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People will occasionally tell me they think listening to an audiobook is cheating.
One of the great things about reading is you cant do anything else while youre reading.
One of the great things about listening to audiobooks is you’re free to.
Over the years, Ive learned that some books make satisfying listens and some just dont.
Sometimes an audiobook doesnt work because of the narrator; other times the book is overcomplicated and confusing.
I find that the best audiobooks are experiences in themselves.
Shoot me: Ive never seenYentl.
Its a great credit toMs.
We get it, Babs!
An entire chapter about her flirtatious conversations with Marlon Brando is just flat-out bananas.
Yes, in exchange for these gems, I listened to 30 minutes about the cinematography ofNuts.
Im okay with that.
The pinnacle comes early on, involving a fight she had with Walter Matthau on the set ofHello Dolly.
He told her he had more talent in his f-a-r-t-s than she does in her whole body.
Its hilarious to imagine this exchange, but its even funnier that Streisand wont say farts out loud.
So she just spells it.
I dont like the word, Streisand quips.
Im embarrassed to say it.
Its a real curiosity, maybe a good palate cleanser between Olivia Rodrigo albums.
(Theyre about the same length.)
Perplexingly, the best poem has the worst title: Why I Wish I Was Gay.
This time, author J.D.
Grimthorpe drops dead unexpectedly and Molly, who knew him in her childhood, helps solve the crime.
The books coda is especially charming.
Theres a lot of very usable, straightforward advice about how to handle the complications life throws at you.
Mackenzie has a doctorly kind of voice that makes it all go down smoothly.
Once I finished it, I imagined myself a little bit stronger of spirit.
Can you ask anything else from an audiobook?
I dont think so.
Winkler tracks his story from Yale Drama School andHappy Daysto his first Emmy win, in 2018, forBarry.
He does this with such amiable vocal aplomb that its hard not to fall for him.
Hes also pretty neurotic, and I appreciate his advice about never finishing a negative thought once it starts.
Tell that negative thought, I have no time for you!
Going forward, I will always have time for the Fonz, though.
Instead, she thanks the a-mayyyy-zzzing Michelle Williams for doing it for her.
Williams, who has played Marilyn Monroe onscreen, takes the rest of the five and a half hours.
Her performance only gets heightened when describing Spearss head-shaving incident.
By the end, one cant help wishing Spears found the strength to read the book out loud herself.
It would certainly have made discovering the woman in me more real and powerful.
Whod have thunk it, but John Stamos is a real romantic.
He talks about chugging Dimetapp and his childhood dream of a life in puppetry.
This is a real sleeper, a charming winner in a sea of celebrity biographies this fall.
It wound up being a true gateway drug to becoming the reader I am today.
Edoardo Ballerini, an expert reader, makes it all so seamless and absorbing.
You almost forget hes there.
(Well, as I do.)
(Husband Will Smith wouldnt stay over.)
Whats also interesting is how straightforwardly Fox narrates her own life.
John Stamos starts getting choked up at even mentioning one of his sisters; Henry Winkler laughs at himself.
Enough so that, despite some slightly unbelievable character choices, I was compelled from the beginning.
Its a lot ofAirplane!talk, sometimes too much.
But the movie wasnt exactly known for its subtlety.
), but Id say you could do a lot worse on your next flight to LAX.
So Im surprised how eagerly I now await his new releases.
This latest thriller continues the adventures of the quirky detective Holly Gibney, who made her first appearance inMr.
Mercedesback in 2015 (which is itself gripping on audio).
Justine Lupe, who was Conors long-suffering fiance onSuccessionand also played Holly in theMr.
MercedesTV adaptation, is a fantastic narrator.
Her take on the octogenarian professors is just a delight.
I can be nice and mean, and thats okay.
I had a friend listen to this for her gut reaction.
She turned it off after 30 seconds and told me I was crazy.
I told her I could be simultaneously crazy and also appreciate a Matthew McConaughey reading of a picture book.
(So didBarack Obama.)
So I gave it a shot on audio.
It helps that its read by January LaVoy, who is one of the busiest narrators in the business.
A great listen to take in in one sitting.
But it seems like thats only a road map for this audiobook.
Jones definitely takes the side roads which explains the running time here.
Its an appealingly rambling performance filled with added details and unmitigated emotion.
She sheds a lot of laughs but also a lot of tears.
Even if youre not a fan, this is a jaw-dropping, epic recording.
Its rare for me to enjoy listening to a book this long all the way through.
I just loved this.
Dont be put off by the length: Turns out its an audio page-turner.
She truly commits to narrating her story.
Theres a lot of beauty in that.
Some audiobooks of late are produced more like dramatic theater where multiple voice actors are given roles.
(Shes the late wife of the butcher who comes screaming to haunt Tevye in his dreams.)
Theres also a great story about picking up Robert Redford in a Humvee.
I shuddered through this entire listen, which is perhaps the highest compliment I can pay.
I honestly cant wait to listen again.
In other words, its recorded joy.
Im an unabashed Ann Patchett fan.
I readTom Lakeas soon as I got my hands on it.
If a book can be called swoon-worthy, this is it.
But I also cant think of anyone who could do this book better justice.
Theres a palpable wiseness to her voice, and Id follow it most anywhere.
The story of their divorce is a kind of textbook narcissism.
But Alices baby steps into adulthood are when the book truly flies.
The retelling of her journeys in and out of mental facilities are completely riveting.
(She was a dialect coach who apparently worked with every famous person on the planet.)
Each day, she said, should be a pocketful of happiness.
A mid-list author reconnects with (i.e., stalks) an old friend who suddenly has a must-read book.
They end up at a writers retreat in the Hamptons where contemporary hijinks ensue as past mysteries unravel.
Shens narration is a nice blend of wide-eyed and bitchy, which certainly kept me hanging on.
Still, its the audio equivalent ofa great summer page-turner.
Interspersed are quick, time-of-death monologues by the anonymous women he has murdered, all read by different actors.
By the climax, I was on the edge of my seat on the crosstown bus.
What separates us is the years well spend apologizing for it.
But I definitely chuckled a lot.
Its an added layer of humor that the book is read by Wilson,a child actress fromMatildaandMrs.
Doubtfire.Her take on a piece aboutOscar Isaacmaking marinara sauce is sublime.
This is all about rich families and their striving, struggling counterparts at an equestrian community in Southern California.
However, I just learned that Sager is actually a pen name for a fellow named Todd Ritter.
Lenora can only communicate with Kit on an old typewriter.
Much of my delight here came from the dual readers who switch between Kits and Lenoras perspectives.
For my money, though, my favorite Sager audiobook is still 2021s cat and mouseSurvive the Night.
As a reader and a stand-in for Ryan, Naeymi strikes just the right amount of frustration and anger.
If you have an interest in pop culture and Hollywood, its sort of unavoidable.
Pages accounts of how hes been treated by the entertainment industry provides a poignant companion piece toBurn It Down.
I couldnt help thinking that Page wanted us to know how much sex he has had since starring inJuno.
Oh, and its 2016.
But thesebeach readsseem to get more and more popular every year, so I figured Id give thisNo.
But then a book like Kellys comes along.
Maybe Im predisposed here.
When I first moved to L.A., I hung out a few times with Kelly via a mutual friend.
Its totally gripping: I couldnt take my earbuds out.
In this one, he chronicles a year jugglingHousewives, his precocious son, and a newborn daughter.
Theres self-reflection, self-effacement, gossip, humor.
I mean, there should be a National Book Award special citation for these books.
However, despite a longtime radio show, it turns out Cohen dislikes recording audiobooks.
Maybe it will get better.
It doesnt, but thats part of the fun here.
I started a handful of things I just didnt want to finish.
Ive not had much luck in the past withEmily Henry.
AndThe Covenant of Water,the new Abraham Verghese novel, is over 31 hours.
Though were in the middle of a writers strike, 31 hours is a lot.
Ten hours is much more manageable, andThe Wishing Gamegrabbed me from the beginning.
Obviously, there are a lot more-ingwords than 26.
I found this book, about a plane that crashes in the water, cinematicallycompelling.
I will say that the audio version is greatly enhanced by thevocalizingof Laura Benanti, though most things are.
I gather shes a TikTok personality.
Ive probably been listening to too many audiobooks and watching too muchSelling Sunsetto notice.
It helps that Tinx is both direct and self-effacing as shes offering it up.
Holy fucking shit, indeed.
Some of the discussion topics get really confrontational.
There are even breathy coughs by Ladd, and I cant tell if theyre on cue.
Theres some poetry, some heartbreak, some soul-searching.
So its especially rare for me to listen toanybook at 1.5x these days.
It means Im really enjoying living in a book.
Thats what I did here.
I just found Williamss gravelly speaking voice so soothing.
It made me happily revisitCar Wheels on a Gravel Roadagain, too.
I think bananas is a high form of praise, actually, and it certainly madeNatural Beautycompulsively listenable.
Kangs wide-eyed, innocent narration makes the listening experience even more compelling.
They each have unsavory husbands and make some hard-to-defend choices.
For someone so nice, Riveras claws can come out every once in a while.
She calls the ambitious side of her personality Dolores.
She also refers to this book as a memwa which I also admire deeply.
Weve all loved terrible people, Dederer says here.
How do I know this?
Because I know people and people are terrible.
It made me wish I was back in grad school.
Her grounded perspicacity just makes me want to slow down and think about the world as she does.
This ones about Vera Wong, a woman who owns a failing tea shop in San Francisco.
But Eunice Wongs clever narration especially her very funny take on Vera makes this a delight.
Like the perfect cup of Silver Needles tea.
This one takes place over the course of a cooking competition.
Maxwell adroitly moves the plot along as she shifts from character to character.
A pretty great Sunday binge and definitely less calories than a Battenberg cake.
That was a through line inHamiltonalso, but it will probably sink in more after hearing this.
(Thats in her documentary, too.
Its the story of Sallie Kincaid as she tries to survive all of the family drama around her.
Thats all a plus.
Walls does her own expert reading, which makes this good old-fashioned yarn all the more intimate.
Told in first person, it follows Maddie Wright, a young Ghanaian woman living in London.
Her family calls her Maame because it means the responsible one.
Sardonic, authentic, and a little bit sad, it moves along at a brisk pace.
Two of them, Wren and Alex, are ex-friends, rivals, and almost lovers.
Roza is also pretty over the top and not what she seems, perhaps even a charlatan.
Shalan, the narrator, elevates the whole production by giving her an off-centerJulia-Garner-as-Anna-Delveyvoice.
I hope, one day, Anderson will get to attack the Bards Great Dane on stage.
(Paging Ivo van Hove!)
The memoir ends with Anderson, 55, making a triumphant Broadway debut as Roxie Hart in the musicalChicago.
Who cares if she doesnt know how to pronounceGwen Verdon?
We say VER-don, she says ver-DON.
Tomato, tomahto, this is a celebrity audiobook aficionados dream.
Did I pick up every single bit of informationTimesreporters Stewart and Abrams dug up?
I mean, Im emotionally stirred by Pamela AndersonandJessica Simpson.
Time and again, as I zipped through it, Id text friends saying I hate Harry.
But I couldnt stop, becauseSpareis a strange, contemporary artifact in the game ofWhat Was This Person Thinking?
Just him announcing the title of his book and his nameby Prince Harryis weird.
Does he call himself Prince Harry when he signs up for a SoulCycle class?
Its probably unfair to wonder if, IRL, Harry actually uses the expressionsleitmotifandKafkaesqueandemotional cul-de-sac.
However, his short singing selection from Elton Johns Your Song is a surprising highlight.
Its a town where nobody talks.
That was a good thing … until it got where it was going.
There are a few seemingly disconnected strands here.
In the present, Maya is trying to kick a Klonopin habit without telling her current boyfriend.
But until the final scenes, Ramirezs narration is enthralling.
That happens to be one of my least favorite topics in the entire universe.
(Dont ask me to elaborate.)
(Youve gotta take your cues from somewhere.)
I feel like you might too.
Their story of a symbiotic and repellant relationship, read by Whelan, was plenty engaging for me.
Id recommend the contemporary parts if you’re free to just alternate chapters and skip to those.
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