--- title: "Cal's Best Finds — Is it worth the hours, and is the narrator any good?" description: "Every book and audiobook review by Cal Hewitt, scoring the writing and the narration separately." url: "https://calsbestfinds.com/shelf/" lang: "en" image: "https://calsbestfinds.com/og/default.jpg" --- Every review # The Shelf You can be hours into a book before working out whether it is the writing or the voice reading it that is wrong. Here you get both numbers separately, so you know which half you would be paying for before you start. 16 reviews [Full Review](https://calsbestfinds.com/format/full-review/)[Narrative Nonfiction](https://calsbestfinds.com/category/narrative-nonfiction/) ### [Emergency Neil Strauss Review: The Book That Changed How I Live](https://calsbestfinds.com/shelf/emergency-neil-strauss-review/) Neil Strauss, narrated by Neil Strauss The highest writing score on this site, and it is not a score for the sentences. Writing 4.75, narration 4.0, and the reason to read this one rather than listen to it. Writing 4.75 Narration 4.0 8 hr 17 min [Full Review](https://calsbestfinds.com/format/full-review/)[Narrative Nonfiction](https://calsbestfinds.com/category/narrative-nonfiction/) ### [Everyone Loves You When You're Dead Book Review: No Audiobook, and Why](https://calsbestfinds.com/shelf/everyone-loves-you-when-youre-dead-book-review/) Neil Strauss Five hundred pages of interview fragments, scored 4.25. There is no audiobook of it at all, and having read it, I do not think that is the loss it looks like. Writing 4.25 Narration none exists 544 pages [Author Spotlight](https://calsbestfinds.com/format/author-spotlight/)[Narrative Nonfiction](https://calsbestfinds.com/category/narrative-nonfiction/) ### [Neil Strauss in Audio: Two of the Big Ones Are Abridged](https://calsbestfinds.com/shelf/neil-strauss-author-spotlight/) I have read all of his own books in print and heard three of the recordings. The audio catalogue is patchier than the bibliography looks: two of the best-known are abridged, one has no audiobook at all, and the only unabridged one is a full cast. [Full Review](https://calsbestfinds.com/format/full-review/)[Narrative Nonfiction](https://calsbestfinds.com/category/narrative-nonfiction/) ### [The Game Neil Strauss Audiobook Review: What the Cut Costs](https://calsbestfinds.com/shelf/the-game-neil-strauss-audiobook-review/) Neil Strauss, narrated by Neil Strauss Writing 4.0, narration 3.5, and the gap between them is the edition. The only audiobook is abridged, it cuts the field reports, and it does not announce itself. Writing 4.0 Narration 3.5 9 hr 27 min [Full Review](https://calsbestfinds.com/format/full-review/)[Narrative Nonfiction](https://calsbestfinds.com/category/narrative-nonfiction/) ### [The Truth Neil Strauss Review: A Reckoning, Not a Sequel](https://calsbestfinds.com/shelf/the-truth-neil-strauss-review/) Neil Strauss, narrated by Neil Strauss, with Ione Skye, Jessica Sattelberger, Justin Gunn, Adele Jacques, Mem Kennedy, Carola Madis, Leah Cevoli and John Runnette Writing 4.25, narration 4.0. The genuine reckoning with The Game rather than a sequel to it, and the rare read-first verdict that still rates the audiobook. Writing 4.25 Narration 4.0 16 hr 50 min [Narrator Spotlight](https://calsbestfinds.com/format/narrator-spotlight/)[Literary & Contemporary](https://calsbestfinds.com/category/literary-and-contemporary/) ### [Tim Curry Read Ten of the Thirteen](https://calsbestfinds.com/shelf/tim-curry-narrator-spotlight/) Tim Curry has died at 80. He gave us Frank-N-Furter, Pennywise and Nigel Thornberry, and he read ten of the thirteen Series of Unfortunate Events audiobooks, 47 hours of the voice that did all of it. [The Long Haul](https://calsbestfinds.com/format/the-long-haul/)[Thriller & Mystery](https://calsbestfinds.com/category/thriller-and-mystery/) ### [11/22/63 Audiobook Length: Is It Worth Thirty Hours?](https://calsbestfinds.com/shelf/11-22-63-audiobook-length/) Stephen King, narrated by Craig Wasson It runs 30 hours 40 minutes. The sag lands at hour twenty, later than critics place it in print, and the listening conditions decide whether it holds. Writing 4.0 Narration 4.5 30 hr 40 min [Head To Head](https://calsbestfinds.com/format/head-to-head/)[Fantasy & Sci-Fi](https://calsbestfinds.com/category/fantasy-and-sci-fi/) ### [Harry Potter Audiobook: Jim Dale or Stephen Fry?](https://calsbestfinds.com/shelf/harry-potter-audiobook-dale-or-fry/) J. K. Rowling Dale reads the American text, Fry reads the British one, and the first book is not called the same thing. What to check before buying either line. [The First Hour](https://calsbestfinds.com/format/first-hour/)[Faith](https://calsbestfinds.com/category/faith/) ### [Mere Christianity Audiobook: Which Narrator You Actually Get](https://calsbestfinds.com/shelf/mere-christianity-audiobook-narrator/) C. S. Lewis, narrated by Geoffrey Howard Two mainstream recordings, an hour apart and both unabridged. Which one the shops hand you, which one I sampled, and what the opening is actually like. 5 hr 52 min [Series Order](https://calsbestfinds.com/format/series-order/)[Classics](https://calsbestfinds.com/category/classics/) ### [Chronicles of Narnia Audiobook Order: Book 1 Is Not the Wardrobe](https://calsbestfinds.com/shelf/chronicles-of-narnia-audiobook-order/) What readers get, what listeners do not, and how to tell four near-identical audio sets apart before you spend a credit on the wrong one. [Full Review](https://calsbestfinds.com/format/full-review/)[Literary & Contemporary](https://calsbestfinds.com/category/literary-and-contemporary/) ### [Great Big Beautiful Life Review: Margaret Is the Reason](https://calsbestfinds.com/shelf/great-big-beautiful-life-review/) Emily Henry, narrated by Julia Whelan Two books stapled together, and the historical half is the better one. Whether that suits you decides everything. Writing 4.0 Narration 4.5 12 hr 3 min [Narrator Spotlight](https://calsbestfinds.com/format/narrator-spotlight/)[Literary & Contemporary](https://calsbestfinds.com/category/literary-and-contemporary/) ### [Julia Whelan: Two I Have Heard, and What They Tell You](https://calsbestfinds.com/shelf/julia-whelan-narrator-spotlight/) I have heard two of her recordings all the way through. Here is what they tell you about whether she suits you, and where to start. [Read Or Listen](https://calsbestfinds.com/format/read-or-listen/)[Narrative Nonfiction](https://calsbestfinds.com/category/narrative-nonfiction/) ### [On Writing Anniversary Edition: Which One, and Read or Listen?](https://calsbestfinds.com/shelf/stephen-king-on-writing-anniversary-edition/) Stephen King, narrated by Stephen King Four editions are in circulation, the covers barely differ, and the listings do not say what is inside. Here is what each one adds, and which half of the book each format suits. Writing 4.25 Narration 4.5 9 hr 7 min [Full Review](https://calsbestfinds.com/format/full-review/)[Business & Money](https://calsbestfinds.com/category/business-and-money/) ### [The 4-Hour Work Week Review: What Still Holds Up, and What to Skip](https://calsbestfinds.com/shelf/4-hour-work-week-review/) Timothy Ferriss Read it, and skip about a third. The first third is the reason to bother; AI has overtaken the rest. Writing 4.0 Narration not heard 448 pages [Full Review](https://calsbestfinds.com/format/full-review/)[Fantasy & Sci-Fi](https://calsbestfinds.com/category/fantasy-and-sci-fi/) ### [Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil Review: Two Different Books](https://calsbestfinds.com/shelf/bury-our-bones-in-the-midnight-soil-review/) V. E. Schwab, narrated by Julia Whelan, Katie Leung, Marisa Calin Stunning sentences, not much momentum, and a three-narrator audiobook that is the better way in. Which of those two readers you are decides everything. Writing 3.5 Narration 4.5 18 hr 26 min [Full Review](https://calsbestfinds.com/format/full-review/)[Fantasy & Sci-Fi](https://calsbestfinds.com/category/fantasy-and-sci-fi/) ### [Project Hail Mary Audiobook Review: Why Ray Porter's Narration Is the One to Hear](https://calsbestfinds.com/shelf/project-hail-mary-audiobook-review/) Andy Weir, narrated by Ray Porter Listen to this one. Ray Porter plays the alien language and the fear under the jokes, and the book still gives you what the film cannot: a man thinking. Writing 4.0 Narration 5.0 16 hr 10 min