Books lifted to a higher quality by the narrator

I've found several series where I'd much rather listen than read, because the Reader/Narrator's contribution adds a huge dollop of cream.

The first is the Bloody Jack series read by Katherine Kellgren. She is amazing! I recalled having read the first book in print after listening to her version, but it wasn't nearly as memorable in print. She has kept me listening to all of the installments, even though the story is getting a bit stale.

Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire Mysteries have been recommended to me multiple times here at LT, but I really couldn't stomach the one I tried until I hit on the audio versions, read by Johanna Parker. Her southern drawl makes an ocassional listen fun. It 'makes' the character.

I found Jim Butcher's Dresden Files also got too dark and nasty without James Marsters interpreting for me. He gets just the right amount of absurdity in his tone, that we get through it all in good humor.

Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid Chronicles are excellent, but I refuse to read them now, as Luke Daniels makes the ride so much more fun.

Josephine Bailey's narration of the Libba Bray trillogy (first book titled A Great and Terrible Beauty). Bailey gives the four main characters -- all teenage girls of the same age -- absolutely distinct voices. Plus she gives distinct voices to at least a dozen other characters. This is what finally turned me on to audio books, although I still prefer the printed form overall.

The first one that comes to mind is Chronic City by Jonathan Lethem, read by Mark Deakins. The book was ok but the experience overall was great because of the way the characters were interpreted, in particular Perkus Tooth.

For me the only format in which the Ceepak & Boyle mysteries by Chris Grabenstein exist is in audio format narrated by Jeff Woodman. Sometimes it can take a couple of months after the print edition is available for the audio version to be available to me (I'm in Australia and our geo restrictions are annoying) but when I was once given a print version of the latest title by a well-meaning friend I only got about 20 pages in before realising I wasn't going to enjoy the book nearly as much in that format. Patience is a virtue :)

John Simm's reading of Billy Liar is completely masterful. I tried occasionally to imagine what it would be like to merely read the words on the page without his voice to bring them to life, but I could not.
Graeme Malcolm's reading of Graham Swift's The Light of Day is also very special.

I'm not sure I would have continued with The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series if I'd been reading them in print. Hearing accents and knowing the names are pronounced correctly really helps it (plus, Lisette Lecat is so lovely to listen to).

Anything with dialect is helped by a great reader. The unabridged audiobook for Small Island was incredible (not currently available from Audible), though it's an excellent book anyway. It's read by Debra Michaels, who was absolutely incredible. I thought there were at least two different readers at first, she really separates the characters but does each brilliantly.

I love Discworld in print as well, but the two readers, Nigel Planer and Stephen Briggs, really add to the humour.

I approached Precious Ramotswe's adventures the other way around, having read the early ones in print, and skeptical that a British-sounding voice was right for the part, but Lecat does do a good job.

R. C. Bray just perfectly nails down The Martian by Andy Weir. I listened to it first and then tried the print version. It was good too, but the technology descriptions, while necessary to the story, were more pronounced and just a bit intrusive. Bray was able to keep the characters at the forefront through those passages. I listened to the book again and have ordered my own copy to pass among friends and family.

I don't know Bray's other work, but I'm gonna go looking.

Interesting discussion. I agree that the narrator of the Number 1 Lady's Detective Agency series does a wonderful job. I listened to the first book in the series and read the next few, but in my mind I'm always reading in the narrator's voice.

On the other hand, I think Rene Auberjonois, who narrates Lincoln & Child's Pendergast novels, has a voice that is a little too angry and sinister. Maybe that's the way the books are intended, but I prefer my own softer, gentler interpretation.

Sometimes, when I'm reading a book and can't get the tone right, a good audiobook will set me straight.

Jim Dale with the Harry Potter series.

I haven't read the print version, but I sense that the audio of The Rosie Project has been enhanced by Dan O'Grady's reading. I played disc 5 three times in a row to suck all the enjoyment from it, and did not come to the bottom of the glass.

I heard there is a movie in the making. I hope they get it right.

>9 JackieCarroll: I dropped listening to the Pendergast series when Scott Brick left. I still think Brimstone is one of the best Audiobooks in that series.

The Screwtape Letters as read by John Cleese. When he reads: "Not only a Christian but such a Christian--a vile, sneaking, simpering, demure, monosyllabic, mouselike, watery, insignificant, virginal, bread-and-butter miss! The little brute! She makes me vomit!", one can't help but think of Monty Python. (Although it's perhaps most reminiscent of Graham Chapman's role in The Argument Clinic.)

That's not an argument! That's contradiction!

I am not sure I would've made it through all the Outlander books were it not for Davina Porter's fabulous narration in the audiobooks.

I've just finished listening to Foxglove Summer, number 5 in the Peter Grant police procedural fantasy series. The books are rich with detail and characterization. And Kobna Holdbrook-Smith makes it all come to life. I wish he was a more prolific reader so I could see what he does with other material.

I've read many like this where the sum is greater than the parts, the stars align to create a work of art that transcends the original.