While some may say it’s ‘cheating’ to have a book read to you, others would argue it needn’t be instead of reading words on a page. But whether you choose to re-read these books on paper or are content to ‘only listen’, here are some of our favourite: good books read to us with great talent.

And if you need to justify it, some reasons why audiobooks are popular with Bookstoker:

• – all those hours when you can’t use your eyes to read (driving/walking/cleaning the house/tired eyes or bad eyesight/sick in bed but too tired to read)
• – a great way to introduce your children into a higher level of books that might seem intimidating
• – ditto for adults! some 19th C classics are very heavy (and long!) – if you aren’t already an ardent fan of Dickens, here’s a great way to start.
• – plays are meant to be read out
• – confusing list of characters (aka Cloud Atlas) are clearer with a full cast of readers
• – for children (especially during long car rides!) or to revisit old childhood favourites

Some unabridged narrations that Bookstoker has enjoyed:

1. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell – Susanna Clarke (read by Simon Prebble)
2. The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins (read by Ian Holm) *
3. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet – David Mitchell (read by Jonathan Aris, Paula Wilcox)
4. A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens (read by Tim Curry) *
5. Alias Grace – Margaret Atwood (read by Elizabeth McGovern)
6. Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell (read by full cast) (previous recording no longer available)
7. Nagasaki – Éric Faye (read by David Timson / Anna Bentinck)
8. Jane Eyre – Charlotte Brontë (read by Juliet Stevenson) *
9. The Swimming Pool Library – Alan Hollinghurst (read by Samuel West)
10. Little Dorritt – Charles Dickens (read by Anton Lesser)
11. Silas Marner – George Eliot (read by Andrew Sachs)
12. How to be a Woman – Caitlin Moran (read by Caitlin Moran)
13. The Trials of Oscar Wilde – Gyles Brandreth (read by Martin Jarvis)
14. The Ghost – Robert Harris (read by Robert Glenister)
15. Barchester Towers (2nd book in The Chronicles of Barsetshire) – Anthony Trollope (read by Simon Vance)
16. The Last Chronicles of Barset (6th book in The Chronicles of Barsetshire) – Anthony Trollope (read by Simon Vance)
17. A Short History of Nearly Everything – Bill Bryson (read by Simon Vance as Richard Matthew)
18. Our Mutual Friend – Charles Dickens (read by David Timson)
19. Stone’s Fall – Iain Pears (read by Gareth Armstrong, Jonathan Keeble, Daniel Coonan)
20. The Invisible Ones – Stef Penney (read by Dan Stevens)
21. The Casual Vacancy – J.K.Rowling (read by Tom Hollander)
22. The Marlowe Papers – Ros Barber (read by Jonathan Aris)
23. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall – Anne Brontë (read by Jenny Agutter, Alex Jennings) *
24. The Meaning of Night – Michael Cox (read by David Timson)
25. The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Unfinished Novel) – Charles Dickens (read by David Thorn)
26. The Cherry Orchard – Anton Chekhov (full cast)
27. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larsson (read by Saul Reichlin)
28. Someone Like You – Roald Dahl (read by Richard E. Grant, Juliet Stevenson, Stephen Mangan, Richard Griffiths, Tamsin Greig, Julian Rhind-Tutt)
29. Switch Bitch – Roald Dahl (read by Derek Jacobi, Richard E Grant, Shane Rimmer, Gillian Anderson)
30. Over to You: Ten Stories of Flyers and Flying – Roald Dahl (read by Julian Rhind-Tutt, Cillian Murphy, Juliet Stevenson, Sophie Okonedo)
31. Lady Windermere’s Fan – Oscar Wilde (read by Juliet Stevenson, Samuel West & cast)
32. Kafka on the Shore – Haruki Murakami (read by Sean Barrett, Oliver Le Sueur)
33. Bossy Pants – Tina Fey (read by Tina Fey)
34. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (read by Atossa Leoni)
35. Villette – Charlotte Brontë (read by Mandy Weston) *
36. Boy: Tales of Childhood -Roald Dahl (read by Dan Stevens) *
37. Sherlock Holmes series – Arthur Conan Doyle (read by David Timson) *
38. Father Brown series – G. K. Chesterton (read by David Timson) *
39. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry – Rachel Joyce (read by Jim Broadbent)
40. Devil May Care (007) – Sebastian Faulks (read by Jeremy Northam)
41. The Mayor of Casterbridge – Thomas Hardy (read by Anton Lesser)
42. The Judas Pair – Jonathan Gash (read by Michael Fenton Stevens)
43. The Book Thief – Markus Zusak (read by Allan Corduner) *

*Books appropriate for older children 13+

Children’s Audio Books

1. The Giraffe, the Pelly & Me – Roald Dahl (read by Hugh Laurie) 5+
2. The Diamond of Drury Lane – Julia Golding (read by Finty Williams) 8+
3. The Golden Compass – Philip Pullman (read by Philip Pullman & cast) 10+
4. How to Train a Dragon – Cressida Cowell (read by David Tennant) 7+
5. Scorpia Rising (Alex Rider series no.9) – Anthony Horowitz (read by Dan Stevens) 9+
6. Crocodile Tears (Alex Rider series no.8) – Anthony Horowitz (read by Dan Stevens) 9+
7. A Squash & A Squeeze – Julia Donaldson (read by Imelda Staunton) 3+
8. Winnie-the-Pooh – A.A.Milne (read by Peter Dennis) 3+
9. The Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter – Beatrix Potter (read by Gary Bond, Michael Hordern, Rosemary Leach, Janet Maw) 3+
10. A Bear Called Paddington – Michael Bond (read by Stephen Fry) 4+
11. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll (read by Sheridan Smith) 4+
12. Just William – Richmal Crompton (read by Martin Jarvis) 7+
13. Gangsta Granny, Billionaire Boy, Demon Dentist, Awful Auntie, The Boy in the Dress, Ratburger – all by David Walliams (read by David Walliams) 7+

Tempted? Visit Audible (you can use your Amazon password) where you can download audio books to your smart phone, tablet or computer. Very easy and just brilliant!