I really love audiobooks, especially falling asleep on them, or listening to them while I'm doing Photoshop work, drawing or other things where I don't need to think in words.

What are your favourite audiobooks, favourite readers, etc?

My favourite readers are by far Neil Gaiman and Stephen Fry, I think they have the perfect voices for it. Though there are a few other good ones.. Kenneth Branagh for example, who reads the Narnia Chronicles is very good and Philip Pullman, who narrates the His Dark Materials trilogy has an amazingly good, dramatic voice. It's almost funny at first, but then you're just in awe.

Feel free to recommend more books as well, I'm always in need of more recommendeations! :)

Oooh, I would love to hear Gaiman and Pullman speak!

I adore audiobooks, but am generally limited to those I can acquire for free-- they are very, very expensive. Stephen Fry has, over the years, become one of my favorite voices. He's almost like a friend! I used to keep the Harry Potter audiobooks on in my room when everything just seemed too quiet.

As you are fond of him, you might like this little rant he does on language. Oh, such a good man. :heart:

I don't use Audiobooks, but I used to give them as gifts to some people -- I don't know why I don't use them, but I have nothing against them...

Gaiman has put up some stories onine that you can listen to for free.. you could probably find some of his short stories on youtube even. The libraries back home are so good that they had audiobooks for free, which I miss intensely now.. UK libraries suck. :/
You can get a lot of audiobooks for free, books that are in the public domain.. but obviously that would all be old/classic literature, and I don't know how you feel about those.
And I love that little rant on language. You might also like this rant of his on language from A bit of Fry and Laurie.. :lol:

I'm glad that someone set up a thread for Audiobooks. I have quite a few. Unlike you guys I like to listen to them for two reasons.
The first is obvious, they are brilliant! I love listening to them, especially when it's a good reader and you're completely taken in by the story.
The Second reason is that I actually need them. I'm half blind and 9/10ths of the books in the library are far too small for me to even think about atempting to read so Audiobooks and large print are really my only option and half the time the 'large print' books really aren't that large anyway so Audio is my only option.
The Library that I go gets audiobooks for free. (or at least I've always gotten them for free but I don't know if my dissability is a factor in that or not) but they are really good! I'm just annoyed that they can be so limited sometimes.

Now favourite readers...there's a hard one!
Stephan Fry: obviously (LOVE his version of the Harry Potter books!)
Sir Ian Mckellen: He read the "Chronicles of Ancient Darkness" by Michelle Paver and it is absolutely amazing!
Steven Pacey: Reader of the "Bartimaeus Trilogy" By Johnathan Stroud!
Rob Inglis :The reader of the "Lord of The Rings Trilogy" unabridged (1990). It is absolutely amazing, especially with the way that he does all the songs and poems and...it's just amazing! I've just taken out a copy from the Library of the Fellowship of the Ring and I'd fergotten how much I loved this series read!

Neil Gaiman reads audiobooks????? Wow! One of my friends has been telling me about his work for ages but I never knew that he'd read any books. Does he read his own?

I think I know a site that'll help with audiobook accessibility.
Audible.com: Download Audio Books, iPod And Digital Audio Books | Downloadable Online Audio Books | Audible Audiobooks
I found this site through fanfiction.net actually and I still haven't signed up but it looks like it's really good. There's an American and a UK version but personally I'd go with the american version. The books are the same but there seems to be more stock and better selection and, most importantly, they're more affordable than buying them from the shops. I hate spending so much on an audiobook when people can spend next to nothing for the same book in paperback/hard back and it irritates me to no end!

SIR IAN MCKELLEN READING??? I HAVE TO GET A HOLD OF THIS BOOK. O_______O

Sorry about that. >.> Rob Inglis reading LotR is amazing, I can't believe I forgot that! I love how he sings all the songs and recites poems perfectly, and his voices are perfect as well.. even the female voices don't sound bad at all, which is something both Stephen Fry and Neil Gaiman both have a problem with most of the time.
And yes, Neil Gaiman has, as far as I know, only read his own books, which makes them even better, as him being the author and reader gives you an even better sort of insight into his work in a way? If that makes sense at all. It's just great hearing a story read by its author, I think. He's read quite a few, a bunch of short stories, and at least Coraline and Stardust.. can't remember other full length novels he's read at the moment, though there might very well be more.

I know of Audible, I should probably try that sometime. I've got a few books from them attained through other means and they're always very good, and I know Gaiman's stories at least are on there. Though I would definitely go for the UK version, as I suspect you're more likely to get books read by British readers. I've just been a bit short on money recently so I haven't been able to really spend it on things like books for aaaaages. But hopefully I'll get a steady job for the summer, so I'll be able to spend a little on luxuries. :3
And yes, if you have disabilities that call for them, you're pretty granted to get audiobooks for free at libraries.. I think that goes for anywhere, certainly does in the UK.

I wonder if Gaiman's read Neverwhere. I think that's the name of the book that a friend's been going on about for ages. I really want to read it based on what she's said about it in teh book group.

I'm debating. I wonder if there's a possibility of getting an audiobook with John Barrowman reading.....I would NEVER let it leave my sight!!!!!!!!! (can you tell I'm a Doctor Who/Torchwood nut?) ;)

Anyway yeah Ian Mckellen does read some books. I can list the titles for you here. They're not too long (about 6 CDs each) so the prices aren't too bad for a change!
The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness by Michelle Paver
Wolf Brother
Spirit Walker
Soul Eater
Outcast
Oath Breaker
Ghost Hunter

Usually I get an audiobook a year for my birthday. Otherwise I try and bjy them but I don't like to spend ridiculous amounts of money on them. That's why I try and use the library as much as possible but it's not easy when it seems so limited half the time. A lot of authors that I like aren't in the public library so I need to go online to be able to find them.
From wath I've read about Audible it's really good. You pay £15 a month and you can download one book per month and the books can probably cost up to 60 or 70 if you go to a bookstore. Plus if you sign up and want more than one book a month then you can get discounts. That's ounds like a bargin to me! And if you sign up for the premium package I think it's 23 pound a month but that means you can download two books a month and overall it works out a little cheaper if you have that for one year rather than teh basic package for two years.
(I've done my math. I hate to spend money when I can save a little)

According to amazon, Gaiman does read Neverwhere! I've got it in paperback, though I've just read the comic version a few weeks ago so I'm going to wait a bit till I check out the novel.. though now I know he reads it it's tempting to just listen to it. >.> For what it's worth though, I loved the comic, and I'm told the novel is better, so I'm assuming it's really good.

You're a Doctor Who fan too? Have you seen our TARDIS thread? :D

Thanks, I'll have to check that series out. I think I might have seen the covers when I was working at the library but didn't know anything about them, so didn't really give them any attention.

Hm, that seems a pretty fair deal from Audible, though I will still have to wait a bit till I can afford to spend £15 extra a month regularly. And thanks for that summary too. :D Saving money is always good, so I usually like to compare prices, though sometimes I'm too lazy..

Speaking of money, I should probably try to find one of my landlords and have them take a look at my window.. my flatmate managed to bend the hinges on it backward last night when he was trying to fix it, while drunk, and now I can't close it. I'm moving out in two weeks and if this means I won't get my deposit back I'll be really pissed off. >.<

Hmm...I'm even more tempted to read the book now. Before I sign up for Audible I'm gunna look through the stock and see what they have and waht they don't. That way I know what I'm getting myself into when I do finally stop being lazy and join. So far it looks really good and the prices seem reasonable. The only thing is taht I'll need to store the downloaded books somewhere cuz I don't want to lose them. Maybe on a USB or something or if I can find a disk that can handle the whole audiobook then that'd be prefect. I could finally build up my own little library!

Ooh! Doctor Who Thread! I'll be there in no time!!!!!!!! Is Torchwood okay to talk about too??????

Well I think it's the way taht Ian Mckellen reads that's so engrosing about the books. Well taht and the actual setting. It seems so realistic at times, like you're really there. That and one of the main characters, Wolf (an actual wolf) is so unbelievably awesome and adorable.) Like for example Wolf doesn't think in human terms so when he's with Torak and Renn (the other two main characters) when they light a fire (cuz they're human) he calls it The Bright Beast that Bites Hot and a fast flowing river the fast wet and the sky the up. It's really cleverly done. And the way that Ian Mckellen makes wolf come alive through speaking...it's amazing to listen to.

-winces- Ouch...good luck wtlking to your landlord about that. Better you than me.

Yeah, I'd definitely look through their stock first. Audiobooks don't take up that much space though, so getting a hard drive to store it on shouldn't be very difficult. Hehe, I love the idea of having a whole library on a hard drive. :D

And yes, of course Torchwood is fine too! Just remember to use the spoiler bar if you're talking about anything spoiler-worthy, and generally if talking about the latest series really.. a lot of people in there need to wait for episodes to pop up elsewhere before watching them or are still catching up.

That sounds really good. I'll definitely look for that once I'm done listening to what I have now. :)

And I was lucky.. my landlord said it'd be fine and they'd fix it somehow, so I don't need to worry about it. He seems to be in a good mood these days, thankfully.. cause when he gets in a bad mood, he gets really grumpy. The only thing now is I need to live with a wide open window for the last week, but it's warm enough out that it doesn't really bother me. :)

I realised I'd fergotten a book series that is completely brilliant on audio! The Redwall series! Ever heard that on audio? It is absolutely amazing! It's one of the best and I LOVE all the songs and stuff -grins- It's probably one of my favourites!

Okay I've got a question that I've been thinking about for a while.

If you could choose anyone in the world to read an audiobook, anyone at all, who would you pick? I've got a couple ideas for who I'd like to read.
John Barrowman (Duh!!! LOVE his voice!)
Nathan Fillion (totally droolworthy)
Mariska Hargitay (a little random but I think she might be good at it)
David Tennant

There are probably more but that's just off the top of my head ;)

No, I haven't heard of that series. Who reads it?

Hehe, I don't know the two in the middle.. I don't know, I wouldn't be that excited about Barrowman reading, though I would love to have Tennant read one.. or two.. or fifty.. he has such a delicious accent. Have you seen the video on youtube where he reads a bedtime story for kids for this TV program?
Hmm, who else would I want to listen to read a story.. Christopher Lee. :B That would be so epic! Or Michael Gambon, who plays Dumbledore. I like deep, booming voices. C: Ooh, ooh, ooh, and Alan Rickman! I think I would die to listen to him reading a good book. Also, I think Cate Blanchett would be good, just to have some female voice in here as well.. somehow male voices seem to work much better for reading. I wonder why that is.

Originally Posted by ljosberinn

Ooh, ooh, ooh, and Alan Rickman! I think I would die to listen to him reading a good book.

Yesyesyes, but WHAT could he read? hmmm.


As an aside, the voice actor for Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer reads the Harry Dresden series. That one threw me for a loop when I first heard it.

Erotic literature. I mean.. *cough* err.. I have no idea. :roll:

Oh yeah I listened to a couple of those, they were alright. At first I didn't like his reading, but then I got used to it.. I guess it was more the.. hm, Americanism? As in his accent and the way he seemed to exaggerate it to make Dresden sound like he was trying to be Clint Eastwood. Then I realised that was pretty much what he wanted, so I didn't mind it so much.

I'll get some clips of them all talking adn you can decide what you think about their voices.

Hmm...Alan Rickman reading an audiobook...now THERE'S a thought!!!!!!!

Ooh! I know the David Tennant clip you're talking about!!!!!!! :drool: Isn't he awesome?????? LOVE the way he speaks! Did you see him on Comic Relief this year? He was one of the people that went to Africa but he looked SO different to what he looked like on Doctor Who!!!!! :drool: :drool: :drool:

Nathan Fillion (there're a couple inside jokes here since he's reading a book that a character he plays in a TV show wrote but ignore those and listen to his voice. He's brilliant! Stana Katic (the woman) did okay too but I'm surprised she even managed that much considdering how embarrassed she was. I don't blame her either)
(On a side-note I highly recommend watching the series)

YouTube - &#x202a;Comic-Con 2010 - Castle Panel - Nathan Fillion Reads a page of a Rick Castle Book&#x202c;&rlm;

Mariska Hargitay (completely different genre here. She's still an actress and in a way it's similar but it's a lot more serious and she's just...I dunno. Maybe it's because I'm obsessed with the show she's in but I think she'd make a great reader. I wasn't able to find a clip for her though...;()

Just curious but have you ever heard John Barrowman talking with his original accent? He is originally from Scotland :drool: :drool: :drool:
(Just a warning the last part will have you in hysterics! I know I was)
YouTube - &#x202a;John Barrowman - scottish accent&#x202c;&rlm;

Just a heads up on that Audible 'site. If you go to Amazon.com there is a link to it, but it gives you a 30 day free trial of gold membership to the Audible website, with seemingly no strings attached if you cancel the membership before the month is over. If you don't, then it'll continue the membership and charge from there on.

Also, I'm assuming it's the same for everyone, but when I canceled my account I was offered two discount/special offer type things, to try and keep me on there, so they might be worth looking into.

As far as I can tell, you keep your account on there, but don't have to have a membership, probably so that you have the option to go back and pay etc again.