Audiobooks... they're like crack only more addicting.

Can I just say - I LOVE audiobooks. I mean - truly.

It's the one thing that has kept me sane and centered on my time driving trucks across the country and my, now 3-year old, commute of 100 miles each day. (Technically it's 96 miles - but I like to round up)

I've listened to some books a dozen times over the last ten years. I've gotten to the point where Ray Porter and Wil Wheaton's voices are almost as known to me as my wife's... In a strictly familiar sense.

I've read listened to Ready Player One about 9 times now... Wil Wheaton nailed that one.

I've read listened to some of John Scalzi's books so many times I feel like I'm BFFs with John Perry and Jane Sagan...



And the Kotoroverse (14, The Fold, and Paradox Bound) by Peter Clines is a world in which I want to live - as long as the needles are at Zero...

My first Audiobook, I remember, was on a whim when I was back east - driving from show to show along the coast. While in New Jersey, I downloaded Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game." And that was probably the best choice for "First Audiobook Ever". It was a full cast of A+ narrators and they pulled me and and made want more. I plowed through the entire Ender-verse (both the regular series and the Shadow series) before branching out to others... since then I've devoured the entire "A Song Of Ice and Fire", "The Hunger Games", "LOTR" and "The Hobbit", as well as many many others... and along the way I have become extremely grateful for the amazing works of fiction and non-fiction that I've found that, given my mobile nature, I would've never been able to read otherwise.

Here is a short list of some of my ALL-TIME favorite books/audiobooks:
"The Time Travelers Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger is amazing. It's sci-fi with great music, an amazing story, and first class narration by William Hope and Laurel Lefkow- NOT the version with Fred Berman and Phoebe Strole. - I recommend the original recording of this book to literally ANYONE who asks for a book recommendation. Audio or otherwise.

"14", "The Fold", and "Paradox Bound" by Peter Clines are all really great!  His "Ex-Heroes" series is also a good read.
The "Kotoroverse" books are a great mystery romp with classic horror/sci-fi tie-ins... and even some time travel. I've listened to these books multiple times thanks to the awesome work of Ray Porter.

"The Bobiverse" (3 books) by Dennis E Taylor. What's not to love?!?  This book is my dream. Wake up hundreds of years after my death to find I'm a brain in a computer who exists to help humanity take to the stars and survive!! Also read by Ray Porter! (The man knows how to read a book!)

"Old Man's War" (the whole series) by John Scalzi. Old Man's War is one of my top 3 sci-fi books of all time. The rest of the series is great as well - but John Perry's adventure of going from an aging 70-year old into a genetically enhanced body to fight in a war... being a combat vet who feels like he's getting old - this book speaks to me. Read by William Dufris

"Lock-In" also by John Scalzi. It's a buddy-cop story between a new FBI agent and the veteran FBI agent taking on a shady murder case in DC... the catch: The new FBI is a Haden. Someone who developed an illness and is "locked-in" their own mind... they live and communicate through robotic avatars. The main character is Chris - and the book is read by Wil Wheaton OR Amber Benson - so Chris - is either female or male depending on which version you choose. Possibly his best book following Old Man's War.

"The Cycle of Arawn" and "The Cycle of Galand" by Edward W. Robertson. Probably one of my most loved "Fantasy" series of all times. I like it more than George RR Martin personally. The 2 main characters are hilarious and I love their interaction. The stories are good and the world is fantastic. Read by the talented Tim Gerald Reynolds.

"Breakers" (6 book series) by Edward W. Robertson - although book 2 is a bit of a slump, it factors into the rest of the series, which I couldn't get enough of. A Plague, an alien invasion, a war for survival!!!  What's not to like?! All read by Ray Chase.

"The Greg Mandel Series" (3 books) series by Peter F. Hamilton. It's an alternate timeline, near future where Greg is a detective solving cases for
Phillip Evans - a wealthy man who's had his mind transplanted into a computer. It's really good, high-tech sci-fi with a quality narrator - Toby Longworth.

"Harry Potter" (all 7 books) by JK Rowling. I mean... it's Harry Potter. It's one of the best series I've ever read across any genre. And Jim Dale does an AMAZING narration of them.

"Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline. Probably my most listened to
audiobook in my collection. I love everything - most everything - about this book. And Wil Wheaton's narration is great!

And we'll finish up with Andy Weir's "The Martian." - but I have a caveat about this one.... I have the ORIGINAL version which ends with Mark Whatney's run-in with a small child while eating some pizza... and this ending is 100% better than the changed, more "warm and fuzzy" ending they made when the movie was optioned... Seriously - WTF?!?! It's also read by RC Bray who is, and will always be in my mind - Mark Whatney. He's perfect. -- Side note - Weirs' 2nd book "Artemis" is totally great. And it's read by Rosario Dawson - and she nails it!


There are so many other books that I want to mention - but that would literally take HOURS... and I would basically list everything in my library... with a few exceptions... like IT...

But do yourself a favor... if you drive at all and get sick of the talk radio and crappy songs over and over - get an audible subscription and treat yourself to some amazing literature!  You'll thank me for it later.