6 Books That Are Even Better as Audiobooks

Whether you’re driving, walking, doing mindless busywork, or just don’t feel like carrying around something larger than an MP3 player, sometimes an audio book can be your best friend. But not all print books transition well to audio format: sometimes a hilarious listy humor book sounds stilted when read aloud, or worse, every now and then a great novel gets saddled with that one reader who just loves doing “voices.” If you love audiobooks but have been burned on some duds, here are 6 that will not let you down:

Stories I Only Tell My Friends, by Rob Lowe
I listened to this book on a whim (I have a weakness for celebrity autobiography) and was shocked by how delightful and engrossing it was, especially considering that, pre-book, I felt lukewarm toward Rob Lowe at best. But after reading about his delightful, decades-spanning career—from crushing on an unknown Janet Jackson, to hanging with Tom Cruise on the set of The Outsiders, to appearing in Wayne’s World—I can appreciate Lowe’s Zelig-like talent of meeting or working with just about everyone in the biz, while keeping perspective on himself and his career. And he’s not at all a bad mimic: I’m sure this book is enjoyable in hardback, but if I didn’t listen to the audio version I wouldn’t have gotten to hear Lowe’s numerous voiceover talents (nothing beats his impression of Patrick Swayze). The book—and the way he read it—made me a fan in a way I didn’t see coming

Too Fat To Fish, by Artie Lang
The experience of listening to Lang’s memoir is its own adventure. Lang is, to put it mildly, a sad clown. The “baby gorilla” (Google it) has, both despite and due to his many personal problems (drug addiction, weight battles, mental health issues), become a beloved comic personality, as a standup, author, and Howard Stern regular. Lang’s unmistakable good-time rasp is a treat to listen to, except during the periods when he was too messed up to record his own memoir, in which case some of his comedy writing friends, like Bob Levy and Jim Florentine, pitch in. It’s like listening to Lang’s life in real time. Not too frequently when you’re listening to a book do you think—about the author, not the narrator—”I hope he makes it!” But with Lang, his problems became a part of the audiobook recording process for better or for worse.

Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn
Before Gone Girl, I’d never listened to an audiobook wherein two readers narrated two different characters. At first, the experience was a bit jarring, but after a while, I became totally connected to the voices performing Flynn’s freakishly engaging mystery. I can’t think of disappeared wife Amy without thinking of Julia Whelan’s voice, and the same with accused husband Nick and Kirby Heyborne. I think it’s the only way this mysterious thriller could have worked in audio—otherwise the book’s reader may have been forced to put on a secondary voice, which would not work in this twisty, turny story where you never quite know what the characters are thinking.

Shine Shine Shine, by Lydia Netzer
Typically I think an audiobook narrator’s voice should disappear into the narrative, but in the case of Netzer’s futuristic love story, Joshilyn Jackson’s reading performance makes the audiobook. Something about her quirky tone is just perfect for Netzer’s story about robots both literal and figurative, adding to the magical feeling of the book. Not to mention how easy it would have been to stumble in depicting the voice of Bubber, an autistic little boy, who Jackson chose to render in a voice that brings to mind a lovable automaton, which is basically the heart and theme of Netzer’s story.

My Lucky Life, Dick Van Dyke
Even if you were too young to have watched and appreciated The Dick Van Dyke show, or you somehow escaped childhood without seeing Mary Poppins, you’ll still be able to enjoy this telling of Van Dyke’s fascinating life in and out of show business. He performed onstage with legends like Chita Rivera, starred in arguably the foundational modern sitcom, and, despite his merry, optimistic, gracious persona, battled his own demons, too. Hearing Dick himself, all 85 years of him, narrate his book, warms the soul. It’s like having your grandpa read you his own amazing life story.

In the Garden of Beasts, Erik Larson
You know how The War of the Worlds made people think that aliens were actually invading Earth? Stephen Hoye’s narration in Larson’s horrific story of William E. Dodd’s time in Berlin in the ominous then terrifying leadup to World War II similarly place the listener in those awful days. I’m sure that reading the book is also terribly engrossing, but I’m convinced that hearing an actual human voice reading back the letters and memos and narrating the story serves the purpose of making it even more real, something that we can’t forget, no matter how surreal and horrible it seems in retrospect.

Do you think listening to an audiobook can be as good as reading it on paper (or onscreen)?