Posted by Amanda E.
For the past 8 years, I've been working at EPL and living in
rural Highland. If it weren't for audiobooks,
those 45-minute drives would have been completely unbearable. If I’m listening to an engaging story, my
commute just seems to fly by. I pretty
frequently sit in my driveway for a few extra minutes just to get to a good
stopping point.
Several EPL staff members are writing about audiobooks this
month, and we’re all saying the same thing:
the narrator will make or break the entire experience. I tend to prefer British narrators because
most British narrators are classically trained theatre actors. Also, accents are great.
My genre of choice is
fantasy fiction. Luckily for me fantasy
fiction and British narrators just seem to go hand in hand. I have no explanation for it. I think it’s just magic.

The Harry Potter
Series: Sorcerer's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince, Deathly Hallows - (Multiple Formats) – Written by J. K. Rowling – Narrated by
Stephen Fry
If you’re familiar with Stephen Fry, you’ll immediately
understand what a great match this is.
If you’re not familiar, you should make every effort to become so. His comedic and dramatic chops are used to
every advantage throughout this whole series.
I know several non-readers who devoured this audiobook series. Even if you have read the books multiple
times, I recommend giving the audio series a try. It will bring a fresh new experience to an
old friend.
Dreams Underfoot (The Newford Series) - (MP3-CD) – Written
by Charles De Lint – Narrated by Kate Reading.
De Lint is one of the innovators of the Urban Fantasy genre,
along with Emma Bull and Terri Windling.
Urban Fantasy of the early 90’s was a bit different than it is defined
today. It was about daily life and the
magic that we miss if we aren’t paying attention. That is definitely the theme of this
collection. De Lint is an optimistic and
sometimes saccharine writer. If I were
to pick De Lint up now, I’m not sure that I would be as willing to buy in to
his stories as my 16 year old self was.
But I did buy in and now I have a lifelong love for his writing that is
grounded both in talent and nostalgia. (Kate Reading is the only non British narrator
on this list. She is theatre trained and
she sometimes fakes a pretty decent British accent)



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