scrapnnana
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,147
Jun 29, 2014 18:58:47 GMT
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Post by scrapnnana on May 19, 2016 16:12:53 GMT
We have a multi-day drive coming up, since we are moving some distance and have to drive both cars. I need some fun audiobooks to help us stay awake, and we definitely want to keep it clean. Youth fiction would be great, since it is easier to find books in that category that the whole family can enjoy. We love humor that is based on the funny quirks of human nature. "The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming" is one of our favorite movies and gives you an idea of the kind of humor we enjoy. We enjoyed the Ranger's Apprentice series and know there is a new book out, although I don't know if they have an audio version.
Got any fun audiobook recommendations for us, please? Thank you!
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Post by cindosha on May 19, 2016 18:06:14 GMT
We love the Harry Potter series and listen to it on every trip. Jim Dale does a great job of different character voices and even the littles like to listen on a trip. His voice is so relaxing to listen to as well.
Cindy
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Post by Restless Spirit on May 19, 2016 18:56:29 GMT
I like Dave Barry, so I'd recommend: Peter and the Starcatchers series or "The Worse Class Trip Ever".
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momtojk
New Member
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Feb 23, 2016 16:02:21 GMT
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Post by momtojk on May 19, 2016 19:20:26 GMT
We loved The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P Figg by Rodman Philbrick
We too are taking a road trip next month so I will be watching this thread!
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scrapnnana
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,147
Jun 29, 2014 18:58:47 GMT
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Post by scrapnnana on May 19, 2016 20:18:46 GMT
Thanks for the suggestion of Harry Potter, but we are very familiar with the Harry Potter series. A little too familar. I am hoping for something new and fresh, to help us be more awake during the long drive. Some people enjoy hearing the same books over and over, but we need something that we aren't already familiar with, especially if the narrator's voice is relaxing.
I appreciate the other suggestions, too. I have not heard of them before. I will go look them up.
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Post by stingfan on May 19, 2016 20:22:49 GMT
Jim Gaffigan's audiobooks were clean and funny. I liked Food: A Love Story better than My Dad is Fat. Kids could probably relate to that one better, too.
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Post by monklady123 on May 19, 2016 20:28:11 GMT
What about the Percy Jackson books, by Rick Riordan. We all love listening to these and we're all adults now. lol
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Post by melanell on May 19, 2016 20:33:28 GMT
We've listened to "Storm Runners", "39 Clues" and "A Series of Unfortunate Events" on long trips with our family. They were all good at keeping us all interested. All 3 are series, but the Storm Runners series has only 3 books, so you could feasibly hear the entire series if you like it. I wouldn't really say any of them are really funny, though. More like action & mystery.
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casii
Drama Llama
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Jun 29, 2014 14:40:44 GMT
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Post by casii on May 19, 2016 20:36:58 GMT
I don't know that they're directed at youth fiction, but we used to listen to books by Patrick McManus on long car trips with the kids and they would howl with laughter. Totally clean and hilarious. Rancid Crabtree is probably one of my favorite characters ever written.
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scrapnnana
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,147
Jun 29, 2014 18:58:47 GMT
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Post by scrapnnana on May 19, 2016 23:33:44 GMT
I appreciate all of the suggestions!
Please keep them coming.
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winter
Junior Member
Posts: 50
May 18, 2016 23:56:30 GMT
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Post by winter on May 19, 2016 23:40:27 GMT
We love the Harry Potter series and listen to it on every trip. Jim Dale does a great job of different character voices and even the littles like to listen on a trip. His voice is so relaxing to listen to as well. Cindy I completely agree! Harry Potter is my go to for road trips. Super enjoyable for all ages.
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winter
Junior Member
Posts: 50
May 18, 2016 23:56:30 GMT
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Post by winter on May 19, 2016 23:41:28 GMT
I just remembered another! I would suggest the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan. The premise is so fun and the audiobooks are pretty easy to find on youtube if you don't want to pay a pretty penny for all of them.
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Post by RobbyKay on May 20, 2016 0:02:01 GMT
I like Ransom Riggs Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children on audio. The voice actor (Jay Baruchel) is the same person who voices the Hiccup in How to Train Your Dragon.
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caangel
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Posts: 5,462
Location: So Cal
Member is Online
Jun 26, 2014 16:42:12 GMT
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Post by caangel on May 20, 2016 0:05:37 GMT
I downloaded the narrative books from our library. The kids really enjoyed listening to them. They have famous British actors read each book. Only one I recognized easily was Patrick Stewart. Right now we are enjoying Beverly Clearly's Ralph the Mouse serie. Our library has a ton of audio books to download for free. We also listened to Igraine the Brave, which I enjoyed. It is a fantasy story (castles, magic, dragons, etc) with a princess who wants to be a knight as the main character.
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Post by sugarmama on May 20, 2016 1:23:09 GMT
The Golem and the Jinni read by George Guidall. Lonesome Dove was good too, but it's about 30 hours.
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Post by ktdoesntscrap on May 20, 2016 2:18:28 GMT
We listened to The Giver and other Lois Lowry books.
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Post by mama2three on May 20, 2016 2:29:45 GMT
I don't know that they're directed at youth fiction, but we used to listen to books by Patrick McManus on long car trips with the kids and they would howl with laughter. Totally clean and hilarious. Rancid Crabtree is probably one of my favorite characters ever written. I have loved Pat Mc Manus books since I was a teen. So funny!!! If you camp, listen to "A fine and Pleasant Misery" and your kids will get a taste of what camping was like in the days before everyone had a wide array of modern expensive gear.
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tomboymama
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Posts: 97
Location: NE Missouri
Jun 27, 2014 3:39:10 GMT
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Post by tomboymama on May 20, 2016 4:41:24 GMT
Hank the Cowdog, there are lots of them. Terry Pratchett's The Wee Free Men
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scrapnnana
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,147
Jun 29, 2014 18:58:47 GMT
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Post by scrapnnana on May 20, 2016 16:24:15 GMT
Thanks for all of these suggestions!
It gives me a bunch to choose from!
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mlana
Pearl Clutcher
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Jun 27, 2014 19:58:15 GMT
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Post by mlana on May 20, 2016 16:45:48 GMT
We loved Patrick McManus! DH introduced us to Garrison Keillor and Lake Woebegone and we really enjoyed them. I haven't listened to them in years, so I'm not sure about any adult issues, but I do remember loving Lewis Grizzard's books.
If you like fantasy, I highly recommend Full Cast Audio books. Two of our favorite authors, Tamora Pierce and Bruce Coville, use them (actually, they are part of the cast sometimes!) for their books. Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher, was the very first audio book we ever listened to as a family and it was wonderful. If you have girl, Tamora Pierce's books feature strong female characters without making the male characters look weak. My DH has enjoyed everyone of her books that we've listened to together.
Jim Butcher has a series out called Codex Alera that is wonderful. It pulls you in and holds your attention. The lead character in it is male, if that matters.
DH and I are currently listening to Patricia Wrede's series, The Thirteenth Child. Her series Searching for Dragons was one of my daughter's favorites when she was younger and I have heard it several times. It was good and very funny in places.
Of course, there is always Anne McCaffrey's Dragonsong, a family favorite, and Brian Jacques's Redwall.
Mercedes Lackey's series, Dragon Jousters, was really good.
Marcy
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Post by anxiousmom on May 20, 2016 16:46:27 GMT
I just remembered another! I would suggest the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan. The premise is so fun and the audiobooks are pretty easy to find on youtube if you don't want to pay a pretty penny for all of them. When the books first started coming out it was my policy to read everything that that the boys were reading. My youngest was one of those early readers and was forever wanting to read books that were above his grade level and often what I thought was his ability to understand the nuances of. So as he was reading, I would also read just to make sure that if there were questions, I would understand the context of the question. Percy Jackson was really good. For one thing, it forced me to remember my high school mythological gods/goddesses, and for another it was just plain fun to read. I think my youngest was in third grade when he read the first one and he flew through each one as they came out because he really liked the story. If you are looking for an all ages story, this one should be on your list-and there are something like 7 (?) of them. That is a whole lot of miles in car.
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