We have curated a collection of short eAudiobooks listens, perfect for walks! There’s crime, poetry, autobiography, plays, fantasy, classics, and funny listens, for adults and young adults. There’s also a collection of short listens for wellbeing.
Follow the links to download the eAudiobooks at home, free from BorrowBox with your LibrariesWest membership!
Under 30 Minutes
My Purple Scented Novel by Ian McEwan
Genre: Literary Fiction
Age Group: Adults
Duration: 28 Minutes
‘You will have heard of my friend the once celebrated novelist Jocelyn Tarbet, but I suspect his memory is beginning to fade…You’d never heard of me, the once obscure novelist Parker Sparrow, until my name was publicly connected with his. To a knowing few, our names remain rigidly attached, like the two ends of a seesaw. His rise coincided with, though did not cause, my decline… I don’t deny there was wrongdoing. I stole a life, and I don’t intend to give it back. You may treat these few pages as a confession.’
A jewel of a book: a brand new short story from the author of Atonement. My Purple Scented Novel follows the perfect crime of literary betrayal, scrupulously wrought yet unscrupulously executed, published to celebrate Ian McEwan’s 70th birthday.
Serpentine by Philip Pullman
Genre: Fantasy
Age Group: Young Adults
Duration: 26 Minutes
Lyra and her daemon Pantalaimon have left the events of His Dark Materials far behind.
In this snapshot of their forever-changed lives they return to the North to visit an old friend,
where we will learn that things are not exactly as they seem . . .
The perfect re-entry for fans of His Dark Materials and a wonderful companion to The Book of Dust, Serpentine is a brand-new special read for Pullman fans old and new.
The Affair at the Victory Ball by Agatha Christie
Genre: Crime
Age Group: Adults
Duration: 29 Minutes
A woman leaves a fancy dress ball early and is later found to have died from a drugs overdose.
Hercule Poirot investigates in this, the first story written about him.
Poison by Roald Dahl
Genre: Fiction
Age Group: Adults
Duration: 28 Minutes
In Poison, Roald Dahl, one of the world’s favourite authors, tells a sinister story about the darker side of human nature. Here, a man waits in paralysing fear for the venomous snake asleep on his stomach to awaken . . .
Free: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber
Genre: Humour
Age Group: Adults
Duration: 14 Minutes
Mild-mannered Walter Mitty is a day-dreamer who escapes his anonymous life by disappearing into a world of fantasies filled with heroism, romance and action.
This well-known and beloved tale has launched its famous protagonist into the cultural lexicon, warranting his inclusion in English-language dictionaries and countless anthologies. Stiller’s imaginative performance as Mitty is the perfect re-introduction to the classic character and a great preface to the upcoming film, for longtime fans and new listeners alike.
The Misunderstanding of Glencoe by Alexander McCall Smith
Genre: Humour, Dramatisation
Age Group: Adults
Duration: 27 Minutes
A full-cast BBC Radio Scotland comedy dramatisation written by Alexander McCall Smith. An Edinburgh couple on holiday in the Highlands discover that centuries-old tensions are still very near the surface. Starring John Buick, Kenny Blyth, Monica Gibb and Paul Young.
Final Farewell by Brad Meltzer
Genre: Family Saga
Age Group: Adults
Duration: 10 Minutes
Brad Meltzer is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Inner Circle, The Book of Fate, and several other bestselling thrillers.
This is Brad’s favorite short story he ever wrote.
The Fallen Girls by Paul J. Teague
Genre: Crime
Age Group: Adults
Duration: 20 Minutes
The baby stirred in his blanket as the girl held him tightly to her chest; goosebumps covered her arms. Her bare feet were frozen by the icy stone beneath them, and as she inched slowly along the roof’s balcony, her body shook with fear. She wouldn’t let them take her precious boy.
When the broken body of a seventy-one-year-old woman is found beneath the Humber Bridge, a sign around her neck with the words ‘Pure Evil’ spray-painted in red, Detective Hollie Turner can’t help but wonder – who would want this frail elderly woman dead?
Think Faster, Talk Smarter by Matt Abrahams
Genre: Non-Fiction
Age Group: Adults
Duration: 8 Minutes
Communication is crucial to success in life and business. However, it is not just big speeches that matter: it is also those critical, spur-of-the-moment situations for which we cannot prepare.
A prospective client asking unexpected questions during a sales pitch, a teacher singling you out for an answer during a class, a high-pressure meeting with senior executives at work, or even a heartwarming toast to deliver on the spot. All are fraught scenarios that might cause you to freeze up. The pandemic has only boosted this fear, by stripping the spontaneity from communication during lockdown, and then changing the communication landscape.
Marvellous Vehicles by James May
Genre: Non-Fiction
Age Group: Young Adults
Duration: 21 Minutes
Mad about marvellous vehicles? Hit the road with writer and broadcaster James May to discover incredible human-powered vehicles – from bicycles and submarines to amphibious vehicles and even a helicopter. Yes, really!
Under 1 Hour
You Don’t Have to Have a Dream by Tim Minchin
Genre: Autobiography
Age Group: Adults
Duration: 57 Minutes
A book for the science-loving reality-romantic in all of us, You Don’t Have to Have a Dream offers Tim Minchin’s inimitable thoughts and advice on life, art, success, kindness, love, and thriving in a meaningless universe. Drawn from three of his iconic commencement addresses, it’s a rallying cry for creativity, critical thinking, and compassion in our daily lives.
It’s never too late to put something beautiful out into the world.
What by John Cooper Clarke
Genre: Poetry
Age Group: Adults
Duration: 47 Minutes
Dr John Cooper Clarke’s dazzling, scabrous voice has reverberated through pop culture for decades, his influence on generations of performance poets and musicians plain for all to see.
In WHAT, the original ‘People’s Poet’ comes storming out of the gate with an uproarious new collection, reminding us why he is one of Britain’s most beloved writers and performers. James Brown, John F. Kennedy, Jesus Christ: nobody is safe from the punk rocker’s acerbic pen – and that’s just the first poem.
The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth by J.R.R. Tolkien
Genre: Fantasy
Age Group: Adults
Duration: 58 Minutes
The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm’s Son was originally published in the 1953 edition of Essays and Studies. In December of that year, J.R.R. Tolkien took possession of a reel-to-reel tape recorder, and some time during the first few months of 1954, decided to record ‘the whole thing on tape’ as a way of ‘testing’ the performative quality of the dramatic dialogue between Tídwald and Torhthelm.
For the older Tídwald, Tolkien adopted a slower, deeper voice, perhaps akin to ‘the voice of Gandalf’ that W.H. Auden recalls hearing as an undergraduate, as noted in Humphrey Carpenter’s J.R.R. Tolkien, A Biography. For the younger, more idealistic Torhthelm, Tolkien used a lighter, more spirited tone to convey his youth. Christopher Tolkien notes that his father added sound effects, such as the ‘creaking and bumping of the waggon wheels, by moving a piece of furniture in his study’.
This recording, together with an introduction and the two accompanying essays read by Christopher Tolkien, was released on cassette tape in 1992 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of J.R.R. Tolkien and the 1001st anniversary of the Battle of Maldon, and it is now available as an audiobook for the first time.
Creativity by John Cleese
Genre: Autobiography
Age Group: Adults
Duration: 1 Hour
Drawing on his lifelong experience as a writer, John Cleese shares his insights into the nature of the creative process and offers advice on how to get your own inventive juices flowing.
What do you need to do to get yourself in the right frame of mind? When do you know that you’ve come up with an idea that might be worth pursuing? What should you do if you think you’ve hit a brick wall?
Sing a Song of Sixpence by Agatha Christie
Genre: Crime
Age Group: Adults
Duration: 37 Minutes
An ageing barrister begins to regret past events when an old flame asks him to investigate the murder of her eccentric wealthy aunt in a mystery that recalls an old nursery rhyme…
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
Genre: Fiction, Dramatisation
Age Group: Adults
Duration: 56 Minutes
First there was the insomnia.
Then there were the support groups that helped him sleep.
Then Marla Singer turned up, muscled in on ascending bowel cancer and ruined everything.
Then he met Tyler Durden.
Then came Fight Club.
Fight Club is the psychological story of a man’s descent into an underground world of violence. Mild mannered product-recall-specialist by day, tortured insomniac by night, our narrator meets Tyler Durden – part-time projectionist, banquet waiter, soap-maker and anarchic genius. Together they create Fight Club. In Fight Club our narrator, and men like him, can escape the monotony of their daily work-dominated, consumer-driven, image-obsessed lives. In Fight Club you can escape who the world thinks you ought to be.
Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot
Genre: Poetry
Age Group: All ages
Duration: 36 Minutes
The basis for the musical phenomenon ‘Cats’, this collection of 14 inviting rhymes – the mixture of the real and the impossible, the familiar and the fantastic – make for a set of poems that no child or adult can possibly resist.
Brief Encounter by Sir Noël Coward
Genre: Fiction, Dramatisation
Age Group: Adults
Duration: 57 Minutes
Laura Jesson is a happily married woman until a chance encounter in a train station café draws her to Dr Alec Harvey. Literally bumping into each other brings temptation, danger and guilt into their lives, and a doomed love affair ensues…
A classic love story, ‘Brief Encounter’ was made into a much-loved and hugely successful film in 1945, starring Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard. This 2009 adaptation is faithful to Coward’s original screenplay and features a distinguished cast including Jenny Seagrove and Nigel Havers.
The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico
Genre: Literary Fiction
Age Group: Adults
Duration: 57 Minutes
In ‘The Snow Goose’, A wounded bird brings together a disfigured artist and a young girl on the eve of World War II.
With Steven Mackintosh as Philip Rhayader, Georgia Groome as Fritha, Deborah Findlay as Mrs Farnes and Sam Dale as the storyteller. Also featuring Michael Shelford, Malcolm Tierney and David Seddon. Directed by Sally Avens.
The Birds by Daphne du Maurier
Genre: Horror, Dramatisation
Age Group: Adults
Duration: 56 Minutes
Here is a BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Daphne du Maurier’s classic tale of horror.
The idea for this famous story came to du Maurier one day when she was walking across to a farm from her house. She saw a farmer busily ploughing a field while above him the seagulls were diving and wheeling. She developed an idea about the birds becoming hostile and attacking him.In her story, the birds become hostile after a harsh winter with little food. First the seagulls, then birds of prey, and finally even small birds all turn against mankind.
The nightmarish vision appealed to Alfred Hitchcock, who turned it into the celebrated film.
Under 2 Hours
Diaries 1980-1990 by Alan Bennett
Genre: Autobiography
Age Group: Adults
Duration: 1 Hour 59 Minutes
Bennett’s life is broader. His accounts of theatre troubles and even more troublesome critics are combined with his memories of a writer’s tour of Russia, life in New York and Camden, filming in Egypt and tales of a Yorkshire village.
He also covers the big events of his time: the Falklands War, Mrs Thatcher and the assassination of John Lennon. Taken from Alan Bennett’s bestselling book, Writing Home, this keenly viewed history of the decade confirms Bennett as one of life’s great observers – clear-eyed, compassionate and funny.
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Genre: Fiction, Dramatisation
Age Group: Adults
Duration: 1 Hour 59 Minutes
Set during the Great Depression, The Grapes of Wrath tells the powerful story of the Joad family’s trek from the dust bowl of Oklahoma to the promise of a new life in California. But what they find threatens to rip apart their lives, and sever the ties that bind them together.
Starring Shirley Knight as Ma Joad, Frank Galati’s play finds its timeless heart in the generous spirit of the common man.
Dr Strangelove by Kerry Shale
Genre: Science Fiction, Dramatisation
Age Group: Adults
Duration: 1 Hour 55 Minutes
Thermonuclear war erupts in Kerry Shale’s award-winning 1993 dramatisation of the classic apocalyptic black comedy.
‘Dr. Strangelove’ came to prominence in the 1964 film, directed by Stanley Kubrick. Based on the novel ‘Red Alert’ by Peter George, it famously starred Peter Sellers in multiple roles.
As well as scripting the dramatisation, Kerry Shale also takes multiple roles: Dr Strangelove, Lieutenant “Sweets” Kivel, Lieutenant Barney Goldberg, Lieutenant Lothar Zogg, Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, General Jack D. Ripper and President Merkin Muffley.
The Secret Life of the Owl by John Lewis-Stempel
Genre: Non-Fiction
Age Group: Adults
Duration: 1 Hour 52 Minutes
Out in the wood, the resident tawny has started calling, Hoo-hoo-hoo-h-o-o-o.’
There is something about owls. They feature in every major culture from the Stone Age onwards. They are creatures of the night, and thus of magic. They are the birds of ill-tidings, the avian messengers from the Other Side. But owls – with the sapient flatness of their faces, their big, round eyes, their paternal expressions – are also reassuringly familiar. We see them as wise, like Athena’s owl, and loyal, like Harry Potter’s Hedwig. Human-like, in other words.
No other species has so captivated us.
Hello Mum by Bernardine Evaristo
Genre: Fiction
Age Group: Adults
Duration: 1 Hour 45 Minutes
It’s a hot summer afternoon. Tension is in the air. A gang of youths on bikes gathers outside a chip shop. A teenage boy is stabbed and left bleeding on the street.
The boy’s mother wonders how this could have happened to her son. She is full of questions, but when the answers lie so close to home, are they really what she wants to hear?
The Firework-Maker’s Daughter by Philip Pullman
Genre: Fiction
Age Group: Young Adults
Duration: 1 Hour 45 Minutes
What Lila wants to be more than anything else in the world is … a Firework-Maker!
But firework-making is not just about being able to make Crackle-Dragons and Golden Sneezes. There is also one special secret: every Firework-Maker must make a perilous journey to face the terrifying Fire-Fiend!
Not knowing that she needs special protection to survive the Fire-Fiend’s flames, Lila sets off alone. Her friends, Chulak and Hamlet – the King’s white elephant – race after her. But can they possibly reach her in time?
Grief Is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter
Genre: Fiction
Age Group: Adults
Duration: 1 Hour 43 Minutes
In a London flat, two young boys face the unbearable sadness of their mother’s sudden death. Their father, a Ted Hughes scholar and scruffy romantic, imagines a future of well-meaning visitors and emptiness.
In this moment of despair they are visited by Crow – antagonist, trickster, healer, babysitter. This sentimental bird is drawn to the grieving family and threatens to stay until they no longer need him.
As weeks turn to months and the pain of loss gives way to memories, the little unit of three starts to heal.
Dickens’ Women by Miriam Margolyes
Genre: Performance
Age Group: Adults
Duration: 1 Hour 43 Minutes
Dickens’ Women delighted audiences across the world in 2012 as Margolyes took her Olivier nominated show on tour for the bicentenary of Dicken’s birth.
From Little Nell to Miss Havisham, Dickens’ Women tells the story of Charles Dickens’ life through his beloved characters. Co-written and performed by Miriam Margolyes, best known for her role as Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter films, this one-women show is a celebration of her infectious passion for Dickens’ work.
David Attenborough in His Own Words
Genre: Autobiography
Age Group: Adults
Duration: 1 Hour 32 Minutes
David Attenborough discusses his life and achievements in this collection of BBC radio and TV interviews: Parkinson, Profile, Desert Island Disc , Mark Lawson Talks To David Attenborough and Front Row.
The Little Match Girl Strikes Back by Emma Carroll
Genre: Fantasy
Age Group: Young Adults
Duration: 1 Hour 40 Minutes
It only takes one strike! A powerful feminist reworking of the Hans Christian Andersen classic, from bestselling and award-winning creators Emma Carroll and Lauren Child.
Bridie works hard to feed her family, selling matches on the streets of Victorian London. After an incident leaves her with only three matches left, the magical strike of each one sees her tumble into visions of a brighter future. Realizing she has the power to change her own fortune, Bridie leads the match factory workers out on strike, achieving the remarkable through their unity and courage.
Short Listens For Wellbeing
The Art of Breathing by Dr Danny Penman
Duration: 1 Hour 24 Minutes
The secret to living mindfully. Just don’t breathe a word of it…
You breathe 22,000 times every day. How many are you really aware of?
International bestselling and award-winning author Dr Danny Penman provides a concise guide to letting go and finding peace in a messy world, simply by taking the time to breathe.
Known side effects: You will start to smile more. You will worry less. Life won’t bother you so much. Dissolve anxiety, stress and unhappiness, enhance your mind and unleash your creativity with these simple exercises. And with each little moment of mindfulness, discover a happier, calmer you. It really is as easy as breathing…
The Underdog by Colby Sharma
Duration: 1 Hour 44 Minutes
Featuring a foreword by Robin Sharma. In this gripping, thought-provoking audiobook, listeners will learn:
– How to tap into their own personal ‘underdog’ as a source of personal power
– A discussion of the ‘inner saboteur’ concept and why overcoming it is necessary for success
– Lessons on how to live a life greater than you thought possible
– How to consistently stay strong every day
– Proven tools to help you live your potential
On Sleep by Fleur Anderson
Duration: 1 Hour 41 Minutes
On Sleep is the story of our love-hate relationship with slumber.
Part-time insomniac Fleur Anderson ponders the big questions: Why can’t I sleep? Do politicians and other high-flyers ever admit they too are exhausted? Do they get enough sleep to make sensible decisions? Where is society heading, and why did I have that glass of cab sav?
On Doubt by Leigh Sales
Duration: 1 Hour 43 Minutes
When society seems to demand confidence and certainty, how much courage does it take to admit doubt, especially self-doubt? In this personal essay, one of Australia’s most respected journalists argues in favour of a doubtful mind.
Her classic personal essay carries a message about the value of truth, scrutiny and accountability – a much-needed, pocket-sized antidote to fake news.
The Little Book of Big Happiness by Bernadette Fisers
Duration: 1 Hour 42 Minutes
One of the great purposes of life is to be happy. If you’re one of the millions of people searching for happiness, stop chasing your tail – it’s already here. Right here, right now. You just need the tools to access it.
In this empowering little audiobook, Bernadette Fisers shares her practical steps to a joyful life that you can start straight away. From living in the moment and moving your body, to getting out into nature and embracing failure, these are real tips for real people that anyone can embrace.
Becoming Aware by Daniel J. Siegel
Duration: 1 Hour 53 Minutes
A 21-Day Mindfulness Program for Reducing Anxiety and Cultivating Calm.
In today’s increasingly fast-paced world it can be difficult to find moments to catch your breath, regain inner balance, and just … be. This simple yet profound guide shows listeners how to strengthen their minds by learning to focus attention, open awareness and develop a positive state of mind – the three pillars of mindfulness practice that research shows lead to greater physical and mental wellbeing.
A Little Happier by Derren Brown
Duration: 1 Hour 55 Minutes
In A Little Happier Derren Brown condenses the lessons of his international bestseller Happy into 17 beautifully-wrought, wise and profoundly reassuring mini-chapters, each one challenging us to think differently so as to overcome anxiety in a difficult world.
None of this is real when each of us tells stories about our lives in too tidy narratives that are seldom true and rarely helpful
We should be wary of goal setting: long-term goals fixate us on a future that may not happen and we may not wish for when we get there.
Our partner isn’t right for us because no-one is. None of us is born for someone else. But perhaps those areas of frequent conflict are useful indicators of where we might ourselves be insufferable.
Life is hard, messy and complex; our friends will probably let us down; most of what has got us here is blind luck and a series of false starts. But if we can learn to separate what we can control – our thoughts and actions – from all else beyond our control, we can find a surer footing with which to greet the world.
Meditations for Stressful Situations by David Michie
Duration: 1 Hour 10 Minutes
Stress is a constant presence in our everyday lives – more than ever before, we’re working harder, juggling more responsibilities and taking less time for ourselves.
David Michie, the bestselling author of Buddhism for Busy People, offers a series of meditations designed to take those moments in life that seem unbearably stressful, and gives you the calmness and peace of mind to take control of the situation, and of yourself.
Stitches by Anne Lamott
Duration: 1 Hour 48 Minutes
What do we do when life lurches out of balance? How can we reconnect to one another and to what’s sustaining, when evil and catastrophe seem inescapable?
These questions lie at the heart of Stitches, Anne Lamott’s follow-up to her New York Times bestselling work, Help, Thanks, Wow. In this audiobook, she explores how we find meaning and peace in these loud and frantic times, where we start again after personal and public devastation, how we recapture wholeness after loss and how we locate our true identities in this frazzled age. We begin, Lamott says, by collecting the ripped sheets of our emotional and spiritual fabric and sewing them back together – one stitch at a time.
It’s in these stitches that the quilt of life begins, and embedded in them are strength, warmth, humour and humanity.
This Is Your Brain on Anxiety by Faith G. Harper
Duration: 1 Hour
You’re a human being, so you know exactly what’s being said here. Dr. Faith lays it all out: what anxiety is, what it’s good for-that’s right, it’s actually a necessary response that helps to keep us alive in bad situations-how to know when it’s gone overboard, and practical tips on how to deal with it when it gets bad.
This book is a lifesaver for panic attacks, breaking out of flight-or-fight-or-freeze responses, and for chronic anxiety. It’s also good for folks who aren’t daily burdened by anxiety, but want to better cope with those tough situations that affect us all. Read this and breathe!