TTT: Top Ten Audiobooks

Top Ten Tuesday is a book blog meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's Top Ten topic is a freebie and, since half the time with these lists 
I'm gushing about which are fantastic audiobooks, my choice was a no-brainer. And so, in no particular order:

1. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, narrated by Rob Inglis
Inglis has a deep, resonating English voice absolutely perfect for Tolkien's Middle Earth. And he sings so well.

  

2. The Redwall series by Brian Jacques, featuring full cast narrations
It's not only full cast. Brian Jacques himself acts as the narrator on these versions. THE AUTHOR IS LITERALLY READING HIS BOOK TO YOU.

3. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle, narrated by the author.
Speaking of authors reading their books to you... She also narrated versions of A Wind in the Door and A Swiftly Tilting Planet.

4. The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede, narrated by Bruce Coville's WORDS TAKE WING full cast narration
I'm pretty sure I've mentioned these once or a dozen times.

5. Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer, narrated by Nathaniel Parker
My introduction to this series were the audios for The Arctic Incident and The Eternity Code. I'd already fallen in love with Parker's narration, and Colfer's brilliant story just made it a hundred times better.

6. Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz, narrated by Nathaniel Parker
If you're wondering, yes, this is where I fell in love with Parker's narration. My sister and I stumbled on this audiotape (yes, cassette tapes) at the library and listened to it obsessively for two or three years, always wishing in vain for more books in the series. Until, of course, we had the sense to Google it and realized there were already four more books in the series. Alas, the rest of them are narrated by Simon Prebble who, while good, simply isn't Nathaniel Parker.

  "This is my favorite book in all the world, though I have never read it." -The Princess Bride by William Goldman


These next four books are among those that I have never literally *read.* They're some of my favorites but part of their perfection remains in the audio versions.

7. Flushed by Carl Hiaasen, narrated by Michael Welch
Okay. You got me. I think the only reason I even picked up this audio oh so many years ago was because the narrator was in an episode of Stargate SG-1, as a young Jack O'Neill.

Luckily, it turned out to be an excellent book. I've read a few other Hiassen's since, but this is my favorite by far. It has a much less political/environmentalist/shoving-my-agenda-down-your-throat feel than the others, it's hilarious, and it has an awesome older brother/younger sister relationship.

8. Saffy's Angel by Hilary McKay, narrated by Julia Sawalha

9. Holes by Lois Sachar, narrated by Kerry Beyer

10. The Dark Hills Divide by Patrick Carmen, narrated by 
This was another chance discovery made by my sister and I one day hunting through the library shelves. It's a fantastic book, one of the first who presented me with an utterly unlikable character who actually grew into one of my favorites. It was fun, interesting, and something we listened to so often we practically had it memorized. The next two books unfortunately were not as enjoyable, and I haven't listened to any past that. Despite that, it remains a favorite.

There's more than 10. I'm really into audiobooks. Tomorrow I'll probably think of a dozen more I *should* have put on the list.

11. Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry, narrated by John McDonough
This might actually be the first audiobook I ever fell in love with, if not listened to.
This was later re-done by Edward Hermann (that's Richard Gilmore in Gilmore Girls) and, while I love his voice and he did a good job, I will always favor John McDonough's version over his.

12. Simon Bloom, The Gravity Keeper by Michael Reisman, narrated by Nicholas Hormann
Hormann's voice not only has a great accent, but a spectacular quality. It's whimsical; like the twinkle of a joke in someone's eye that's actually a secret. Don't believe me? Give it a listen. And trust me. It's a perfect fit with the tone of the story.

And there's twelve of my favorite audiobooks! What are some of yours?

Thanks for stopping by!