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10 of the Best Narrator and Audiobook Pairings of All Time
When famous voices collide with famous stories, we all win. So this summer, whether you're driving cross country or cruising at 30,000 feet, give your eyes a rest—and your ears a treat—with audiobooks narrated by some of your favorite actors.
(And in case you didn't know, you can listen to free audio samples for over 180,000 Audible titles on Goodreads! Just look for the Listen icon on the Goodreads book page.)
Written by Kurt Vonnegut
Narrated by John Malkovich (Dangerous Liaisons, Being John Malkovich)
Suggested activities while listening: Wandering around a local arts festival, eating breakfast (too easy?), breaking down fourth walls
Written by Ernest Cline
Narrated by Wil Wheaton (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Stand by Me)
Suggested activities while listening: Visiting an immersive virtual world, hunting for obscure easter eggs, making the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs
*Bonus: Wheaton also narrates Cline's new book, Armada.
Written by Tina Fey
Narrated by Tina Fey (Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock)
Suggested activities while listening: Shamelessly snacking, waking up from a stress dream, trying on your own own pair of metaphorical bossypants
Written by Margaret Atwood
Narrated by Claire Danes (My So-Called Life, Homeland)
Suggested activities while listening: Contemplating your identity within society, babysitting, sticking it to the man
Written by Tim O'Brien
Narrated by Bryan Cranston (Malcolm in the Middle, Breaking Bad)
Suggested activities while listening: Cleaning your closet or garage, heading to the dentist, avoiding political debates on Facebook
Written by Harper Lee
Narrated by Sissy Spacek (Carrie, Coal Miner's Daughter)
Suggested activities while listening: Driving through tired old towns, collecting gifts from reclusive neighbors, shooting all the blue jays you want (if you can hit 'em)
*Bonus: Reese Witherspoon narrates Lee's follow-up, Go Set a Watchman.
Written by Richard Wright
Narrated by James Earl Jones (The Lion King, Star Wars)
Suggested activities while listening: Waiting for your home to be fumigated—and then realizing that, in a strictly figurative sense, you resonate more with the rat than with the fumigator
Written by Lemony Snicket
Narrated by Tim Curry (The Rocky Horror Picture Show, It)
Suggested activities while listening: Playing at the beach on a day you expect to hear very terrible news, "volunteering" at your community theater, setting things on fire
Written by Ray Bradbury
Narrated by Tim Robbins (The Shawshank Redemption, Mystic River)
Suggested activities while listening: Memorizing Fahrenheit 451 for that inevitable time when society rejects—and then is ready to accept—it
Written by Sun Tzu
Narrated by Aidan Gillen (Game of Thrones, The Wire)
Suggested activities while listening: Waiting for your enemies to fall into your carefully constructed trap or relaxing because you now fight all your wars without actually having to do battle
Have a favorite audiobook and narrator pairing? Share it with us in the comments!
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Alanah
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Jul 27, 2015 03:40PM
I've just put a few of the titles from the list as well as the comments on hold from the library! A coworker also recently recommended listening to Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman and narrated by Lenny Henry. Can't wait :)
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Andrea wrote: "Ahsan Ali wrote: "Andrea wrote: "Matthew wrote: "Gabriel wrote:"Roy Dotrice is absolutely terrible."Your face is absolutely terrible."
No Matthew, Dotrice is terrible."
Roy Dotrice is PERFECT!!!..."
Ok, I will take you up on that. But first I have to soldier through 3 books of the series.
I loved Lenny Henry's narration of Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys.
I agree with a comment I read previously in this thread; (paraphrasing) I often choose a book to listen because of the narrator. So true! I couldn't narrow my list to just 10, but here's my list broken down by type of narrator and in alphabetical order. Enjoy!## Celebrities:
* Alan Cumming reading the Leviathan series
* Anthony Bourdain (also the author) reading Kitchen Confidential
* Cary Elwes (also the author) reading As You Wish
* Christopher Lee reading the Children of Hurin
* Claire Danes reading the Handmaid's Tale
* Dan Stevens reading Casino Royale, Murder on the Orient Express
* David Tennant reading the How to Train Your Dragon series
* Donald Sutherland reading the Old Man and the Sea
* Edward Hermann reading Unbroken, the Boys in the Boat
* James Marsters reading the Dresden Files
* Jeremy Irons reading Brideshead Revisited, the Alchemist
* Jim Gaffigan (also the author) reading Dad Is Fat, Food: A Love Story
* John Ritter reading Dave Barry's Greatest Hits
* Kate Winslet reading Matilda
* Sissy Spacek reading To Kill a Mockingbird
* Stephen Fry reading the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
* Tim Curry reading A Christmas Carol (thank you Ford Motor Co.!)
* Wil Wheaton reading Ready Player One, Redshirts, Lock In, Armada
## Pro Narrators
* Christian Rummel reading the Lost Fleet series
* Craig Wasson reading 11/22/63
* Dan O'Grady reading the Rosie Effect
* Dick Hill reading the Jack Reacher series, the early Harry Bosch series
* Frank Muller reading the first three books in the Dark Tower series, Great Expectations,
* George Guidall reading Les Miserables, the latter part of the Dark Tower series, the Gabriel Allon series, the Walt Longmire series, Mitch Rapp series, John Wells series, Out of Sight, the War of Art
* George Newbern reading Seabiscuit
* Jay Snyder reading the Gray Man series, the Ex-Heroes series, Day by Day Armageddon
* Jim Dale reading Harry Potter, Around the World in 80 Days, A Christmas Carol, the Night Circus
* Jonathan Cecil reading the Blanding Castle series, the Jeeves and Wooster series
* Lenny Henry reading Anansi Boys
* Luke Daniels reading the Iron Druid Chronicles, Magic 2.0 series
* Marc Thompson reading anything Star Wars (especially the Admiral Thrawn books)
* Martin Jarvis reading Good Omens
* Michael Jayston reading the George Smiley series
* Michael Page reading the Gentleman Bastard series
* Nick Podehl reading the Kingkiller Chronicles
* Oliver Wyman reading the Monster Hunter International series
* R. C. Bray reading the Martian
* Ray Porter reading the Philip Marlowe series
* Robert Glenister reading the Cormoran Strike series
* Rob Inglis reading the Lord of the Rings Trilogy + the Hobbit
* Simon Prebble reading Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, the Day of the Jackal, King Solomon's Mines
* Simon Vance reading the Millenium series (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), the Picture of Dorian Gray,
* Tim Gerard Reynolds reading the Red Rising series, the Riyria series
## Authors reading their own books
* David McCullough reading 1776
* Douglas Adams reading the Dirk Gently series
* Frank McCourt reading Angela's Ashes
* Getting Things Done by David Allen
* Jim Collins reading Good to Great
* Malcolm Gladwell reading Outliers, Blink, David & Goliath, etc.
* Neil Gaiman reading Neverwhere, Coraline, the Graveyard Book, Stardust
* Seth Godin reading Tribes, All Marketers Are Liars, Linchpin, etc.
* Stephen Covey reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
* Steven J. Dubner reading any of the Freakonomics books
* Zig Ziglar reading How to Stay Motivated
## Cast
* American Gods
* BBC adaptations of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Ian Holm as Frodo!)
* Dune
* NPR adaptations of the original Star Wars Trilogy (the first two had Mark Hamill!)
* The Help
* The Poets' Corner
* World War Z
No. No way. Wil Wheaton was awful. He almost ruined that whole book for me.
Jeremy wrote: "No. No way. Wil Wheaton was awful. He almost ruined that whole book for me."Certain narrators could read anything and I'd probably like it (George Guidall, Simon Vance, etc.), but Wil isn't one of them.
However, I think he's perfect for the John Scalzi and Ernest Cline type books. He gets the whole nerd/geek/techie thing--because he is a nerd/geek/techie--he's one of us!
The Ocean At The End Of The Lane, narrated by the one and only Neil Gaiman. A fantastic book fantastically narrated by a fantastic author. A must listen!
This is a great list! I have listened to over half of these and completely agree. I would like to add:Ray Porter does magnificent work narrating the Joe Ledger series by Jonathan Maberry.
James Van Der Beek gives an impressive performance of a book I didn't love Chomped by Carl Hiaasen.
Do NOT listen to Fahrenheit 451 read by the author. Ray Bradbury's talents lie elsewhere.
Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow. Read by the author. I listened to it on long car journeys. A great book. Like the list. There are several books I shall look forward to hearing. Thank you!
Stephen Fry reading the whole Harry Potter series are my favorite audiobooks. Could listen to them over and over.Just finished Go Set a Watchmen read by Reese Witherspoon and also love the combination.
Lilian wrote: "Stephen Fry reading the whole Harry Potter series are my favorite audiobooks. Could listen to them over and over.I did listen to those over and over again, years ago, for a time, I couldnt even listen to music anymore, had to listen to the audiobooks again, and again, and again, and again, and again... but I dont like to talk about it.
"Empire Falls" by Richard Russo, narrated by Ron McLarty. Wonderful book and excellent narration!
Alanah wrote: "I've just put a few of the titles from the list as well as the comments on hold from the library! A coworker also recently recommended listening to Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman and narrated by Lenny ..."Lenny Henry reading Anansi Boys is perfection. Each character has a distinct voice that fits the character perfectly. And Henry's accents are spot on. A pitch perfect narration. I wish I could find something else read by Lenny Henry.
Jasmin wrote: "I would add "The Gone-Away World" as ready by Kirby Heyborne and "The Stone Rose" as read by David Tennant (although the latter is partly because of my fan girl status ;) )"Jasmin wrote: "I would add "The Gone-Away World" as ready by Kirby Heyborne and "The Stone Rose" as read by David Tennant (although the latter is partly because of my fan girl status ;) )"
BINGO! - love my audiobooks and 5 years ago stumbled into "The Gone Away World" - what an epic performance from an American Narrator on a very English book! Still waiting for another novel to top this - the definition of bruschetta killed me!
Jonathas wrote: "Do NOT listen to Fahrenheit 451 read by the author. Ray Bradbury's talents lie elsewhere."Absolutely agree. Ray Bradbury is a wonderful author and a terrible narrator. It still gives me the shudders. Blech.
The absolute best Appocalypse Series / Narrator combos ever are Mark Tufo / Sean Runnette - Zombie Fallout (Runnette does all of Tufo's books and they are fantastic) and R.R. Haywood / Dan Morgan - The Undead. Both have a tremendous ability to bring characters to life while entertaining with perfect comedic timing!
Love narrators for The Girl on the Train. They created a spooky, compelling world for me to inhabit until the end. Looking for more of the same: brilliant writing, brilliant narration. Juliet Stevenson reading Paying Guests kept me enthralled, guessing and hoping until the end. She is superb.
The Childen Act, by McEwan read by Lindsay Duncan held me spellbound.
Simon Vance is my all time favorite. He never intrudes, he just tells the story flawlessly.
Lindsay Duncan reading The Children Act, by McEwanJuliet Stevenson reading Paying Guests by Sarah Waters.
Simon Vance reading anything. Hands down the most professional reader of all. He just tells the author's story flawlessly.
All narrators of The Girl on the Train. I couldn't get free of the world they created, spooky, compelling and atmospheric.
Brilliant stories plus genius narrators create an unbeatable world to inhabit for a while.
I'm sorry but it is absurd that the Harry Potter audiobooks by Stephen Fry are not here...
Richard Armitage narrating David Copperfield. I'm only done chapter one and loving his different dialects and voices for the different characters - one of the best audiobooks I've listened to so far.I also enjoy Charlie David's Shadowlands narration, but have downloaded other narrations by him to see if his narration differs with different authors
Alina wrote: "I'm sorry but it is absurd that the Harry Potter audiobooks by Stephen Fry are not here..."Stephen Fry reading Harry Potter absolutely is here- you just didn't go far enough back in the thread.
Jeanne wrote: "I love audiobooks so I will have to try a couple of these out. My favorite pairing is the Jim Butcher series, The Dresden Files," read by James Marsters (of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame). The man ..."yes! finally someone mentions James Marsters.
Book Kitty wrote: "How is Stephen Fry with Harry Potter not on there?"Because..... He was mentioned thrice? I haven't heard it but, I'm sure it's amazing
The late Stephanie Daniel did an amazing job narrating all of Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher novels. Judy Kaye's reading of the Sue Grafton alphabet series can't be beat.
Tina wrote: "Going to add The End of the Affair by Graham Greene read by Colin Firth, wonderful!"Just finished listening to Colin Firth read the "End of the Affair." For almost 40 years I've been listening first to Books on Tape, and now Audible and this was the most satisfying experience that I've ever had with listening to books.
Audiobook of the Year, 2013
Audie Award Nominee, Best Solo Narration, 2013.
Lynn Gilbert
The Left Hand of Godnarrated by Sean Barrett.
Seriously, you haven't had a good audiobook experience until you've heard him read something, and the fact that he fails to appear on this list confuses me. He's a real voice actor too, which really shows when you set his work against that of people just playing at it. Other brilliant things he's done include: Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable Age of Iron
He was also Vladimir in the Waiting for Godot radio play and Lord Asriel in His Dark Materials. All books and plays I have loved, though honestly, he could read the dictionary to me and I would probably find that just as engaging. There's honestly nothing like a good audiobook.
Going to throw in the Discworld Series books read by both Nigel Planer and Stephen Briggs too. Those really came alive for me in audio format.
My favourite pairing is Sean Barrett reading Perfume by Patrick Suskind. Loved it!
Tina wrote: "Going to add The End of the Affair by Graham Greene read by Colin Firth, wonderful!"Yussss! Collin Firth's performance was Incredible.
Asuka0278 wrote: "How on earth does this list NOT include the Harry Potter books narrated by Jim Dale?"Right?! I was totally just wondering that.
Anything by Scott Brick and Lamb read by Fisher Stevens
I love Joshilyn Jackson reading her books.
Seems like they just looked at fairly big name celebrities. It's a shame - there's some great voice work by professional narrators
Philippa Gregory books narrated by Bianca Amato.
