June is Audiobook Month! What Stories Do You Have in Your Head?

June is National Audiobook Month!

What Stories Do You Have in Your Head?

June is Audiobook Month! It's Storytime for adults! Sit back, relax and let someone tell you a story! Why audiobooks?! Audiobooks put the pleasure of "reading" back into your busy day, when you're commuting, driving, working out! How about when you're wandering the grocery store? Basically any time you aren't able to flip a page, you can still relax with a good book.

Choosing an audiobook is a bit different than a "paper" book. First you have to consider abridged or unabridged (abridged is a slightly shortened version of the original book, where some of the non-essential parts surrounding the story may be cut). Then there's the narrator. Who's reading the book? Do you like their voice? Do they read well? A narrator can make or break an otherwise wonderful book. Listening to samples of audiobooks before hand is a big help, and all audiobook publishers have excerpts on their sites, but iTunes is also a great place to listen to excerpts of audiobooks too. But WHERE to start?! How do you choose from ALL THOSE BOOKS!? Well, it just so happens that last week The Audies were awarded! What are the Audies? They are the awards for the best in audiobooks! What better place to start? Let's take a look at the some of the winners...

Audio book of the Year... Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales, an anthology read by such people as Gillian Anderson, Benjamin Bratt and LeVar Burton.

Best Literary Fiction... Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, read by Simon Slater

Best Mystery/Suspense... Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley, read by Michael Boatman

Best Romance... The Untamed Bride by Stephanie Laurens, read by Simon Prebble

Best Children's Book for Ages 8 to 12... Operation Yes by Sara Lewis Holmes, read by Jessica Almasy

One of my favorite audiobooks this year was The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova which had a group of narrators, here's a link to the review if you missed it, I really enjoyed Scott Brick narrating Absolute Power by David Baldacci and I've heard a lot of great comments about Jim Dale's narration of the Harry Potter audiobooks. Jim Dale has a wonderful voice and you can listen to a sample of him reading any of the Harry books at Random House Audio. But there are just as many choices in audiobooks as in "paper"books! Check out Hachette Audiobooks, Macmillan Audio, Harper Audio, and Blackstone Audio. Feel like renting an audiobook? Simply Audioboks works similar to Netflix! Like to listen to Classics such as Pride and Prejudice? LibriVox offers free downloads of books in the public domain, as well as BooksShouldBeFree.com.

Do you read audiobooks? What are YOUR favorites?! Share them here so we can all enjoy a good story! And check back later in the week AND this coming "Memoir Monday" because I'll be having audiobook giveaways!

Hey! Here are some GREAT suggestions from some GREAT Book Bloggers who've stopped by...

* Laura from I'm Booking It shared with me some of her favorite audiobooks, thanks Laura!, and here they are...

• The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King, (actually she says all of her Mary Russell audiobooks are good!

• The Help by Kathryn Stockett (this won an audie for distiguished production this year!)

• Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

*Natalie from The Book Inn shares one of her favorite audiobooks! Thanks Natalie!

• I Am Ozzy by Ozzy Osbourne

*Carla, who tells us she has enjoyed a lot of audiobooks, adds her favorites... Thanks Carla!

• Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill
• Lord Foulgrin's Letters by Randy Alcorn
• The Chronicles of Narnia series
• The Harry Potter Books read by Jim Dale
• Hank the Cowdog series by John Erickson (just for the fun & laughs) (*I've listened to some of these adventures myself and laughed at what Hank gets himself into!)

*Mel from The Book Nook tells us she's an enormous fan of audiobooks! She shares 2 of her favorites, plus recommends Audible.com for more great audiobooks! Thanks Mel!

• Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon (one of my FAVORITE series!)
• Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

*Diane from Bibliophile By the Sea shares what she's been listening too and what she's going to listen to next! Thanks Diane!

• Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
• Matterhorn (that's next!) by Karl Marlantes