Your stand-out listens of 2014

[John, Moderator]

I bailed on the much-hyped The Fault in Our Stars.

[Sarah]

Dave wrote: "I really appreciate this thread! I have probably listened to about 50 audiobooks this year, but I have never kept track of the actual dates. It's hard enough to just keep track of the overall lis..."

I loved The Fault in Our Stars, Divergent, Eleanor & Park, and Peony In Love and I liked The Tiger's Wife. I wonder if you would have enjoyed them more in print? That makes a difference sometomes. I wasn't enjoying the audio of Everything I Never Told You, and when I switched to the ebook I found I couldn't put it down.

[Heidi]

I read Fault in Our Stars in print (loved it) and think it was likely better in that format because several people have not liked the audiobook.

[Heidi]

I loved Eleanor & Park but a lot of my love steamed from the fact that it was based on the 80's when I was a young idiot who thought I knew it all. It provided a lot of flashbacks (good ones) for me and I know I this impacted my rating.

[John, Moderator]

Sorry, Heidi, but no, it was the story itself that turned me off, couldn't relate at all (the girl, herself, was okay for the most part).

[Heidi]

Hey it's not for for everyone John :) That is the good thing about books. I do stand by the fact that most people who listed to Fault liked it less than the print readers though - just an observation.

[Jim]

Glad to see so many people love Ready Player One! That's one of my all-time favorite audiobooks (and books, period).

[Jim]

J. wrote: "I'll be one of those people writing 2014 on everything, well into 2015.

My "stats" tab says I knocked out 108 (surely a new record for me as well), it didn't feel like that many. I'm sure the long..."

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a classic - I'll need to find that!

[Jim]

Valyssia wrote: "My five star reads this year were:

The Privilege of the Sword, War and Remembrance, The Birthday of the World and Other Stories, [book:The Poisonwood Bible..."

Who narrated Slaughterhouse Five? I bet that was fascinating...

[Jim]

Stephanie wrote: "I listened to 70 audiobooks this year. That does not include the short stories or novellas.

The first half of the year was consumed by Dresden Files. Every one worthy of relistening. I gave one o..."

The Dresden Files are mostly by James Marsters, right? I listened to one and need to get the others. He's fantastic!

[Sarah]

Jim wrote: "Glad to see so many people love Ready Player One! That's one of my all-time favorite audiobooks (and books, period)."

I loved it but I have a hard time recommending it to others. I'm an 80s kid and a gamer, so I understood almost all of the references and the book carried a certain degree of nostalgia for me. I don't know how much someone who isn't into video games and/or 80s pop culture would like it, though. But Wil Wheaton was a fantastic narrator and it was fun when he referenced Star Trek (and even himself, at one point).

I would love to see it made into a CGI-type film.

[[deleted user]]

That must be such a wonderful feeling. Congratulations!

[Saeed]

Science fiction:

The Light of Other Days
Flashforward
The Lathe of Heaven
The Humans
Childhood's End
The Testing
Dying Inside
The Road

[Scott S.]

Saeed wrote: "Science fiction:

The Light of Other Days
Flashforward
The Lathe of Heaven
The Humans
Childhood's End
[book:The Testing|133268..."

I don't know what it was about The Humans, but I loved that book.

[Sue]

I listened to Fangirl and Eleanor & Park, both narrated by Rebecca Lowman, who I thought did a fantastic job.

I also did not make it through The Tiger's Wife - one of the few audiobooks I didn't finish.

Heidi (Yup. Still here.) wrote: "I loved Eleanor & Park but a lot of my love steamed from the fact that it was based on the 80's when I was a young idiot who thought I knew it all. It provided a lot of flashbacks (good ones) for ..."

[Holly]

I listened to 80+ books this year. Some of my standout listens of 2014 were:

Fiction:
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson by Lyndsay Faye
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
The Dog Stars by Peter Heller (though I prefer this book in print, actually)

Sci-Fi/Fantasy:
The Girl with All the Gifts by M. R. Carey
Braineater Jones by Stephen Kozeniewski
The Peter Grant series (books 1-4) by Ben Aaronovich
Skin Game by Jim Butcher (and the rest of the Dresden Files series)
Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater (and the other 2 books in the Raven Cycle)
The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss (and the rest of the Kingkiller Chronicles)
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

YA:
Greyhound by Steffan Piper
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky


Non-fiction:
Not My Father's Son by Alan Cumming
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
Detroit: An American Autopsy by Charlie LeDuff
David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell

[Sandy]

My top twelve:
The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science
Falling Upwards: How We Took to the Air
The Cuckoo's Calling
The Silkworm
The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches
Sh*t My Dad Says
The Martian
An Officer and a Spy
Elizabeth Is Missing
The Long Way Home
In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible
Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette
The Miniaturist

It turned out to be a baker's dozen

[Kathleen]

I listened to 54 audio books this year and only gave one a 5 star rating: Gabaldon's A Breath of Snow and Ashes. I finished the last three Gabaldon books this year and listened to a lot of series mysteries, including those by J. D. Robb, Louise Penny, Charles Todd, and Robert Galbraith (J. K. Rowling).

I tend to read the really good books and listen to what I consider the lighter books.