November 9, 2017 / Leslie

Voices on the Road Blog Tour & Giveaway!

November is the busiest travel month of the year, and audiobooks are the perfect travel companions. So the Audio Publishers Association is sponsoring a Voices on the Road Tour and Audiobook Giveaway.

Throughout November, bloggers will be posting about their love of audiobooks and recommending some of their favorite titles and narrators.

I love audiobooks!

Most of my regular readers know more than half of what I read and review are audiobooks. I never go anywhere without one. They keep me company while multitasking around the house and garden andaccompany me on my walks and on the road. And they let me get to more of those books that have been piling up just waiting to be read.

Audiobooks have evolved!

When I first began listening to audiobooks I only listened in the car on my tape player and then on CD. But now the books are also available in digital format and by streaming, and that has made them infinitely more portable and available everywhere. If you have a smartphone, and most of us do, you can listen anywhere!

Five of my favorite audiobooks

I have many favorites and it was difficult to narrow down the list, but here are a few I would recommend while traveling . . .

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

I often find that non-fiction or a memoir is easier to listen to than a complex novel when I am traveling or doing something that requires a little of my attention. This not only is one of my favorite books, read by a favorite narrator, but is also a good choice for listening on the road.

The use of multiple narrators enhanced the story, and there was never any confusion over who was speaking. Cassandra Campbell’s narration was a pleasure to listen to.

Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson

This is another work of narrative non-fiction that kept me glued to the headphones.

For those who enjoy history, this is a thoroughly researched, fascinating account of the Lusitania. While filled with facts and details, there is nothing dry or boring here. The book is written like a novel and is narrative non-fiction at its finest. You don’t have to be a history buff to enjoy it. This is a story that many of us think we know but we really don’t.

Room by Emma Donoghue

At first I wasn’t sure if I could listen to an entire book in a child’s voice, but I needed to read this for bookclub and time was short, so I took a chance on the audio. I wasn’t expecting to like it knowing that a small child was a narrator, but instead I loved it. An ensemble cast performed the adult characters and the voice of 5-year-old Jack was portrayed with just the right amount of emotion and wonder to make him believable. A compelling, thought-provoking story that I’m glad I finally got around to reading.

Bossypants by Tina Fey

I find memoirs easy to listen to when I need to pay a little attention to the task at hand, and that would include driving! Humorous memoirs are even better to listen to in the car as they make a stressful ride more enjoyable.

Tina Fey has written a hilarious, laugh-out-loud funny book and performs the narration herself. I often complain about authors not being the best narrators, but that is often the opposite in celebrity narrators, and Tina does a fastastic job.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

I saved one of the best for last! If you enjoy science fiction, or even remotely enjoy science fiction, choose the audio version of this book.

This was a fun read filled with loads of 1980s pop cultural references, a lot of it sci-fi, and perfect for the geek in me. And to make it even better, it is narrated by Wil Wheaton (geeks know him from Star Trek and more recently, Big Bang Theory). His narration is outstanding: The characters, the pacing, the action, the voices are just perfect.

Win Audiobooks!

And now for the giveaway — a fantastic selection of 10 audiobooks (TBD by the publishers) that have been generously donated by Galaxy Press, Hachette Audio, Harper Audio, High Bridge Audio, Macmillan, Penguin Random House Audio, and Post Hypnotic Press, Scholastic, Simon & Schuster Audio, and Tantor Audio.

Fill out the form below on or before midnight, November 30th. I will draw one random winner (US/Canada only) and they will be notified by email. That’s it. Easy!