What's "very last credit" worthy on Audible?

April 8, 2017 5:43 PM

I have one Audible credit to spend before my lowered rate trial membership ends. What, in your opinion, is the absolute best purchase on Audible right now?
posted by orange swan to Media & Arts (21 answers total)

I listen to a lot of audiobooks thanks to my 40-minutes-each-way commute. My favorite audiobook so far is The Martian. Very, very well done--much more interesting than the movie. If you like Sherlock Holmes at all, I'd also seriously think about Stephen Fry's reading of all the Sherlock Holmes stories. 62 hours is a lot of entertainment for one credit!
posted by Pater Aletheias at 5:47 PM on April 8, 2017 [8 favorites]

Seconding the Stephen Fry reading all of Sherlock Holmes if you like Sherlock Holmes at all.
posted by joyceanmachine at 5:51 PM on April 8, 2017 [2 favorites]

If you want length value for money, biting political and celebrity satire, hilarious absurdity, and a rollicking sort of American Road Movie kind of story, my recommendation is Freddy and Fredericka. It's a skewering of the British Monarchy (Freddy and Fredericka are slightly AU Charles and Diana) and the American political system and wealth and power and it is astoundingly funny and 25 hours long.
posted by Lyn Never at 5:55 PM on April 8, 2017

If the subject matter interests you "The Power Broker" is a great value at 66 hours in length.
posted by mikek at 5:55 PM on April 8, 2017 [2 favorites]

I am a fan of the great courses, which are available on audible for a credit each. The company that produces them finds proferssors who are known to be lively and engaging and contracts them to produce courses aimed at the general public. Exactly which one you should get depends on your interest, but I would reccomend "early middle ages", "high middle ages" or "late middle ages" all by Philip Daileader.
posted by Hylaea at 6:12 PM on April 8, 2017 [5 favorites]

The audiobook for the novel Lincoln in the Bardo. Besides how ludicrously star-studded it is, it's just also very well-produced, ambitious, and enjoyable.
posted by estlin at 6:22 PM on April 8, 2017 [7 favorites]

Team of Rivals is a nice 50 hour recording.
posted by Happydaz at 6:34 PM on April 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

Richard Armitage reading David Copperfield
posted by runincircles at 7:04 PM on April 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

Trevor Noah's memoir "Born A Crime" about growing up mixed-race in South Africa as apartheid was ending is amazing. And I think it's a must as an audiobook, since he narrates it himself. Having the different languages and accents really adds depth to it. And it's a really fantastic book too, heart wrenching and incredibly funny at the same time. If you're going to read it at all, do it as an audiobook.
posted by Caravantea at 7:37 PM on April 8, 2017 [5 favorites]

BTW, if you do not know about Hoopla, it is a FREE Audible type program with NO ADVERTISING!!! Has audiobooks as well as music and downloadable books. I always wanted Audible but thought the price was silly. 10 items a month absolutely free. I believe you have to have a library card to use it as it is offered in conjunction with public libraries. Great service.
posted by jcworth at 7:40 PM on April 8, 2017 [7 favorites]

11/22/63, if you don't have it already. Super gripping.
posted by Autumnheart at 8:42 PM on April 8, 2017

I really adored Mr. Penumbra's 24 hour Bookstore.
posted by 80 Cats in a Dog Suit at 9:27 PM on April 8, 2017

I just finished "The Enchanted" by Rene Denfield and liked it a lot, and "City of Thieves" by David Benioff is one of my favourite audiobooks of all time (read by Ron Perlman!)

jcworth: hoopla is great, but your library sets the amount of borrows you get per month. I'm so jealous your limit is at 10 - mine is only three! :'(
posted by euphoria066 at 10:04 PM on April 8, 2017

Rob Lowe's autobiography, read by Rob Lowe. Trust me.
posted by decathecting at 10:16 PM on April 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch. Fabulous book, fabulous reader.
posted by Vortisaur at 12:03 AM on April 9, 2017 [4 favorites]

I was riveted by the audiobook of The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell. Terrific story, fantastic narrators (each section has a different narrator) and many many many hours of listening pleasure.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 12:27 AM on April 9, 2017 [1 favorite]

A few years ago, my wife and I tried to find the best "hours per credit" value and came up with 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. It's 46 hrs and 50 mins for the price of a regular length audiobook. It's also a book we both enjoyed very much (although, if you're not already familiar with Murakami, perhaps not the best of his books to start with).
posted by borsboom at 2:58 AM on April 9, 2017

On The Move, by Oliver Sachs.
posted by Obscure Reference at 5:37 AM on April 9, 2017

Shantaram. No question.
posted by bluesky78987 at 8:04 AM on April 9, 2017

Two books that I enjoyed that were enhanced by the voices,/ accents of the speakers: Ken Follet's Fall Of Giants- WW1 tale, very long, so there's good bang for your buck. Or Maria Semple's Where'd You Go, Bernadette?
posted by Neeuq Nus at 2:47 PM on April 9, 2017

Two superb (and long) audiobooks I've recently listened to:

"A Gentleman in Moscow" - Beautifully written book about an aristocrat weathering 20th century Russia in a hotel

"Middlemarch" - Wonderful narration by Juliet Stevenson
posted by schrodycat at 1:02 PM on April 11, 2017