Title: The Glass Castle
Author: Jeannette Walls
Narrator: Jeannette Walls
Length: 10 hours, 28 minutes

If listening to interesting people telling fascinating stories is your kinda thing then you’ve got to check out a few memoirs from our audio book library. Some of the best audio books are those that tell the life stories of remarkable, hilarious or celebrated people in the world. Even better, listening to someone read their own memoir is like sitting with an old friend, reminiscing and exchanging past memories (only you don’t have to share yours).

If you’re new to memoirs (or audio books in general) a great book to start with is Jeannette Walls‘ memoir, The Glass Castle—a book that was meant to be listened to. It’s an unforgettable (and almost unbelievable) story of a nomadic, deprived childhood and a dysfunctional and extremely captivating family. Her stories are funny, heart wrenching and gripping and her childhood adventures of scavenger hunts in the desert and late-night escapes from the family’s latest town prove that real life can be even more interesting than fiction.

Throughout the audio book, Jeannette shares her childhood memories, describing the tragic events that came along with having parents like Rex and Rose Mary Walls (let’s just say they were no Ozzie and Harriet). Rex is brilliant, but struggles with alcoholism and can’t hold down a job while Rose Mary is an artist who resents the responsibility that comes with being a parent.

In her career as a gossip columnist, Jeannette was used to uncovering other people’s intimate details. But through her memoir, she bravely exposes her own unconventional and upsetting past and candidly shares all of the joys and struggles she faces as she tries to hold her family together.

Jeannette’s memoir is a story of survival—a beautiful testament to the resilience of the human heart and soul.

If you enjoyed The Glass Castle, you’ll also love these top audio books:

Title: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Narrator: Emma Galvin
Length: 11 hours, 12 minutes

Last week we tweeted out a few recommendations for some of the best audio books to help you get through your Hunger Games withdrawal and one of those books was Divergent, the first in a new dystopian series by Veronica Roth. This YA audio book is engrossing, action-packed and it’s an addictive, can’t-stop-listening-to-it kinda book.

Here’s the gist: The world as we know it was overtaken by greed, violence, ignorance, lies, and cowardice, causing a new society to emerge. Imagine a dark future Chicago in which society has been reorganized into five factions, each dedicated to upholding their single core value – selflessness, peacefulness, intelligence, courage, and honesty. Once a citizen turns 16, they’re forced to decide whether to stay with their parents in their home faction, or move on to a new faction—and once the decision is made, there’s no going back.

Divergent has everything that a great dystopian novel needs: a spirited hero (in this case a heroine), an unyielding government, love interests, survival, and suspense. The writing is captivating (especially impressive given Roth was only twenty-one when she wrote this book), Roth manages to maintain a gripping pace with twists and turns around every corner. A warning for parents with young children listening, the book has a surprising amount of violence.

The audio version of the book is excellent.  This is the first book that we’ve listened to with narration by Emma Galvin and we were very impressed. She captured Beatrice’s voice perfectly and made it very easy to distinguish between each of the different characters.

Ok, we’re done gushing about Divergent’s amazingness, so now you can go check it out. This is one audio book download that you’re not going to regret listening to! And once you’ve finished listening, head over to Facebook and take your own Divergent aptitude test to see faction you belong to.

And if you enjoy Divergent as much as we think you will, and you’re not on Hunger Games overload, check out some other great listens in the genre:

So you devoured the Hunger Games audio books, now what?

Recently we tweeted a few YA audio books to help ease what some are calling “Katniss Withdrawal”. There are so many great dystopian fantasies featuring tough, smart, young heroines who take the spunky tomboy archetype to a whole new level just waiting for you to listen to, but due to some character restrictions over on Twitter, we could only suggest two. So we thought we’d take to the blog to recommend even more great audio books to help fulfill your post-Hunger Games needs.

Check ’em out!

The Easter Bunny will be making a visit this Sunday, and what better way to get your kids excited for the jellybeans, chocolates and Easter egg hunts than playing them some fun Easter audio books for kids? My niece (remember her from The Adventures of TinTin post?) has become a huge fan of audio books and we’ve already set a date to listen to
E. Aster Bunnymund and the Battle of the Warrior Eggs at the Earth’s Core this weekend. E. Aster Bunnymund is a fun and imaginative story that puts a neat twist on the Easter Bunny and is guaranteed to entertain the kids and build up the excitement for Easter.

There are also some great uses for Easter audio books for parents too (OK – they don’t all have to be about the Easter Bunny, but we thought we’d go with a theme here). The Easter weekend usually means a lot of travelling with the family. Whether it’s to Easter dinner at Grandma’s house or Sunday brunch at Aunt Sue’s, audio books are the perfect way to keep the family entertained on those long car rides.

You can also use audio books to keep the kids busy after Easter dinner. Rather than sending them to play video games or watch TV – set them up with an audio book or two. They’ll have fun playing along with the stories and you’ll get to enjoy some extra quality time with friends and family. It’s a win-win situation.

Happy Easter from the Audiobooks.com Team!

Here are a few great Easter listens to get you started:

Title: Fahrenheit 451
Author: Ray Bradbury
Narrator: Ray Bradbury
Length: 6 hours, 31 minutes

With the resurgence of dystopian stories (hello Hunger Games audio book), we’ve been inspired to go back to the classics in the genre—and we’re bringing you all the way back to grade school with this one.

Fahrenheit 451 is one of the most influential novels of the 20^th century, in which Ray Bradbury boldly takes on mass media, censorship and conformity. The story is set in a futuristic United States where books are banned, society values happiness and order over truth, and citizens happily avoid the need to think, make decisions or generate ideas. Firemen are on the hunt for illegal books, burning them for the good of humanity.

We’re guessing most of you haven’t read this story since you were 13 or 14, so it’s definitely worth downloading the audio book and having another listen. We found new meaning in the book by listening to it at a time in which the themes are probably more relevant than ever.

Fair warning—the audio book starts off a little slow, but hang in there because the pace picks up quickly.  Bradbury does a fantastic job with the narration, reading with conviction and passion, and it’s a really cool experience to sit and listen to Bradbury warn us of the consequences of a society set on maintaining censorship at any cost.

Oh, and keep listening to the very end of the audio book. There’s a great interview with Bradbury where he discusses the book in detail.

If you’re a Fahrenheit 451 fan, you should definitely check out these other great listens:

In just 2 days the world will be watching the Hunger Games unfold—and we’ll be in the front row, cheering our girl Katniss on. For Hunger Games newbies, let’s get you up to speed on the Hunger Games audio book and what it is that has us and millions of others around the world counting down the days until the premiere.

The Hunger Games trilogy is set in a post-apocalyptic version of North America, a pristine Capitol surrounded by twelve impoverished districts. To keep the districts at bay, the Capitol forces them to send one boy and one girl to participate in an annual event called the Hunger Games where they are forced to fight to the death on live TV. The winner (and there can only be one) gets a life of victory and wealth and the losers see only death.

Suzanne Collins builds a world for her characters that’s relatable while being majorly imaginative. Their struggles and triumphs—not to mention a classic love triangle—means that there’s lots to enjoy in the story, even if you’re not usually a sci-fi or fantasy fan.

See why we’re so excited? The Hunger Games is packed full of struggle, suspense, heroism and love—and if the movie’s as amazing as the book, we’re in for an epic adventure.

The world will be watching the Hunger Games on Friday but you need to start listening now! And if you’re not an Audiobooks.com subscriber, remember, our 7-day free trial is unlimited – you can listen to as many books as you like (even the whole Hunger Games trilogy) without worrying about credits or limits to your listening.

“Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor.”