Top 10 lists are becoming increasingly popular among audiobook listeners and authors alike. Here’s one from Stephen King, a longtime backer of spoken word recordings and an adept narrator in his own right. King earned the gratitude of audiobook fans everywhere when he organized a benefit on behalf of Frank Muller after a nasty motorcycle accident. The Haven Foundation was established by King shortly afterward to support audio narrators and other freelance writers who lack a safety net.
King also earned respect by telling book purists like Harold Bloom to stuff it. Below are the books he recommends for anyone who wants to hear a good story.
Stephen King’s Top 10 Audiobooks:
1. Philip Roth, American Pastoral (read by Ron Silver)
2. Larry McMurtry, Lonesome Dove (read by Wolfram Kandinsky)
3. J.K. Rowling, The Harry Potter novels (read by Jim Dale)
4. Annie Proulx, That Old Ace in the Hole (read by Arliss Howard)
5. Anne Tyler, Back When We Were Grownups (read by Blair Brown)
6. Ian McEwan, Enduring Love (read by Steven Crossley)
7. Patrick O’Brian, Aubrey/Maturin novels (read by Patrick Tull)
8. Frank McCourt, Angela’s Ashes (read by Frank McCourt)
9. Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake (read by Campbell Scott)
10. Neil Gaiman, American Gods (read by George Guidall)
King’s list first appeared in Entertainment Weekly in 2007: “Stephen King on Why He Loves a Good Audiobook.”
Audiobook History 