ROAD Trip! Audiobook recomendations?

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by ETC(SS), Apr 19, 2019.

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  1. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    I'm about to set off on my quarterly sojourn to the home sod.
    About 650 miles each way....solo, this time.

    So...
    I have 24 books on my phone ranging from Hugo and Dickens to Hornfischer (Neptune's Inferno), Winston Groom, Lee Child (Reacher series) James Patterson, Stephen King, Tom Clancy et al.
    I never know what I want to read or re-read but I'm wondering if there is anything that might go well with a sunny 9-hour country drive?

    I'm interested in something that's not too chewy (Les Miserables/Two Cities) nor do I want something that I feel like I see in the news everyday (1984/Animal Farm.)
    I'm considering another crack at Jane Austen since I consider it to be a defect in my personality that I cannot get any of her six books down despite repeated attempts, although I'm not averse to the genre since I pretty much blazed through Jane Eyre on one of the last trips, but that was a kinda weird trip since I also read the Grapes of Wrath.
    Steinbeck has a pretty DARK soul....



    Any thoughts?
    I'll be wheels-in-the-well soon but can download on the fly....
     
    #1 ETC(SS), Apr 19, 2019
    Last edited: Apr 19, 2019
  2. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    For my last solo long drive, I listened to The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and thoroughly enjoyed it. I would have never finished it if I had to READ it. Perfect 8 hours drive.

    There is Part 2 of this in YouTube for free, but you can also pick it up on various audio book format. I used Audible from Amazon.
     
    #2 Salamander_King, Apr 19, 2019
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  3. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    Yeah.
    GOW was something like 21 hours long.

    However (comma!) you just piqued my interest in how many Steinbeck titles my library has in audio format. I just read Of Mice and Men....
    While looking into that I discovered and placed East of Eden into my Holds list.

    I'm 7th in line for that one. :(
    Not gonna make this trip.
     
    #3 ETC(SS), Apr 19, 2019
  4. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    If you use Audible app, you can make it read faster. I usually use ~x1.5. That fit in my 16 hours round trip.;)
     
    #4 Salamander_King, Apr 19, 2019
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  5. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    I read it a trip or two back.
    Was looking for something new.

    I have a couple dozen books on Audible.
    It's too expensive for a continuous membership but every Prime day they offer 3 months for $5 each month.
     
    #5 ETC(SS), Apr 19, 2019
  6. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Yap, I did something similar. Free trial membership and picked up a few free and many discounted titles. They also offer many free titles as well. Cancel the membership. They kept sending me daily discount title for ~$3 for a while. I picked up ~100 titles that way without paying any membership fee. I am listening this now.
    You're Getting a Free Audible Book | Audible.com
     
    #6 Salamander_King, Apr 19, 2019
  7. sboli

    sboli Junior Member

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    When I listen to stay awake, I like great storytellers. One you may want to check your library (in person or online) for is web griffin. Try to pick a series that's completely available because once I start, I usually have to finish the series. Another would be the Sackett series by Louis L'Amour. Yes, they aren't great literature, but they should keep you interested and awake.
     
    #7 sboli, Apr 19, 2019
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  8. Stevewoods

    Stevewoods Senior Member

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    Steinbeck was an interesting character (I was a TCU English major for a bit back in the '70s). And, if you like his dark side -- Eden will fit right in.

    But, might I suggest his more light-hearted books -- Cannery Row, Tortilla Flats or Sweet Thursday -- all three have their own bit of social commentary, but they are also amusing.

    Of course, you SHOULD skip the wimpy and go straight for the real "men's" literature -- Might I suggest Papa's "Old Man and the Sea" or "The Sun Also Rises."

    Hmm, a little "Captains Courageous" .... if you want an another author that also had a very interesting life...
     
    #8 Stevewoods, Apr 19, 2019
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  9. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    I listened to W.E.B. a time or two and I have L'Amour's No Traveller Returns on my "lifeboat" iphone (ironically...) his only "serious" ? work.
    I broke contact with that particular book a few chapters in when I changed phones and haven't locked back on yet.

    Good recommendations, thanks!

    I'm with you on downloading the whole series before beginning the book!!!
    On the recommendation of one Mr. @Leadfoot J. McCoalroller I'm in line at my library for the Expanse series.
     
    #9 ETC(SS), Apr 19, 2019
  10. cyberpriusII

    cyberpriusII Prodigyplace says I'm Super Kris

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    There is always that book about the donkey named Keyhotay.
     
    #10 cyberpriusII, Apr 19, 2019
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  11. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    Read "Old Man and the Sea" and "The Pearl"
    Like them each well enough but not for a re-read.
    His other books aren't available in audio in my library yet....thanks!

    Hmmmm....
    Captains Courageous....
    I might have to think about that one.
    Yeah.....
    I have Les Miserables and Tale of Two Cities for my "chewy" books for this trip...and I promised myself that I'd consider trying one of Austen's books again this time out. (NOT P&P!)

    I've been meaning to take on Quixote too but maybe later.

    I did Monte Cristo last time and, really, one French novel (Les Mis) is enough for one trip!...and yes....I'm an admitted, shallow Anglophile.....
     
    #11 ETC(SS), Apr 19, 2019
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  12. cyberpriusII

    cyberpriusII Prodigyplace says I'm Super Kris

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    Anglophile -- That makes Kipling a bit complicated, does it not. LOL!!!
     
    #12 cyberpriusII, Apr 19, 2019
  13. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    Lol....
    Yup.

    Honestly.....I was looking for something.....new.
    On one of my submarine patrols I started playing library roulette.
    Reach into a locker and pull out a book (for obvious reasons all of our library books were in lockers - and back then they were all physical books)
    I would force myself to read the first chapter at least before returning it.

    My very first book:
    Wanderlust....by Danielle Steel. :eek:
    Naturally....I was teased unmercifully about it, but two or three sailors in my division wound up reading every Steel book in our library after they each read the first chapter of that first book.

    Koontz isn't in my normal genres (I'm more of a Coonts guy!) but I've read most of his books as a result of "Library Roulette"
    Same with King, Baldacci, Archer, Follett, etc....
     
    #13 ETC(SS), Apr 19, 2019
  14. VFerdman

    VFerdman Senior Member

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    I recommend Neil Stephenson. Almost anything by him is very entertaining. Snow Crash is a good cyberpunk title. But there are also great historical fiction books in a series called "baroque cycle”. I really enjoy his writing as he is a techie in the past.
     
    #14 VFerdman, Apr 19, 2019
  15. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    Aw hecks yeah! NS is my all-time favorite author. That Baroque Cycle took me over a year, a bit at a time.

    I just picked up one he co-authored, Rise and Fall of DODO.

    Tough to pick a favorite among his works.
     
    #15 Leadfoot J. McCoalroller, Apr 19, 2019
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  16. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    Hmmmm......
    My library has Zodiac, Anathem, and (currently unavailable) Cryptonomicon.

    I'll put that down as a 'maybe'

    eco-thriller?
     
    #16 ETC(SS), Apr 19, 2019
  17. VFerdman

    VFerdman Senior Member

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    Zodiac is my least favorite of his works. I’d give it a pass. But the others are amazing! Anathem is excellent and so is cryptonomicon. Baroque cycle novels are wonderful. Good for several cross country trips.
     
    #17 VFerdman, Apr 19, 2019
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  18. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    Oh you're going to want Cryptonomicon for a part of the action taking place on a WWII IJN submarine, though there's interesting naval appeal in a few of his works. Big E featured prominently (if not courteously) in Snow Crash.

    Zodiac was interesting for the pollution science. Anathem didn't hit me as well as the others.
     
    #18 Leadfoot J. McCoalroller, Apr 19, 2019
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  19. tochatihu

    tochatihu Senior Member

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    Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, original 1978 BBC4 radio comedy series. Available in both legal and pirated formats :eek:

    It seems to fit in with long Prius drives, especially those at night.

    There are also podcasts to fit any taste. Appropriate to mention PriusChat What Drives Us in that context.
     
    #19 tochatihu, Apr 19, 2019
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  20. sboli

    sboli Junior Member

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    John Ringo's Live free or die is a real hoot if you can find it. But then all his other series good, check him out on fantasticfiction
     
    #20 sboli, Apr 20, 2019
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