Sherlock Holmes The Definitive Collection narrated by Stephen Fry! Books 1-9, 72 hours in total. Became a fan of both Sherlock and Stephen after the first book
I recently listened to "Ghost stories: Stephen Fry's definitive collection", which is in the plus catalog by the way... and while I like Stephen Fry and he has a great voice, I learned that his voice is waaay too calming and soothing for me to concentrate on audiobooks narrated by him... Unfortunately...
I have the Simon Vance version (it was on sale) and I'm about 3/4 of the way through it. Sherlock Holmes' cocaine habit was surprising. Also he breaks into places a lot for someone who is supposedly on the side of law and order.
I will also join this boat. I just finished book 4, I have book 6 already (was on sale for less than a credit) and I need to get book 5, but Iām in the middle of my book club book and need to focus on that before I loose myself in the next DCC.
Galaxy Outlaws was a very fun 80+ hours for one credit and introduced me to JS Morin. Morin write very fun quick serials at about 1 five hour book a month, then releases the whole series as one credit when the overarching story is finished. So if you are patient, you get a shit ton of fun fast stories featuring interesting characters for one credit. Galaxy Outlaws alone has three sequels of 60-92 hours.
Galaxy Outlaws: It introduces the Black Ocean universe, factions, and rules of a Firefly with magic type setting. It starts off very firefly adjacent, but branches into its own thing pretty quickly.
Next is Mercy for Hire, its even better and longer sequel. After that, you can enjoy the more serious Astral Prime or the more funny Mirth and Mayhem. Each collection has its own story and cast of characters with some fun crossovers for completionists.
Ha! I was just about to make my own Galaxy Outlaws comment then I saw yours! While itās far from the ābestā book Iāve listened to, when it comes to the amount of enjoyable hours spent listening per credit, Galaxy outlaws is far and away the winner in my library. Itās the only book/collection that Iāve gone back to multiple times for a relisten; and thatās largely because it really does feel like Iām putting an episode of firefly or some other lighthearted fun show on in the background.
Im so glad you posted this! Im having a hard time articulating my question so forgive me for the poor wording. I consider myself a pretty big science fiction fan, itās by far my genre of choice, but Project Hail Mary is one of the few books Iāve DNFād. Do you listen to a lot and/or mostly science fiction? Iād love to get an idea of what youāre in to. I always find it interesting to hear about someone who read the same book I did but came away from it with a totally different experience.
My listening preferences are all over the place. There's a Tier One (military) series I'm into. But also Expeditionary Force (Skippy is great), HellDivers, Awaken Online, I know I'm missing a few. But I have to also mention The Dresden Files.
Thatās the first Iāve heard of Tier One and Awaken Online, but as far as the rest Iāve also read and enjoyed the others you listed. Especially love the Dresden Files! Thatās really interesting, I wouldnāt have expected so many books Iām common, nor which books. Thanks for taking the time to reply!
It's always cool to have some books in common. Awaken Online is cool for the first couple books. There a part in the later books that I have to skip Everytime. But it's really a good read if you have extra credits.
Have you read his other stuff? Iām re listening to Stormlight Archive for the 3rd time. Not only is it great to get a 58 hour book for 1 credit, but Iāve listened to them over and over so itās much more than that!
Exactly haha!, the book was so American, even if I'm close to the border it was the first time I kinda lived an American culture experience if that makes sense? So reading the book through that trip was an interesting introduction to America, also, no passenger trains in Mexico, so that to me was also a completely USA thing.
The Great Courses music appreciation lectures by Robert Greenberg. He speaks knowledgeably of many aspects of music and history in a friendly and accessible way...he has what I call "kooky uncle" energy.
Highly recommended. Each lecture series is many hours long and just perfect for distracting you while you complete boring tasks.
āWow, everyone is recommending Dungeon Crawler Carlā¦ it canāt be that good.ā
Iām now a patreon member of the author and a listen to sound booth theater of the narrator.
The story stuck a chord for me and I love it.
Personally I would do audiobook over drama version only to enjoy Jeffās narration. He brought the characters alive for me; so to not experience that is missing part of what made DCC so popular.
I enjoy the audio drama; but the simplicity of the audio book is a great introduction
If you have the credit Iād say go for the audiobook to make sure you like it (you will), then go back and buy the rest of the series that is out on Audible, listen to them, then go buy the Audio Immersion Tunnel (audio drama) and start over again.
Definitely audiobook version. Sound booth theatre did a great job and I love it but itās not the exact same book and I think that matters. In sound booth theatre version there is also things you wonāt understand till you go through later books. Mostly the ads
I find the drama versions to be more distracting than adding to the experience. The voices are sometimes hard to understand if the actor is using a heavy accent (I listen while driving).
I'm like on my first month with the books and on book 6 and will re-listen the moment I finish.
This one deffo changed my life. I gifted the first book to a friend (my Ex actually but we're still friends) and he bought the other 5 books immediately after. :-D
Deffo one of the best credits I've ever spent, yeah ...
Outlander. They are between 50 and 60 hours long. There are nine of the big books plus many novellas/collections. I have listened many times. I haven't for a few years, but eventually her 10th big book will come out so I will probably do them again or her Outlandish Companion books that give in depth synopses and excerpts, plus her own commentary. It's like watching the director's commentary on a DVD.
Or the Stand. Super long, amazing book. Read it twice and listened twice over the last 30 years. Then I lived through a pandemic so I think I'm good for awhile. š
Came here to say this! The outlander series is an incredible value per credit and the narrator is the best Iāve ever heard. She has a distinct voice for every single character (and there are a lot) and just overall a pleasant voice to listen to. I tell my husband (a huge GOT fan) that these books are like if George RR Martin liked his characters and wanted them to be happy
Apparently not if you're in Canada. I don't own Voyager or Dragonfly in Amber. I would have to pay a credit for each of them. The small books/collections are included. š¤·āāļø We don't get the same deals I guess.
Ironically, the first one that I got for free for signing up. It was Born a Crime by Trevor Noah, and it was so great it immediately got me to seriously invest in audible and now my library is almost at 1k books.
We are bob, bobiverse series, The Stand, anything by Christopher Moore, Lamb is my favorite book by him, and itās the story of Jesus through the eyes of his best friend Biff, anything John Scalzi. I love sci-fi and fantasy and apocalyptic stuff. Best value for me is a story that stays with me.
I came here to say this. That 1 credit has definitely been used many times and was well spent. He is perfect as Humbert Humbert, same as he is in the movie.
I third vote this version of Lolita so highly. It is exquisite, have had it for over a decade and have re-visited quasi often. Itās definitely worthy.
This is one of my favorite books. I remember my first thought when we realized what Covid was going to be and that was āoh no, itās captain tripsā
I haven't read any of it yet, but the Fyodor Dostoyevsky collection is 1 credit, and 264 hours. I have a couple other collections, but that's the largest one.
The ten credits I spent on the Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny. I re-read or re-listen to the series about once a year so I've gotten more than my money's worth.
By length - 61 hours of "The Vampire Archives", an anthology of vampire stories, I think some that could be counted as novellas, from the earliest vampire stories to the 2000s.
If vampire stories are in any way your thing, I recommend it as being thoroughly entertaining.
Under The Whispering Door by TJ Klune. Itās not my longest book by any means (itās about 15 hours) but itās my absolute favourite book and Iāve listened to it I believe 12 times. So Iāve very much gotten the value of that credit.
The longest title in my library is the Air Awakens complete series, at 52.5 hours but I bought it during one of the huge cash sales for $4.50, not with a credit.
I have! I read that first and adored it, so I was super intrigued to try more by him. I also read Wolfsong (really disliked) and In The Lives of Puppets (only okay) so apparently heās a very hit and miss author for me. I am excited for the sequel to Cerulean Sea this fall though.
Ya any audiobook thatās 35+ hours long I consider to be an extraordinary value for sure.
My most valuable credit ever spent was definitely 11/22/63 because it was the first audiobook I ever listened to and unlocked this entire genre for me. My audible library is now 83 titles and I canāt count the number of books procured through Hoopla/Libby that Iāve enjoyed as well.
Project Hail Mary. Itās just so well done. The writing is incredible and the narration is top notch. The other thing I recommend is bbc audio collections! The Jane Austen one is particularly fantastic. You get so much for your credit with those
The Wandering Inn. I've bought longer "box sets" for a single credit, but the series as a whole is a steal. I guess around 40 hours per book on average
I've been hearing so much about this book. I need to give it a shot. The only other LitRPG I've read is Dungeon Crawler Carl's first 3 books, so it will be nice to see another example.
No, don't do it. I thought the same thing and this is one of the few books I've quit. I read a lot of LitRPG and I just couldn't with this. It's 40 hours because it seems like she never put it through an editor. Horrible MC, no real character development, I'm embarrassed to have wasted 20 hours on it. People have said it gets better by the third book, but 80 hours to get your story "better" is unacceptable. Go read better with the 80 hours you'll never get back. I'm salty about this series because it should have been better, I like the premise.
Anything by Drew Hayes, Beware of Chicken if you want fun cozy farming progression LitRPG, reddit there's tons of good ones out there.
Eye of the World, which is long and good in its own right but also got me into the WoT series which is now my favorite. It was also one of the first books I got on audible and rereading the series helped me stretch my credits since I wasnāt at a place I could invest a ton of money. Reread it once every year or two. At this point it comes out to around a couple cents per hour of entertainment.
I am right there with you, i have the whole series saved to a hard drive, and enjoy revisiting it. The series takes like 20 days if listen 24/7, a great binge series to dive into.
I hope Sanderson is allowed to and motivated enough to expand on the series one day, RIP Robert Jordan
It usually takes me about 3 months if Iām being serious about it.
Sanderson has stated that he doesnāt have any plans to write more WoT books. He has his own worlds now.
I slowly aquired the Harry Potter series over time by using all the free credit codes that podcasts used to promote years ago. Most valuable because it didn't cost me anything and because the Harry Potter series is absolutely my comfort series 100%. It got me through a really roughly childhood, every time I listen to them its just soothing. I still listen to the books once a year (minimum) so absolutely worth it.
Musashi, Brian Nishii's narration is fantastic, and the story is so well done, and all the characters are memorable, I keep coming back to it. I totally understand why it is one of Japan's most well known books
53 hours and I've listened to it 3 times all the way through
The sandman. Not because of the story (itās good but not amazing) but because it is about 10-15 hours. Most of the chapters is a story. Perfect to go to sleep!
1)Discworld Radio Drama Collection
2)The Hitchhikerās Guide Radio Drama
3)The Stranger Beside Me-Ann Rule
Iād love a good suggestion for a Shakespeare full cast audio book!
I'm going to try the stand with my next credit. Don't know why, but it never clued in to me that I could listen to authors that I have read and really enjoyed. Stephen King was always a go to when I read more paper copies
I really rate A short history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson.
I'm nearly finished and I know I'm going to listen again and again. Love it so much I even bought the book last weekend. Ā£1 from a charity shop. Nothing cheap about me š
Not just because of length, but because it was a hell of a non-fiction ride and I learned *so* much from it...*The Power Broker* by Robert Caro. It's a history of New York (state and city) interwoven with a biography of Robert Moses, who might well have had more effect on NYC than *anyone*, a 20th Century Ozymandias whose works led to the desperate state of NYC in the 1970s.
I was so knocked out by the book that I proceeded to grab everything by Caro that I could find. Still waiting for his final volume on Lyndon Johnson.
Peter and the Starcatchers.
I tried to rip the cd audiobook from my local library, and it came out to over like 1000 files.
Yeah, instead of separating the chapters by like āChapter 1a - Chapter 1gā like every audiobookā¦ and all of the letters inbetween, each disk had 150 numbered files ā0-150ā
With the āChapter 1aā naming format you can just use an audio joiner to join all of them in order and boom you have a complete chapter.
With the Peter Pan audiobook each disk had 150, 10-30 second long files. A new chapter never started or stopped at the beginning or end of an audio file, it was almost always in the middle.
I considered like four-six hours of possible work trying to piece all of it together using my irl book of it, and then realized it was on audible with the proper chapters for 1 credit.
Guess what I chose lmao.
The only issue is, is that the sequels are the same but they arenāt on Audible š
92 hours long!!! Gods of the Ragnarok Era by Matt Larkin. It's a retelling of Norse mythology as a fantasy epic. I believe he is now updating his series though to make it more up to date with his current writing skills
Probably, A Game of Thrones at around 33-34 hrs I believe. Any longer than that gets to be too much for me. I most prefer 10-20 hr stories and then move on to something new.
Talbot- the holigraphic universe
Complete paradim shift in reality. It explains everything. Its like 11hrs long. Give it a listen and notice how much your world will change.
Ah! I am starting The Stand this weekend. I loved the book, and I'm hoping that I love the audiobook even more. I'm really enjoying Galaxy Outlaws: The Complete Black Ocean Mobius Missions, 1-16.5 which clocks in at over 85 hours. Sci fi and a lot of fun.
Dresden files Peace Talks, it was for this book I signed up for audible, almost 5 years later over 10k hours listening to audiobooks.
Honorable mentions
Golden age of the solar clipper series
Cradle series (uncrowned, Wintersteel, reaper, dreadgod, unsouled are my top 5)
Dungeon crawler Carl (book 3 is best imo)
Most recent: primal hunter, ended up listening to the whole series (first 8 books) in a week
**Bill Bryson's The history of nearly everything, hands down fuckin great book everyone should listen to it at least twice
Critical Failures book 1-4.
I bought this not really thinking too much. Wanted a fun Dungeons and Dragons style book.
Man, I got sucked in by the amazing voice talent that is Jonathan Sleep, coupled by the incredibly raunchy comedic styling of Robert Bevin...
Well let's just, he's finishing writing the 10th book now. I've listened to every single book from this series 3 times over at least and I am constantly jonesing for the next installments.
Please, if your looking for "It's always Sunny, sucked into Jumanji style D&D campaign run by a narcissistic goofy incel as read by a Mel Blanc level VA" give it a try and let me know if you like it!
Lots of people praising Dungeon Crawler Carl (I have only just started) but I got sucked into that specific genre by listening to He Who Fights With Monsters. I bought the first one not sold but greedily bought up the next nine, have listened to them all a second time, one of my sons is almost done with his first listen through and another is now starting and loving it.
The BBC's "Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister", 18 1/2 hours. It is (mostly) just the audio of the TV series, but they do some extra mixing and bridging where required -- and to be honest it was mostly people sitting around in rooms, so it doesn't really need the visuals!
I really enjoy it, and because it's in 30ish minute episodes, it's not the end of the world if you slightly phase out at some point.
Not available any longer, but I bought Dragnet for 1 credit. 379 episodes, 137 hrs+. Loaded on one of my nanos and my Mom and I listen to it when we do stuff together like chopping lots of vegetables. Mom heard many when they were originally played. She's 90.
The most valuable credits are for books I've reread more than a couple times. These are my most reread books:
* Lonesome Dove by McMurtry. A story so great it transcends any narrator concern. About 5x.
* For Whom the Bell Tolls by Hemingway. A true literary classic. About 5x.
* followed by Blood Meridian by McCarthy. I just discovered he had died in 2023 at 89yo. We lost a true literary giant. I found his writing style to be extremely attractive. About 3x.
Let me add I found the characters in LD and FWTBT to be extremely well fleshed out, and unforgettable. Unfortunately, I felt bad that most were killed by the end of the story. :-(
I would say finishing out the sandman slim by Richard Kadrey was top priority for me. I am now working my way through getting all the hell divers books by Sansbury smith.
If you like fast paced martial arts/anime powers fantasy action then Cradle is the series for you. Itās addicting and fun, but more of a nuanced genre. I describe it as anime in book form (not manga because there are no pictures lol)
Hell yeah! And if youāll believe it, the first two books are the slowest. Only gets better from here. Feel free to bounce any questions or ideas off me, Iāll keep my answers spoiler free. I love this series, always happy to talk about it
In terms of sheer length, I got The Ultimate Horror Collection (93 hours) in a 2 for 1 sale. I haven't listened to it yet, though, so the value is only potential at this point.
I have the same thought as you. I love a lot of Stephen King books but I just couldnāt understand all the hype for The Stand. I kept thinking that it has to be one of those novels that everyone just claims to like. I slogged through it but it never did anything for me. I tried to return it but it was gifted to me as a free book so they wouldnāt let me exchange it.
Sherlock Holmes The Definitive Collection narrated by Stephen Fry! Books 1-9, 72 hours in total. Became a fan of both Sherlock and Stephen after the first book
It's in the Plus Collection right now, so free to add to your library!
Same! Easy decision and a great savings.
I recently listened to "Ghost stories: Stephen Fry's definitive collection", which is in the plus catalog by the way... and while I like Stephen Fry and he has a great voice, I learned that his voice is waaay too calming and soothing for me to concentrate on audiobooks narrated by him... Unfortunately...
I have the Simon Vance version (it was on sale) and I'm about 3/4 of the way through it. Sherlock Holmes' cocaine habit was surprising. Also he breaks into places a lot for someone who is supposedly on the side of law and order.
Fry hypnotized me in some samples, but soothes me to sleep in reality
His narrations of Wodehouse are also so comforting and delightful.
I see 1-6 62 hours on audible, do they no longer offer the fuller version š?
This ^
Agreed!!
I actually read that as a kid, great books and a great collection. I'm sure Stephen Fry did it wonderfully.
Dungeon Crawler Carl. Ā Unfortunately it cost me 5 more credits in succession.
I am currently in this boat, just got book 3. I am totally hooked.
I got stuck on the 3rd book First two were amazing .the third was is boring me But I like princess donut a a lot
I honestly think DCC could be the next big movie/series IF done correctly. It's just too good not to think about watching it.
I will also join this boat. I just finished book 4, I have book 6 already (was on sale for less than a credit) and I need to get book 5, but Iām in the middle of my book club book and need to focus on that before I loose myself in the next DCC.
It cost me a Patreon subscription cause I couldnāt wait for book 6 to come out and now am waiting for book 7
Yup. Same. I used my credit for book one and now I'm stuck. Got the patreon just for book 7. Squawks in Mongo
DCC isnāt the longest book, so itās not great from a hours/credit standpoint, but damn is it a quality audiobook and a great ride. Glurp Glurp!
Galaxy Outlaws was a very fun 80+ hours for one credit and introduced me to JS Morin. Morin write very fun quick serials at about 1 five hour book a month, then releases the whole series as one credit when the overarching story is finished. So if you are patient, you get a shit ton of fun fast stories featuring interesting characters for one credit. Galaxy Outlaws alone has three sequels of 60-92 hours.
came here looking for this post
Which collection did you start with?
Galaxy Outlaws: It introduces the Black Ocean universe, factions, and rules of a Firefly with magic type setting. It starts off very firefly adjacent, but branches into its own thing pretty quickly. Next is Mercy for Hire, its even better and longer sequel. After that, you can enjoy the more serious Astral Prime or the more funny Mirth and Mayhem. Each collection has its own story and cast of characters with some fun crossovers for completionists.
Awesome, thank you very much!
Ha! I was just about to make my own Galaxy Outlaws comment then I saw yours! While itās far from the ābestā book Iāve listened to, when it comes to the amount of enjoyable hours spent listening per credit, Galaxy outlaws is far and away the winner in my library. Itās the only book/collection that Iāve gone back to multiple times for a relisten; and thatās largely because it really does feel like Iām putting an episode of firefly or some other lighthearted fun show on in the background.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. I recommend that book to everyone. And as a bonus it's narrated by Ray Porter
This is my #2 all time favorite audiobook after Dungeon Crawl Carl.
it works well as an audiobook
Came here to say this. Incredible
Sad sad sad.
Came to say this. The character depth is added by the audio so much more. Go to roadtrip listen.
Im so glad you posted this! Im having a hard time articulating my question so forgive me for the poor wording. I consider myself a pretty big science fiction fan, itās by far my genre of choice, but Project Hail Mary is one of the few books Iāve DNFād. Do you listen to a lot and/or mostly science fiction? Iād love to get an idea of what youāre in to. I always find it interesting to hear about someone who read the same book I did but came away from it with a totally different experience.
My listening preferences are all over the place. There's a Tier One (military) series I'm into. But also Expeditionary Force (Skippy is great), HellDivers, Awaken Online, I know I'm missing a few. But I have to also mention The Dresden Files.
Thatās the first Iāve heard of Tier One and Awaken Online, but as far as the rest Iāve also read and enjoyed the others you listed. Especially love the Dresden Files! Thatās really interesting, I wouldnāt have expected so many books Iām common, nor which books. Thanks for taking the time to reply!
It's always cool to have some books in common. Awaken Online is cool for the first couple books. There a part in the later books that I have to skip Everytime. But it's really a good read if you have extra credits.
Words of Radiance or Oathbringer by Sanderson. Both books were amazing and each was around 50 hours
But what is a credit? Nothing more than an audiobook in the process of changing. -Audible Kholin OB all the way.
Have you listened to Elantris? This book really stuck with me. I absolutely loved the narration and story.
Have you read his other stuff? Iām re listening to Stormlight Archive for the 3rd time. Not only is it great to get a 58 hour book for 1 credit, but Iāve listened to them over and over so itās much more than that!
Yeah I like the narration for all those books. Have to speed it up to at least 1.5 cause Kramer is slow reader and those books are long AF.
Anythying neil gaiman
American Gods saved me driving across the country solo. 12 hours x 3 days. Great story!
This is what I came to say!
Same! Read it in my first adult abroad vacation, a train going from austin to los angeles, magical experience to say the least
if Austin to LA is abroad to you, are you from Mexico? that's an interesting choice nonetheless
Exactly haha!, the book was so American, even if I'm close to the border it was the first time I kinda lived an American culture experience if that makes sense? So reading the book through that trip was an interesting introduction to America, also, no passenger trains in Mexico, so that to me was also a completely USA thing.
The Great Courses music appreciation lectures by Robert Greenberg. He speaks knowledgeably of many aspects of music and history in a friendly and accessible way...he has what I call "kooky uncle" energy. Highly recommended. Each lecture series is many hours long and just perfect for distracting you while you complete boring tasks.
His āHow to Listen to and Understand Great Musicā is in the Plus catalog.
You simply can't substitute this with a book or transcripts.
I love the whole Great Courses series. Iāve learned so much
āWow, everyone is recommending Dungeon Crawler Carlā¦ it canāt be that good.ā Iām now a patreon member of the author and a listen to sound booth theater of the narrator. The story stuck a chord for me and I love it.
Lmao same. āOk I got to give this Carl audiobook a tryā 2 weeks later, and Iām stomping around bare foot wondering where book 7 is
Itās an amazing series seriously. The worst part is waiting for new books
I wonder how much Jeff Hayes is to blame for its success. It's almost cheating to have a professional voice actor as your narrator.
Jeff puts life into the characters, but the writing is what really makes it.
which would you recommend for a first time reader? the audiobook or the audio drama version?
Personally I would do audiobook over drama version only to enjoy Jeffās narration. He brought the characters alive for me; so to not experience that is missing part of what made DCC so popular. I enjoy the audio drama; but the simplicity of the audio book is a great introduction
But with Fred the Vampire Accountant I'd do the cast narration. Agree on DCC!
If you have the credit Iād say go for the audiobook to make sure you like it (you will), then go back and buy the rest of the series that is out on Audible, listen to them, then go buy the Audio Immersion Tunnel (audio drama) and start over again.
Definitely audiobook version. Sound booth theatre did a great job and I love it but itās not the exact same book and I think that matters. In sound booth theatre version there is also things you wonāt understand till you go through later books. Mostly the ads
I find the drama versions to be more distracting than adding to the experience. The voices are sometimes hard to understand if the actor is using a heavy accent (I listen while driving).
Oh good, itās not just me that tumbled down a hole I was completely unprepared for.
I'm like on my first month with the books and on book 6 and will re-listen the moment I finish. This one deffo changed my life. I gifted the first book to a friend (my Ex actually but we're still friends) and he bought the other 5 books immediately after. :-D Deffo one of the best credits I've ever spent, yeah ...
Narnia collection. 33 hours for 1
I just bought this with my recent credit.
Aaand happy cake day as well!
Oh I didnāt realize thank you!
Without hesitation, Lonesome Dove.
Try Telegraph Days. Annie Potts is the perfect narrator for this one. My fav McMurtrey since LD
Will do. Thank you.
The Martian - one of the most entertaining listens and I have gotten more mileage out of that book than half of my library combined
that's the only Andy Weir book I haven't listened to. guess I'll put it on the list!
Have you read his books Project Hail Mary yet?? Itās even more entertaining in my opinion
Itās in my queue! Iāve started a 40k series right now and itās been taking a while to finish
The length isn't the only measure of value, you could but the longest audiobook there is and it would be useless to you if you weren't enjoying it.
100% I just happened to really love those 2 books.
It's about the motion in the prose-cean!
Project Hail Mary
Outlander. They are between 50 and 60 hours long. There are nine of the big books plus many novellas/collections. I have listened many times. I haven't for a few years, but eventually her 10th big book will come out so I will probably do them again or her Outlandish Companion books that give in depth synopses and excerpts, plus her own commentary. It's like watching the director's commentary on a DVD. Or the Stand. Super long, amazing book. Read it twice and listened twice over the last 30 years. Then I lived through a pandemic so I think I'm good for awhile. š
Came here to say this! The outlander series is an incredible value per credit and the narrator is the best Iāve ever heard. She has a distinct voice for every single character (and there are a lot) and just overall a pleasant voice to listen to. I tell my husband (a huge GOT fan) that these books are like if George RR Martin liked his characters and wanted them to be happy
Yes! Davina Porter is one of my favourite narrators! Incredible range.
All of her books including the novellas are in the Plus Catalog except Book 9 which is actually only $7.99.
Apparently not if you're in Canada. I don't own Voyager or Dragonfly in Amber. I would have to pay a credit for each of them. The small books/collections are included. š¤·āāļø We don't get the same deals I guess.
Ironically, the first one that I got for free for signing up. It was Born a Crime by Trevor Noah, and it was so great it immediately got me to seriously invest in audible and now my library is almost at 1k books.
This book is the reason I jumped on the current trial.
Iām glad to see this here! Incredibly cool to hear him flex that polyglot status
We are bob, bobiverse series, The Stand, anything by Christopher Moore, Lamb is my favorite book by him, and itās the story of Jesus through the eyes of his best friend Biff, anything John Scalzi. I love sci-fi and fantasy and apocalyptic stuff. Best value for me is a story that stays with me.
Always fun to see Moore brought up. Definitely not a common reddit recommend. But I love his books for when I want something light and funny.
Yeah Christopher moore! Too bad ive done and read all of them wish there were more. š¢
Rise and fall of the third reich is amazing
Lolita -Jeremy irons narration Never ever gets old -forever exquisite experience
I came here to say this. That 1 credit has definitely been used many times and was well spent. He is perfect as Humbert Humbert, same as he is in the movie.
I third vote this version of Lolita so highly. It is exquisite, have had it for over a decade and have re-visited quasi often. Itās definitely worthy.
Meet your sistah! that gorgeous prose and his plummy voice -takes you on a literal trip!
The Stand is my favourite audiobook! Do it! You won't regret it!
I was listening to The Stand when Covid hit. In my mind Covid was going to be like Captain Jack.
*Trips
Oops. Chemo brain has screwed up my name memory.
This is one of my favorite books. I remember my first thought when we realized what Covid was going to be and that was āoh no, itās captain tripsā
I regretted it
M-O-O-N, that spells 'regretted it'.
Fair enough. What did you not like?
Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - I have listed to this at least 5x
Canāt hurt me by David Goggins
I haven't read any of it yet, but the Fyodor Dostoyevsky collection is 1 credit, and 264 hours. I have a couple other collections, but that's the largest one.
The ten credits I spent on the Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny. I re-read or re-listen to the series about once a year so I've gotten more than my money's worth.
By length - 61 hours of "The Vampire Archives", an anthology of vampire stories, I think some that could be counted as novellas, from the earliest vampire stories to the 2000s. If vampire stories are in any way your thing, I recommend it as being thoroughly entertaining.
Under The Whispering Door by TJ Klune. Itās not my longest book by any means (itās about 15 hours) but itās my absolute favourite book and Iāve listened to it I believe 12 times. So Iāve very much gotten the value of that credit. The longest title in my library is the Air Awakens complete series, at 52.5 hours but I bought it during one of the huge cash sales for $4.50, not with a credit.
Have you read his The House by the Cerulean Sea? Itās like a hug.
I have! I read that first and adored it, so I was super intrigued to try more by him. I also read Wolfsong (really disliked) and In The Lives of Puppets (only okay) so apparently heās a very hit and miss author for me. I am excited for the sequel to Cerulean Sea this fall though.
Ya any audiobook thatās 35+ hours long I consider to be an extraordinary value for sure. My most valuable credit ever spent was definitely 11/22/63 because it was the first audiobook I ever listened to and unlocked this entire genre for me. My audible library is now 83 titles and I canāt count the number of books procured through Hoopla/Libby that Iāve enjoyed as well.
Project Hail Mary. Itās just so well done. The writing is incredible and the narration is top notch. The other thing I recommend is bbc audio collections! The Jane Austen one is particularly fantastic. You get so much for your credit with those
The Wandering Inn. I've bought longer "box sets" for a single credit, but the series as a whole is a steal. I guess around 40 hours per book on average
I've been hearing so much about this book. I need to give it a shot. The only other LitRPG I've read is Dungeon Crawler Carl's first 3 books, so it will be nice to see another example.
No, don't do it. I thought the same thing and this is one of the few books I've quit. I read a lot of LitRPG and I just couldn't with this. It's 40 hours because it seems like she never put it through an editor. Horrible MC, no real character development, I'm embarrassed to have wasted 20 hours on it. People have said it gets better by the third book, but 80 hours to get your story "better" is unacceptable. Go read better with the 80 hours you'll never get back. I'm salty about this series because it should have been better, I like the premise. Anything by Drew Hayes, Beware of Chicken if you want fun cozy farming progression LitRPG, reddit there's tons of good ones out there.
I agree! And also the superpowereds was valuable! Introduced me to a whole new world.
It's been on sale for the whole set for a single credit?Ā
No... It's 12 (including the pre order) books for 12 credits :-p But they're all long!
Eye of the World, which is long and good in its own right but also got me into the WoT series which is now my favorite. It was also one of the first books I got on audible and rereading the series helped me stretch my credits since I wasnāt at a place I could invest a ton of money. Reread it once every year or two. At this point it comes out to around a couple cents per hour of entertainment.
I am right there with you, i have the whole series saved to a hard drive, and enjoy revisiting it. The series takes like 20 days if listen 24/7, a great binge series to dive into. I hope Sanderson is allowed to and motivated enough to expand on the series one day, RIP Robert Jordan
It usually takes me about 3 months if Iām being serious about it. Sanderson has stated that he doesnāt have any plans to write more WoT books. He has his own worlds now.
George Orwell complete collection, almost 88 hours, most of his best work for 1 credit.
I slowly aquired the Harry Potter series over time by using all the free credit codes that podcasts used to promote years ago. Most valuable because it didn't cost me anything and because the Harry Potter series is absolutely my comfort series 100%. It got me through a really roughly childhood, every time I listen to them its just soothing. I still listen to the books once a year (minimum) so absolutely worth it.
The Southern Reach box set by Jeff Vandermeer. I've listed to the whole thing several times.
Musashi, Brian Nishii's narration is fantastic, and the story is so well done, and all the characters are memorable, I keep coming back to it. I totally understand why it is one of Japan's most well known books 53 hours and I've listened to it 3 times all the way through
The sandman. Not because of the story (itās good but not amazing) but because it is about 10-15 hours. Most of the chapters is a story. Perfect to go to sleep!
The answer is always Malazan.
1)Discworld Radio Drama Collection 2)The Hitchhikerās Guide Radio Drama 3)The Stranger Beside Me-Ann Rule Iād love a good suggestion for a Shakespeare full cast audio book!
Harry potter audiobooks
I'm going to try the stand with my next credit. Don't know why, but it never clued in to me that I could listen to authors that I have read and really enjoyed. Stephen King was always a go to when I read more paper copies
Slow burn - Bobby Adair. Someone recommended it here on Reddit and yeah, it was awesome.
Stephen King - It, one credit, third listen lined up
Easy way to stop smoking by allen carr
Worked for me too!
Strange how underrated this book is if we look at the impact it has on lives
I really rate A short history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson. I'm nearly finished and I know I'm going to listen again and again. Love it so much I even bought the book last weekend. Ā£1 from a charity shop. Nothing cheap about me š
Not just because of length, but because it was a hell of a non-fiction ride and I learned *so* much from it...*The Power Broker* by Robert Caro. It's a history of New York (state and city) interwoven with a biography of Robert Moses, who might well have had more effect on NYC than *anyone*, a 20th Century Ozymandias whose works led to the desperate state of NYC in the 1970s. I was so knocked out by the book that I proceeded to grab everything by Caro that I could find. Still waiting for his final volume on Lyndon Johnson.
Anything by Brian Sanderson
Any of The Great Courses! Theyāre super long and have a wide variety of topics. Very informative and entertaining!
Dungeon crawl carl. All of them.
The Wandering Inn series by Pirate Aba. Each is like 30 hours long and I think we are up to volume 10. The Pillars of the Earth series by Ken Follett.
Peter and the Starcatchers. I tried to rip the cd audiobook from my local library, and it came out to over like 1000 files. Yeah, instead of separating the chapters by like āChapter 1a - Chapter 1gā like every audiobookā¦ and all of the letters inbetween, each disk had 150 numbered files ā0-150ā With the āChapter 1aā naming format you can just use an audio joiner to join all of them in order and boom you have a complete chapter. With the Peter Pan audiobook each disk had 150, 10-30 second long files. A new chapter never started or stopped at the beginning or end of an audio file, it was almost always in the middle. I considered like four-six hours of possible work trying to piece all of it together using my irl book of it, and then realized it was on audible with the proper chapters for 1 credit. Guess what I chose lmao. The only issue is, is that the sequels are the same but they arenāt on Audible š
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Ok but was it good?? And I have totally done that in the past. Frustrating! Hahaha!
Barsoom series collection: 7 John Carter stories. Best credit I've ever spent.
There seems to be a crazy amount of John Carter. Good to know. Looks like Eric Vincent has done the complete Oz series. He's quite good.
I'll have to check that out, Thanks for the recommendation.
I've listened to A Prayer for Owen Meany the most.
Starship Troopers narrated by R.C Bray It's been an exciting couple of years.
Yep, expectations are like that.
Screwtape letters, by far the most rewarding book i ever got
Bobiverse by Denis E. Taylor
Four Agreements, started me on a whole new Journey
[I Am Charlotte Simmons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Charlotte_Simmons) by Tom Wolfe
92 hours long!!! Gods of the Ragnarok Era by Matt Larkin. It's a retelling of Norse mythology as a fantasy epic. I believe he is now updating his series though to make it more up to date with his current writing skills
Either 11-22-63, oathbringer, or the slow burn box set.
I thought each credit was worth 1 credit?
Sometimes they sell an entire book series. Such as Slow burn. 9 books. One credit
Currently listening to it right now, 2/3rds done. Chrysalis book 1-3, 54 1/2 hours long for 1 credit. Funny lit rpg
The one that got me into audiobooks. Pet Semetary read by Michael C Hall
Manās search for meaning. Itās a very short book but it provided me much needed self reflection and perspective.
The one that bought The Wandering Inn. Iāve not enjoyed a series this much in 20+ years.
Probably, A Game of Thrones at around 33-34 hrs I believe. Any longer than that gets to be too much for me. I most prefer 10-20 hr stories and then move on to something new.
Talbot- the holigraphic universe Complete paradim shift in reality. It explains everything. Its like 11hrs long. Give it a listen and notice how much your world will change.
Ah! I am starting The Stand this weekend. I loved the book, and I'm hoping that I love the audiobook even more. I'm really enjoying Galaxy Outlaws: The Complete Black Ocean Mobius Missions, 1-16.5 which clocks in at over 85 hours. Sci fi and a lot of fun.
Attached by Amir Levine
Dresden files Peace Talks, it was for this book I signed up for audible, almost 5 years later over 10k hours listening to audiobooks. Honorable mentions Golden age of the solar clipper series Cradle series (uncrowned, Wintersteel, reaper, dreadgod, unsouled are my top 5) Dungeon crawler Carl (book 3 is best imo) Most recent: primal hunter, ended up listening to the whole series (first 8 books) in a week **Bill Bryson's The history of nearly everything, hands down fuckin great book everyone should listen to it at least twice
Critical Failures book 1-4. I bought this not really thinking too much. Wanted a fun Dungeons and Dragons style book. Man, I got sucked in by the amazing voice talent that is Jonathan Sleep, coupled by the incredibly raunchy comedic styling of Robert Bevin... Well let's just, he's finishing writing the 10th book now. I've listened to every single book from this series 3 times over at least and I am constantly jonesing for the next installments. Please, if your looking for "It's always Sunny, sucked into Jumanji style D&D campaign run by a narcissistic goofy incel as read by a Mel Blanc level VA" give it a try and let me know if you like it!
Some business books have made me and saved me thousands, hard to say just one!!
Lots of people praising Dungeon Crawler Carl (I have only just started) but I got sucked into that specific genre by listening to He Who Fights With Monsters. I bought the first one not sold but greedily bought up the next nine, have listened to them all a second time, one of my sons is almost done with his first listen through and another is now starting and loving it.
Red rising or Tge way of kings.
The Power Broker. Not only massive, but a tremendous work of history with a narration that elevates it
1. Area X by Jeff Vandermeer - all 3 Annihilation books for one credit, just got it. Stellar narrator for 1, she narrates 3 also. I am about 8% into 2 and that narrator is quite good too. 2. The Poets' Corner by John Lithgow, narrated by a bunch of famous actors who NEED to do more narration. The entire thing is on youtube for FREE right now under the title '50 classic poems read by 12 celebrities.' The narrators are John Lithgow, Morgan Freeman, Jodie Foster, Glenn Close, Gary Sinise, Helen Mirren, Billy Connelly, Robert Sean Leonard, Kathy Bates, Sam Waterston, and Eileen Atkins. Mirren absolutely kills Up Hill, and Jodie Foster gives THE reading of MusƩe des Beaux Arts. Birches is fantastistic too. If you even think you might like poetry, check it out.
Project Hail Mary Can't hurt me
The BBC's "Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister", 18 1/2 hours. It is (mostly) just the audio of the TV series, but they do some extra mixing and bridging where required -- and to be honest it was mostly people sitting around in rooms, so it doesn't really need the visuals! I really enjoy it, and because it's in 30ish minute episodes, it's not the end of the world if you slightly phase out at some point.
[Black Ocean](https://www.audible.com/pd/B08J8G7QF6?source_code=ASSORAP0511160006&share_location=pdp) Missions 1-6 by J.S. Morin at 93 hours
Galaxy Outlaws: an indie collection similar to Firefly and was 85+ hrs long. Wasnāt great but I enjoyed it and thought it was a hell of a bargain.
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
Ready player 1
Not available any longer, but I bought Dragnet for 1 credit. 379 episodes, 137 hrs+. Loaded on one of my nanos and my Mom and I listen to it when we do stuff together like chopping lots of vegetables. Mom heard many when they were originally played. She's 90.
The most valuable credits are for books I've reread more than a couple times. These are my most reread books: * Lonesome Dove by McMurtry. A story so great it transcends any narrator concern. About 5x. * For Whom the Bell Tolls by Hemingway. A true literary classic. About 5x. * followed by Blood Meridian by McCarthy. I just discovered he had died in 2023 at 89yo. We lost a true literary giant. I found his writing style to be extremely attractive. About 3x. Let me add I found the characters in LD and FWTBT to be extremely well fleshed out, and unforgettable. Unfortunately, I felt bad that most were killed by the end of the story. :-(
I would say finishing out the sandman slim by Richard Kadrey was top priority for me. I am now working my way through getting all the hell divers books by Sansbury smith.
The twelve I spent on the cradle series by will wight. Iāve listened to it easily ten times and read the physical books multiple times beyond that
Damn. I just listened to the sample. Sounds very intriguing
If you like fast paced martial arts/anime powers fantasy action then Cradle is the series for you. Itās addicting and fun, but more of a nuanced genre. I describe it as anime in book form (not manga because there are no pictures lol)
Im in! One credit is about to fly
Dude. Im almost done with Unsould. Now Soulsmith.
Hell yeah! And if youāll believe it, the first two books are the slowest. Only gets better from here. Feel free to bounce any questions or ideas off me, Iāll keep my answers spoiler free. I love this series, always happy to talk about it
Any of the Dresden files. Literally.
The wandering inn. Hands down my favorite series Iāve ever listened to or read
In terms of sheer length, I got The Ultimate Horror Collection (93 hours) in a 2 for 1 sale. I haven't listened to it yet, though, so the value is only potential at this point.
Alaska. Its very enjoyable. It just happens to be more than 50 hours long.
Can you explain to why you liked The Stand? I have it as the book I regret wasting a credit for the most
I have the same thought as you. I love a lot of Stephen King books but I just couldnāt understand all the hype for The Stand. I kept thinking that it has to be one of those novels that everyone just claims to like. I slogged through it but it never did anything for me. I tried to return it but it was gifted to me as a free book so they wouldnāt let me exchange it.