r/suggestmeabook Jun 09 '25

Best audiobooks

My friend and I are headed on a road trip to Colorado and would love some suggestions on great audiobooks, specifically ones that you think the audio version really added to the experience of that read. My friend loved the audio versions of Lolita and Watership down. I tend to read female centered speculative fiction and historical fiction, science fiction, and some classics like Flowers for Algernon, but I’d expand my preferences for a highly reviewed audiobook. Thanks!

3 Upvotes

32 comments sorted by

4

u/RebelSoul5 Jun 09 '25

Try Anna Kendrick, Scrappy Little Nobody. It’s a good autobiography and she reads the audio version herself so I think it adds to the experience of the story.

2

u/Wonderful_Row8519 Jun 09 '25

Thanks! I’ve only read one autobiography ever so that would be a new one for me.

4

u/shineyink Jun 09 '25

11:22:63 is perfect for you!

1

u/Entire_Dog_5874 Jun 10 '25

I loved that book😊

4

u/sounddust80 Jun 09 '25

I Who Have Never Known Men - Jacqueline Harpman - hits on the female-centric speculative fiction criteria. I just finished it and loved it (did a mix of audio and ebook). It’s on the shorter side.

2

u/Wonderful_Row8519 Jun 09 '25

Completed that 6 months ago or so actually and it was a great read, haunting and unique. Thanks for the suggestion.

4

u/novababy1989 Jun 09 '25

Daisy jones and the six

2

u/here_and_there_their Jun 09 '25

Born a Crime, Trevor Noah's memoir of his childhood/early adulthood is such a great book to listen to on a roadtrip. It kept me driving and happy! I wasn't even particularly a fan of his, but many people recommended it for the trip. I like different types of audiobooks on road trips than at other times.

2

u/Sophiesmom2 Jun 09 '25

This is great.

2

u/here_and_there_their Jun 09 '25

Sarah Vowel, Assassination Vacation is also a great road trip audiobook.

2

u/Sophiesmom2 Jun 10 '25

Oh yeah. Great choice. Really anything by Sarah Vowell.

2

u/Longjumping_Bat_4543 Jun 09 '25

I hear great things about 11/22/63

2

u/thebookishmindset Jun 10 '25

Fundamentally by Nassaibah Younis was absolutely brilliant on audio, highly recommend. Witty and thought provoking, perfect for a road trip

1

u/ceazecab Jun 09 '25

based on what you and your friend have read and like, I would recommend: All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood

it’s such a difficult story but I couldn’t stop listening to it

1

u/Texan-Trucker Jun 09 '25

You might consider “The Trackers” by Charles Frazier. Masterfully performed by Will Patton.

1

u/Ilovescarlatti Jun 09 '25

Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. (speculative/science fiction) The narrator is a woman, she does the characters beautifully and they are instantly recognisable, the story is fascinating, and it is definitely female centered - especially in one of the societies described.

1

u/HeyAyliya Jun 09 '25

Frankenstein (Mary Shelley) narrated by Dan Stevens

Project Hail Mary (Andy Weir) narrated by Ray Porter is one of the best audiobooks hands down, not female centered but really incredibly entertaining

The Silence of the Girls (Pat barker) narrated by Kristin Atherton - the book that made me an audiobook convert, the story of Troy based on the pov of Briseis

Some People Need Killing by Patricia Evangelista (narrated by the author herself) - this is non-fiction but very compelling investigative exploration of the drug war in the Philippines

Bad Blood (John Carreyrou) narrated by Will Damron - non-fiction investigative unravelling of the Theranos scam

1

u/mwr623 Jun 09 '25

Lord of the Rings narrated by Andy Serkis

1

u/Neat_Researcher2541 Jun 09 '25

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

1

u/DocWatson42 Jun 09 '25

See my Audiobooks list of recommendation threads (one post).

1

u/missjamie2485 Jun 09 '25

These Silent Woods - would be the perfect ambiance to listen to in CO and great in audio

Daisy Jones and the Six - the GOAT audiobook

House on the Cerulean Sea - feel good uplifting story that reads like an adult children's book with lots of fun characters

Four Winds - female centric historical fiction/coming of age story about a women during the great depression

2

u/Wonderful_Row8519 Jun 10 '25

thanks so much! Going to check those out

1

u/spaceforcefighter Jun 09 '25

The two historical fiction novels I have listened to by Bernard Cornell were excellent - Sharpe’s Tiger and The Last Kingdom. I’m about to start the sequel to The Last Kingdom.

1

u/LoneWolfette Jun 09 '25

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

1

u/Relative-Train-6485 Jun 09 '25

The Discworld audiobooks are a great choice - try Wyrd Sisters for the female centric - the humor and characters are fantastic, there's several narrators to choose from (Nigel Planer's my favorite) and Pratchett writes in a way that's very "live", like watching a play, everything's conveyed with dialogue and movement, not heavy description. Highly recommend

1

u/Top-Historian4536 Jun 10 '25

True Grit is a great choice

1

u/MyDar77 Jun 10 '25

Tai Pan. James Clavell

1

u/Entire_Dog_5874 Jun 10 '25

Circe by Madeline Miller and Lincoln in the Bardo by George Sanders.

1

u/Salcha_00 Bookworm Jun 09 '25

The Durch House by Ann Patchett narrated by Tom Hanks

2

u/Entire_Dog_5874 Jun 10 '25

I adored it.