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See title. Currently reading through the books and would like to listen to re-read the first one as an audiobook (and the other ones once I'm done reading). Does anyone have any recommendations about which narrators they enjoyed?

On libro.fm, I can see the following three versions of the series. The names listed are the names of the narrators:

Luke Daniels / PJ Ochlan (Macmillan Audio, 2014)

Rosalind Chao / Jess Hong (Macmillan Audio, 2024) [This one does not seem to have a book #3 yet]

Daniel York Loh (Bloomsbury, 2023)

I'm currently leaning towards one of the first two. What I normally look for in audiobooks is good sound quality and a narrator who entertains but sticks to reading without acting the whole thing out. Bonus points here would be if the narrator showed some cultural sensibility, especially with regards to names of people/places and some of the historical context given in the books.

Published in 1921, this book recounts the exploration of the Canadian Northwest and the history of the region's fur trade. Drawing heavily on the firsthand accounts of the explorers themselves, the author also enriches the narrative with observations from his own extensive travels and with stories gathered from trappers and gold prospectors. In addition to describing the hardships and achievements of the explorers, the book offers glimpses of Indian life, including buffalo hunts, as well as the daily work and living conditions of the region's trappers. - Summary by Ted Lienhart

Peder Victorious is the sequel to Giants in the Earth and follows the Norwegian immigrant community in the Dakota Territory. The novel centers on Peder, the son of Per Hansa and Beret Holm, following the loss of Per in a snowstorm twenty years earlier. The book continues the exploration of the frontier immigrant experience, as the first generation of settlers feels their home culture slipping away and the new generation, born in America, struggles to find their blended identities. This is a story of a boy’s growth into adulthood, and a mother’s gradual acceptance of the changes inevitably wrought by time and circumstance. - Summary by Tom Shoesmith

Book 9 of the Adventure Stories for Girls Series.
Florence and Betty travel to France with their friend Madam Strosser. While visiting the forests and small villages in a simple wagon, they stumble upon an American soldier who had been wounded in the war ten years ago, and who was looking for a dugout that held a treasure. The treasure had been stolen by the Germans from a small town for whom it was their only source of tourist income.
While on this quest, they also come across several gypsies and a young blond-haired lady who seems to be mysteriously connected with them.
Travel with these young ladies as they see many of the wonders of France, and use their courage and creativity to succeed. (Summary by Keith Salis)

Published initially in 1958, the book is an ideological analysis of Communism and how it has impacted the world and is an important book, known today for his widely circulated “45 Goals of Communism” which are remarkably prescient. Skousen outlines and analyzes the political and economic systems of various Communist countries including the Soviet Union, Cuba, and China. He also highlights the tools and tactics used by the Communists to advance their goals such as subversion, infiltration, and propaganda. - Summary by Robert L. Morel

Inspired by the encyclical Rerum Novarum of Pope Leo XIII, Fr. John Ryan makes the case that employers must provide a living wage and cannot hide behind notions of free contract while highlighting that a living wage is an explicit principle of Catholic ethics. (Summary by progressingamerica)

Leonard Nimoy reads two of Ray Bradbury's classic stories. There Will Come Soft Rains is set today, August 4th, 2026.

A young lad selling newspapers on the streets of New York City chances upon another boy who has lost his identity and has no clue where he comes from or how he ended up in New York. But the pair form a successful partnership selling newspapers. Eventually, the "mystery boy" is re-united with his parents, leaving his partner the proprietor of a flourishing newsstand. - Summary by Anthony St. Pierre

The Dark Year of Dundee may be called a tale of fact, since fiction has only been employed in it as the handmaid of truth, and for the purpose of throwing a more vivid light upon scenes and events that actually occurred. The “story,” slight as it is, may not inaptly be likened to the sheath or calyx that encloses and protects the yet unopened bud. When the flower unfolds its petals, the calyx has fulfilled its work, and, hidden from the eye, no longer attracts the thoughts and attention of the spectator. Thus it has been intended only to leave upon the reader’s mind the impression of one grand and simple character  — only to tell, plainly and briefly, the story of one who, long ago, labored abundantly and endured nobly for Christ’s sake, “strengthened with all might according to his glorious power.” And no alloy of fiction has been admitted into what is here recorded of George Wishart; for, apart from any other consideration, such a character as his is “God’s workmanship,” and it would seem impossible to add anything to the great Artist’s design without marring its beauty and completeness. - Summary by Preface

A tale of high adventure and international intrigue.... Maurice Wynn, the investigative journalist, finds himself involved in the mysterious murder of the man upstairs. In an attempt to protect the woman he loves, he embarks on an adventure bigger than he ever imagined. (Summary by MamaPhish and ShrimpPhish)

I am an optimist.

I believe the world is going to be a better world for our common humanity in the next decade — the next generation — the next century — than ever before in the long history of the race. And I believe the next passion of mankind will be for the soil — that there we shall "take occasion by the hand and make the bounds of freedom wider yet." But, if there is to be a transition in the life of the land — if new forms of industry and society are to emerge — then this will be due to the fact that the old life on the land has failed, is breaking down, and is doomed to pass away.

That is what I believe to be true. In saying so, I sound no note of pessimism, but rather the note of hope, of confidence, of boundless faith in what the future is to bring forth. I know the land is to be the healing and the saving of the people — of our people and of all the peoples.

There is no other refuge.

But before we can build the new life we must clearly understand that the old life has failed, and why it has failed. Then we must proceed to discover the principles upon which the new and better life is to be founded. In doing so, must we not inevitably draw nearer to the Divine Purpose in making the goodly earth and setting man in the midst of it? And shall we not thereby evolve the Spiritual Man of the Soil, who, conscious of his partnership with God, enters at last into his true dominion? - Summary by Foreword

It’s 1925, and Sam Dodsworth has just sold his successful automobile company and set off on a European vacation with his wife, Fran. Sam expects to spend a few months traveling before returning to business, but Fran becomes enamored with European culture, and unhappy with small town life, favors staying in Europe permanently. Sam and Fran are forced to reassess both their lives and future marriage.

Lewis’ satirical novel was later adapted for the stage, film and musical theater. - Summary by The Narrator

This is the story of Wooden Leg, one of sixteen hundred warriors of the Northern Cheyennes who fought against Custer at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Wooden Leg tells of growing up on the Great Plains, Cheyenne courtship, camp life, spirituality, and hunting; of skirmishes with other Tribes; and of the Cheyennes’ valiant resistance against the army of the United States.
Wooden Leg recalls the fight against Custer at the Little Bighorn, a recollection that stands as the first published Native account of that battle. Wooden Leg related the story in interviews with Thomas B. Marquis, formerly an agency physician for the Northern Cheyennes. Marquis checked and corroborated or corrected all points of importance with other Cheyennes. - Summary by Barry Eads

This work is a peculiar discussion of the philosophy of clothing, purported to be based on a work by a mysterious German professor of "Things in General" whose life and times are extensively discussed as well as aspects of his philosophy. The novel reaches deep into many philosophical and anthropological considerations. It is written with a large infusion of irony and Carlyle's typical panache. (Summary by Peter Tucker)

Mehitabel (Hitty) Preble was carved from a piece of mountain ash by a traveling peddler in Maine during the 1820s. Though she was only a small wooden doll, mountain ash is said to bring good fortune—and Hitty's long life was certainly filled with adventure.

She began as the treasured possession of Phoebe Preble and her remarkable journey took her across the oceans and back to the US, from North to South, and through the homes of many owners. Some were kind and gentle, recognizing her quiet dignity, others were rough and thoughtless, seeing her as only an old, worn out doll. Along the way, she remained true to the values she learned in her first simple home in Maine, allowing her to look back on her long life with gratitude even as she looks forward to a future filled with even more adventures.

Told as Hitty's own memoirs, this Newbery Medal–winning classic is a warm, charming, and thoughtful journey through more than a century of history, seen through the eyes of a small wooden doll. (Summary by MaryAnn)

A young woman in Victorian England marries an older widower and encounters the challenges and failures of being a wife and stepmother involved in family and social expectations. - Summary by Deon Gines

Enjoy this lively collection of stories relating to anything feline! Includes poems, stories and more!

Cast lists of the short dramatic sections.

What Became of the Kitten?
Aunty: Marisol
Neice and Editor: ShrimpPhish

The Language of Cats.
Editor and Norah: ShrimpPhish
Jeanne: Gabrielle Alma
Lisa: Marisol
Lily: Lynette Caulkins

The Dead Canary.
Editor and James: ShrimpPhish
Stage Directions: WanderingWalker
Elsie: mleigh
George: Shauna Starr

Toodlekins and Flip
Editor and Stage Directions: ShrimpPhish
Toodlekins: Marisol
Flip: vealeigh
The Mother Cat: Lynette Caulkins

Jet and Snowflake
Editor: Zanyar
Jet: Lynette Caulkins
Snowflake: vealeigh

• Summary by ShrimpPhish

...A high-powered mystery of strange and evil happenings in the nation's capital! - Summary by Front cover

Travel writer Ernst von Hesse-Wartegg spent several months in Tunisia in 1880 gathering material for this book, published in 1882. Part 1 is spent in and around the country's capital, where the author combines recent history, geography, and firsthand observations. He describes the customs of the Arabs of Tunis as well as those of the Jews and Berbers. Drawing on his contacts, the author is able to tour a royal palace, visits harems, and gets an invitation to a wedding at the home of a wealthy Jewish family. He also leads readers through the labyrinthine bazaars of Tunis, observes proceedings at the Bey's court, and provides an insider's account of the country's rather medieval government and penal system.

Part 2 chronicles the author's travels through the remarkably varied Tunisian countryside to provincial towns including Bizerte, Kairouan, and Sfax. During his travels he visits desert oases and lives briefly in a Bedouin community, describing their lives, customs, and self-government. (Summary by Ted Lienhart)

A collection of 40 Slavonic Fairy Tales collected and translated from the Russian, Polish, Servian, and Bohemian by John T. Naaké of the British Museum. - Summary by Title page

By 1889, when A Marriage below Zero appeared, very few English novels had been published that contained even a hint of homoeroticism. The Picture of Dorian Gray appeared the next year, in 1890. It is not, then, surprising that the secret at the heart of Alan Dale’s story dares not speak its name.

Readers, on the other hand, would have been at least dimly aware of the nature of the husband’s secret because of the conventions of fiction, where only details strictly relevant to either texture or plot are mentioned. Real life, on the other hand, is nothing but texture; there is no plot, and therefore details that are later recognized as having been significant are not noticed when they occur. The fast friendship of two men need not be perceived by a naive young woman as the cause of their being shunned by their social peers, but with these matters spotlighted by an author, even before “closet,” “outing,” and “LGBT” had become part of daily speech, any reader must have seen a connection.

The goal of the plot is to lay bare what was then considered an unmentionable, almost inconceivable vice. The plot consists of a gradual peeling away of the veneer masking the husband’s infidelity, with the injured wife remaining one step behind the reader throughout. To appreciate the dramatic irony generated by this process, modern readers, who will be already five steps ahead of the wife, must adjust their powers of insight to see the story from the point of view of the original audience, bearing in mind that some women at that time could be completely ignorant of sexual intercourse itself. Indeed, there is no evidence in the novel that the betrayed wife even knew enough about sex to realize that married couples engaged in any greater intimacy than passionate kissing.

Even when she finds herself on the verge of full knowledge, she does not realize that her husband's condition is a matter of his innate nature rather than simply of behavior, but he does. At this point, the story's interest shifts from wife to husband, and the reader begins to see the entire story from his point of view—as a desperate experiment that has gone tragically awry. (Summary by Thomas A. Copeland)

When Herbert Whitmore learns that the husband of the woman he loves has threatened to kill him, he disappears for six weeks, then returns to his office and is killed by a gunshot wound. The only problem with a suicide verdict is that the only gun in Whitmore's office has not been fired. The only problems with a murder verdict are that no one other than Whitmore entered or left the office, no one hid there, and the solid walls made shooting from a distance impossible. The detective figures out the "how" in short order. But the "who" is another question altogether. - Summary by Tom Penn

Former secret agent Anthony Gethryn has been called in to investigate the murder of a cabinet minister, possibly by a family member, after the cabinet minister was found in the library of his country home. Anyone who could have, or would have, murdered the man has an air-tight alibi. Will Gethryn figure out who pulled off this murder?

Nowhere does Binet's genius show more brilliantly than in this work. That he in the midst of a busy life and in addition to all his other work could have acquired so great a knowledge of mental defectives is amazing; the more so when we realize that it was first-hand knowledge gained from observation backed by keen perception, that perception that enabled him to see the truth with a quickness that makes the rest of us, still groping in the dark, question if it was truth Binet saw. But that it was truth we are learning every day. - Summary by Henry H. Goddard