(no subject)

[lirazel]

Okay, I am soliciting extremely specific audiobook recommendations. As you know, I am not crazy about audiobooks in general, but there are some good ones out there, but I have enjoyed exactly two of them: Unruly: A History Of England’s Kings and Queen by David Mitchell and The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green.

Things these two books have in common: they are nonfiction, they are not memoirs, they are episodic, they're read by the author, they're funny (Green's is also deeply moving, but that's not a necessity), and they're written by smart people.

I don't know what I'm looking for, but I thought it might be worth it to ask and see if anyone else has any recs that might work for me.

Comments

[grayestofghosts]

It's not read by the author, but Randall Munroe's (the artist of XKCD) What If? was pretty entertaining and fits most of your criteria. He also has some other books in a similar vein out, including a What If? 2 so that might keep you occupied for a while.

[lirazel]

That sounds PERFECT, I'm so glad I asked and you had an answer! I really love XKCD, so I will definitely check these out. Thank you!

[dollsome]

This is automatically breaking the rules about the memoir thing because my eyes didn't catch that the first time but I already typed out the comment so I'll leave it anyway!--

If you ever want something a bit more frothy (though still quite serious at times), I recommend Kelly Bishop's recent memoir The Third Gilmore Girl as a fellow Emily Gilmore enthusiast! <3 I just loved listening to her read it.

[lirazel]

Memoirs are so not my thing, but Kelly Bishop's voice is my thing, so perhaps!

[lokifan]

Another things those two books have in common: both authors are performers, in that David Mitchell's an actor and comedian and John Green's a Youtuber. It might be worth looking for that too, though it'll be harder if memoirs aren't in the mix. Does Mary Beard do her own audiobooks? Or other documentary presenters?

[lokifan]

I'm also a big fan of both of them but that's probably not as useful...

[lirazel]

Oh, yes, that's probably got a lot to do with it! They do have a sense of how to perform for the readers!

Does Mary Beard do her own audiobooks? Or other documentary presenters?

I have no idea! I bet Lucy Worsley does....

[chestnut_pod]

These are not like the two you mentioned, but I want to bring up what I feel is the ideal audiobook use-case: being able to listen to poets perform their own work without needing to be lucky enough to be on a tour circuit.

Just to be a little more specific, since you asked, even though I know poetry is personal: Any of Tommy Pico's books, read by him, are capital-E Experiences.

[lirazel]

Thank you so much for this! It wasn't even something I considered!

[likeadeuce]

Do you like Sarah Vowell? 'Assassination Vacation' might fit the bill. She's also an audio performer.

[lirazel]

Oh yes! That's such a good idea! I liked the one of her books I read before!

Thank you!