A Long Way Home by John Grogan (Marley and Me author)

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. LONG. Very good

Any audio book by Michael Lewis.

High Fidelity. This is about relationships but there's no hanky pinky described that I remember. Believe the reader is British, haven't listened to it for a while, but I do love that accent

Freakanomics

Several books by A.J. Jacobs were nice to listen to on audio and had funny parts.

Did you know that my public library allows me to download books to my iPad or computer-for free? Maybe yours does too? In which case you can have quite a selection going. I think I'm allowed to check out 30 at the same time. Best of all, they just disappear when due, no overdue fines.

I like detective novels in the car. Especially the Nero Wolfe books as read by Michael Pritchard.

I also like the Agatha Christie novels that Hugh Fraser reads, but the volume level variations can be difficult in my car, which has a lot of road noise.

If you like classic novels, audibooks4free.com has some excellent professional quality readers

Libri vox has a better selection of titles but can be quite amateurish, and I hate the way each chapter has a different reader. I can get used to most eccentricities of pronunciation, but not when I have start over every chapter. They do have an excellent Belgian woman who reads a lot of their French language books (foreign books seem exempt from the multi-reader thing), though, if you want to listen books in other languages.

As practigal said, most public libraries have downloadable audiobooks these days, too, which is the best way to get newly published books.

Beagles, thanks for the tips! We did enjoy a couple of AJ Jacobs books but sometimes would tire of the voice.

Practigal and Writersblock, thanks! My library does have audio download as well as a good selection of CDs (and what they don't have, I can get from other libraries in the system) I hadn't thought of doing that for the car. They play through the phone into the speakers, right? Is it easy to rewind while you are driving?

I've never listened to an audio book, but I'm curious how it works with multiple people in a car. I can imagine one of the passengers dozing off, however briefly. Do you stop and rewind and restart what they missed? Or keep rolling and fill them in? Or do they drop out because they can't figure out what's happened? Do you pause now and then for regular conversation?

Linelle, it seems like someone is always left out, either isn't interested or is working or falls asleep. We don't worry about it! If something urgent happens that someone missed, we pause and fill them in if they want it. Sometimes one person isn't normally interested in the subject matter and would never pick up the book to read at home, but will end up enjoying in the car. And since there is so much pulling us in different directions these days, I kind of like the bonding of "reading" a book together,

As for pausing/taking a break: absolutely. But if it's really good and the scenery dull, we let it play and the miles fly by.

i listen to audio books just around town, too. Since I'm often the only one in the car, I get to choose! But it's also been fun to have something going that the kids like, too, so Disappearing Spoon was perfect for the school runs when the kids were in Chemistry and History classes. Each element was good for a trip.

DH and I have enjoyed the Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum novels...they are really funny. We've also enjoyed Grisham together. Another favorite were the Sean Drummond novels by Brian Haig...intrigue and humor combined.

I love Stephanie Plum...those would be a good fit for the romantic books thread too! Personally I think lighter-than-usual books (YA, mystery, etc) work best for long car rides. They're a little more attention-grabbing. I love the idea of family listening to a book on a road trip. My husband and I did Elmore Leonard Justified-related audiobooks last year and really enjoyed them! Fire in the Hole (novella), Riding the Rap, Pronto and Raylan.

I get too distracted trying to listen to audio books. And I don't usually like the accents or voice of the reader. Don't ask me why. Maybe it's that I have a pre-conceived idea of what the character in a book series should sound like. I don't know what it is. I'm weird I guess. Stephanie Plum was one. There was another I tried to listen to that was supposed to be a southern character, and of course, everyone knows it's very hard to pull off a true southern accent very well if you're not southern. Nothing worse than a bad one.

OutsidePlaying, I get too distracted WITHOUT an audio book! My mind starts to wander and I don't pay attention to the road. An audio book, radio plays, that kind of thing, keeps that part of my brain busy while the driving part focuses. And you're right, a bad reader can ruin a good book. I've had some excellent books that I just couldn't listen to, but could read. I have to say, no one beats Jim Dale reading the Harry Potter books. I can't imagine the process for him! He keeps the subtle characterizations, and there are a lot of them, spot on. And Wil Wheaton is the perfect choice for What If. And I was pleasantly surprised when I enjoyed the reader of Travels with Charley, only to learn it's Gary Sinise!

I also find that books with too much "set up" in the beginning don't make for good listens. Robo is right, YA and light books make for good listens, they plunge you right into story.

as far as accents go, I think if you are not familiar with the accents, you can let it slide. (Though I did get a bit distracted wondering where Chicagoan Gary Sinise got a southernish accent to read a New England character in Travels With Charley.) If the accent is essential to understanding the character, like class or region of origin, then the subtleties can be lost. I find that especially with British readers of British books. I can hear the differences but I don't know where they come from, you know? So I may be missing some level if information, but I don't let it stop me from enjoying the book.

To Linelle's point, sometimes I find I like a series of shorter stories when travelling. Your party might all enjoy the Sherlock Holmes series, read by Rick Kishner (sp?). These are 45 minute short stories, very well read and, well, what more is there to say about AC Doyle's writing? You can find them HERE, just click on Itunes U under the twitter and fb icons. You can download them while on wifi before you leave instead of streaming.

I agree with writersblock that Librivox can be amateurish as the readers are volunteers. But anything read by Karen Savage (you can search by reader) I would recommend. Not sure if she is British, her accent varies by author, but her rendition is perfect. Among her books are Jane Austen's, The Treasure Seekers, and The Secret Garden (see fave children's book thread). These may not be the best selections for your travel companions, so consider this a PSA.

Also about librvox, you can search by "solo reader". I'm not a fan of the group read, or the dramatic read...

bp you asked about how to listen to audio:

If your car has bluetooth https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203412 

If you want car speaker audio but don't have bluetooth http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/162020530489?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true 

Be aware that streaming will use a lot of data. If you have space on your device, better to download them.

Happy Travels!

Holmes! Great idea!

Yeah, i think I'd download rather than stream. The car doesn't have Bluetooth. But I wonder if I have room on my devices to download? I'll have to check that out.

And thanks for the tips about good readers, and being able to search by reader. Right now I'm listening to a the Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella, read by Katherine Kellgrew (sp?) and I'm enjoying her voicing. I'd like to be able to find other books with the same reader. And now I can lol

I was listening to The Scarlet Letter as an audio book, and as would happen, I'd tune out for awhile only to realize I hadn't been listening. The language back then was so flowery, that I realized it was just like a soap opera....the plot moved so slowly that I didn't miss a thing!

Carl Hiaasen! Especially perfect for Florida. The James Herriot novels would also be terrific.

These are both non fiction but we enjoyed them -

A Short History of Nearly Everything - by Bill Bryson

and

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

But I wonder if I have room on my devices to download? I'll have to check that out.

Audibook files are pretty small, not like video. Most of mine average around 100 MB for five or six hours, some a bit more.

I love the audios of James Herriot and consider them the entertainment equivalent of Harry Potter.

However, I really enjoyed the Hunger Games series but it wasn't in the same league as ^^

Books that might appeal and I loved and so did my husband who is picky, the unabridged versions of The Day After Tomorrow and Chiefs. The UB version of King Rat is also riveting and well written, a feature necessary for me.

I generally hate audios read by the author.

If you like the classics -"To Kill a Mockingbird" is good on Audio.

If you want something really clean and you enjoy pastoral English village type stuff the Miss Read books are good.

As a previous poster mentioned Agatha Christie is great read aloud. I really enjoy the ones narrated by David Suchet.

The older books by Lisa Scottoline. They are female detective/lawyer stories and what makes them even better is the reader, Barbara Rosenblat. Most all take place in Philadelphia with reoccurring characters, but you don't need to listen in order.

Somehow I missed this thread or perhaps skipped over it when first posted since I can't seem stay focused when listening to an audiobook. However, I stumbled on it today. OP - thank you for posting about Travels with Charley! Both of my high schoolers have to read it this summer and both have procrastinated of course.

I completely forgot that using an audiobook is a great way to get my son to "read" required novels. Last summer the school requirement was All the Light We Cannot See, an incredibly long, difficult book for a teenage boy who hates reading. The audiobook saved us; we listened to it all summer long driving back and forth to his lacrosse tournaments. I had already read it and can't say I liked the audio version, but he'd never have gotten through it if he had to read it. I'm going to get the audio Travels with Charley now (my dd is reading the actual novel currently). It's brutally hot here with heat index around 110 for the next few days so he's mostly stuck inside. He can listen while he watches the Olympics on mute!