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Hi, librarian types (and anyone else with an opinion. Actually, maybe EVERYONE). I'm here posting a general brainstorming request to the world.
Often around the holidays and less-specific times during the summer, people come in to the library looking for a good audiobook for the WHOLE FAMILY to listen to on a long car trip. We've got loads of adult books on audio. We've got lots of childrens and YA books on Playaway. But the only books on CD (and though maybe YOU have the car/equipment to play a Playaway over your car speakers, that's not something you typically find among our patrons) we have that fit this description-- fun for the WHOLE FAMILY!-- are the Narnia books, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings (and the latter is pushing it, whole-family-wise), and the Harry Potters (the Jim Dale ones, which were definitely a staple of MY family's road trips for awhile there. I HATED--HATED-- his Hermione voice, but otherwise, definitely good reads. Er, listens). Three series. All fantasy. All excellent, but not much of a selection.
SO, I'm opening it up to the floor. If I were to develop a CORE COLLECTION of THE most NECESSARY audiobooks for family car trips, what would you recommend? If you know of particular recordings/narrators that are awesome, name them-- maybe the book is okay but the performance is NOT TO BE MISSED, I'll go for that!-- but if you think of a book that fits the bill and you don't even KNOW if it's on audio? Name it anyway. I'll do the hard stuff. I'm just looking for general suggestions!
Often around the holidays and less-specific times during the summer, people come in to the library looking for a good audiobook for the WHOLE FAMILY to listen to on a long car trip. We've got loads of adult books on audio. We've got lots of childrens and YA books on Playaway. But the only books on CD (and though maybe YOU have the car/equipment to play a Playaway over your car speakers, that's not something you typically find among our patrons) we have that fit this description-- fun for the WHOLE FAMILY!-- are the Narnia books, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings (and the latter is pushing it, whole-family-wise), and the Harry Potters (the Jim Dale ones, which were definitely a staple of MY family's road trips for awhile there. I HATED--HATED-- his Hermione voice, but otherwise, definitely good reads. Er, listens). Three series. All fantasy. All excellent, but not much of a selection.
SO, I'm opening it up to the floor. If I were to develop a CORE COLLECTION of THE most NECESSARY audiobooks for family car trips, what would you recommend? If you know of particular recordings/narrators that are awesome, name them-- maybe the book is okay but the performance is NOT TO BE MISSED, I'll go for that!-- but if you think of a book that fits the bill and you don't even KNOW if it's on audio? Name it anyway. I'll do the hard stuff. I'm just looking for general suggestions!
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Date: 2011-12-11 08:46 pm (UTC)From:We totally DID Hitchhikers-read-by-Adams on the first long road trip my husband and I took together! And that was when I realized a shocking and sad limit to my husband's geekitude: his inability to appreciate British comedy. IT'S HORRIBLE. I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT IS WRONG WITH HIM. This was six or seven years ago, and it still saddens me. Well, I guess it still saddens me because I have no one with whom to SHARE my appreciation of British humor. Also I know he'll never move to England with me.
We have The Graveyard Book on Playaway, so I wonder how much of an argument I'd have to build for also getting it on CD (even when I mentioned wanting to do this to my director, her first reaction was "A lot of new cars are able to hook up with mp3 players like Playaways now." Which misses the point that people are ASKING me for CDs for the car!) It is a perfect suggestion, both type-of-book-wise AND the high quality of the performance (or so I've heard--I haven't actually listened to it, either, but other people seem to think it's wonderful!)