Long car journeys used to be dead zones for your brain. After a while, most radio stations become repetitive and conversations drop off – unless you’re travelling with children, in which case the constant audio loop of “are we there yet” adds an extra level of torture to the experience. Even if you’re a passenger, reading or fiddling with your phone often just makes you feel tired or carsick.
But all that is changing. Every week more and more audiobooks, audiodramas and podcasts are becoming available and road trips are being transformed. “My seven-year-old gets carsick – and then really panicky about throwing up – so she can’t watch the iPad,” says parenting blogger Jacqui Paterson. “I load up audiobooks to keep her occupied on long car journeys and it helps ease her panic too.”
For teacher Dawn Murray, they’re a break from the day-to-day grind: “I’m so busy I realised this was the only way I could find the time to enjoy books. I listen to them on the way to and from work and it’s great to escape from the world for a short time.”
The big question, of course, is what to listen to. Are some types or genres of audiobooks better suited to car journeys than others? There is, of course, no right answer to this, but there are a few things to take into consideration. For example, for all of their tremendous insight and literary value, do you really want to be trying to keep track of the essays in Joan Didion’s Slouching Towards Bethlehem while you’re trying to keep an eye on the road?
Will the kids be with you? Maybe not the best time to pop on that collection of HP Lovecraft stories. In other words, accessibility is pretty important when it comes to choosing the right audiobooks for the car. Escapism is a big part of the appeal – while your body may be trapped in a five-mile traffic jam on the M3, your mind could be treading water in a sunny swimming pool. Alternatively, you could be exploring ruined castles or blasting aliens on a distant asteroid.
It’s not always easy to know where to start, so here’s a pick of seven great audiobooks to load up and have at the ready whenever you get in the car.
The Lido
Leading the trend for “up-lit” or uplifting fiction, The Lido by Libby Page has become one of summer’s hottest bestsellers. It tells the story of two women – one 86, one 26 – who meet by chance and team up to save their beloved Brockwell Lido from property developers. Set in a lovingly portrayed Brixton and nine hours in length, it tackles some complex subjects like urban loneliness, mental health issues and gentrification. Strong stuff, but there’s an almost Richard Curtis-esque feeling about this tale of love, friendship and swimming under the stars. Narrator Clare Corbett’s voice adds extra warmth.
Alien: Sea of Sorrows
A powerful killer alien, a ruthless corporation determined to monetise the creature and a team of grunts who have to face it – Alien: Sea of Sorrows has all the hallmarks of the classic movie series, taking the original story 300 years into the future. Alan Decker, a descendent of the alien’s nemesis Ellen Ripley, is recruited to help capture a living specimen for the company’s labs – not realising he’s being used as bait. This atmospheric five-hour drama has tension in spades and special mention has to go to Stockard Channing as a cold, scheming executive. One to listen to on long drives in the dark.
The Hobbit
If you’re travelling with children, sweary mercenaries tracking eviscerating aliens might not be the way to go – but a classic adventure has appeal across all ages. The Hobbit is a great place to start – 13 dwarves, a wizard and a humble hobbit set off to slay a dragon and win treasure – encountering murderous trolls, hungry giant spiders and wily elves along the way. The 11-hour unabridged audiobook is narrated in grand style by Rob Inglis. However, if you have a taste for retro drama and a three-hour-42-minute journey to fill, the classic 1968 BBC dramatisation starring Paul Daneman and Anthony Jackson will keep everyone on the edge of their car seats.
The Handmaid’s Tale
The TV series has made us all familiar with The Handmaid’s Tale – the twisted dystopian nightmare, where a religious order rules and fertile women are kept like breeding cattle. But listening to the 10-hour audiobook adds a whole new dimension to the story – giving you a chance to be blown away by Margaret Atwood’s evocative writing and prescient insights. Joanna David is June/Offred, and while her English accent is a surprise at first when you’re expecting a North American one, she keeps just the right note of repressed anger and rebellion in her voice as her horrifying story of oppression, cruelty and hypocrisy unfolds.
Earpedia: Animals
For lighter relief and shorter journeys, Sue Perkins’s Earpedia: Animals offers bite-size nuggets of fun. In each 10-ish-minute episode, the former Bake Off host takes a wry look at weird and wonderful wild creatures, from naked mole rats to pink fairy armadillos. It’s full of the kind of fascinating facts you’ll find yourself quoting for weeks – did you know the collective noun for weasels is a “sneak”? – and joyfully silly comic asides to keep you chuckling at the wheel.
The Book of Dust Volume One: La Belle Sauvage
More than 20 years after Philip Pullman captivated us with the His Dark Materials series, he returns with The Book of Dust Volume One: La Belle Sauvage. Narrated by the crisp, clear voice of Michael Sheen, the story acts as a prequel to the previous series and is packed with adventure, great characters and fascinating detail. Insatiably curious innkeeper’s son Malcolm and his daemon Asta are dragged into a dark web of plots when they try to protect an orphaned baby named Lyra Belacqua. The book takes 13 hours, but the time will fly.
Winnie The Pooh
For nearly a century, children have been growing up with the Winnie The Pooh stories. This dramatisation is the perfect way of introducing Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and the gang to a new generation – particularly for those parents who are allergic to the Disney version. AA Milne’s tales of the honey-loving bear are voiced by a cast of national treasures including Stephen Fry, Judi Dench and Jane Horrocks who work together superbly to bring the stories to life, leaving children spellbound and giving the adults in the car a chuckle too. This is what audiobooks were made for.
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