I’m currently listening to ‘The Hobbit’ written by J. R. R. Tolkien and read by Rob Inglis. It’s this version.

Over the years I’ve always insisted that I don’t like audiobooks much and have only ever listened to a few which includes Stephen Fry reading Harry Potter, several Patricia Cornwell ones, Stephen Hawking, and the ‘Fellowship of the Ring’ which was also read by Rob Inglis. I would include the BBC production of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, but that’s more of a play than an audiobook though by no means any less enjoyable.

I do still like reading a lot, but I find it very incompatible with my life. So much time of my day is spent reading or focussing my eyes on something that often I don’t feel too tired or overstimulated to read something. I don’t commute any more and have to actually set time aside to read which clashes with times when I’m knitting or doing other craft projects. Audiobooks are ideal for those situations and seeing there are several things to be knitted for various upcoming birthdays I predict I’ll be listening to a lot more audio books!

Rob Inglis is an amazing narrator. Originally I thought that I would consider no one to be as good as Stephen Fry, but Rob Inglis isn’t just better, he is on a completely different level. He sings the songs, often as set by Tolkien, does the voices and his tone is just right for describing Middle Earth*. I recommend this to anyone, even if they’ve already read the books.

Whilst I never finished listening to the ‘Fellowship of the Ring’ as the entire trilogy spans just over 50 hours and I have read the books multiple times before, I’ve never read ‘The Hobbit’ and it’s a mere 11 hours long. I look forward listening to Bilbo’s grand adventure which so far has taken him past the same trolls that Frodo also runs into.

*The entirety appears to be uploaded on Youtube, but the quality is quite bad overall. Still, it’s good to get an idea what it’s like.