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20 Audiobooks of Summer, maybe…

FictionFan65 Comments

Why do I keep doing this to myself??

Having staunchly resisted the overwhelming urge to join in with Cathy’s Annual Masochism Fiesta, aka 20 Books of Summer – a challenge that I’ve failed at every year bar one – I had a sudden last-minute thought that it would be a great way to encourage me to make some drastic inroads into my horrendous TBL list of audiobooks. I’m currently on a second “pause” of my subscription to Audible this year in a desperate attempt to stop adding books, but it doesn’t seem to be having much effect. The TBL list currently stands at 56, which doesn’t sound too bad unless you know that I only average between one and two books per month!

So I’ve selected 20 of them and will attempt to listen to as many as possible over the period of the challenge. No way will I get through them all – that would require me to listen for roughly two hours each day, or approximately four times as much as usual. But by making it a challenge it might concentrate my mind! If I achieve ten I’ll be quite happy…

So in totally random order, here they are…

Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote read by Michael C Hall

By the Pricking of My Thumbs by Agatha Christie read by Hugh Fraser

Death’s Jest Book by Reginald Hill read by Shaun Dooley

Heartstone by CJ Sansom read by Steven Crossley

Latter End by Patricia Wentworth read by Diane Bishop

Mansfield Park (Full cast adaptation) by Jane Austen starring Billie Piper

N or M? by Agatha Christie read by Hugh Fraser

Pied Piper by Nevil Shute read by David Rintoul

Rain and Other Stories by W Somerset Maugham read by Steven Crossley

Rumpole’s Return by John Mortimer read by Robert Hardy

Silas Marner by George Eliot read by Andrew Sachs

The Flemish House by Georges Simenon read by Gareth Armstrong

The Mating Season by PG Wodehouse read by Jonathan Cecil

The Misty Harbour by Georges Simenon read by Gareth Armstrong

The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene read by Andrew Sachs

The Quiet American by Graham Greene read by Simon Cadell

The Rendezvous and Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier read by Edward de Souza

The Warden by Anthony Trollope read by Timothy West

The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy read by Samuel West

Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome read by Ian Carmichael

Curses, Cathy – you got me again! 😡

Wish Me Luck!

 

 

65 thoughts on “20 Audiobooks of Summer, maybe…”

  2. You do have some great choices here, FictionFan! I hope you enjoy them. There’s just something about audiobooks, isn’t there, that makes it hard to resist getting new ones. I think it’s that you can’t see a physical stack of them looking at you accusingly… At any rate, I think you’re in for some good listening.

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    • Exactly! I have the same problem with Kindle books – so much easier to stockpile and forget about than paper books! But I’ve picked up lots of fun sounding audiobooks over the years so I should be in for a good summer of listening even if I only get through a few of them.

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  3. Great choice. I would love to read a few of these. I tried audiobooks and it’s not a format I enjoy. I hope you have time to listen to as many as you want.
    I read the one by Sansom and I loved it.

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    • I struggle with audiobooks – some of them don’t work for me at all. But I’ve found lighter reads work well for me and there are some great narrators! The guy who narrates the Sansom books does a wonderful job with them… 😀

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  5. Well, at least you added some great books! I’ce read some of them. I might have listened to some of the Agatha Christie’s on audiobook back when I commuted tow ork. You can’t go wrong with Hugh Fraser narrating!

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    • Quite a few of them are re-reads for me too – I find re-reads easier on audio because I already know the story so it doesn’t matter so much if my concentration lapses! I had to have a couple of Christies – I’m addicted to the Hugh Fraser narrations. 😀

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    • Haha, I had to google geg to check if I should thank you or challenge you to a duel… thank you! 😂 I nearly made it this year, but as usual couldn’t resist. No way will I get through all twenty though, but it’ll be fun anyway! 😀

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  9. I have to confess that, although I am mostly an Eliot fan, I’ve never been able to get through Silas Marner. However, I have listened to almost all the Hugh Fraser Christie’s by this point, and I loved all the ones you’ve picked.

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    • Oh dear! I’m not really an Eliot fan so I might hate Silas Marner then! I picked it on the grounds it seems to be her shortest… 😉 I had to have a couple of Christies – I’m addicted to these Hugh Fraser narrations!

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  11. Good luck! I don’t really listen to audiobooks myself, but I do have Pied Piper on my 20 Books of Summer list in physical book format, so we can compare thoughts if we both read/listen to that one. There are lots of other great books on your list too – I particularly loved Heartstone, The Woodlanders and Three Men in a Boat!

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    • Oh, that’ll be fun. I don’t know anything about Pied Piper – I think I just picked it up in a sale on the basis that I’ve enjoyed other books of his, so fingers crossed! Heartstone and Three Men in a Boat will be re-reads for me, but The Woodlanders is new to me and I love both Hardy and Samuel West as a narrator, so that should be a highlight of the list, I hope!

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  12. Reading this right now made me laugh as I had just read Cathy’s newest blog, once again thought about joining, jumped up from my desk and gathered books from my TBR table (including three Simenon’s) as immediate choices for the challenge. I hesitate because I know I’ll fail, what with all my other responsibilities, and yet, my New Year’s resolution was to read through my TBR table and wouldn’t this be a neat way to support that? It’s early in the day here in the States…I could still enter, I think…! Good luck to you. I love your list.

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    • Haha, every year I say I won’t do it again, but making lists is irresistible! Go for it! Even though I never make it through my whole list I do find it’s a great way to clear a backlog of books rather than keeping reading new acquisitions all the time. And a lot of these audiobooks should be fun… 😀

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  13. I do wish you luck! I’m about to read Breakfast at Tiffany’s although I haven’t put it on my summer challenge list, (might have to change that) and you’ve got Somerset Maugham short stories and Wodehouse so that should make summery listening, may be?!

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    • I’ve never read nor even seen Breakfast at Tiffany’s so I might be the only person in the world who doesn’t know what it’s about yet! Somerset Maugham will be new to me too, though I have one of his novels coming up on my reading list very soon. Wodehouse can always be relied on for some fun! 😀

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  14. If I had miles of solo travelling to do, or a job that wasn’t intellectually demanding, I’d very possibly be into audiobooks … but I don’t and I haven’t so I shall never know! But this sounds an eminently practical way to get through fiction so all power to your, er, ears. 😁

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    • I was much better at them when I had a long commute. Now I really have to work at concentrating on them – it’s too easy to get distracted listening at home! So if I get through even half of this list it will feel like an accomplishment!

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  16. I’ve never gotten into audiobooks, perhaps because I don’t commute to and from work, or maybe because I haven’t done a lot of cross-country traveling. Still, it looks like you’ve got an ambitious project ahead of you, FF, and I wish you much success with it. Are you going to review all these books, too?!?

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    • I used to get on much better with audiobooks when I had a long commute – somehow I concentrated better while driving. At home it’s too easy to get distracted by other things! So if I get through even half of these it’ll feel like an accomplishment. Haha, yes, the challenge is to read and review them all – this is why I never succeed! 😀

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  17. GOOD LUCK!! (yelling that so you can hear me over the audio book you’re listening to) 😂

    I have Breakfast at Tiffany’s on my CC list so I hope you get to it and tell me what you think. I’m still reading The Power and the Glory… it’s been kinda slow going due to a variety of reasons. You can never go wrong with Sansom!

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    • I have a tendency to pick audiobooks for the narrators as much as for the stories, so I do a lot of “re-reads”. I do enjoy them but I find my attention wanders – a lot! – so if I get through even half of these it’ll feel like an accomplishment… 🎧

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  19. So, wait, let me get this straight. Not only are you joining a challenge you’ve consistently been shit at, you’re also doing it with audiobooks which take a lot longer to get through than actually reading a book? I mean, good luck and all, but seriously … *snort* 😉

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  22. I’ve never read Breakfast at Tiffanys, and I can’t remember if you have formerly reviewed it or not, so I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts on that one! Is it even a romance? I haven’t really seen the movie either…

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    • Thank you! Ha, yes it takes me much longer to listen to a book too, so I have no chance of getting through all these. But even if I manage half it’ll feel like an achievement! And there are plenty of fun ones to keep me going… 😀

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  27. Good luck! I am going to try my hand at this challenge for the first time ever. I have some Greene and Shute on my list as well though not the same titles as you. Are these books you’ve already read and are now going to listen to or are they brand new to you?

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    • Ooh, welcome aboard! Haha, every year I say I’m not going to do this challenge ever again because I fail so dismally every single time. And yet when it comes down to it I just can’t resist making lists! A lot of these are re-reads – I find re-reading books via audio works really well for me because it doesn’t matter so much if my concentration dips, and a good narration makes the book feel fresh again.

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      • That makes a lot of sense! And why do those of us who love books also seem to love making lists too? That was half the fun of this challenge – going through my book lists and making a new list!

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  28. It’s your fault FF that I listen to so many audiobooks now, you introduced me to this medium! 🙂 Most of my crime reading is now audio. I’d love to listen to most of the books you’ve listed here – the enjoyable Three Men in a Boat is the only one I have listened to.

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    • Haha, they do become addictive, don’t they? What I like about them is that you can listen to them while doing other things, although I must admit I do find often that’s when my concentration wanders. For me I find thrillers work really well, and re-reads of books I already know. I have less success with heavyweight fiction which I haven’t read before, much though I’d love to listen to a lot of the classics, since there are such great narrators doing them these days.

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      • I’ve found that a mixture of listening and reading often works for me with the weightier classics. Reading for when I have the time or to review something where my attention lapsed or I didn’t fully process and listening to enjoy the narration and to move my reading along.

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        • I’ve tried reading and listening, but I very quickly find that I’m reading far more than I’m listening! Especially with classics, where somehow the experience of reading on paper is more relaxing to me, whereas with thrillers for some reason listening seems to work really well if it’s a good narrator.

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