June is National Audiobook Month and as part of the celebration Kristen and I are listing our favorite audiobooks. Audiobooks are a great way to enjoy books when it’s not convenient to read them, like during commutes to and from work or when you’re working outdoors. The best audiobooks help provide an extra dimension to books, giving the characters and the plot more life than just letters on a page.

Here are some of my favorite audiobooks:

Anathem by Neal Stephenson (Narrated by Oliver Wyman, Tavia Gilbert, William Dufris, Neal Stephenson)
I had first listened to Anathem after hearing how great an audiobook it was from other science fiction fans. The narration does a great job in pulling you into the story, and the emotions felt by the characters come through amazingly. Another nice touch is the Gregorian chant songs that are played in between parts of the book, it adds to some of the story elements that tie religion to the scientific world. Read my full review of Anathem here.

Born Standing Up by Steve Martin (Narrated by Steve Martin)
I’ve always been a big fan of listening to autobiographies narrated by the authors; the best ones actually feel like you’re having a conversation with the author. Steve Martin achieves this in the audio version of Born Standing Up (see my review for more details). I especially liked that Martin breaks out the banjo and plays a few tunes throughout the book, it’s a side of him I hadn’t seen before and it was a nice touch.

Twilight series by Stephenie Meyers (Narrated by Ilyana Kadushin (Books 1-4), Matt Walters (Book 4))
A few years ago, you couldn’t have paid me enough to read a book about teenage vampires. Kristen was actually the one to get me to listen to the audio version of Twilight while on a long road trip. Ilyana Kadushin is excellent as Bella and really lets you become lost in Stephenie Meyer’s story. Just like Kristen, now when I read any of the Twilight novels, I hear Kadushins voice in my head. That’s the sign of a great audiobook.

More Information than You Require by John Hodgman (Narrated by Narrated by John Hodgman, Ricky Gervais, Paul Rudd, Zach Galifianakis, Dick Cavett, Sarah Vowell, Ira Glass, Rachel Maddow)
What separates Hodgman’s book from other audiobooks is that it’s not so much a recording of him reading his book, but has more of a feel of a comedy stand up routine with lots of invited guests. There are lots of fun moments where Hodgman goes “off script” and interacts with the other narrators, making it more of a special experience that you wouldn’t get from just reading the book. Of particular note is the accompaniment of Johnathan Coulton on a few musical numbers, including the jingle for Dick Van Patten’s Hobo Chilli for Dogs. The audiobook also contains a recording of him reading 700 molemen names and their occupations (Hodgman devotes a significant portion of the book to the molemen and their steeds), and 365 short podcast like recordings titled “Today In the Past” which act as a one-a-day type calendar, but just in audio format.

Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer (Narrated by Nathaniel Parker (Books 1-5)
To be honest, on the book quality alone, Artemis Fowl would not make this list. It’s a good book and all, but the real reason I love the audiobook is the narration. Parker brings a good Irish accent to the story that seems authentic and gives an added maturity to Artemis Fowl’s voice.

What are your favorite audiobooks? Where do you listen to your audiobooks?

Born Standing Up is one of the best biographies I have ever heard (I listened to the unabridged audiobook – more on that below), and definitely the best autobiography. Martin does a wonderful job retelling his life story (his “stand-up life” you could say) in a manner that is both entertaining and thought provoking. The book traces Martin’s career from his early performances, to his work on the Smother Brothers Comedy Hour, and then to when his act hit the big time, with a narrative that gives you a wonderful insight into his life. Throughout the book you begin to see that as funny as Steve Martin is, he had to work extremely hard to achieve his success, both in finding what was funny and dealing with setbacks along the way. He also provides glimpses of the role relationships (friends, business associates, family) helped shape his approach to life and, in turn, his comedy. Lastly, there are great anecdotes about working at Disneyland when he was 10, meeting Elvis, his early performances on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, and so on. I have to say that, after finishing this book, I have a new found respect for Steve Martin as a comedian, an actor, and a person, and it even led me to look up some of his old comedy clips on You Tube (hint: look for his magic or banjo clips, they really show how well rounded a performer he is).

I usually read a book before listening to the audiobook version, but this time I chose to do the audiobook first because it is narrated by Steve Martin himself. This really helped make the listening experience more complete, Martin’s narration felt more like a conversation with him and his feelings and emotions come through very well during the recording. The one thing I had not expected prior to listening to Born Standing Up was that Steve Martin is actually a very good banjo player (I originally thought it was only a part of his comedy bit), and he plays some tunes throughout the audiobook recording. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys reading biographies or Steve Martin’s work; though understand that the book is not a work of comedy but more a thoughtful recounting with funny moments. I would not recommend the book for young adults or children because the subject matter is a little too mature at times and the story refers to events in a time period they may not be familiar with (the 60′s, 70′s and early 80′s). As mentioned earlier, the unabridged audiobook version of Born Standing Up is narrated by Steve Martin and is available from Audible.com or other audiobook sellers. It is a relatively short audiobook (approximately 4 hours long) and is great for listening during the commute or even from the comfort of your home.

Buy Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life by Steve Martin on Amazon.