Staff Picks: Road Trip Audiobooks

Thu, 08/11/2022 - 1:10pm by eapearce

August is a great month for road trips, and it can be a challenge to stay entertained during long hours of traveling. One solution is to listen to an audiobook! There are several ways to listen to audiobooks for FREE through AADL. You can check out audiobooks through the Libby app, formerly known as OverDrive, and you can check out physical books on CD to listen to at any of our library locations!

Here are a few of our favorite audiobooks!

Lincoln in the Bardo, by George Saunders | Request Now

Lincoln in the Bardo was the winner of the 2017 Man Booker Prize, and the audiobook version won the Audie Audiobook of the Year the same year. The story opens with Abraham Lincoln’s son, Willie, gravely ill in the White House. In a few days, he is dead, and finds himself trapped in purgatory, also known as “the bardo,” which comes from Tibetan tradition. There, Willie is surrounded by a variety of ghosts who converse, disagree, love, hate, enact penances and commiserate. Their stories, some based in historical fact and others entirely fictional, intertwine with one another, with Willie’s, and with the history of the United States as a whole. Ultimately, the book asks the age-old question of how we all manage to live and love, knowing that death is ultimately on the horizon. The cast of characters in Lincoln in the Bardo make it into a fantastic audiobook. 165 different narrators assist in the telling of the story, including famous celebrities like Nick Offerman, David Sedaris, Julianne Moore, Ben Stiller and Don Cheadle. It’s fun to get to know the story’s characters through recognizable voices and the diverse cast makes it easier to follow the complex story. This is one to listen to for sure.

The Glass Hotel, by Emily St. John Mandel | Request Now

Station Eleven catapulted Emily St. John Mandel to literary fame, and her most recent title is Sea of Tranquility. But between the two was her lovely masterpiece The Glass Hotel. The book weaves together a complex cast of characters: a lost young bartender, a New York financier, a shipping executive, and more. Taking readers from the remote wilds of British Columbia, to glittering Manhattan apartments, to the deck of a huge ship transporting freight, the story asks readers what it means to look away from the truth, to love flawed individuals, and how difficult it is to ever truly know someone. The audiobook is narrated by Dylan Moore, who tells the story smoothly and allows readers to truly get lost in the worlds Mandel creates. This one will have you thinking long after the story ends.

Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell | Request Now

Sarah Vowell is celebrated for her unique, humorous way of sharing United States history. Even if you’re not a history buff, Vowell’s books are worth a read or listen. Published back in 2015, Lafayette in the Somewhat United States is a humorous biography of the Revolutionary War hero the Marquis de Lafayette, who was welcomed back to America with open arms 30 years after the war had ended. It was a contentious time for the U.S., but Lafayette had no American political allegiances and served to remind a divided nation of the war the states had worked so hard to fight together and win. Not only is his life story fascinating, but the audiobook version is narrated by an excellent cast that tells the story of Lafayette’s return to America in vivid detail. Along with Vowell’s own voice, you’ll hear Fred Armisen, John Slattery, Bobby Cannavale, and others help bring Lafayette to life. You’ll laugh out loud listening to this one–and probably learn something new, too!

Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt | Request Now

Have tissues in the console when you bring this audiobook along on your next road trip. In Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt shares his memories of growing up in poverty, first in Brooklyn and then in Ireland, with warmth and grace. The Great Depression struck Ireland even harder than it did the United States, and McCourt’s family was forced to move frequently and lived in very difficult situations around the country. The family was nearly always hungry, and various members were often sick, leaving Frank to be the “man of the house” when he was as young as eleven. Despite the numerous hardships, he was a curious and intelligent child and observed the world through clear and thoughtful eyes. When he was old enough, he got his first jobs working delivering telegrams, then at the post office, although it is nearly impossible for him to get ahead as his destitute family requires all of his wages and spare time. Ultimately, Frank makes his way back to New York, where he begins a new life on his own. The book won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 1997 and the audiobook is read in the author’s own voice. While difficult at times, this is truly a story of strength that is meant to be heard.

Want more road trip audiobook ideas? Check out our display in the Downtown lobby, up through the month of August!