Best Audiobooks 2012

Comfy headphones are important
to me. I can't stand earbuds.

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter is audible.com's selection as best audiobook of 2012 and I also liked it very much (and reviewed it here).

Quiet by Susan Cain, on the top of audible.com's nonfiction list, was probably my personal favourite in 2012. I listened to it with my sister Simone when we spent about 6 hours in a car together and the good memories from that day are entwined with my enjoyment of the book. I've recommended it to so many people since then... thankfully, my friends are patient with my evangelistic zeal about books I love.

Let's Pretend This Never Happened, a memoir by Jenny Lawson, made the top 10 of Listener's Favourites of 2012.

I love "best of" lists like this because it's a good way to be reminded of stuff that I've meant to read but haven't got to yet. Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness is at the top of audible.com's fantasy list. Seeing it there prompted me to start listening to the first book in that series, A Discovery of Witches, which is performed by the same narrator, Jennifer Ikeda. I've had it on my iPod since August, but the publisher's comparison to Anne Rice and the Twilight series rather put me off. I'm about 3 hours in and liking it much better than I expected. So far, it reminds me of Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman (which I enjoyed) and the best parts of Endymion Spring by Matthew Skelton (the part about the magical book hidden in a library at Oxford).

My blogging motivation had temporarily deserted me, so I'm also thankful to this particular "best of" list for getting me back at my keyboard.

The Guardian's best audio list is here. It includes another that I'd place in my top listens of 2012: The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz, read by Derek Jacobi. It's one of many that I just never got around to reviewing.