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Best Adult Audiobooks for Road Trips
Things to remember...
- Find a great audiobook for your next road trip
- Having the right car insurance as you travel cross country is equally as important
The written word has been a staple of human life since the dawn of the Sumerians in 3500 B.C. Since then, we have used it to invoke emotion to the utmost degree. Words make us cry; they make us fly; they make us alive. The great Ernest Hemingway once said, “There is no friend as great as a book.”
Today, we read constantly. From newspapers to magazines to novels to articles on Facebook about the zombie apocalypse, reading is as much a part of our lives as ever.
What is changing is the format in which our content is being read. Social media and electronic devices like the Kindle make any book available at the touch of a button.
Audiobooks are taking the world by storm. They are becoming more popular each year, bringing countless worlds right into our cars. This can be very handy because Americans spend a lot of time driving.
According to AAA Americans spent over 70 billion hours behind the wheel.
A good audiobook is a must for a road trip but you also need the right car insurance. Start comparing quotes today for FREE with our tool above.
Table of Contents
Audiobooks for Road Trips
Hemingway’s words still ring true today. With technological advances came audiobooks, allowing you to immerse yourself in a novel even while driving. For the long commuter, podcasts are usually the go-to, but for long road trips, audiobooks can make it seem like you weren’t even driving.
While I admit that turning pages and cracking a spine of a fresh book is an irreplaceable experience, audiobooks do the job when reading is impossible.
Like books, road trips are enjoyable. They free the spirit unlike any other activity. Seeing the far reaches of mountain ranges to the historic roads of Route 66, a road trip can show you a lot, and teach you more.
Audiobooks and road trips are a match made in heaven. Road trips, even the best ones, can get long and boring. Audiobooks let you escape into an alternate universe where you can save the princess from the burning tower, or fall in love, or feel the worst pain imaginable.
Audiobooks can bring hours of enjoyment to your next trip. So what are some of the best audiobooks? Let me show you — but first, be sure you have the right car insurance to keep yourself safe during your trip.
Now, the list of NY Times best audiobooks (with my own bookworm opinion).
#1 – The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
What better way to spend a road trip than to hear insight from a racecar driver and his best friend . . . a Labrador. A glorious novel loaded with emotion and life advice.
#2 – Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
A woman risks her life surviving alone in the marshland, only to be labeled a murder suspect.
#3 – A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
This critically acclaimed novel by the famed Irish novelist gets brought to you by none other than Colin Firth. A classic book read in a classic voice.
#4 – The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Everyone knows these famous books and movies, but the audiobooks are becoming just as popular. The British actor and broadway singer Jim Dale brings these stories to life.
#5 – The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda
A woman’s best friend is murdered, and she is blamed. This thriller is a race against time to find the real killer.
#6 – Stone Mattress by Margaret Atwood
The great author of the infamous The Handmaid’s Tale writes a series of nine short stories. The best part about the audiobook version? It comes with nine different narrators; one for every story.
#7 – Old Bones by Douglas Preston
This novel delves into the very real world of the Donner Party, a pilgrimage in the 1800s that resorted to cannibalism.
#8. Becoming by Michelle Obama
The audiobook of The First Lady’s memoir is in her own voice. Hear about her struggles in the southside of crime-ridden Chicago to her time in the White House, and now her influence on the women of this world.
#9 – The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
This book, part of every middle-school book report, is undoubtedly one of the best ever written. There’s no one better to narrate Nick Carraway than Jake Gyllenhaal.
#10 – Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
No, this book is not about figuring out the existential dilemma we face in this world. This touching book of friendship is about two teens who feel very much alone and learn to live through the other.
#11 – Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Arguably the greatest Latin American novel ever written, this classic is set in 20th century Columbia and is available in Spanish (of course). The novel takes you through love trials and tribulations during the course of a terrible time in the country.
#12 – Red Clocks by Leni Zumas
This aggressive piece is set in a future where in vitro fertilization is banned and every embryo is granted the right to life, liberty, and property. This novel is a powerful message to the world and is not kind. It is controversial and that is the way Zumas wants it.
#13 – The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
No, you won’t have to do a book report after you listen to it. The best part of this classic novel is the distinct southern dialect it contains. The comedian Nick Offerman narrates this one and puts a hilarious twist on those well-known dialects. If you’re looking for outright entertainment, this is for you.
#14 – Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
We all know President Lincoln, but not many know the relationship he had with his son. In this esteemed audiobook, Saunders takes a heart-wrenching walk through the loving relationship Abe Lincoln and his son shared.
#15 –The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Get out the tissues. Now. This award-winning book will wrench your heart. It’s an assured great read. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Tartt’s novel takes us on a journey of the dangerous life of a boy selling art on the black market. Heads-up, his life is not easy.
#16 – The Sellout by Paul Beatty
This oddly hilarious novel is set in a non-existent Los Angeles suburb. It deals with the life of a black man and causes some serious self-reflection.
#17 – Just Kids by Patti Smith
A memoir narrated by herself, this account of her friendship with the infamous photographer Robert Mapplethorpe is honest and moving. Who doesn’t like hearing somebody tell their own story?
#18 – I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara
This novel dissects the illustrious history of the Zodiac killer, a serial rapist and murderer who committed crimes up and down the California coast for over a decade. The history is shocking, but the faulty investigation is even more so.
#19 – What If? by Randall Munroe
As children we all asked — What if? This novel is a funny take on that childhood thought. Munroe dissects what would happen if a Magnitude 15 earthquake hit California, and what would happen if aliens came. Backed up with science and fact, he turns the funny thought on its head. Even better, the great Wil Wheaton is the narrator.
#20 – The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Inspired by the controversial racial times of today, this Black Lives Matter novel is the voice for African American culture in the 21st century. It is both thought-provoking and undeniably witty. This book was also made into a movie. See the trailer below.
A Warm Farewell
The beauty of books is that you can transverse through different worlds. You can pick up Dr. Seuss and discover the meaning of life. A sci-fi book may have you battling a fire-breathing dragon. Take a gunshot to the arm during the War of 1812. Experience magic through the eyes of a wizard.
Books bring worlds to your doorstep, and now audiobooks bring them to your car.
The world needs more books, more road trips. Put down whatever else you have in your life and find somewhere peaceful — perhaps a drive through the mountains — and listen to a great voice narrate your new favorite novel.
Before you head out, make sure your car insurance is updated and you have the coverage you need.
The world is out there. Go and find it.
A good audiobook is a must for a road trip but you also need the right car insurance. Start comparing quotes today for FREE with our tool above.
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