Most bang for buck at Audible?
March 5, 2019 6:08 PM Subscribe
I listen to a lot of Audible audiobooks and quite enjoy book series. I especially enjoy when I can get multiple titles for one credit (examples in the more inside). What are some of your favorite "multiple titles for one credit"?
For instance: all the Patrick Melrose novels; 3 Daniel Woodrell novels; Barry Gifford's Sailor & Lula books; Denis Johnson's 2 best, etc.
For instance: all the Patrick Melrose novels; 3 Daniel Woodrell novels; Barry Gifford's Sailor & Lula books; Denis Johnson's 2 best, etc.
Sidebar: my US based library has an audiobook service - aka free checking out of audiobooks! I use the Libby app. Maybe inquire if you have access through your local library.
posted by PistachioRoux at 6:30 PM on March 5, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by PistachioRoux at 6:30 PM on March 5, 2019 [4 favorites]
You can look into different membership clubs or whatever they call them. It's like an "all you can listen" pass within specific genres (e.g., romance), and though it does exclude the real standout titles, it does include a lot.
posted by slidell at 7:25 PM on March 5, 2019
posted by slidell at 7:25 PM on March 5, 2019
I was looking for The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad and came across this, all available for one credit on Audible:
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells (bonus book)
The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad (bonus book)
posted by JamesBay at 8:29 PM on March 5, 2019
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells (bonus book)
The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad (bonus book)
posted by JamesBay at 8:29 PM on March 5, 2019
Seconding Sherlock Holmes, but really rush immediately to download The Fall of the Gas Lit Empire, which is 30 hours of pitch-perfect narration spanning three novels of utter delight. I am listening to it a second time around right now and it's even more wonderful.
posted by DarlingBri at 8:30 PM on March 5, 2019
posted by DarlingBri at 8:30 PM on March 5, 2019
I didn't know about multiple titles, but I felt quite satisfied getting more than 60 hours of content per credit with these two excellent titles:
Alan Moore's Jerusalem, a luxuriantly long novel weaving the history of his native Northampton the development of English literature, a cosmology of time and space and the soul, the lives of all kinds of ordinary people, and the adventures of a ragtag bunch of kids causing trouble through the afterlife.
and Robert Caro's The Power Broker
I honestly don't know if I would find it as compelling if I didn't live in New York and could notice the things I was just listening about, or didn't already have an understanding of its geography and infrastructure.
(Caro, now in his 80s, is a few years from finishing the fifth and final volume of his magisterial LBJ biography, and each of the previous four volumes clock in around 40 hours. I'm literally salivating at the hope of getting the full set—200 hours of book—for 1 Audible credit sometime around 2023)
posted by Jon_Evil at 11:04 PM on March 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
Alan Moore's Jerusalem, a luxuriantly long novel weaving the history of his native Northampton the development of English literature, a cosmology of time and space and the soul, the lives of all kinds of ordinary people, and the adventures of a ragtag bunch of kids causing trouble through the afterlife.
and Robert Caro's The Power Broker
I honestly don't know if I would find it as compelling if I didn't live in New York and could notice the things I was just listening about, or didn't already have an understanding of its geography and infrastructure.
(Caro, now in his 80s, is a few years from finishing the fifth and final volume of his magisterial LBJ biography, and each of the previous four volumes clock in around 40 hours. I'm literally salivating at the hope of getting the full set—200 hours of book—for 1 Audible credit sometime around 2023)
posted by Jon_Evil at 11:04 PM on March 5, 2019 [2 favorites]
I prefer dramas to narration, so the bundles I enjoyed:
The Complete George Smiley Radio Dramas (8 dramas)
The Jane Austen BBC Radio Dramas (6 dramas)
Alan Bennett Plays (12 plays)
Noel Coward BBC Radio Dramas (7 plays)
Raymond Chandler BBC Radio Drama Collection (8 dramas, honestly, I truly enjoyed this series, but part of my enjoyment came from finding the hardboiled American accent that Toby Stephens does kind of hilarious)
Complete Sherlock Holmes read by Simon Vance - I like it so much better than Stephen Fry (and for any US listeners, the Fry version doesn't have The Case Book in the US).
posted by betweenthebars at 4:32 AM on March 6, 2019
The Complete George Smiley Radio Dramas (8 dramas)
The Jane Austen BBC Radio Dramas (6 dramas)
Alan Bennett Plays (12 plays)
Noel Coward BBC Radio Dramas (7 plays)
Raymond Chandler BBC Radio Drama Collection (8 dramas, honestly, I truly enjoyed this series, but part of my enjoyment came from finding the hardboiled American accent that Toby Stephens does kind of hilarious)
Complete Sherlock Holmes read by Simon Vance - I like it so much better than Stephen Fry (and for any US listeners, the Fry version doesn't have The Case Book in the US).
posted by betweenthebars at 4:32 AM on March 6, 2019
Thirding Libby! If you tried using Overdrive or some other mechanism to check out e-books from the library, Libby is so much easier! I have developed production code, been on the internet since before the WWW/Mosaic days, and I gave up on Overdrive as being way more complex than it was worth.
posted by elmay at 8:37 AM on March 6, 2019
posted by elmay at 8:37 AM on March 6, 2019
If you're into nonfiction, check out a bunch of the Great Courses/Teaching Company lectures on Audible. There is so so so much good content for 1 credit each course.
Also +1 to the audiobook of The Power Broker.
posted by twoplussix at 9:28 AM on March 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
Also +1 to the audiobook of The Power Broker.
posted by twoplussix at 9:28 AM on March 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
Nthing Libby or its sister app, Overdrive. I check out audiobooks from my local library for free. Every once in a while there will be a title that isn't available, but which Audible has, but it's fairly rare. I keep a list of those titles, and even after a year of listening to audiobooks on my long commute, I haven't felt like I needed to pay for Audible to get any of those books. (Also some of them, the library eventually got anyway.)
If you're looking solely for an answer to this granular question of Audible bang-for-buck, I'll second The Great Courses.
posted by the milkman, the paper boy at 10:40 AM on March 6, 2019 [3 favorites]
If you're looking solely for an answer to this granular question of Audible bang-for-buck, I'll second The Great Courses.
posted by the milkman, the paper boy at 10:40 AM on March 6, 2019 [3 favorites]
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