I'm looking for easy-to-listen-to fiction audiobooks. Something I can tune in while doing other stuff without getting distracted.
I find some authors have styles that are a bit more sophisticated than others. The more thought-provoking, the more difficult I find to enjoy an audiobook while doing something else. I catch myself stopping whatever I'm doing to pay attention to the book, which is not what I want.
So for example I've found The Witcher books very easy to listen to, it wouldn't matter if I missed a few seconds and I never found myself stopping to ponder about the text itself. The narrator was great too. Also bonus points as it was a long saga of books.
In contrast I would never want to listen to a Terry Pratchett book while doing something else. He's probably my favourite English author but I find he's too much of a genius, and my poor brain wouldn't be able to digest it all if I'm not giving it my attention 100%.
I hope this makes sense?
How's your experience with audiobooks?
The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
This book did this for me. It was funny and totally casual.
Discworld is my go-to these days. Goes well with cross stitching
In contrast I would never want to listen to a Terry Pratchett book while doing something else
Ah well. Sarah J. Maas was also a fun experience. It's so bad it's good. I went with A court of thorns and roses but I hear her other series follow a similar vein. It's hard to miss the important details. Look for the Graphic Audio releases.
Pratchett has the highest rate of "that whole paragraph was great so I'm going to read it again now" and "that's such a clever remark I'm now taking 5 minutes to think about it" out of any other authors I've ever read.
And you can do cross stiching whilst listening to it? I'm jealous. Thanks for the other recommendation, I'll look into it :)
There's a free series you can listen to on Podcast Addict by Nathan Lowell. The first book is called Quarter Share. (Then Half Share, Full Share, Double Share, Captains Share, and lastly, Owners Share).
It's Sci fi set in space about a guy moving up in ranks making money and working on a space ship. It's nothing too fantastic but it was still a good listen, read by the author who does a good job of it, and I did exactly what you're wanting while I listened. Loosely paid attention while doing other things and it was great for that.
Also, you can't beat free.
Stephen Fry’s reading of Harry Potter is just the best.
On a JK Rowling note. Her Cormoran Strike series (starting with Cuckoo’s Calling) under a different pen name is actually pretty great. It’s a modern day detective series with great personable characters. Very easy to listen to. Despite her crappy views, Rowling’s way of writing is very clean and simple so might fit your brief.
I don't know if this is suitable for your needs, but I really enjoyed this reading of the deathworlders:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0TV2mCk83zBbWxnbA7ndfHFlctKzHGIL&si=ksX7uj10qVPSEWZ-