Audiobooks are practical when the real thing isn’t: They can be “read” while driving to work in the morning, as we cook dinner, or when we just want to lay on the couch with eyes closed. If Britain’s top three bestsellers are any indication, the British prefer to laugh whiile they listen to recorded books:
Michael McIntyre is one of Britain’s most famous comedy stars. His autobiography, “Life and Laughing: My Story,” recounts his showbiz roots, schooling, and tribulations with women – with great hilarity, of course.
Another comedian, actor-journalist-film director Stephen Fry, tops the British audiobooks chart with his second autobiography “The Fry Chronicles.” When narrated via audiobook, his uproarious personal anecdotes are very similar to a stand-up routine.
“A Tiny Bit Marvellous” by yet another third English comedian, Dawn French, also tops the audiobooks charts. In diary format, readers meet the four members of the Battle family: a child psychologist who, ironically, doesn’t understand her two kids, a husband, and two quirky, angsty teenagers. The audiobook isn’t available in the US yet, but intrigued Americans can listen to French’s podcasts free of charge.
