Book/Audio Book Recommendations?

[Blessed]

I do a bit of data entry because it generates reliable income that only fluctuates with the amount of work I accept... it is mind numbing, boring, dull work and I despise it. However... I love to read and don't have much time to read anymore so I've been listening to audio books while I type (about 15 to 20 hours a week) so... I'm looking for some recommendations.

I love the Focus on the Family Radio Theatre books and have listened to everything they've done. I have found that some audio books are good books but the audio is bad and I haven't enjoyed the book and other books I might not read but the audio was done well so I've enjoyed them.

Any books I should look for at the Library? Anything you'd recommend? I'll try any author once :) and I listen to at least two books a week, I'd like to try some new stuff. Some of my favorites:

Clive Cussler
Nevada Barr
Phillip Gulley
Jan Karon
Charles Dickens
L. M. Montgomery
Jane Austen
and... actually it would probably be a shorter list if I tried to list author's I didn't like at all, but I can't remember any of them :p

[KristineS]

I like Robert B. Parker, but I don't know if any of his books are in audio. His Spenser and Jesse Stone series are excellent. I'm not as big a fan of his Sunny Randall books. I'm not sure why.

[orion_joel]

I really enjoy the Matthew Rielly books, they are action sort of but dont seem to have the lulls in the middle some other books i have read have.

Another one i have not read many from but enjoyed was Hammond Innes.

Or an option that you could consider is maybe self development books, many of these are available on cassette or cd, many even online by MP3 download.

[blackcat9lives]

I was looking for great books myself for the longest time. There's tons of great books out there and I wanted to choose the right one. I don't just jump on the bandwagon and read whatever the current reading fad is. The great thing is there is a reading journal that addresses the need for great book lists all in one place, and it helps you organize your reading for you.

I found this really great book lovers journal it's called Read, Remember and Recommend, a reading journal for book lovers. It's a spiral bound reading journal with Awards Book Lists including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Los Angeles Times Award for Fiction and National Book Award for Fiction), Notable lists (BBC’S Top 100 is included) and Author Pages.

There's also a space for you to write down your personal favorites, list down the books you loaned, and write down insights you may have about books you've read. The best thing about is the book suggestions -- the book selections are awesome and will help any book lover read the right books.

It really helped organize my book reading because of the tons of lists that it has. You won't have to worry about the next book to read. :)

[Marcomguy]

Every now and then I dip back into the old classics. Read some Rudyard Kipling recently, which I strongly recommend. Being a writer, I would go back and reread his paragraphs, wondering how he managed to paint his word pictures. And I would end up just shaking my head.

Have just picked up a Steinbeck anthology.

Not for nothing are these known as classics.

[Blessed]

Good point Marcomguy - I do enjoy the classics, I think I had Dickens on my original list!

Last week I listened to a book by Nevada Barr (good), Robert Parker (good - thanks for the recommendation Kristine) and Gilbert Morris (not bad, it's inspired a blog post - maybe for Tuesday...)

[BillR]

I'll second Kipling. "Captains Courageous" is still one of my favorite books.

I am personally stuck in Tom Clancy hell at the moment - I say "hell" because you can't read just one...