Audio book recommendations?

[Brian Barnes]

With the Ipod Nano only weighing 1.74 ounces and playing 24 hours of audio on a single charge, I was thinking that it may be nice to bring this along for those times when you are passing time in your tent and awake. I generally avoid technology while in the backcountry, but do enjoy a good story from time to time…

So for those of you who listen to audio books do you have some suggested titles? I particularly enjoy audio books with a wilderness or exploration related theme.

I’ll start with some of my favorites:

“The River of Doubt”, by Candice Millard
Both “A Walk in the Woods” and “In a Sunburned Country”, by Bill Bryson
“The River Why”, by David James Duncan
“Deep Survival” by Laurence Gonzales
“Shadow Divers” by Robert Kurson

What are yours?

[Roleigh Martin]

Myself and my hiking partner are deeply into audiobooks, and hike with a mp3 player. Here is my 5 star audiobook recommendations. The first 2 are wilderness/mountain related.

Jon Krakuer-1997-Into Thin Air
Nando Parrado and Vince Rause-2006-Miracle in the Andes

Allan Folsom-2006-The Machiavelli Covenant
Brad Thor-2006-Blowback
C S Lewis-1952-Mere Christianity
Clarence Thomas-2007-My Grandfather's Son
Clive Cussler-2004-Black Wind
Dale Carnegie-1936-How to Win Friends and Influence People
David Baldacci-2003-Split Second
David Baldacci-2007-Simple Genius
Dean Koontz-2003-Odd Thomas
Dean Koontz-2005-Forever Odd
Dean Koontz-2006-Brother Odd
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child-1994-Relic
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child-2002-The Cabinet of Curiosities
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child-2007-The Wheel of Darkness
Douglas Preston-2003-The Codex
Elizabeth Kostova-2005-The Historian
Eric Van Lustbader-2004-The Bourne Legacy
Eric Van Lustbader-2007-The Bourne Betrayal
Frederick Forsyth-1996-Icon
Frederick Forsyth-2003-Avenger
George R R Martin-(A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1)-1996- A Game of Thrones
George R R Martin-(A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 2)-1999- A Clash of Kings
George R R Martin-(A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 3)-2000- A Storm of Swords
George R R Martin-(A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 4)-2005- A Feast for Crows
Greg Bear-1999-Darwin's Radio
Greg Bear-2003-Darwin's Children
Juris Jurjevics-The Trudeau Vector
Ken Follett-1979-Triple
Ken Follett-1989-The Pillars of the Earth
Ken Follett-2002-Hornet Flight
Ken Follett-2007-World Without End
Kyle Mills-2003-Smoke Screen
Kyle Mills-2005-Fade
Kyle Mills-2007-Darkness Falls
Lincoln Child-2007-Deep Storm
Louann Brizendine-2007-The Female Brain
Mark Hyman-2006-UltraMetabolism
Michael Crichton-2006-Next
Nelson DeMille and Thomas Block-1979-Mayday
Nelson DeMille-1978-By the Rivers of Babylon
Nelson DeMille-1981-Cathedral
Nelson DeMille-2000-The Lion's Game
Nelson DeMille-2004-Night Fall
Nelson DeMille-2006-Wild Fire
Orson Scott Card-2006-Empire
Orson Scott Card-Ender 01-1977-Ender's Game
Orson Scott Card-Ender 02-1986-Speaker for the Dead
Orson Scott Card-Ender 03-1991-Xenocide
Orson Scott Card-Ender 04-1996-Children of the Mind
Orson Scott Card-Ender 05-1999-Ender's Shadow
Orson Scott Card-Ender 06-2000-Shadow of the Hegemon
Orson Scott Card-Ender 07-2002-Shadow Puppets
Orson Scott Card-Ender 08-2005-Shadow of the Giant
Peter Kreeft-Faith and Reason-2006-The Philosophy of Religion
Pope Benedict XVI-2007-Jesus of Nazareth
Robert Spencer-2005-The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades)
Rodger Claire-2004-Raid on the Sun
Stephen Coonts-2001-Hong Kong
Thomas E Woods Jr-2005-How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization
Tim Staples-2004-The Keys of the Kingdom

[Jeremy Cleaveland]

My favorite is Lord of the Rings, unabbridged read by Robert Ingles. It is my ever-present companion on long solo drives. Any free or cheap links to getting some of these other books? and even Ray Jardine himself brought an MP3 player to pass the time when he and Jenny skied to the South Pole last year. Surprising, since he bashes such practices in Beyond Backpacking. It would really be nice for mountaineering or backcountry rock climbing for the stormy days.

[Brian Sims]

I fell in love with listening to audio books while doing long distance biking. I did 11 centuries last year in 11 months.

My favorite books were
The Confessions of an Economic Hitman
The Tipping Point

I also listened to the Greenspan book and Crystal Fire. I didn't complete either of these as they were a total bore by the end. The Greenspan book was good for about 10-15 hours about as it neared the 20th hour it got pretty bad so I switched to the Tipping Point. Far better book. I have a few books I want to listen to but are not available in audio format on Audible (MicroTrends, Price of Power: Kissinger in the Nixon White House)

[Roleigh Martin]

I get 47% of my audiobooks from audible.com, 47% from public library (either audiobook cds or downloadable audiobooks from the public library website — many public libraries offer downloadable audiobooks from either netlibrary or overdrive), and %6 from mp3-cds (sometimes bought used) from mostly amazon.com.

The public library downloadables time out in 3 weeks (don't know from when though). There are ways to get them onto an Ipod but the DRM law does not like people to instruct others on how to do them even if you only do it for your own private use.

A great mp3 player for the trail is the Iriver T10 which supports disposable Lithium AA batteries and it has a lot of nice features. If your eyesight is better, the Creative Nano or Creative Muvo equally work well but are harder to read on the trail but they are lighter than the Iriver T10.

Does anyone on BPL use an Ipod Nano on week long hikes — if so, how do they recharge while on the trail? Be specific with brand name recharging device(s). Thanks!

[Brian Barnes]

Great info so far… Roleigh has some great questions. I'd be interested in others experiences with the Nano as well.

[Jesse Glover]

The public library downloadables time out in 3 weeks (don't know from when "though). There are ways to get them onto an Ipod but the DRM law does not like people to instruct others on how to do them even if you only do it for your own private use."

Just get one of the many recording programs out there (Garage band if you are a mac, I think sound studio works for PC). Then use a patch cable to go from your headphone/speaker jack to the mic input jack on the cpu and press play and record. It may not be the fastest but it works. it also works on internet radio and any streaming audio or video.

I ues a first gen nano on longer hikes 4-5 days. I have a solio solar charger but it is like 4 oz so its like having a brick in your pack. It works great too and can charge just about anything. I get 2.5 full ipod charges out of a full solio charge. Sometimes I just carry 2 ipods. the nano for at night and the new shuffle for during the day.

[Andrew :-)]

The Mighty Boosh – radio plays.

Laugh your way along the trail.
(warning: sometimes coarse humor – think badboy MontyPython on acid – not for everyone).

[Sheryl Wardley]

Thats Fine. Audio Books are the way through which we can pass time while driving and so on. You have opted the best one. In all these things I love Deep Survival.
_________________________________________Download your favorite audio books from Harry Potter to Stephen King Here http://www.im-listning-audio-books.com/…

[John Carter]

Most of mine come from Audible.com; best prices if you use it regularly. Itunes carries many audiobooks as well, and aren't that much more expensive than audible. For infrequent users I would choose iTunes.

If you are into fantasy, one of the best series out there is Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. It's in the same vein of Lord of the Rings, and while I will always have a fond place in my heart for the LOTR audiobooks, I find the Wheel of Time more engaging, compelling, hugely epic, and quite original. Plus, it's a 12-book series. There are literally 14.5 days worth of listening (that's 24 hours/day!). You could literally spend your entire PCT thru-hike listening to these.

Second source is from libraries; some have great selections, and some are online.

Third source is from the Teaching Company. These are usually excellent college-level courses by award-winning teachers. They recently added an online download feature, and the files cheaper than the disks and are DRM free! If you watch for the frequent 70% off discounts, you can get $200 titles for as low as $35 with the download option.

My favorite titles so far have been the music appreciation courses by Robert Greenberg, the Global Warming course (which was an excellent scientific discourse on the subject without politics getting in the way), and the origins of life series. Some of the History ones are really good, too. I've learned far more from Teaching Company lectures than from my college elective courses.

I think backpacking is one of the great places to listen to audiobooks. I spend most of my time just zoning out, reflecting, or listening to nature, but I find there are certain times when audiobooks are excellent on backpacking trips. You can start them on the sometimes long road trip to the trailhead, and they really help the time pass in long stretches of switchbacks or hours of unbroken forest. I also find them the best way to pass time at night when I can't fall asleep; I don't wear out my flashlight batteries and I can lie down while listening (instead of propped up awkwardly with a book). Also, for long in-and-out hikes, where the return feels much longer, that's a great time for them.

Oh, and an iPod Nano or Shuffle is probably more water-resistant than a paperback book. But since I carry my iPhone with me anyway, I just use that. Can't wait until 3r party developers start creating topo GPS apps for the iPhone (developers' SDK comes out tomorrow).

[Brian Barnes]

Great post John. Thanks for the info.

[Roleigh Martin]

4 links:

http://www.replay-av.com/legal.php
http://www.replay-av.com/replay-av/index.php

http://tunebite.com/en/remove_drm/audio_drm/index.html
http://tunebite.com/en/contact_und_legal_disclaimer/index.html

[Doug Slimline]

Like you I had the same problem. However, during my web surfing one day I came across a great spot to find audio books for any book you could imagine I know it isn't an actual suggestion for a specific audio book but go ahead and check it out.

[Roleigh Martin]

Doug, what is the link? Thx

[Nate Meinzer]

Anything by Jon Krakuer really — Into the Wild and Into Thin Air are great, but so is Under the Banner of Heaven. I'm glad to see a shout-out to George R R martin, the best fantasy writer living today…..though I'd leave the Orson Scott Card unless it were free (he's a raging bigot who threatened violent revolution if gays were allowed to marry.)

If you are up for being spooked, check out The Road by Cormac mcCarthy…..winner of the Pulitzer, and one of the scariest, and best, books I've ever read.

[Roleigh Martin]

It's been a year since I listed my 5 star audiobook raves, I'm reposting now with my current 5 star list — obviously many dupes but a whole new year's worth:

Hiking/Outdoor/Jungle/Survival related are:
Bill Byson-1997-A Walk in the Woods
Bill Bryson-2000-In a Sunburned Country
David G McCullough-2004-The Path between the Seas–The Creation of the Panama Canal– 1870-1914
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child-1996-Mount Dragon
Douglas Preston-2003-The Codex
Jon Krakuer-1997-Into Thin Air
Juris Jurjevics-The Trudeau Vector
Kyle Mills-2000-Free Fall
Nando Parrado and Vince Rause-2006-Miracle in the Andes
Orson Scott Card-1996-Pastwatch-The Redemption of Christopher Columbus

I'm currently reading The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom
UNABRIDGED
By Slavomir Rawicz
Narrated by John Lee

It should be considered a 5 star book too.

(postscript — In the last segment, something seemed fishy about the story and I checked Wikipedia and there are some who allege this book is fiction–it is still a good read though. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavomir_Rawicz )

Name
Allan Folsom-2006-The Machiavelli Covenant
Bill Bryson-2000-In a Sunburned Country
Bill Byson-1997-A Walk in the Woods
Brad Thor-2006-Blowback
Brad Thor-2007-The first commandment
Brian Haig-2007-Man in the Middle
C S Lewis-1952-Mere Christianity
Clarence Thomas-2007-My Grandfather's Son
Clive Cussler-2004-Black Wind
Dale Carnegie-1936-How to Win Friends and Influence People
David Baldacci-2003-Split Second
David Baldacci-2007-Simple Genius
David G McCullough-2001-The Great Bridge
David G McCullough-2004-The Path between the Seas–The Creation of the Panama Canal– 1870-1914
Dean Koontz-2003-Odd Thomas (Odd Thomas Series 1)
Dean Koontz-2005-Forever Odd (Odd Thomas Series 2)
Dean Koontz-2006-Brother Odd (Odd Thomas Series 3)
Dinesh D'Souza-2007-The Enemy at Home-The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9-11
Dinesh D'Souza-2007-What's So Great About Christianity
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child-1994-Relic
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child-1996-Mount Dragon
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child-1997-Reliquary
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child-2002-The Cabinet of Curiosities
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child-2007-The Wheel of Darkness
Douglas Preston-2003-The Codex
Douglas Preston-2008-Blasphemy
Elizabeth Kostova-2005-The Historian
Eric Van Lustbader-2004-The Bourne Legacy
Eric Van Lustbader-2006-The Testament
Eric Van Lustbader-2007-The Bourne Betrayal
Frederick Forsyth-1996-Icon
Frederick Forsyth-2003-Avenger
Gayle Lynds-2003-Robert Ludlum's The Altman Code (A Covert-One Novel)
George Crile-2004-Charlie Wilson's War-The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History
George R R Martin-(A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1)-1996- A Game of Thrones
George R R Martin-(A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 2)-1999- A Clash of Kings
George R R Martin-(A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 3)-2000- A Storm of Swords
George R R Martin-(A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 4)-2005- A Feast for Crows
Greg Bear-1999-Darwin's Radio
Greg Bear-2003-Darwin's Children
Harlan Coben-2003-No Second Chance
Ildefonso Falcones-2006-Cathedral of the Sea
Jon Krakuer-1997-Into Thin Air
Juris Jurjevics-The Trudeau Vector
Ken Follett-1979-Triple
Ken Follett-1989-The Pillars of the Earth
Ken Follett-1991-Night Over Water
Ken Follett-2002-Hornet Flight
Ken Follett-2007-World Without End
Kyle Mills-1998-Storming Heaven
Kyle Mills-2000-Free Fall
Kyle Mills-2001-Burn Factor
Kyle Mills-2003-Smoke Screen
Kyle Mills-2005-Fade
Kyle Mills-2007-Darkness Falls
Lincoln Child-2007-Deep Storm
Louann Brizendine-2007-The Female Brain
Mark Hyman-2006-UltraMetabolism
Michael Crichton-2006-Next
Morris West-1963-The Shoes of the Fisherman
Nando Parrado and Vince Rause-2006-Miracle in the Andes
Nelson DeMille and Thomas Block-1979-Mayday
Nelson DeMille-1978-By the Rivers of Babylon
Nelson DeMille-1981-Cathedral
Nelson DeMille-2000-The Lion's Game
Nelson DeMille-2004-Night Fall
Nelson DeMille-2006-Wild Fire
Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston-2007-Invasive Procedures
Orson Scott Card-1996-Pastwatch-The Redemption of Christopher Columbus
Orson Scott Card-2006-Empire
Orson Scott Card-Ender 01-1977-Ender's Game
Orson Scott Card-Ender 02-1986-Speaker for the Dead
Orson Scott Card-Ender 03-1991-Xenocide
Orson Scott Card-Ender 04-1996-Children of the Mind
Orson Scott Card-Ender 05-1999-Ender's Shadow
Orson Scott Card-Ender 06-2000-Shadow of the Hegemon
Orson Scott Card-Ender 07-2002-Shadow Puppets
Orson Scott Card-Ender 08-2005-Shadow of the Giant
Peter Kreeft-Faith and Reason-2006-The Philosophy of Religion
Peter Maas-1999-The Terrible Hours–The Man Behind the Greatest Submarine Rescue in History
Pope Benedict XVI-2007-Jesus of Nazareth
Robert Ludlum and Philip Shelby-2001-The Cassandra Compact
Robert Ludlum-1990-The Bourne Ultimatum
Robert Ludlum-2001-The Sigma Protocol
Robert Ludlum-2005-The Ambler Warning
Robert Ludlum-2006-The Bancroft Strategy
Robert Spencer-2005-The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades)
Rodger Claire-2004-Raid on the Sun
Stephen Coonts-2001-Hong Kong
Steve Berry-2007-The Alexandria Link
Steve Berry-2007-The Venetian Betrayal
Steve Wozniak with Gina Smith-2006-iWoz
Thomas E Woods Jr-2005-How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization
Tim Staples-2004-The Keys of the Kingdom
Vince Flynn-2000-The Third Option
Vince Flynn-2001-Separation of Power
Vince Flynn-2007-Protect and Defend

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