The Shelf

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil Review: Two Different Books

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.

Emergency Review: The Best-Written of the Four

Neil Strauss

The highest writing score of his four, a 5. An audiobook exists and it is abridged, but I have only read this one, so there is no narration score here.

Everyone Loves You When You're Dead Review: The One With No Audiobook

Neil Strauss

Five hundred pages of interview fragments from his years as a music journalist, scored 4.5. There is no audiobook of it at all, which is a strange absence for a book made of people talking.

Great Big Beautiful Life Review: Margaret Is the Reason

Emily Henry, narrated by Julia Whelan

Two books stapled together, and the historical half is the better one. Whether that suits you decides everything.

Julia Whelan: Two I Have Heard, and What They Tell You

I have heard two of her recordings all the way through. Here is what they tell you about whether she suits you, and what I cannot tell you yet.

Neil Strauss in Audio: Two of the Big Ones Are Abridged

I have read all of his own books in print. In audio the 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.

On Writing Anniversary Edition: Which One, and Read or Listen?

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.

The Truth Review: A Nine-Voice Memoir That Works

Neil Strauss, narrated by Neil Strauss, with Ione Skye, Jessica Sattelberger, Justin Gunn, Adele Jacques, Mem Kennedy, Carola Madis, Leah Cevoli and John Runnette

The only unabridged Strauss audiobook, read by a cast of nine rather than by him alone. A full cast on a memoir sounds like it should not work. Writing 4.5, narration 4.

Tim Curry Read Ten of the Thirteen

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 Game Neil Strauss Audiobook Review: What the Cut Costs

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.

11/22/63 Audiobook Length: Is It Worth Thirty Hours?

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.

Harry Potter Audiobook: Jim Dale or Stephen 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.

Mere Christianity Audiobook: Which Narrator You Actually Get

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.

Chronicles of Narnia Audiobook Order: Book 1 Is Not the Wardrobe

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.

The 4-Hour Work Week Review: What Still Holds Up, and What to Skip

Timothy Ferriss

Read it, and skip about a third. The first third is the reason to bother; AI has overtaken the rest.

Project Hail Mary Audiobook Review: Why Ray Porter's Narration Is the Definitive Edition

Andy Weir, narrated by Ray Porter

Listen to this one. Ray Porter's narration is the definitive edition, and the film can only show you about two-thirds of why the book works.