Audiobook recommendations for distraction from trauma/grief

October 23, 2024 8:08 AM

I lost a loved one recently. Need easy to listen to audiobooks to get me through my daily commute without weeping. Pop/chicklit/action fair, or maybe autobiography - quick moving with a plot or episodic structure I don't have to pay too much attention to - caveats inside.

No suicide, no intense discussion of mental illness (fleeting mentions are manageable), no intense depictions of any sister relationships (again, fleeting is fine). And ideally, not a terrible audiobook reader.

Things that have worked:
A few Emily Giffins - people we meet on vacation, funny story, happy place. (Two that did NOT: book club and the summer pact - due to content. Didn't get far in)
Stanley Tuccis' What I Ate In One Year which is just name dropping and charming descriptions of food, very safe.
First Lie Wins - slightly ridiculous thriller.
Yellowface - same.
The Paris Novel - luxury art and food. Barely followed the plot. Didn't love it but safe.

Books that haven't worked: Sally Rooney' Beautiful World and Miranda July's All Fours - loved them and finished but super triggering.

Books I didn't get far with:
The Heiress - early mention of suicide. The Creative Act - upsetting re: listen to the universe/acceptance talk. My Brilliant Friend - Had to listen for plot too much. Kevin Kwan's Lies and Weddings because the audiobook reader is incredibly annoying.
Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow - got into intense sister/illness discussion early on.

If you've made it this far - I'm not actually too high maintenance, I can try stuff and turn it off easily even if I do find it upsetting so don't be afraid to recommend something even if you're not 100% sure.

posted by stray to Writing & Language (16 answers total)

I recently listened to and enjoyed "Starter Villain", by John Scalzi. It's a lighthearted, fun, science-fiction-ish/comedy tale of a guy who inherits his uncle's supervillain business: https://www.audible.com/pd/Starter-Villain-Audiobook/B0C6FPMDGV

I have been told that if I enjoyed that one, I should also try Scalzi's "Kaiju Preservation Society".
posted by theatro at 8:19 AM on October 23 [7 favorites]

Tales of the City.
posted by johngoren at 8:21 AM on October 23

Sorry for your loss. In the autobiography vein:
- Bad Mormon by Heather Gay
- Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant by Curtis Chin
- Rental Person Who Does Nothing by Shoji Morimoto
- All In by Billie Jean King et al
posted by shock muppet at 8:27 AM on October 23

Excellent Women - Barbara Pym. This is a mid-20th century British novel of comedy and manners about a terminally single woman who has quietly yet overdramatically (in her head) martyred herself to perpetual singledom, woe be to her. She lets out a couple of rooms to more flamboyant people who have flamboyant love affairs right in her face, which she finds distressing, and she volunteers at church fetes and such and is forced to deal with church ladies who are also kind of distressing and her sweet little hopes for love always seem to her to be dashed before love can even begin and all she can do is sigh genteelly and make tea. Needless to say she is something of an unreliable narrator. Much of the gentle comedy comes from how frequently you notice her being oblivious to wannabe-paramours.

It is sweet and beguiling and gentle and full of small chuckles from start to finish (as opposed to rotfl bang-in-your-face raucous comedy). The conflicts in the narrative are all very midcentury and kind of removed from real life today without being jarringly alien or different because we are all so familiar with that type of british literary novel milieu, you know? That to me is just the right level of escapism.

The narrator is wonderful, absolutely perfect. She's expressive and communicative without being overwhelming, and overall pitch perfect. Again, if you're anything like me, the very accent and manner in and of itself is like being gently held in a familiar fantasy.
posted by MiraK at 8:45 AM on October 23 [2 favorites]

My go-to for this scenario is the "interesting science and nature" genre. Ed Yong, Mary Roach, Bill Bryson's various "how things work" books (also his One Summer: America, 1927, which was just an astonishingly busy summer in American history). Robin Wall Kimmerer's books are beautiful but don't shy away from discussion of colonization and climate change, if that's too heavy.

For fiction, Becky Chambers' A Psalm for the Wild-Built and A Prayer for the Crown-Shy are sweet and thoughtful stories about a Tea monk, Sibling Dex, and an old robot from the time before we shit the planet all up and it had to recover. Sibling Dex is having a bit of a vocation crisis, but it's a healthy one.

These are all fantastic audiobooks too.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:47 AM on October 23 [7 favorites]

Have you ever read The Princess Bride? Reading it is a completely different experience and has so much more plot to offer, and it will make you giggle. Get one of the anniversary editions, as there's bonus material.

Also, +1 for Bill Bryson books, and not just the encyclopedic stuff like the wonderful One Summer: America, 1927. His older travel stuff, especially Notes from a Small Island, so captivated me and had me roaring that a flight attendant came over to make sure I wasn't having a medical event. I was laughing that uncontrollably.

Also, also, since you liked his prior book, Stanly Tucci has a new one out, with more memoirish stuff and food. I think it's called Taste.
posted by The Wrong Kind of Cheese at 9:32 AM on October 23

If you like The Princess Bride movie at all, Cary Elwes' memoir of filming it, As You Wish, is entertaining. It has some sadness in it when remembering Andre the Giant, but in a warm and gentle way, and not addressing the subjects you want to avoid. Elwes reads it, and it also has cameos from various other folks on the cast and crew, so I found it extremely enjoyable to listen to.
posted by EvaDestruction at 9:46 AM on October 23

Terry Fallis's Operation Angus is a great story but not sure about the audio.
posted by Ftsqg at 11:14 AM on October 23

Julia Childs memoir is really good for this! Super gentle and mostly just about food and her life.
posted by carlypennylane at 12:09 PM on October 23

I have listened to all of these as audiobooks.

Sourdough by Robin Sloan - A software engineer receives a sourdough starter and peculiar instructions for feeding it.

Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe - A college student drops out to take car of her baby and turns to her retired pro wrestler father for advice on creating a character for her OnlyFans. I was kind of on the edge of my seat at parts of this but everything turns out fine.

Salt by Mark Kurlansky - The history of salt. It's everywhere.
posted by meemzi at 1:29 PM on October 23

I've been listening to favorite children's books since my father died: Mary Poppins, Winnie the Pooh, Oz,Beverly Cleary, Louisa May Alcott....
posted by brujita at 2:18 PM on October 23 [1 favorite]

I’m sorry for your loss. I’ve been surprisingly engrossed in Red Sauce, which is a fascinating history of Italian American red sauce. I find it really works for me as a soothing but engaging listen: a great combination of history and an affectionate tribute to Italian American food.
posted by lavenderhaze at 5:22 PM on October 23 [2 favorites]

I am very sorry for your loss. In terms the kinds of reads you are looking for, try Emma Straub's books like "The Vacationers" or "Pineapple Street" by Jenny Jackson or "The Nest" by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney.
posted by virve at 5:39 PM on October 23

Whimsical & of a simpler/more magical world:

Shady Hollow - Juneau Black
Frog and Toad - Arnold Lobel
How to be a Good Creature - Sy Montgomery. Also Soul of an Octopus
posted by seemoorglass at 7:36 PM on October 23 [1 favorite]

A little whimsical:
We Ride Upon Sticks, by Quan Barry - a girls' high school field hockey team makes a deal with the devil to win the state championship
It Ended Badly: Thirteen of the Worst Breakups in History, by Jennifer Wright - literally laughed til I cried while reading this
Eligible: A Modern Retelling of Pride & Prejudice, by Curtis Sittenfeld - I know, "modern retellings" are usually pretty bad, but I promise this one is good!
posted by airplant at 4:58 PM on October 25

Let’s Pretend This Never Happened is a wildly funny memoir

Most of my fiction is fantasy and a lot is also queer.

Running Close To The Wind by Alexandra Rowland was a surprise hit with me and narrated very well.

Travis Baldree’s fantasy novels are fun and sweet.

For fantasy action, Will Wight’s Cradle series (starting with Unsouled) is super silly and pulpy.
posted by itesser at 2:31 PM on October 26