
Ask HN: Which audiobooks did/do you like? - atulatul
Question trigger- twitter thread #MyAudible2018<p>Edit:
In case of multiple versions, please mention the narrator&#x27;s name. For example, I like Peter Yearsley&#x27;s reading of Alice In Wonderland (https:&#x2F;&#x2F;librivox.org&#x2F;alices-adventures-in-wonderland-by-lewis-carroll-3&#x2F;) more than others. Or Karen Savage&#x27;s reading of Pride And Prejudice. Or Stephen Fry&#x27;s Harry Potter (although I did not really listen enough to Jim Dale&#x27;s versions).<p>Strangely, when it comes to non-fiction books, I have been more of a reader than listener (so far).
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kull
Did NOT like: ‘Captivate: The Science of Succeeding with People.’ I could not
finish this audiobook. Super boring with obvious ideas and some ideas that I
believe are not true. For example claiming to talk about somebody’s accent. I
am an immigrant in US, this was always very offensive for me somebody points
out my accent. I am not bothered by that anymore but it always makes me feel
like I don’t belong when somebody points out my foreign accent. I would never
recommend it as a conversation starter.

I recommend a book published this year: High Growth Handbook: Scaling Startups
from 10 to 10,000 People, by Elad B. Gil

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sethammons
Thinking of 'did NOT like' \- The Malazan Empire. Some folks are enthralled. I
did the first two or three books in the series and just couldn't go on. I like
the premise of "just throwing the reader in." You are just exposed to the
world. No explanations. No descriptions to introduce you. It is just this new
world. Magic systems, new vocabulary, taken-for-granted understanding of this
new place. The problem? No GOTDAM descriptions to introduce you! I think it
was the end of book two where they finally give a partial description of a
character you've known since the first book: "oh, he had red hair this whole
time?" \- They introduce other races, but you don't know if they are human or
not. In one case, I think you find out they are lizard like after several
hundred pages of interacting with them. Maybe if you read the whole series and
then start again things will make sense. I don't want that much investment in
a leisure activity that was (at the time) making my commute better.

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sethammons
Oh man. So many. Anything by Brandon Sanderson. Most of his stuff takes place
in the same fantasy universe, and some of the series are starting to cross
over. Stormlight Archives is the crown jewel. Edit: each series takes place on
a different planet in the universe with a separate (well thought out) magic
system. Different books in different series start to reveal the why's and
how's and how it is all linked.

Enjoying the Expanse series right now by James Corey, sci-fi with us living on
Mars and in the belt, when a dangerous alien self-replicating molecule shows
up.

If science fiction is your thing, I can't recommend higher the Hyperion
series.

Freedom and Deamon by Daniel Suarez were really fun, a muder mystery where the
murderer is dead and uses an advanced AI to do his dealings.

The Martian was fun, if a little shorter than I typically like. Better than
the movie, as nearly always.

I could go on. Gaah! So fun!

Edit: usually not a history person, but also really enjoyed The Right Stuff
read by Dennis Quaid. The start of the space program.

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atulatul
TBH all the names here are new to me... What is a good starting point?

~~~
sethammons
They are all good books, and none (outside the series') are order dependent. I
tend to like longer books, so be warned! haha. Long books in long series? Sign
me up!

If you are wanting to scratch a fantasy fix, you can't go wrong with Brandon
Sanderson. He is really good at world building, and his books are very
immersive. His 'The Stormlight Archive: The Way of Kings' is the first book in
the Stormlight Archives, my favorite series of his. If you like to save the
best for last, you could do his Mistborn series or Elantris to start.

If you are wanting science fiction, The Hyperion Cantos is my all time
favorite series there. It is four books: Hyperion, The Fall of Hyperion,
Endymion, The Rise of Endymion.

Daemon and Freedom are shorter (as in, only two books in the series, and not
too large each). So if you are wanting a bit less of an investment in
listening, they are fun. It changed what I view as the hopeful future of AR by
the second book.

But, really, all the books and series I listed are some of my top picks. I can
go on. I enjoyed all of the Enderverse by Orson Scott Card, which has like 16
books with 3 to be announced (start with Ender's game, and go onto the speaker
series, then the shadow series, and on from there). I enjoyed Jim Butcher's
Dresden Files (kinda more young adult fantasy, but just fun) where the main
character is a wizard detective in modern day Chicago. Jim Butcher's Codex
Alera was decent too - a world where everyone has magic but the main
character. The Wheel of Time series (some folks don't like the slow down in
the middle of the series, but I still enjoyed it), and the list goes on!

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sotojuan
I exclusively listen to The Great Courses courses on Audible. They're usually
20+ hours long, expensive but can be redeemed with a credit, and high quality.

They have everything - music (Greenberg's How to Listen to and Understand
Music is a classic), history, literature, and even self help or improvement.

The Great Courses has its own subscription service which includes their video
courses (many good ones on art history!), but it's a very amateur execution.
The website and app are very poorly written, presented, and optimized.

~~~
atulatul
Thanks. Had a look at collection. Many books/courses are not rated yet it
seems. But Neil deGrasse Tyson courses, some on music, religion, courses on
books like Joyce's Ulysses seem interesting.

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Tomte
Harry Potter. Stephen Fry reads it magnificently.

I'm listening in half-hour increments when driving, currently at the beginning
of Half-Blood Prince, and there are still many, many hours to come.

~~~
atulatul
Liked those. Plus his reading of Sherlock Holmes.

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Crazyontap
I really loved the Pale blue dot by Carl Sagan. His voice is soo smooth and
relaxing that sometimes I just hear it for his voice even though the content
is nothing less than amazing.

P.S. Unfortunately Sagan died before the book recording could be completed so
some chapters are in a different voice. Still, listening to it is real zen
like. Here is a sample[1]

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wupToqz1e2g](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wupToqz1e2g)

~~~
atulatul
Yes... having watched his Cosmos could not agree more about the voice. Plus he
has a way of explaining things... If interested, check out Prof. Brian Cox
material
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsRvxQzIDNU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsRvxQzIDNU)

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throwaway8879
I spent a lot more time this year listening to audiobooks than music. Most of
it was Will Durant's history audiobooks from Audible[1]. Highly recommended.

[1] -
[https://www.audible.com/series?asin=B00G2H1JW8&ref=a_search_...](https://www.audible.com/series?asin=B00G2H1JW8&ref=a_search_c3_lSeries_1_4_1&pf_rd_p=e81b7c27-6880-467a-b5a7-13cef5d729fe&pf_rd_r=E63C9TDDKBNR976RG680&)

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atulatul
Someone recommended his The Story of Philosophy and it's been sitting in my
kindle wish list for some time. Anyway, just now listened to the sample
(narrated by Grover Gardner). Did not know about the narrator. Gardner seems
to be have read more than 500 books.
([https://www.audible.com/search?searchNarrator=Grover+Gardner](https://www.audible.com/search?searchNarrator=Grover+Gardner))
Maybe will pick up one of The Time Machine, or biographies of Carnegie or
Rockefeller if I don't pick Will Durant's book. Thanks.

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smacktoward
Grover Gardner is a terrific narrator. If you’re into grand-scale, multi-
volume histories, I highly recommend his readings of Shelby Foote’s _The Civil
War: A Narrative_ and Robert Caro’s _The Years of Lyndon Johnson_.

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finaliteration
“Design Is a Job” by Mike Monteiro.

“Educated: A Memoir” by Tara Westover.

The audiobook version of “The Martian” by Andy Weir is also great.

I also listen to a number of audiobooks about self-compassion and positive
parenting.

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atulatul
The Martian is already in wishlist. Educated seems interesting. It has
critical reviews by Obama and Stephen Fry.

~~~
atulatul
^ Critic reviews. Positive.

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santa_boy
\- Antifragile

\- Elon Musk: Tesla, Spacex, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

\- Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

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atulatul
May not pick up the other two soon but how is Antifragile? Applicability wise.

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skippednote
Atomic Habits

