Pajiba

While Jim Dale's Harry Potter readings are fine and dandy, I have somewhat of a preference to Stephen Fry's readings of the series from the UK.
I'm not an audiobook person, I probably will find that James Frey book in audiobook, the writing orientation seems confusing to me, so I'd like to hear it read by Ben Foster. Though I love to listen to David Sedaris reading his own stuff, it's the work of true genius.

I think that I would like to hear Larry the Cable Guy read the complete works of Shakesepeare, simply because the amount of unintentional comedy would be staggering.

In a serious note, I'd like to hear any book read by Morgan Freeman, Sam Jackson, or James Earl Jones, even a shitty book would be improved by them.

I have to say that my favorite is "How to Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way" read by the greatest B-movie actor Bruce Campbell. The fact taht he turns it into a radio play and has friends act out various scenes of the fictional biography is great. It is fun, hilarious and keeps you with it the entire time.

But as for consistant and having done multiple readings, Jim Dale is amazing and he makes the Harry Potter books and really keeps you so involved.

As for a dream pairing, there is already Jeremy Irons reading Lolita which is perfect but I would love to have Kevin Smith reading "Soon I will be Invincible" because I believe he could inject the true fun and mythos into the book. And I like Sam Rockwell for any smart ass detective book.

I've never tried an audiobook. I'm not opposed, but since I enjoy reading, I haven't had a reason to listen.

I'm sure I could do with Ian McKellan reading The Lord of the Rings books, or for that matter just about anything.

And if I were to listen to an author reading his own books, I'd choose Ian McEwan.

I also love hearing David Sedaris reading his own work. But what I want to know is whether anyone here has ever found an audiobook to enhance the book. I love them in certain situations--long car trips, crowded subway commutes--but given the choice, I'd still prefer to read (I have the same problem as Shay). Anyone feel differently?

Also, I've been told I'd make a great audiobook reader. (?) So I'll vote for myself. Although, on second thought, I can't stand hearing a recording of my own voice. Dilemma...

Morgan Freeman, telephone book.

those who don’t read many audiobooks

Audio books aren't reading. Call your spoken-word performance art whatever you like, but don't delude yourselves into thinking that you've read anything.

Harrumph.

Yay! It's Captain McSausageFingers!

BEST DREAM PAIRING! Mine suck so in comparison. Would love to hear the Futurama cast doing "Hitchhikers.."

Oddly enough, I'm going to nominate Dave Barry, whose voice has just the right amount of goofy in it to give his writing the correct spin. Since he usually writes his essays in the first person, it works out perfectly. After sampling a few other performers, I haven't heard anyone else read his stuff and make it work, comedically.

I'll also nominate Tim Curry: I have a recording of him reading Martha Grimes' "The Dirty Duck" and it's not only terrific, it's kind of eerie. He manages to create a unique voice for each character (accents and all) without going overboard. I found the mystery itself kind of enh; his voice really stole the show for me.

OH! And I can't get away here without nominating Wil Wheaton, whose recordings of his writing are genuinely fun to listen to. Haven't heard him read anyone else's stuff, though, so I can't really say how he'd do with Tom Clancy or anything (although it could be entertaining to hear him try!).

"America: The Audiobook"???!?!

*falls off wheely chair*

*climbs back up, googles with shaking fingers*

*falls off wheely chair again, sending it spinning across office*

I would love to get some audiobooks for the car, but they're ridic expensive. Ri-goddamn-diculous. So, I haven't ever really listened to one.

I'd love to have Alan Rickman reading something, though. Anything, really. Phonebook, instruction manual for my DVD player, whatev. As long as he's speaking. Although that could lead to car accidents, what with hands off the wheel...

My favorites:
Jeremy Irons reading The Alchemist. Perfect voice.
Stephen Fry reading anything. The Potter books are marvelous, but I also love his own books.
Simon Schama reading his own A History of Britain collection.

And not really audiobooks, but I can highly recommend Saturday Night Fry a six part radio series Stephen fry did for the BBC in 1988. Also with Emma Thompson and Hugh Laurie.

Damn.
Forgot Colbert reading I Am America (And So Can You!)

years ago, i listened to ed asner read crichton's sphere and got way too into it.
sadly, the movie is still one i own, because i can *almost* hear him reading it as i watch.

Stephen Fry is one of my favorites, way more fun than the guy who does the US versions of the Harry Potter books, but seriously, why has no one mentioned David Tennant yet? Listen to Tennant reading How to Train Your Dragon or any of the other books from the series, and you'll totally fall in love. Unless you can't understand Scottish accents even the littlest bit. It's just about the funniest three hours of my life. THE VOICES, THE VOICES.

Sean Connory, and Im surprised his name hasnt appeared, the guy could make the instructions to a home rectal exam sound sexy...

Ah, nothing makes a road trip go faster than a good audio book.
Gotta go along with the others who recommend David Sedaris's readings of his own work. I love to read, but I actually prefer his books in audio format. His North Carolina accent and unusual voice add so much depth to his vignettes.

I also love Ron McLarty's readings of Richard Russo's books, especially Empire Falls. He is a perfect choice for these books. He is a natural fit for Russo's books.

Hm, David Suchet's readings of Agatha Christie's Poirot novels are excellent as well. (My taste in audio books is a bit less "literary" that my regular reading. I don't like to cry in my car, plus I don't want to get so into the story I lose focus on the task at hand: driving)

I love Harry Potter and have listened to the books on tape, but I'm not a big fan of Jim Dale's take on Hermione. She sounds like an elderly woman who has smoked for 40 years. Its unnerving.

Welllllllll...
I listened to the radio series for Hitchhiker's when I was a kid...which was the inspiration for the book...and those are the voices I imagine when reading it...
I'd be one of the few who really couldn't get into the Futurama cast doing it. Though I can see where the attraction would be.

How about Larry King reading The Bible?

Thirds on the Lenny Henry/Anansi Boys love. Speaking of Neil Gaiman books, I highly recommend checking out any of his other audiobooks. He's a perfect narrator for his own work -- definitely one of the the best writers who read their own writing. His timing and ability to convey characters and mood is wonderful (plus, he just won an Audie Award for his audio version of The Graveyard Book).

Here's an old one: John Heard reading "Presumed Innocent." Pitch perfect.

Judy Kaye does a great job with the Sue Grafton series.

I second Alan Rickman, reading anything. Anything. He could read from that horrible calculus book I had in college and I would listen in a happy daze, drooling slightly.

Even though I'm not actually finished it, I'm still reading it, Snow by Orhan Pamuk, as read by Jeremy Irons would work very well. I some how picture him reading it whenever I turn the page.
I've heard that Maggie Gyllenhaal does a recording of The Bell Jar. I'll definitely have to check it out!

Marcus Zusak's "I am the Messenger" is quite perfect when rendered by Australian actor Marc Aden Gray. I love audiobooks (which I borrow from the library, incidentally, thus saving myself a pile of money, because they are indeed costly - especially the unabridged ones, which my local library buys, bless them!) and I always have one on the go in my car. Perhaps it's because I so loved being read to as a child that this way of absorbing a story appeals to me so much. I second the vote for Bartimaeus, by the way. Wonderful trilogy!

Oh, wow, what a great diversion! I was just at the library searching for new audio books. I have 20 gigs of them on iTunes (this is necessary in the accounting world).

Absolutely favorite are the Harry Potter books. Jim Dale is awesome. I also really enjoy the first three books of A Song of Ice and Fire read by Roy Dotrice. A Feast for Crows is read by someone else and I don't care for it. Currently I'm on another young adult book series The Bartimaeus Trilogy read by Simon Jones which isn't too bad. I've listened to The Historian and that was OK.

I do not recommend Small Favor read by James Marsters.

Oh! Rachel, I had not even thought of that. Thanks!

I'm practically kvelling over all of the Harry Potter love on this diversion! I have never listened to a full audio book, but I have heard samplings of Jim Dale's HP, and it is remarkable. And I agree with the masses that I could hear just about anything read by:
*Alan Rickman
*Hugh Laurie
*Stephen Fry

As for the worst, I would have to say Robert Pattinson reading his autobiography, My Life As a Tween-Harrassed Twatwaffle. I nearly ran over an entire family of ducks trying to find a brick wall to drive into.

appwitch: In the case of A Song of Ice and Fire the narrator difference is the authors fault. If Martin didn't take so fucking long to complete his goddamn series, or if he simply stuck to the motherfucking schedule, Mr. Dotrice might be available for the reading.

Ahem...the end.

Nifty! My local library system has something called "Playaways", which says it's a "self-contained MP3 player". And they appear to have over a thousand titles available just in that format. Nice. Oooh! They have Gaiman reading The Graveyard Book. Guess what I'll be listening to instead of the radio the next few days...?!

AvB:
Looks like you beat me to it. Have fun!

Ha, nutmeag, that's too funny. It's good I saw the self-contained ones, though, 'cause of how I sadly do not have an MP3 player of my very own. *sigh* someday...

Gillian Anderson that is...

I am a massive audiobook fan, and at the moment, I listen more than I read, because I can walk/gym/cook/wash up whilst listening. I love them, and have done since I was a child. As a kid, my absolute favourite was Ballet Shoes by Noel Streathfield, read by (I think) Judy Bennett (a great British actress).

Jim Dale's readings of all the Harry Potter books are wonderful.[Interesting sidenote, he actually pronounced it 'Voldemore', (silent 't', as though it were French) for the first four books in the series, and then changed to VoldemorT! I thought it was funny]. He is a really gifted narrator, and has won a bunch of awards for the HP series.

I always enjoy hearing authors reading their own work, and have recently been impressed with Neil Gaimain reading Coraline, AJ Jacobs reading Year of living biblically and Elizabeth Gilbert reading Eat, Pray Love (despite the many complaints I have about the book itself, Gilbert is actually very engaging as a narrator). I think it's interesting hearing the author read the book how they wanted it to be read - their intonations, their emphasis etc.

I would love to listen to Cate Blanchett narrate something fantasy-ish. She does incredible voicework, and I always kind of thought that in LoTR, when they used Galadrield to narrate the start-of-the-movie intro montage thing that it narrative-ly speaking didn't make a whole lot of sense for Galadriel to be narrating but that she was used because Cate Blanchett is so freaking awesome. ("But they were all of them deceived.... and some things that should not have been forgotten, were lost..." etc. Love it!)

For those who were discussing the high price of audiobooks, public libraries usually have MP3 books on CD which you can load/burn/rip etc. I alos use 'Audible', a website where you buy audio books for approx $15 each, and they come in a really awesome/easy to use format for your Ipod/player. Also, there's the less-than-legal option of using Limewire/bit torrents etc which also have audio books.

And to Che, who said that audiobooks aren't the same as actually reading the book: whilst I love normal reading, I often find that I tear through books really quickly and sometimes don't absorb all that I could from them. Audiobooks are a different experience, and you soak them up at a slower pace. Also, as a child, it was the best thing to be read to: imagination wandering and creating the pictures as your parent/teacher/whoever read to you. I experience that same feeling now when I listen to a good audiobook. It will never replace my normal reading, because it can't - it's a different sort of story consumption, and I get something different out of it.

I am such an audiobook advocate, I try to convert everyone. So far I've been very successful in my family/friends, and my proudest converting-the-heathen moment was when my Mum (who's not a big fiction reader and had never read fantasy before) became hooked on Jim Dale's reading of Harry Potter and listened to all seven books in about 6 months!

Currently I'm on another young adult book series The Bartimaeus Trilogy read by Simon Jones which isn't too bad.

Agent Scully, is that Simon Jones a.k.a. the voice of the book for the entire Hitchiker's Guide radio series? Because I might have to search it out just for him, if it is!

Also AS and appwitch, Neil Gaiman addressed your complaints here:

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/search/label/George%20R%20R%20Martin

most succinctly, with the words, "George R. R. Martin is not your bitch". I highly recommend reading the rest of his post on the subject.

Jim Dale has a lot of mentions for Harry Potter but he also did the prequel (?) to Peter Pan called Peter and the Starcatchers which was quite good also. I would probably pick up anything he did.

anything by frank mccourt is fecking awesome on audiobook.

I loved the World War Z audiobook, and thought virtually all the voice actors hit it out of the park.

In fact, it'll be tough watching the movie and see other actors play those roles, though I'll somehow muddle through.

Well I think we're all in agreement that Sedaris wins. His voice adds a whole other dimension to his writing. I particularly love the way he depicts sibling love/rivalry. Very few contemporary writers do it quite as well as he does.

Also, I've listened to Maggie Gyllenhaal read The Bell Jar. I'm POSITIVE she was born was Sylvia Plath's voice.

This is a bit older, but Dick Hall read This Side of Paradise and it's quite remarkable... it's so involved for every single character... maybe to the point of distracting... I haven't decided yet.

My favourite is definitely Garrison Keillor reading Lake Wobegon Days. I could listen to that man talk forever, I even look forward to Honda adverts.

I also have a great fondness for Stephen Fry reading Harry Potter.

All you LoTR-lovers, there's a version out there where it's not just read, the person *performs* the poetry. No, I can't remember who did it. Consult your local reference librarian.

Another good run of performances - a male/female team did many of Lois McMaster Bujold's books that had Miles Vorkosigan as leading character. They actually added to the content, as they came up with the various accents needed. (Don't like it? Let's hear you come up with a Betan accent....)

No, I don't listen to them in the car. It's a dinky old Saturn, noisy as heck. However, I do a lot of needlework, so I can totally multitask.

The Bro Code - Neil Patrick Harris
*It's legen ... wait for it ...

The Wheel of Time series - Michael Kramer and Kate Reading
*Amazing voices, with each character sounding unique. Plus the WoT accents are truly amazing. I am astounded two people can play so many character distinctly! As an added bonus, you don't actually have to READ the later books and can fast forward through all the Elaine parts.

I love Katherine Heigl reading Virginia Woolf's "To the Lighthouse". Mesmerizing.

Okay, I'm totally kidding. Girlfriend's never even heard of V. Dubs!