Read Time: 4 Minutes
What’s better than spending money on an audiobook? Spending money on one that’s so good you find yourself listening to it again and again. Whenever I can’t decide on which new to buy next, I like to dive back into the vast back catalogue of titles I have previously enjoyed and rummage through to find something that calls out to me.
Even though with my wish keeps growing inexorably with new titles that I want to try, I’ve been doing this a little more recently. There are so many great stories and not enough time in the day! In the interests of helping you to get the most value from your money, I’ve put together a list of audiobooks that I enjoyed the first time and have recently replayed for a second time.
How did their value for money hold up? Did I like them as much? Read on to find out!
The Running Man
The first in the recent round of replays was The Running Man by Stephen King. Now in all honesty this wasn’t my first time listening to this one, so I knew that I would enjoy it.
Set in a dystopian America of 2025, the story follows Ben Richards, a desperate man who enters a deadly game show to earn money so he can buy medicine for his sick daughter. The show’s contestants are hunted by professional killers and incentivized civilians.
It’s fast-paced and intensely gripping thriller that can’t help but make me think if the future it predicts is really that far off.
It’s nothing like the movie, which is a good thing. As much as enjoyed that movie back in the 90s, the book is way better, and I’d be keen to see a modern version of it.
Check out my review of The Running Man from May 2023. It was my first time experiencing it in audiobook format.
How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps
The next one I selected was “How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps” by Andrew Rowe. It’s a light-hearted litRPG with a twist on traditional class systems. The story follows Yui Shaw, a “Bag Mage” specializing in carrying items, who steps up to face a prematurely aggressive Demon King. Normally, a hero would rise every 100 years to defeat the Demon King, but this time he’s progressing much faster, and Yui can’t wait for the typical hero.
This was another that I have listened too again, but only the once. Coming back for my third play through, I found it just as enjoyable. Yui’s enthusiasm and perpetually optimistic outlook remains just as entertaining.
Check out my review of How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps from October 2021 when I first listened.
The Impossible Girl
In “The Impossible Girl” by Lydia Kang, set in 1850s New York, we follow Cora Lee, a grave robber with a unique secret: she has two hearts. Cora leads a double life, posing as her twin brother, Jacob, to hide her identity while supplying bodies for medical research and museums showcasing anatomical oddities. But when people with anomalies start dying mysteriously, Cora’s own life is at risk.
This one had been on my list to revisit, so it was good actually getting back to it. It sucked me in just as much as the first time, and kept me listening until my earbuds run out of power. My favourite of the two books I have tried by Lydia Kang, though saying that I’ll likely give Opium and Absinthe another play through at some point as well.
Check out my review of The Impossible Girl from June 2021 when I first listened.
Sex, Lies and the Bomb
The last one on my list of recent replays is “Sex, Lies and the Bomb” by Anthony Vincent Bruno. I guess based on cover art you can tell this is going to be a raunchy post-apocalyptic story, and you’d be right. In this darkly comic take on an apocalypse, a luxury cruise ship is hit by a tsunami after a global nuclear catastrophe, marooning twelve former Miss World winners, the captain, and Eddie Coltrane – a man on the run and apparently mankind’s only hope if the earth is to be repopulated.
The story is all kinds of wrong, but hilarious at the same time. Quite annoyingly, I looked it up on Audible and Amazon before writing this and found that it’s no longer available. So unfortunately, if you don’t own a copy, you can’t currently get one. Whether this is a permanent thing or something happening with the publisher I don’t know.
If it does become available again, it’s certainly one that held up to a second play through, so keep an eye out if it sounds like your thing.
Check out my review of Sex, Lies and Bomb from January 2021 to see what you’re missing!