (Sissy Spacek)
Jane Eyre (Claire Walsh)
Gone with the Wind (Linda Stephens)
Undaunted Courage (Barrett Whitener)
Huckleberry Finn (BJ Harrison)
Watership Down (Ralph Cosham)

If you find a narrator you like you can search for other works they've done.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really struggle with audiobooks for this reason, so much so that if I find a narrator in like I will listen to everything they’re recorded rather than looking for a book in my normal genres. One I’ve liked recently is Truth Be Told by Bev McLachlin — it’s the autobiography of the retired Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and read by her.

I do this too. I will listen to anything with Will Patton, who was the narrator of the Raven Cycle books by Maggie Stiefvater.

Will Patton is amazing. He does several of Stephen King's books as well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which ones didn’t you like?

The Fever by Megan Abbott
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
Look Alive Out There by Sloane Crosley

Some voices are grating. Try other narrators. You can listen to samples before buying.

Apples Never Fall
Project Hail Mary
American Dirt
Unbroken

This and The Martian were SOOO good. I tell everyone they MUST listen to Project Hail Mary (you'll know why when you hear it, it's more than just a good narrator).

Interestingly, I hated the narrator from Apples Never Fall...

Anonymous wrote:I love audiobooks -- there are definitely better narrators and not so great ones.

I LOVED Tom Hanks narrating The Dutch House by Ann Patchet. Great story -- wonderful narrating!!

That's too funny, I'm listening to that right now! I like that he doesn't try to do a woman's voice when one of the female characters is speaking. That's one of the cringiest things when someone does the voice of an opposite sex wrong.

When I find a book I would be interested in I listen to a sample (you have to listen to the entire sample because just a few second isn't enough to determine if you like the narrator) and then decide if I will read or listen to it. Some books I've listened to I ended up disliking because I didn't like the narrator and that ruined the content for me. (This is even after sampling, it's not a perfect science). Also, once I find a narrator I like, I will be more inclined to listen to books they read, even if I wasn't interested in the book itself initially. You definitely have to be careful.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which ones didn’t you like?

The Fever by Megan Abbott
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
Look Alive Out There by Sloane Crosley

Some voices are grating. Try other narrators. You can listen to samples before buying.

Apples Never Fall
Project Hail Mary
American Dirt
Unbroken

Totally agree with apples, at least. Liane Moriarty’s books have the best narrator. I think I thought LM was a great writer for a while mostly because I love, love her narrator.

Also recommend the early Louise Penny books. That narrator might be the best I’ve ever heard.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like hearing the authors narrate their autobiographies.

me too! David Goggins and Katie Couric were two favorites of mine.

Totally agree! The worst, most scratchy-voiced author is almost always better than a (only sometimes) polished narrator.

I couldn't stand the narrator for "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks". Her fake "Southern black" accent was cringeworthy.