As an author who has narrated my own audiobooks, I’ve realized that it is an art and a joy to perform books aloud. I wanted to offer this list to inspire more people to read aloud to one another. It’s one of the most bonding experiences I’ve had with my husband and children.
Performing my Orchid audiobooks has been such a rewarding experience. I loved revisiting my characters and having one final time to enjoy my stories from beginning to end. The narration process allowed me to experience my books fresh, from a reader’s point of view. The good news is that everyone can experience this joy. Pick your favorite book and share it out loud!
What happens when Earth turns into a competition to the death, all for the entertainment of alien cultures around the universe? Well, you get an eminently engrossing tale that my husband and I have been reading aloud to each other!
As a cat mom, I've completely fallen for Princess Donut the Chonk. She is imperious, yet her vulnerability shines through too. Carl is a fine hero, as he grapples with his morals and grows in his ability to save others.
My husband and I are hooked. We're literally reading the series aloud to each other, complete with a watery accent for Zev and her fish tank hood, Princess Donut's innocent voice, and nasally shapeshifter Mordecai.
A man. His ex-girlfriend's cat. A sadistic game show unlike anything in the universe: a dungeon crawl where survival depends on killing your prey in the most entertaining way possible.
In a flash, every human-erected construction on Earth—from Buckingham Palace to the tiniest of sheds—collapses in a heap, sinking into the ground.
The buildings and all the people inside have all been atomized and transformed into the dungeon: an 18-level labyrinth filled with traps, monsters, and loot. A dungeon so enormous, it circles the entire globe.
This is the first book my husband and I read aloud to each other.
It’s a complete joy to immerse into a story with your loved one. Something about acting out the scenes for another person prolongs the enjoyment of the tale.
The rabbits and the threat to their warren felt incredibly real. We passed time during long drives and meals to keep binging this classic book. We loved the characters so much that we named our first cat after the clever hero rabbit, Hazel.
Although the book was published in 1972, the message about human development’s impact on wildlife is still relevant today.
One of the best-loved children's classics of all time, this is the complete, original story of Watership Down.
Something terrible is about to happen to the warren - Fiver feels sure of it. And Fiver's sixth sense is never wrong, according to his brother Hazel. They had to leave immediately, and they had to persuade the other rabbits to join them.
And so begins a long and perilous journey of a small band of rabbits in search of a safe home. Fiver's vision finally leads them to Watership Down, but here they face their most difficult challenge of all .…
The Improbable Wonders of Moojie Littleman
by
Robin Gregory,
After his doting aunt dies, a special fourteen-year-old boy who has trouble fitting into a remote 1906 village goes against a powerful retired Army captain determined to eradicate his outcast kin.
What makes a book perfect for reading aloud? I love a cast of colorful characters, unexpected twists, and great wit.
The classic Mark Twain novel Adventures of Tom Sawyer has all of this and more! Protagonist Tom Sawyer is wily yet tender. He tricks his fellow classmates into whitewashing his fence for him, transforms the ill-gotten proceeds into a Bible, and gets classmate Becky to fall for him.
The action and humor are so fun to read aloud. Twain’s writing kept me turning pages and wishing for just “one more chapter” until the whole book was done. Good thing the sequel, Huckleberry Finn, was able to sate a bit of our hunger for more adventures!
"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" is the first of Mark Twain's novels to feature one of the best-loved characters in American fiction, with a critical introduction by John Seelye in "Penguin Classics". From the famous episodes of the whitewashed fence and the ordeal in the cave to the trial of Injun Joe, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" is redolent of life in the Mississippi River towns in which Twain spent his own youth. A sombre undercurrent flows through the high humour and unabashed nostalgia of the novel, however, for beneath the innocence of childhood lie the inequities of adult reality…
You may have noticed a theme of animals in my prior recommendations. This theme continues with Stikki the Squirrel.
Jane H. Wood creates lovable yet believable characters. In the Tree Spiritssequel to Stikki the Squirrel, our cheeky grey hero must protect his partner Rella and their children. His heroism and bravery will keep you turning the pages.
The beautiful woodland descriptions will keep you reading aloud. Wood’s beautiful writing flows like the river that carries Stikki far from his home. You won’t want to stop until the satisfying ending.
This book is designed for young readers but is just as delightful for adults.
Join Stikki and his mate Rella on their second exciting adventure - full of mystery, danger, and the wonders of magic found in the most unexpected places.
Winter has arrived in Hazy Hills Wood, covering everything in a blanket of snow.
Food is hard to find, and the animals are getting hungry. To make things worse, there is a scary food thief on the prowl.
Stikki heads out into the cold to find his secret stash, but when he doesn't come home, Rella goes searching for him. A frightening journey looms ahead as Stikki and Rella are…
There’s something meditative about the slower pace of books from Japanese authors like Syou Ishida.
In We’ll Prescribe You a Cat, readers are treated to a quirky “doctor’s” office that prescribes felines instead of therapy for loneliness and mental health ailments. The campy, unexpected setup makes a delightful story to read out loud.
I appreciate that the kitties act like normal cats, instead of relying on them to behave in some extraordinary way to accomplish their healing. I think this is fairer to real-life cats. Instead of needing to insert magic or make the cats talk, the author shows that they can be a positive influence simply by being their cute and even sometimes standoffish selves.
Discover the award-winning, bestselling Japanese novel that has become an international sensation in this utterly charming, vibrant celebration of the healing power of cats.
Tucked away in an old building at the end of a narrow alley in Kyoto, the Kokoro Clinic for the Soul can only be found by people who are struggling in their lives and genuinely need help. The mysterious clinic offers a unique treatment to those who find their way there: it prescribes cats as medication. Patients are often puzzled by this unconventional prescription,…
Dear Orchid opens the heart in unexpected ways: through true stories and new fiction that explore loss and love, silence and recovery, and hard-won resilience. These intimate portraits explore the messy beauty of friendship, family, disability, and belonging.
Letters to a girl newly freed from East Berlin, an aunt lost to Communist-era borders, and Purple Heart-decorated heroes. You’ll meet a wounded hero who jokes through his pain, a beloved cat with a crayon note taped to his back (“HELP ME”), and people who refuse to be defined by what they’ve lost. These aren’t just stories. They’re love letters. For you. For us. For the moments that make us human.
Royce Melborn, a skilled thief, and his mercenary partner, Hadrian Blackwater, make a profitable living carrying out dangerous assignments for conspiring nobles—until they are hired to pilfer a famed sword. What appears to be just a simple job finds them framed for the murder of the king and trapped in…
What if the gods could be FORCED to answer our prayers? Amelia and her friends were once DnD-style fantasy adventurers, who found themselves launched into science fiction when they discovered their medieval world’s “gods” just have access to space-age biomech.
Since ascending to "godhood" herself—that is, earning a place on…
