Month: January 2025

I listen to audiobooks while hiking solo, and have been fortunate enough to do a long hike each year since 2012– that is a lot of audio. I record links to each completed audiobook in my online hiking journals, first as a note to myself, and second a recommendation to anyone reading or crawling this blog, a shout-out to the work of authors and readers that I have enjoyed.

My preference is to avoid audiobooks with DRM Digital Rights Management, and unfortunately a monopoly controlling contemporary audiobooks insists on DRM as a condition for authors to be published with them. Luckily for me, LibriVox was started in 2005, a group of volunteer readers who record and distribute audiobooks of public domain books. In my youth I tended to read mostly science fiction, and missed out on many classics of literature, and LibriVox has allowed me to remedy that situation in some small part.

(Please be aware that book copyright duration differs according to country, and USA rules are different from everyone else. Nowadays I look forward to seeing what new books slip out of copyright January 1 of each year, for possible use on my next hike.)

Below are all the audiobooks completed on my long hikes to date, sometimes with short notes. Perhaps this might help other travelers on their audiobook journey. More notes below the list…

AT 2012

(no audiobooks on this trip, just podcasts)

CDT 2015

• Stickeen John Muir
• Agatha H and the Voice of the Castle Phil and Kaja Foglio, read by Angela Dawe
• Damsel in Distress P G Wodehouse
• Jekyll and Hyde Robert Louis Stevenson
• Dracula Bram Stoker
• The Innocence of Father Brown G K Chesterton
• The Intrusion of Jimmy P G Wodehouse
• With a Little Help Cory Doctorow
• Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte, dramatic reading
• Homeland, by Cory Doctorow

CDT 2016

• Anne of Green Gables Lucy Maud Montgomery, most excellent!!
• The Canterville Ghost Oscar Wilde
• A Brief Conversation With My Hair Russell Bradbury-Carlin
• The Wizard That Wasn’t: Mechanized Wizardry Book 1 Ben Rovik
• Snow Glass Apples Neil Gaiman
• Happy Prince and Other Tales Oscar Wilde
• Consultation with a Vampire Patrick E McLean
• How to Succeed in Evil:-the original podcast episodes Patrick E McLean
• The Emperors Edge:- A High Fantasy Novel In An Era of Steam/ Lindsay Buroker, narrated by Starla Huchton, excellent
• Dark Currents Lindsay Buroker, narrated by Starla Huchton, Emperor’s Edge Book 2
• Deadly Games Lindsay Buroker, narrated by Starla Huchton Emperor’s Edge Book 3
• Anne of Avonlea Lucy Maud Montgomery, read by Karen Savage
• Anne of the Island Lucy Maud Montgomery, read by Karen Savage
• Anne’s House of Dreams Lucy Maud Montgomery, read by Karen Savage
• Love Among the Chickens P G Wodehouse
• The Merchant Adventurer Patrick E McLean
• The Heavenfield Ian G. Hulme (through book 4)
• Brood of Bones A.E. Marling , narrated by Henrietta Meire (DarkFire Productions)
• Picadilly Jim P G Wodehouse
• The Black Arrow: A Tale of Two Roses Robert Louis Stevenson

GET 2017

• Unkillable Patrick E McClean
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep Philip K Dick
• The Variable Man Philip K Dick
• Other Peoples Heroes Blake M Petit
• A Short History of Scotland Andrew Lang
• 2 B R 0 2 B Kurt Vonnegut
• The Sky Is Falling Lester del Rey
• Space Casey Christiana Ellis
• Space Casey Season 2 Christiana Ellis
• Just So Stories Rudyard Kipling, read by Kara Shallenberg
• The Man Who Would Be King Rudyard Kipling, read by Philippa
• Ivanhoe Sir Walter Scott
• Kim Rudyard Kipling

PCT 2018

• Fatal Flight– The True Story of Britain’s Last Great Airship, Bill Hammack
• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass
• The Kipling Reader Rudyard Kipling
• The Tragedy of Puddnhead Wilson Mark Twain
• Captain Blood Rafael Sabatini
• The Sea Hawk Rafael Sabatini
• Scaramouche Rafael Sabatini
• The Tavern Knight Rafael Sabatini
• The Laughing Cavalier: Ancestor of the Scarlet Pimpernel Baroness Orczy
• Lady Molly of Scotland Yard Baroness Orczy
• The Master of Ballantrae Robert Louis Stevenson
• Heidi Johanna Spyri, read by Kara Shallenberg
• A Farewell to Arms Ernest Hemingway, vintage radio drama
• It Can’t Happen Here Sinclair Lewis, dramatic reading
• The Stories of J G Ballard J G Ballard
• Red Notebook Paul Auster
• Auggie Wren’s Christmas Paul Auster, read by author
• Jill the Reckless P G Wodehouse
• Not George Washington P G Wodehouse, not recommended
• Something New P G Wodehouse
• Preferred Risk Frederik Pohl
• The Diary of Otto Kandinsky I G Hulme
• The Dead Man’s Feast I G Hulme
• Captains Courageous Rudyard Kipling
• Lady Jane Jane Austen, read by various
• The Girl On the Boat P G Wodehouse
• A LIttle Princess Frances Hodgson Burnett
• A Room With a View E M Forster
• Can You Forgive Her Anthony Trollope
• The Warden Anthony Trollope
• Riders of the Purple Sage Zane Grey
• Tess of the d’Urbervilles Tom Hardy
• Diary of a Nobody George Weedon Grossmith
• The Wisdom of Father Brown G K Chesterton
• Eastern Standard Tribe Cory Doctorow
• The Age of Innocence Edith Wharton, read by Brenda Dayne
• Underwood and Flinch: A Vampire Novel Mike Bennett
• The Terrible Business of Salmon and Dusk Myke Bartlett
• Your Days Are Numbered Myke Bartlett
• The Crown Conspiracy Michael J. Sullivan
• Shadowmagic John Lenahan
• The Prince of Hazel and Oak John Lenahan
• With the Night Mail Rudyard Kipling (science fiction)

NNML 2019

• Walkaway Cory Doctorow
• The Man Who Knew Too Much G K Chesterton
• The Elusive Pimpernel Baroness Orczy
• New Arabian Nights Robert Louis Stevenson
• The Little Nugget P G Wodehouse
• Uneasy Money P G Wodehouse
• The Black Tulip Alexandre Dumas
• The Man Who Knew Too Much G K Chesterton
• The Count of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas
• Hellhounds of the Cosmos Clifford Simak, not recommended

AZT 2020

• Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen, read by Karen Savage
• The Queen’s Necklace Alexandre Dumas
• I Will Repay Baroness Orczy
• A Prefects Uncle P G Wodehouse
• Tom Sawyer, Detective Mark Twain
• Little Women Louisa May Alcott, dramatic reading
• Wodehouse in the Strand P G Wodehouse
• The Inimitable Jeeves P G Wodehouse
• The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel Baroness Orczy, dramatic reading

MRT 2021

• Kidnapped Robert Louis Stevenson
• A Man of Means P G Wodehouse and C H Bovill
• The Sign of the Broken Sword G K Chesterton, one of the best Father Brown stories
• Force Multiplier Cory Doctorow
• Attack Surface Cory Doctorow
• A Wodehouse Miscellany P G Wodehouse
• Right Ho, Jeeves P G Wodehouse
• The Man With Two Left Feet and Other Stories P G Wodehouse
• The Snare Rafael Sabatini
• Moments With Mark Twain Mark Twain
• The Lion’s Skin Rafael Sabatini
• The Prince and Betty P G Wodehouse
• The Adventures of Sally P G Wodehouse
• Bill the Conqueror P G Wodehouse

HDT 2022

• A Gentleman of Leisure P G Wodehouse
• Agatha H and the Siege of Mechanicsburg Kaja Foglio, Phil Foglio, narrated by Angela Dawe, link to non-DRM audiobook (but do not accidentally sign up for recurring charges)
• El Dorado Baroness Orczy, read by Karen Savage
• Tales of St Austins P G Wodehouse
• Ukridge P G Wodehouse
• The Wind in the Willows Kenneth Grahame
• Carry On Jeeves P G Wodehouse
• Little Men Louisa May Alcott, dramatic reading
• The Tenth Clew and Other Continental Op Stories Dashiell Hammett
• Leave It to Psmith P G Wodehouse
• The Boxcar Children Gertrude Chandler Warner

CT 2023

• Frankenstein Mary Shelley, dramatic reading
• The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel Baroness Orczy
• Magician Among the Spirits Harry Houdini
• Chokepoint Capitalism Rebecca Giblin and Cory Doctorow
• Psmith, Journalist P G Wodehouse
• The Incredulity of Father Brown G K Chesterton
• Red Team Blues Cory Doctorow
• A Wodehouse Miscellarny P G Wodehouse (accidental repeat)
• The Thirty-Nine Steps John Buchan

GXL 2024

• The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• Bezzle Cory Doctorow
• The Lost Cause Cory Doctorow
• The Golden Slipper and Other Problems for Violet Strange Anna Katharine Green, early American detective fiction
• The Leavenworth Case Anna Katharine Green
• The 30000 Dollar Bequest and Other Stories Mark Twain
• The White Feather P G Wodehouse

GET 2024

• Whose Body Dorothy Sayers, read by Kara Shallenberg and Kristin Hughes, a Lord Peter Wimsey novel
• More Tish Mary Roberts Rinehart, early American mystery writer
• Lost Man’s Lane Anna Katharine Green
• Planet of the Damned Harry Harrison
• The Gem Collector P G Wodehouse
• Divots P G Wodehouse
• Mike: A Public School Story P G Wodehouse, warning:background noise
• 4 SF Stories by C M Kornbluth C M Kornbluth, includes the Marching Moron
• Deathworld Harry Harrison
• The Son of the Wolf Jack London
• Lone Star Planet H Beam Piper and John J McGuire
• The Death Disk Mark Twain
• Time Crime H Beam Piper, a Paratimer story
• Strange Disappearance Anna Katharine Green, a Gryce novel
• Retief: Intergalactic Diplomat in Space Keith Laumer
• Greylorn Keith Laumer
• Indiscretions of Archie P G Wodehouse
• Worlds of the Imperium Keith Laumer
• Tiger By the Tail Poul Anderson, a Flandry story
• The Sensitive man Poul Anderson
• The Status Civilization Robert Sheckley
• Castles in the Air Baroness Orczy, very funny
• Gamblers World and the Yillian Way Keith Laumer, Retief stories
• 3 SF Stories by Jack Williamson Jack Williamson

More Notes

When hiking, I only listen to audiobooks in one ear, at moderate volume, and take care to be aware of sounds around me. If I am in serious bear country, audiobooks can wait.

For USA copyright rules, in 2025 works published in 1929 or before move into the public domain. Due to a quirk in copyright law, many early science fiction whose copyright was not renewed by the publisher became public domain early, so I have recently been enjoying Golden Age SF.

I make a note of particularly good readers, and often seek out other books they have read. Some of my favorite LibriVox readers: Kara Shallenberg, Karen Savage, and the prolific Phil Chenevert. For the Girl Genius Agatha H series, Angela Dawe is excellent. For Cory Doctorow books, Wil Wheaton is super, though the author is also quite good. I avoid AI readers, for now. No narrators with uptalk, please.

On early hikes I also listened to contemporary audiobooks by Podiobooks.com, a site for mostly free downloads by self-published authors. Sadly that site has been absorbed by another website with a different business model, and links may not work.

During the lonely months between long hikes I keep up morale by searching for more audiobooks on LibriVox and elsewhere, and currently have more than 100 books downloaded for future hikes.