For the Love of Audiobooks

A List of Audiobooks that Made Me Happy to Sit in Traffic

I enjoy shopping for my next audiobook to listen to on Audible or Libby on my daily commute almost as much as I enjoy indulging in the act of listening itself. Why audiobooks? Simple. Reading while driving is illegal. Not only that, but I’m a writer with a reading to-do list five miles long and a full-time job that put me in reading glasses two years ago.

Since I started commuting an hour each way to work nearly three years ago, I decided I didn’t want to think of driving as time I’ll never get back. The only way that ever happens now is when the book I’m listening to isn’t making me love sitting in traffic. Don’t get me wrong, I love music, but I’ve never felt hungrier for stories than I do now.

I’ve listened to more than 100 books, and many of them have made me squeal, “Yay! Traffic!” on more than one occasion. I yearn for a good old-fashioned rubbernecking situation that keeps me in the car for several more chapters.

It took me about a year to get hip to Libby, the free library app, which is now where I search first when I look for a new audiobook. But my listening journey began with Audible the first week I started my job in 2018. I had already been in the habit of borrowing books on CD from the library, but since changing CDs on the NJ Turnpike can be a death-defying feat, I accepted the menial subscription fee for Audible and never looked back.

I’ve developed a ritual that begins by searching Goodreads (another must-have app for booklovers) for ideas. When I find something that piques my interest, I check Libby. If it’s available, great, but if not, Audible almost always has what I want. If I use a credit (you get one per month for $14.95) on a book that fails to get my morning-resistant little ass in the car early enough to beat my boss to the office, I return it and choose something else. They can’t all be winners. But certain books have made me laugh my way through the treacherous mad dash to and fro during rush hour, and sometimes, cry or even gasp my way, too. Whatever it is, I’m always after that glorious feeling of expansion, whether it’s cerebral or emotional or, best case scenario, both.

There’s no guarantee that I get what I paid for, but it’s not necessarily for lack of good writing. Sometimes I’ve had to stop listening to a book because I couldn’t tolerate the sound coming out of my car speakers. With an audiobook, narration is everything. Conversely, there are some narrators whose vocal stylings make me wet with anticipation, literally breathing life into the story. In these cases, I usually search the narrator’s full list of credits. When the author is also a great narrator, I am doubly blessed.

Here is the list of the best ones I’ve listened to so far, not in any real order, except for the top four, which are and will likely always be my favorites.

1. Angela’s Ashes. The late great Frank McCourt dazzled me with his words years before hearing his Irish brogue. I devoured both versions of this book about Frank’s impoverished childhood in Ireland because it is equally tragic and well-told as it is a lesson in finding the humor in everything.
2. Teacher Man, also by Frank McCourt, who wrote only three books before his death. His second book, ‘Tis, was also great, but not necessarily a favorite but for his musical voice. I giggled every time he said, “I don’t give a fiddler’s fart.”
3. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, narrated by Maggie Gyllenhaal, also a talented screen actor and producer. I discovered her in the HBO series The Deuce. Relying solely on my eyes to plough through this massive classic tragic love story would have taken me a lifetime, but Maggie made the 35 hours of listening go by without any need for interruption in my listening schedule. I didn’t want it to end partly because Maggie’s accents and breathy confidence in the tale scratched my every literary itch for several weeks.
4. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, also narrated by Maggie Gyllenhaal, was a tonic for my heartache for the end of Anna Karenina that lasted only as long as it took to discover it. After Anna K., I felt sure that nothing would be as comforting as the daily ear candy delivered by Maggie. This book didn’t afford the foreign language accents like Anna K., but at this point, I would have settled for listening to Maggie reciting the alphabet.
5. Motherhood by Sheila Heti. Anyone who looks to the Iching for guidance is OK by me. Heti’s books read like plays, and are therefore ripe for audio. (I also loved her book, How Should A Person Be.) Both books demonstrate the thought process of a modern philosopher named Sheila, also a formidable narrator.
6. On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong. This book about a gay Vietnamese man and his abusive mother is poetry in every sense of the word. Listening to it made me a more sensitive writer. Ocean’s voice is a crumble of velvet and silk even when his words cut into me so deeply I had to check to see if I was bleeding.
7. Yes, Please by Amy Poehler, was leagues more enjoyable than I expected. I love her, so I had to give it a shot, and it ended up being extremely satisfying both for the story of her success and her comedic genius.
8. Bossypants by Tina Fey. Tina and Amy are like bookends. Both full of laughter and light. I listened to Tina’s book first and ended up enjoying Amy’s a little more. I love memoirs by successful people who also don’t take themselves too seriously. In fact, I almost made me crash my car one day. So, be careful with this one.
9. Nevertheless by Alec Baldwin. I listened to this one immediately after Tina for obvious reasons. Alec is a more serious look at the acting life, great for a little vicarious living. The sound of his voice brought me back to the days of watching Thomas the Tank Engine with my kids.
10. On Writing by Stephen King. This book was like a homework assignment for me as a writer because it contains a boatload (say this with a lazy L like Stephen would) of highly regarded information about my favorite pastime. Bad news, his voice took some getting used to. But the information imparted was worth its weight in gold.
11. Self-Esteem by Caroline Myss. If her accent bothers you (she was born in Chicago in 1952), you will miss out on completely intriguing concepts wrapped around what it means to be human with an ego. I recommend all of her books and find her accent and sense of humor charming. She doesn’t read to you; she talks, suggests, guides.
12. Just Kids by Patti Smith. This is the cinematic story of when Patti (musician and artist) met Robert Mapplethorpe (artist and photographer), and they grew up together and weaved their way into the public tapestry of NYC, supporting each other every step of the way. I didn’t want it to ever ever end, so I listened to all of Patti’s books and loved them all, especially Devotion.
13. Normal People by Sally Rooney is a book I might not have picked up, except that Sarah Jessica Parker, famous for her bookishness, highly recommended Rooney’s other book, Conversations with Friends. Still, something made me listen to Normal People first. It’s a frustrating love story that kept me getting in the car heavy with anticipation. Both were great.
14. I Can See Clearly Now by Wayne Dyer. If you’ve never read Dyer, you’re missing out on the many gifts of a modern day philosopher. This was his last book before dying, a complete life story containing many lessons in the courage to follow your bliss.
15. In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado inspired me to begin narrating my own work. The book is a memoir of Machado’s abusive relationship with an ex-girlfriend. The writing is poetic and her narration is raw and slightly jarring at first. I wasn’t sure I would enjoy the intensity and meter of her narration, until I realized I loved it. That was absolutely clear to me when I went clamoring for her first book, which was narrated by someone else. I couldn’t even finish it because I was so disappointed.

Right this moment, I’m in the middle of listening to several books at once. Each morning, I get in the car and choose the voice I most feel like listening to depending on my mood or how I want to be influenced. Audiobooks literally changed my life for the better. Every day is either a new adventure or a continuation of an adventure in progress.

Yolanda Fleming is the marketing manager of a NJ hospital. She lives near the beach with her husband, Guy Cash Fleming, a musician and the author of For the Love of Sea Glass and The Mystical Search for Sea Glass, and two young adult children, also active musicians. Her books Chilangos in the House: The True Story of a MexiCAN and Divine Stupidity (Faith St. Augustine) are available on Amazon.