best books of 2008
As a flurry of music best-of lists are slowly unveiled on eMusic throughout December, I figured I’d throw my book picks at you today in one swoop. You can find the complete list of 21 titles here.
It seems that my philosophy about what makes for a good audiobook has changed over the course of the past year (2008 was the first full year that audiobooks have been available on eMusic). At first I thought that the number one goal of an audiobook should be to make your commute or your road trip or your workout feel a little bit shorter. Books that you listen to, much more so than books that you read, should provide a distraction, an escape, good times. And there are a whole bunch of books on this list that totally deliver in that regard–behold the comic dexterity of stalwart writer/narrators Sedaris and Vowell, the lose-yourself-in-the-action momentum of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the foulmouthed glee of Chelsea Handler. These are the kinds of books that are made for the audio format.
At the same time, I found myself delving into heavier topics, and I was surprised by how immersed (entertained!) I could become in supposedly more “difficult” books–ones I’d usually prefer to read on the page. I was blown away by Uwem Akpan’s visceral evocation of life in the poorest of African villages in his debut story collection, Say You’re One of Them. MacArthur Genius Alex Ross’s The Rest Is Noise opened my eyes and ears to classical music from the past century with eloquence, grace and enthusiasm–I have lots of downloading to do! And NY Times war reporter Dexter Filkins managed to make the War on Terror feel more immediate, more urgent, more personal than any other account of the crisis in the Middle East I have ever read before. I chose the abridged edition of The Forever War as my favorite audiobook of the year, mostly because this version is read by the author and therefore feels even more intimate. It’s truly a must-listen.
21 Rock On by Dan Kennedy
20 The Portable Atheist by Christopher Hitchens
19 Buyology by Martin Lindstrom
18 The Bin Ladens by Steve Coll
17 Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler
16 The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie
15 The Thing About Life Is One Day You’ll Be Dead by David Shields
14 Acedia and Me by Kathleen Norris
13 The Snowball by Alice Schroeder
12 Our Story Begins by Tobias Wolff
11 A Wolf at the Table by Augusten Burroughs
10 When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
9 In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
8 Physics of the Impossible by Michio Kaku
7 Traffic by Tom Vanderbilt
6 The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell
5 Say You’re One of Them by Uwem Akpan
4 McSweeney’s Field Recordings, Vol. 2
3 The Rest Is Noise by Alex Ross
2 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
1 The Forever War by Dexter Filkins
Maris,
Your post and your list have made me seriously consider getting an autobook subscription. (I have little time to listen to books on Mp3 what with all my podcasts etc but I may well do it this year) thank you
Marais,
thanks for this inspiring list.
You make me check out some of those book – in the old fashioned, printed format.
I know thois list wasn’t meant that way – but audiobooks still strike me as somewhat sill, I’m probably too old school for that kind of format.
Anyway, thanks and have some nice holidays,
Frank
I’ve never been a fan of audiobooks, but I’m a HUGE fan of foulmouthed glee. I mean like fan-club-chapter-vice-president fan (just assuming here if there was such a club the president would be required to do way too much work – I’d be happy as second fiddle.) You may have just gotten me to give audiobooks another shot…
I haven’t really listened to many audiobooks, but as far as podcasts go, I often find myself gravitating toward in-depth or technical subjects. I tend to listen in the car, or when doing the more monotonous repetitive tasks at work, so the more brainpower diverted, the better.
Question: My wife has started listening to audiobooks, and every so often, they’re on in the car. The only thing that bothers me with them is that they’re straight verbatim, to the point of being redundant. There’s a lot of “he said angrily” and “she whispered”, just after the voice-actor said angrily or whispered the line. Is this common? Although it preserves the original book to the letter, it’s kind of distracting– if the voice-actor is adequate, much of this could as easily be brought through in the voice. I suppose that, if I do delve into audiobooks, I’d be better sticking to nonfiction.
FLEB, might I make a recommendation–
in addition to non-fiction titles, you could try dramatisations of novels. There are quite a few titles on the site that fit that description, including the Lord of the Rings series, the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, Canterbury Tales, and pretty much any book that includes the words “various” or “full cast” (or just “dramatisation”) in the narrator line. Some of those might still have the occasional “she whispered,” but with a variety of narrators reading for different characters, it can make for a much more dynamic listen.
Also, there are a lot of plays and radio shows that won’t have that element, either.