The NAB Blog

Summer Listening for All Ages

By Anthony Anderson

3 August 2018

Summer affords many of us the opportunity to do some of the enjoyable things that we have been unable to find time for during the rest of the year – this includes reading… and, of course, listening. This could be during the journey to your holiday destination – nobody ever got carsick listening to an audiobook – or as a part of your rest and relaxation upon arrival.

For family listening, Naxos offers a wide range of titles in its Junior Classics series, perfect for engaging younger members of the family on long car journeys. No matter your final location, audiobooks can take you on a journey of another kind, whether to Ancient Greece with The Tale of Troy or Tales from the Greek Legends, or to sixth-century Britain with the deeds of King Arthur and his Knights. Follow the holiday escapades of young John and Susan with Worzel Gummidge or go to the banks of the Mississippi river where we meet Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. If fictional locations are the order of the day, then accompany Alice in Wonderland or Dorothy and friends in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

No matter your final location, audiobooks can take you on a journey of another kind

For the more studious, there are audiobooks of a more educational kind, whether it is Great Inventors, The Vikings, The Story of Classical Music or Ancient Egypt. All these recordings are designed to be absorbed and entertain while simultaneously broadening young minds.

Not that summer listening is confined to audiobooks for the young. Those lazy hours by the pool or on the beach lend themselves to assailing the greats of world literature in an unhurried environment. The delights of Jane Austen’s Emma or Pride and Prejudice, for example, or – in a kindred vein – the Regency romances of Georgette Heyer, are ideal listening for the summer season. Closer to our own time are the gentle Larkin novels of H.E. Bates – The Darling Buds of May setting the scene for the whole series. Or you may take the time to ‘Brush up Your Shakespeare’ with some of our star-studded recordings of the Bard’s best-loved drama, whether it is Sir Ian McKellen as Prospero in The Tempest or Kenneth Branagh as the malign Richard III. Or why not discover some of the greatest poets in the English language – perhaps listening to a poem each day as part of your holiday routine?

Whatever your mood or preference we suggest that you make audiobooks part of your summer break at some point. Having books read to you is an ideal way to unwind.