Bleg: audio books
I have a long drive ahead. What do you recommend from audible.com?
Has to be kid friendly.
Remember, I do this to entertain me, not you.
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October 10th, 2014 at 12:24 pm
Anything by Terry Pratchett especially the Night Watch Series
October 10th, 2014 at 12:27 pm
I’ve enjoyed “Lords of the Sea” about the Athenian navy, “Augustus” about Augustus Caesar, and “The War that Killed Achilles” about the Iliad.
Also, for podcasts, I’ve enjoyed “Common Sense with Dan Carlin,” “Hardcore History,” and “Binge Thinking About History.” These are mostly free, but you’ll have to pay for some of the older Hardcore History episodes.
October 10th, 2014 at 12:45 pm
The education of little tree. Hilarious back story, but save that for after you’ve read the book. My wife and kids loved it.
October 10th, 2014 at 12:48 pm
Got a really good copy of Animal Farm. Was a good listen, and it’s good for the kids!
October 10th, 2014 at 12:56 pm
Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims by Rush Limbaugh.
http://www.audible.com/pd/Kids/Rush-Revere-and-the-Brave-Pilgrims-Audiobook/B00FK6GF5S
October 10th, 2014 at 1:00 pm
Another vote for anything Pratchett.
October 10th, 2014 at 1:31 pm
On The Edge Of The Dark Sea Of Darkness, Andrew Peterson.
October 10th, 2014 at 1:33 pm
The Alamo, by John Myers Myers. No tricks, it’s the Alamo you know, just better researched and written. Dead Warrior and The Wild Yazoo, about the settling of Arizona and Mississippi respectively, are good too but not available at audible.
October 10th, 2014 at 1:44 pm
Pratchett is good, but you could always go for the classics and get The Hobbit.
If you’re looking for a good BBC comedy radio show on Audible, try Revolting People (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolting_People). Kid friendly enough.
October 10th, 2014 at 1:47 pm
Oh, and the original two series of Hitchiker’s Guide To The Galaxy radio shows, plus the recent adaptation of the third, fourth and fifth books in the HHGTTG trilogy back into radio show format make for lots of good listening, and all completely kid friendly.
October 10th, 2014 at 2:15 pm
My son liked the Leviathan series.
http://warrenls2.org:8080/?config=ysm#section=resource&resourceid=3111234¤tIndex=0&view=fullDetailsDetailsTab
October 10th, 2014 at 2:40 pm
Larry Correia’s award winning Grimnoir Chronicles
Or how about this
http://snarkybytes.com/ViciousCircle/?p=617
😀
October 10th, 2014 at 2:57 pm
Depends on how young the kids are. If they’re ages 7-12, I’d recommend the Mossflower series by Brian Jacques. For ages 11-15, try the Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud.
October 10th, 2014 at 3:29 pm
I guess WWW Z is out of the question…
October 10th, 2014 at 3:42 pm
OK, Vicious Circle should get them expelled from school once they start repeating it. I fell asleep on a flight to Australia listening to it, and was woken up a half hour later by adjacent passengers and two stewardesses who were snickering while holding their heads close enough to listen in.
Another vote for Larry Correia’s stuff. The Monster Hunter series would also be good.
October 10th, 2014 at 4:05 pm
I’m partial to The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, the Sackett novels by Louis Lamour and The Oregon Files by Clive Chester.
October 10th, 2014 at 4:24 pm
For kids, I like the Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. Also fun for adults
October 10th, 2014 at 4:39 pm
Rather than buy, check out your County Library. Many libraries now use something called Overdrive. You can get access to audiobooks straight to your smartphone using the Overdrive app. As long as you have a library card, sign in and see what they have.
I recommend Treasure Island. I listened to the Recorded Books version narrated by Neil Hunt.
http://www.recordedbooks.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=rb.show_prod&book_id=57284
If it’s not available on Overdrive, your library almost certainly can lay hands on a CD copy of it. Free.
It’s way better than all the movies, and originally written as a “boy’s adventure” novel.
October 10th, 2014 at 4:52 pm
Si-Fi:
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress: Robert A. Heinlein
Podkayne of Mars: Robert A. Heinlein
Rocket Ship Galileo: Robert A. Heinlein
If you can play CDs instead of getting something from Audible.com your local library may have the Harry Potter series. I’m going to be listening to the first book this way on my long drive tonight.
October 10th, 2014 at 5:31 pm
I cannot recommend Kevin Hearne’s “The Iron Druid Chronicles” enough. Excellent narration. Well paced. Good story. And you have to listen to Oberon.
October 10th, 2014 at 7:26 pm
No Heinlein, and definitely not The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, unless you’re into ancestor-descendant romantic relationships.
October 10th, 2014 at 7:37 pm
Hard to go wrong with the Hobbit with kids. Also, the Narnia series is pretty entertaining for old and young alike. Some of the Pratchett stuff can be a little risque, depending on the age of the kids. I do like Pratchett. I have all of the Discworld books in both Audible and paperback.
October 10th, 2014 at 8:29 pm
I add to the Larry Correia recommendations.
If you grew up in the 80’s I also highly recommend “Ready Player One” by Ernest Cline. It is a blast from the past of all things from 80’s culture in a well told story.
October 10th, 2014 at 9:22 pm
Any of the Harry Potter series .
October 10th, 2014 at 9:37 pm
Pratchett writes the kind of stuff where the “risque” bits will fly clear of their heads. Hitchhiker’s Guide stuff is pretty safe, maybe except for Eccentrica Gallumbits, the triple breasted whore of Eroticon Six. I kinda go mostly for stuff that’s not so kid friendly, myself, so nothing else is coming immediately to mind. Remember, guys, he’s not looking for children’s literature, just stuff he doesn’t have to explain too much.
October 10th, 2014 at 9:56 pm
Scott Westerfield. He has a bunch of good young adult series’s to choose from.
Peeps, and The Last Days are a new take on the Vampire craze that was going on when I was in high school. Instead of them being like immortal supernatural beings they are humans infected with parasites carried by cats and rats, and the Peeps, or Parasite Positives, are needed to fight against an ancient enemy of Humans. The second book covers the end of the fight with the enemy.
The Leviathan Trilogy is a Steam Punk series that takes place right before WWI where Darwin discovered DNA while he was alive and learned to change it. It’s basically following the fictional only son of the Archduke of Austria, and a scottish girl who joined the british airship service. Basically the Germans/Austrians use a lot of heavy machinery in war, and the British/French/Russians use biologicals like giant floating airships based on the DNA of Whales and giant bears trained for fighting. It’s a great read no matter what age you are.
The Uglies series is a Utopia gone wrong where everyone at the age of 15 is given tons of plastic surgery to be all perfect and it follows Tally Youngblood as she tries to free herself from the overwhelming control of her city’s government. Though through an unfortunate series of events she ends up betraying the people who took her in.
I don’t know how old your kids are but I really loved the Artemis Fowl series when I was 10 or 12. Heck my dad was 50 something when he read them and he enjoyed them too. Basically Artemis Fowl is the child of an Irish Crime family going back a few hundred years. His dad in an attempt to go straight is missing in north Russia and he feels he has to protect the family name. Through historical documents and his Bodygaurd, Butler (not his real name) he finds a way to increase his family’s wealth, and save his mother from the mental break down she had after his dad went missing. It involves fairies and elves and dwarves and the entire series is great. Though the last two books are a little bit different writing than the first few it’s a good series.
October 10th, 2014 at 10:06 pm
Dantes inferno and the art of War. Both are available as podcasts via iTunes.
October 10th, 2014 at 10:09 pm
Both kid friendly. But it might put them to sleep.
October 10th, 2014 at 10:35 pm
Mack Bolan
October 11th, 2014 at 12:09 am
The Martian. The story is a little bit Apollo 13 and a little bit MacGyver. The writing is funny, hiding that it is really one long science lesson and example of using your brain to solve problems. My 13 year old loved it.
October 11th, 2014 at 12:46 am
The Matt Cruse series (Airborn is the first) by Kenneth Oppel is awesome! Very steam punky about airship pirates. Full cast audio is good.
The Abhorsen Trilogy (Sabriel is the first) by Garth Nix. Great fantasy story. Tim Curry is one of the best readers I’ve ever heard do audio books.
Both series are listed as YA (young adult) but at 30 years old, I loved them.
October 11th, 2014 at 8:25 am
Last time I drove to Colorado to visit the offspring, I listened to “Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. Excellent book. I also listened to “World War Z”, probably not the best choice for a family drive.
I’ve got a reader who has done such things in the past to do The Book of Barkley on tape, but for a group that makes audio books available for the blind, as opposed to sales. I hope it works out
October 11th, 2014 at 9:07 am
One more for Pratchett, but I’ll specifically recommend starting with “The Wee Free Men” as it’s a YA novel.
October 11th, 2014 at 9:53 am
If you deal with both Pratchett and kids — The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents. It’s hard to go wrong with talking animals, especially when they have an entire squad dedicated to widdling.
October 12th, 2014 at 12:28 pm
Some light mysteries by Donna Andrews. Funny and kid friendly.
October 12th, 2014 at 1:41 pm
Not a recommendation for a specific book per se, but don’t forget to check the Gutenberg audiobooks list:
http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/categories/1
Aesop’s fables, Hans Christian Anderson, Tom Swift, Peter Pan, the Oz books, the Alice books, …
October 13th, 2014 at 4:23 pm
Treasure Island. Also, BTW, the video version with Charleton Heston playing Long John Silver, Christian Bale playing Jem Hawkins, Oliver Reed playing Billy Bones, and Christopher Lee playing Blind Pugh, has the Chieftains performing the scores written for the production. Excellent.
October 13th, 2014 at 4:24 pm
The Indian in the Cupboard