I love listening to audiobooks and always have one queued up on my smartphone to listen at a moment’s notice. A few years ago I thought audios were a waste..why listen when you can read in less time. However, blogger friends insisted and then I listened to Written in Red by Anne Bishop narrated by
by Andy Weir
Narrator: R.C. Bray
Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
Genres: Science Fiction
Source: Purchase
Purchase*: Amazon | Audible *affiliate
Narration: 5 cups
Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive - and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first. But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills - and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit - he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?"
Loved The Martian on audio. It was hilarious, suspenseful, rocked my geek and made me smile, hold my breath and yell “yes”
by Penelope Douglas
Narrator: Carrie Brach, Guy Locke
Length: 11 hours and 1 minute
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Source: Publisher
Purchase*: Amazon | Audible *affiliate
Heat Level:
Narration: 3.5 cups
Former tennis player Easton Bradbury is trying to be the best teacher she can be, trying to reach her bored students, and trying to forget her past. What brought her to this stage in her life isn't important. She can't let it be. But now one parent-teacher meeting may be her undoing . . .Meeting Tyler Marek for the first time makes it easy for Easton to see why his son is having trouble in school. The man knows how to manage businesses and wealth, not a living, breathing teenage boy. Or a young teacher, for that matter, though he tries to. And yet there is something about him that draws Easton in-a hint of vulnerability, a flash of attraction, a spark that might burn.Wanting him is taboo. Needing him is undeniable. And his long-awaited touch will weaken Easton's resolve-and reveal what should stay hidden.Contains mature themes
Sexy and engaging with wicked banter, this tale of two flawed characters finding romances in New Orleans left me breathless.
by Ilona Andrews
Series: Innkeeper Chronicles #1
Narrator: Alejandro Ruiz, Christopher Walker, Holly Adams, James Lewis, Karen Novack, Ken Jackson, Nora Achrati, Peter Holdway, Elias Khalil, Ryan Reid, Alex Hill-Knight
Length: 5 hours and 59 minutes
Source: Publisher
Purchase*: Audible *affiliate
Narration: 4 Speed: 1.2x
On the outside, Dina Demille is the epitome of normal. She runs a quaint Victorian Bed and Breakfast in a small Texas town, owns a Shih Tzu named Beast, and is a perfect neighbor, whose biggest problem should be what to serve her guests for breakfast.
But Dina is...different: Her broom is a deadly weapon; her Inn is magic and thinks for itself. Meant to be a lodging for otherworldly visitors, the only permanent guest is a retired Galactic aristocrat who can’t leave the grounds because she’s responsible for the deaths of millions and someone might shoot her on sight. Under the circumstances, ""normal"" is a bit of a stretch for Dina. And now, something with wicked claws and deepwater teeth has begun to hunt at night....
Feeling responsible for her neighbors, Dina decides to get involved. Before long, she has to juggle dealing with the annoyingly attractive, ex-military, new neighbor, Sean Evans - an alpha-strain werewolf - and the equally arresting cosmic vampire soldier, Arland, while trying to keep her inn and its guests safe. But the enemy she’s facing is unlike anything she’s ever encountered before. It’s smart, vicious, and lethal, and putting herself between this creature and her neighbors might just cost her everything.
Psst..I will tell you a secret. The writing team of Ilona Andrews and narrator Renée Raudman are like caffeine. I. Am. Totally. Addicted. Clean Sweep had so many elements I enjoyed from the magical inn to the snarky heroine. I need more!
by Diana Rowland
Series: White Trash Zombie #1
Narrator: Allison McLemore
Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Source: Purchase
Purchase*: Amazon | Audible *affiliate
Narration: 4.5 cups
Teenage delinquent Angel Crawford lives with her redneck father in the swamps of southern Louisiana. She's a high school dropout, addicted to drugs and alcohol, and has a police record a mile long. But when she's made into a zombie after a car crash, her addictions disappear, except for her all-consuming need to stay "alive".
Diana Rowland writes magic with this series. I listened to all of the audios in this series in 2015 and Angel Crawford is one crazy, trash-talking, loveable zombie.
by Sarah Fine
Series: Servants of Fate #3
Narrator: Emily Foster
Length: 10 hours and 18 minutes
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Source: Purchase
Purchase*: Amazon | Audible *affiliate
Heat Level:
Narration: 4 stars
Aislin Ferry and Jason Moros have only days until they will be called to account before the Keepers of the Afterlife. Yet as they race to restore order and make their case, their worlds fall into total disarray. Mutiny within the fractured Ferry family threatens Aislin’s hold on power and role as Charon. Meanwhile, the fearsome Lord of the Kere has family trouble of his own. Someone is unraveling the fabric of fate, and Moros suspects one of his supernatural siblings is behind the terrible bid to unleash Chaos. Now unlikely allies, Aislin and Moros each need the other to escape the wrath of the Keepers. As the stakes rise, it becomes clear that protecting their respective empires is not the endgame. With the fate of all humanity dangling by a thread, Aislin and Moros must surrender completely to one another if they are to fight their common enemy. And as time runs out, someone must make the ultimate sacrifice.
The Servants of Fate series was my first experience with Sarah Fine. I loved Fated and its action-packed, romance filled tale involving the Fates.
by Ilona Andrews
Series: Kate Daniels #8
Narrator: Renée Raudman
Length: 14 hrs and 10 mins
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Source: Publisher
Purchase*: Amazon | Audible *affiliate
Heat Level:
Narration: 5 cups
After breaking from life with the Pack, mercenary Kate Daniels and her mate—former Beast Lord Curran Lennart—are adjusting to a very different pace. While they’re thrilled to escape all the infighting, Curran misses the constant challenges of leading the shapeshifters. So when the Pack offers him its stake in the Mercenary Guild, Curran seizes the opportunity—too bad the Guild wants nothing to do with him and Kate. Luckily, as a veteran merc, Kate can take over any of the Guild’s unfinished jobs in order to bring in money and build their reputation. But what Kate and Curran don’t realize is that the odd jobs they’ve been working are all connected. An ancient enemy has arisen, and Kate and Curran are the only ones who can stop it—before it takes their city apart piece by piece.…
The Kate Daniels series is one of my favorite audio series. Ilona Andrews brings their game every time they share a new installation. Magic Shifts takes the series in a new direction but still brings the action, snark, giggles and awesomeness I have come to expect from these characters and their world.
by Anne Bishop
Series: The Others #3
Length: 16 hrs and 9 mins
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Source: Publisher
Purchase*: Amazon | Audible *affiliate
The Others freed the cassandra sangue to protect the blood prophets from exploitation, not realizing their actions would have dire consequences. Now the fragile seers are in greater danger than ever before—both from their own weaknesses and from those who seek to control their divinations for wicked purposes. In desperate need of answers, Simon Wolfgard, a shape-shifter leader among the Others, has no choice but to enlist blood prophet Meg Corbyn’s help, regardless of the risks she faces by aiding him. Meg is still deep in the throes of her addiction to the euphoria she feels when she cuts and speaks prophecy. She knows each slice of her blade tempts death. But Others and humans alike need answers, and her visions may be Simon’s only hope of ending the conflict. For the shadows of war are deepening across the Atlantik, and the prejudice of a fanatic faction is threatening to bring the battle right to Meg and Simon’s doorstep…
The Others is a series that I own on every format available but my favorite is audio. I love this well crafted world and the characters within the court. I laugh, lose time, hold my breath and never want them to end. Vision in Silver brought danger, revelations and character growth.
by Paula Hawkins
Narrator: Clare Corbett, India Fisher, Louise Brealey
Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
Genres: Thriller
Source: Publisher
Purchase*: Amazon | Audible *affiliate
Narration: 4.5
A debut psychological thriller about a woman who becomes emotionally entangled in a murder investigation because of something she witnesses on her daily commute. Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning and every night. Every day she rattles over the same track junctions, flashes past the same stretch of cozy suburban homes. And every day she stops at the same signal and she sees the same couple, breakfasting on their roof deck, living the perfect life that Rachel craves for herself—a lifestyle she recently lost. She looks forward to observing this household every morning, even makes up names and narratives for its residents. Then one day Rachel sees someone new in their garden, and soon after, the woman who lived there disappears. Unable to keep this information to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and in the process is drawn into the lives of the couple she thought of as Jason and Jess but whose names—she has learned from the news—are really Megan and Scott Hipwell. But the police accuse Rachel of being unreliable, and it’s true that her memories can’t always be trusted. Plus there are the stories that her ex-husband’s new wife has been spreading about her. By the time Megan’s body is found, Rachel is in over her head, intricately entangled in the details of the investigation, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she put others in danger? Has she done more harm than good? A compulsively readable, emotionally immersive, Hitchcockian thriller that draws comparisons to Gone Girl, The Silent Wife, or Before I Go to Sleep, this is an electrifying debut embraced by readers across markets and categories.
The Girl on the Train delivered a twisted, suspenseful tale that held me captive. Clare Corbett, India Fisher and Louise Brealey all did a wonderful job with the characters adding an extra layer of enjoyment to the tale.
by Moïra Fowley-Doyle
Narrator: Colby Minifie
Length: 7 hours and 24 minutes
Genres: Magical Realism, Paranormal
Source: Publisher
Purchase*: Amazon | Audible *affiliate
Narration: 5 cups
Every October Cara and her family become inexplicably and unavoidably accident-prone. Some years it's bad, like the season when her father died, and some years it's just a lot of cuts and scrapes. This accident season--when Cara, her ex-stepbrother, Sam, and her best friend, Bea, are 17--is going to be a bad one. But not for the reasons they think. Cara is about to learn that not all the scars left by the accident season are physical: There's a long-hidden family secret underneath the bumps and bruises. This is the year Cara will finally fall desperately in love, when she'll start discovering the painful truth about the adults in her life, and when she'll uncover the dark origins of the accident season--whether she’s ready or not.
Freaky, unique and lyrical the Accident Season held me spellbound. This was such an original story and one I recommend to all age groups.
by Richelle Mead
Series: Georgina Kincaid #4
Narrator: Elisabeth Rodgers
Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Source: Purchase
Purchase*: Amazon | Audible *affiliate
Heat Level:
Georgina Kincaid has been a bad, bad succubus, which should be a good thing. But lately, thanks to her foul mood over breaking up with best-selling writer Seth Mortensen, she's been so wicked that Seattle's uber-demon Jerome, decides to "outsource" Georgina to a rival--and have her spy for him in the process. Being exiled to the frozen north--okay, Vancouver--and leaving Seth in the cozy clutches of his new girlfriend is unpleasant enough. Then Jerome is kidnapped, and all immortals under his control mysteriously lose their powers. One bright spot: with her life-sucking ability gone, there's nothing to keep Georgina from getting down and dirty with Seth--nothing apart from his girlfriend that is. Now, as the supernatural population starts turning on itself, a newly mortal Georgina must rescue her boss and figure out who's been playing them--or all hell will break loose.
I listened to the entire series this year and Succubus Heat put me through the wringer. The series wrapped up wonderfully with Succubus Revealed and I cannot recommend this series enough on audio. You will fall in love with these characters.
Share your favorite Audiobook Listens for 2015?
About Kimberly
Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. Whovian, Ravenclaw, Howler and proud Nonna. She owns and manages Caffeinated PR. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat. BlueSky | Facebook | Instagram
MarthaE
I appreciate your thoughts. Always good to find books/audiobooks that other readers like.
This is a good mixed list.
Thanks for sharing.
Lover Of Romance
You have a fantastic list here!!! I loved Misconduct on audio as well. I haven’t read the others though. I really love audiobooks especially since I do a ton of walking and I can listen to them at work since I am alone for a few hours every day. And my library has quite a few sites for audiobooks so I rarely have to purchase them anymore. Glad to see you got into them.
Samantha
1,000 times yes to The Martian audiobook. It was a fabulous one to listen to.
Jennifer
Great picks! Andrews is always fantastic on audio and I love the White Trash Zombie on audio. And The Others is another fave of mine on audio.
Bookworm Brandee
I already have Misconduct and Clean Sweep lined up. 😉 My son read The Martian and loved it. I didn’t think of listening to The Girl on the Train but I just may have to do that. Thanks for sharing your audio favs!
Aurian
I just can’t focus on someone talking to me for that amount of time. And i would not want to stop listening when the chore is done if I enjoyed it, so not an option for me.
Lark
I loved the book version of The Martian, and my husband really enjoyed the audiobook. (I would have listened to it, too, if I had had time, but I started it the day before we were planning to see the movie, so… ) Some of your others are series I want to try, but I’ll have to start at the beginning. I think it’s great that you’ve gotten so into audiobooks!
Candace
I definitely agree about the Others series. I need to listen to the third but the first two were amazing. Lots of good ones on this list! And lots I want to read/listen to still!
Christine
The Martian was such a good audio! I read it very recently and it was definitely a favorite listen of mine for the year too.
Lorna
I have The Martian and Vision In Silver on audio but haven’t listened yet. I did listen to White Trash Zombie this year on one of my long trips and loved it. I have the next one ready to go when I get the chance. My sister lent me Girl on a Train but it’s in hardback-I think. I love Kindle books so much that it’s hard for me to actually read a regular book,. I know I am weird! It’s nice that you had so many favorites!
Braine Talk Supe
I don’t do audio, but more power to y’all. Here’s to more wonderful listens next year!
Angel Erin
I need to read a lot of these! I’m not a big audiobook person, but I do love the Dresden files audiobooks. Great list!
The Bibliophile Babe
Fantastic list! I really want to do a reread of the Kate Daniels series, and go the audio route this time.
Angela Adams
I saw The Martian, and I think there’s a Best Actor Oscar with Matt Damon’s name on it.
Kathy
Oh, the narrative on The Martian!! That is my second favorite audiobook narration (The Help is first). I read The Girl on the Train (not audio) and loved drunk Rachel. I can only imagine how it sounded on audio.
Tanya
Kate Daniels, White Trash Zombie are a couple of my all time faves. I have some of the Georgina Kincade already. So many good ones to get to. I wish I hadn’t come to audios so late!
Grace MyBookSnack
Loved listening to The Martian and The Girl on the Train! I’ll have to try out the others you mentioned. Happy Holidays and happy listening, Kim! 🙂
Nicole
Anne Bishop’s series and The Accident Season are all books I NEED to read. I think I should start doing more books on audio too – I think I’ll try that out more this year.
Ksenia
Thanks for sharing your favorites, as a fellow audiobook lover I appreciate. I’ll definitely check out your picks.
Melissa (Books and Things)
What a great list. I am thinking about doing the Bishop books on audio. I also have the Martian on my wishlist at the library. I also must do the rest of the Ilona Andrews books on audio…. sadly my library hasn’t gotten the rest in yet! :'(
Sophia Rose
Fabulous list!
Tyler H. Jolley
This is sort of on and off subject at the same time. I’ve recently started the podcast series, Serial. It makes me wish Sara Koenig narrated books on audible. I could seriously listen to her read me a phonebook and I’d be hooked. It’s amazing what a good narrator does to a book.
Emma
I think The Martian would be the favourite from this list but I didn’t listen to on audio. I am going to try to listen to more audio this year and will be checking these out.
Kristin
Even though this is an audio list, I think this could be a BEST OF 2015 list, too! But narrator-wise, I think it uniquely rocks, too!! I can tell you for a fact that WTZ’s narrator is so entirely dead-on for all the characters!!!!
Now how awesome would it be to split our brains and listen to audio AND read at the same time??? Freaky, right???
Amber Elise
Oh look at that, I’ve been meaning to read Misconduct and I have 2 audible credits!
Quinn's Book Nook
I adore audiobooks. Every year I fall more in love with them. I’ve heard Anne Bishop’s books are great as audios. I should really look into them.
Heather B
Great list! I loved The Martian (as did everyone who listened to it, I think). I’m working my way through the Kate Daniels series now, and I have White Trash Zombie on the books for 2016. I’ll check some of these others out, too.
Katherine
I haven’t listened to any of these and most are on my TBR so I’m taking notes! 2015 was the year of audio books for me and I found I really enjoyed them. I didn’t track them this year because it didn’t feel like reading for awhile but I’ve found as time goes on that I remember the audio the same way I remember a book I read so I’m going to start tracking in 2016.
Micheline
I love audiobooks too – I actually got into them this year and it’s been life-altering LOL! I’m always looking for recs so thanks for sharing this Kimberly^^ The Martian and The Others series are both already on my tbr but seeing them here has convinced me that audio is the way to go with both 😀 That Kate Daniels series has been on my tbr for ages so maybe if I go audio I’ll get to it sooner hehe! Awesome selection here and Happy 2016!!
Jonetta (Ejaygirl)
Most of these are on my shelf and that’s a good thing. I loved The Martian, too.
Jenny
I need to read all of these Kim! The Anne Bishop series is on my must list, I’m going to binge read those and finally be in the loop with this series! I still have yet to listen to an audiobook though, the time commitment is a bit daunting for me, that’s the only thing that keeps me from them!
Debbie Haupt
OOh Great choices I’m excited to listen to The Martian, I really loved the book and am just waiting for the dvd to come out to see the flick
Happy New Year Kim
Lekeisha
I’m gonna try the Georgina Kincaid series out next. I have the first one in ebook, but I may try the audio books from my library if I like the first book. The Martian made my top 25 list of 2015. Nice picks!
Pat
I’ve never been good about concentrating on audios. I think maybe I should give it another try this year! Thanks for sharing your list. Wishing you a Very Happy New Year!
Wattle
I’ve not heard of some of these and think I’ll have to give them a shot 🙂 I’ve had good fun discovering some audiobooks this year, hopefully there’s many more to come in the future!
Melanie Simmons
I think The Martian is on everyone’s list (or it should be LOL). I loved that book. You also had several of my favorites or at least same series too. I love The Others, Kate Daniels, White Trash Zombie and Innkeeper Chronicles. I just finished Sweep in Peace right before Christmas, so it didn’t make my list because I wasn’t finished with it when I posted. I loved it.
Grace
I loved The Martian and The Accident Season on audio. I really want to check out Misconduct too. One of my favorites on audio was Ready Player One. Also, the Lunar Chronicles series.
ailyn
i haven’t had an audiobook before, it would be interesting for me. But I suppose it is a good way to multitask.
Love Martian, I think the writing is pretty well done
blodeuedd
You have some awesome audios there
Nick
The Martian, The Girl on the Train and The Accident Season are on my list of audiobooks to try. I have the last two, I only need to get The Martian.
I didn’t know of Clean Sweep but I need to add it to my TBR.
Kathryn
Oh yes! The Martian and Vision in Silver are two of mine as well. I have Clean Sweep in my wish list. I hope to read a few of Ilona Andrews in 2016 to see what everyone is so keen on. Unfortunately only some of each series is available to me on Audible but will listen to what is there, although I just might put Clean Sweep series higher up my list. Choices! Choices!