Happy Tuesday! That means it’s time for Top Ten Tuesday and today’s theme is an audio freebie. I must confess: I am not an audiobook listener. It has to be a fabulous narrator for me to be into an audiobook for the long haul, and too often I find audiobook narrators unrealistically breathy in pacing and tone… and honestly I can read the physical book much faster. So unless I’m driving for several hours, I usually opt out of audiobooks.
All that to say …. if you’re like me and aren’t that keen on this particular book format, take heart! If I love these recommendations (and I do) you probably will too! If you are a fan of audiobooks, you’ll really love these ‘listens’!
Let’s start with my five favorite narrators! Any audiobook they do is fabulous! The book I’ve spotlighted for each one happens to be a fave too.
Narrator: Jim Dale
Dale’s narration of these books is like listening to radio theater. It doesn’t matter how often I’ve listened to them, I can always go one more round. And then another. I’ll probably be listening to them from the nursing home one day. Truly delightful, every word and each distinctive voice that becomes so beloved.
Narrator: Barbara McCulloh
McCulloh’s voice is perfect for westerns, and I love that she does so many of Mary Connealy’s books since Mary Connealy is also perfect for westerns 😉
Narrator: Mary Jane Wells
Love. Her. I love her wry voice and quick wit/timing. Every audiobook I’ve listened to that is narrated by her is delicious from beginning to end. (NOTE: She narrates a lot of books by authors such as Lisa Kleypas & Tessa Dare, etc. as well as some of the – clean – Timeless Romance books & Hazel Gaynor novels. Just be aware that there will be some steamy covers to wade through before you click on her link.)
Narrator: Cary Elwes
I’ve only listened to this book narrated by Elwes, but it was so entertaining. I could listen to his voice all day long.
Narrator: Richard Armitage
Enough said.
And here are some specific books I love but might not have listened to any more by that narrator yet:
Narrator: Hillary Huber
Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay is such a great book! And I enjoyed the audiobook a lot too – the epistolary format of the book itself was a great foundation for it to make the jump to audio.
Narrators: Gail Shalan & Joel Clarkson
I wasn’t sure at first about the dual narrator thing, but since The Lady & The Lionheart is one of my all-time favorite-favorites I gave it a try. And oh bliss! Charlie Lionheart transfers well to audio 😉
Narrator: Meghan Crawford
This cute little novella by Jennifer Rodewald is one of my fave Christmasy reads & the audiobook is equally delightful. I particularly love how the narrator captured Sydney. (NOTE: She narrates a lot of books that look pretty steamy. Just be aware before you click on her link.)
Narrator: Dan Stevens
I feel like this is ‘enough said’ as well 😛
And a brand new fave coming soon….
Narrator: Catherine Gaffney
Y’all know how much I love this book, but did you know the AUDIOBOOK IS COMING?!? Around the 2nd week of April, you’ll get to listen to endearing Eisley and swoony Wes & all the great accents, courtesy of actress Gaffney whom I have the privilege of knowing.
What about you? Are you picky about audiobooks like I am? Or are you a huge fan?
Check out all the audiobooks from today’s post!
Clicking on the thumbnail will take you to Amazon
I LOVE audiobooks! I’m so glad you mentioned Sylvester. It’s greatness. Don’t forget The Convenient Marriage (my favorite) and Venetia, also read by the delicious Richard Armitage.
I have the Dan Stevens version of And Then There Were None, also greatness.
Happy sigh.
Indeed! Armitage also does a love Poems audiobook. Blissful sigh.
I have that one, too! (Did you have any doubts?) 😀
Hahaha nope 😉
I’m a visual person. I try to listen to podcasts, but my mind wanders. I don’t think I would pay enough attention to an audiobook.
I’m the same way. But these 10 hold my attention well
I’ve been listening to the How to Train Your Dragon audiobooks with my kids. They are narrated by David Tennant and he’s amazing! So many voices and he keeps them consistent across all the books. (He’s the actor who plays Barty Crouch Jr. in the Harry Potter movies, among other things).
I’m actually not a fan of Jim Dale’s Harry Potter narration. He kind of puts me to sleep. But to each his own.
Did not know Carey Elwes narrated. Off to go look…
David Tennant is amazing! Love him!
I love your twist! I didn’t do this because I am not a fan either. I have to agree with Jim Dale narrating the Harry Potter series. When I went back to work for a short period of time I listened to the entire series while keying in data. The guy who does The Left Behind series isn’t bad either.
And how did I not know about Dan Stevens narrating?? I may just have to check that audio out.
that would definitely make data entry more tolerable 😀
I’ve been an audiobook fan on and off for since I was 7 and learned to use the reel to reel machine at the library. I’ve really become a fan of audible in the last couple of years.
Narrator Lauren Ezzo does a wonderful job with Jen Turano’s Apart from the Crowd series! If the characters are the same, I like the same narrator for a series.
yes, me too
I listen to audiobooks when I walk, clean, iron, etc. I choose just because books to catch up on fav authors or try out new -to-me. My husband and I listen to Christie’s Poirot novels on road trips, but only narrated by Hugh Fraser. He’s the bomb!
Oh, Fraser is great on the Christies. He does a pretty good Suchet Poirot and, needless to say, his Hastings is impeccable. 😉
I love audiobooks and joke that my vehicle won’t drive unless there’s a audiobook in the CD player [did I mention my vehicle is OLD and still has a CD player! LOL]. I enjoy listening whether my drive is 5 minutes or 2 hours. My favorite audiobook narrator is Cassandra Campbell…for some reason I envision her as Anne Hathaway. :o)
Clearly I need to invest in some audiobooks! Especially with those narrators
yessss these are amazing narrators
I’ve never been able to get into audiobooks, so thank you for writing this post. It’s super helpful.
My Top Ten Tuesday post.
Oh… a topic I’m passionate about. A good audiobook is hard to achieve, but when you get one, it sears itself upon your soul. We learned as children to listen to stories and pleaded with parents to read us another story.
Many people think “so… it’s just some person reading a book?” No. Well, if they are a bad narrator, yes.
So what is one to do? Well, for anyone wanting to dip their toe into audiobooks, I recommend a British Male voice. Reasons should be obvious to the followers of this blog.
A few of my favorite narrators:
Euan Morton, Barnaby Edwards, Jonathan Cecil, Frederick Davidson and, of course, Jim Dale
“Reasons should be obvious to the followers of this blog.” – I’m sure I don’t know what you mean, dearest hubby 😉
The first audiobook I listened to was As You Wish, it was so good! I don’t listen to a lot of them but have recently figured out Hoopla and am trying to catch up on CFRR authors that way (when I’m not able to sit and read.) But I may have to check out narrations by Richard Armitage, David Tennant,and Dan Stevens. And you listed some of my favorites – The Lady and the Lionheart, Dear Mr. Knightley, and Ordinary Snowflakes!
I love this! Thanks Carrie!
What….DAN STEPHENS?!
I need to order that right now.
I love the Harry Potter audiobooks too!
Elwes has a great voice doesn’t he!
Lauren @ Always Me
Great list. I’m not the biggest fan of audiobooks but I might have to check some of these out.
Krystianna @ Downright Dystopian
AH! Thanks for including Ordinary Snowflakes! 🙂 I love audiobooks, but find I end up *mostly* listening to children’s or YA on audio. My favorites (I don’t know the narrators, and am too lazy to go back and look–so sorry!) are the Romona books, Hank the Cow Dog books, Junie B. Jones books, The Penderwicks series, and CJ Redwine’s Ravenspire series. And then, on the adult side, I ADORE Tamara Leigh’s narrator, and listen to Leigh’s every book rather than reading them because I’m addicted. The narrators did AMAZING with these books.
now i’m intrigued by Tamara’s narrator! Lol!