The Audiobook of the Year 2019

By: No Such Thing as a Fish

Narrated by: Andrew Hunter Murray, Anna Ptaszynski, Dan Schreiber, James Harkin

Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's Summary

Brought to you by Penguin. 

The Audiobook of the Year is back, with yet another pro-rogues gallery of the most amazing, audacious and absolutely absurd news of 2019.

Featuring an audio-exclusive bonus chapter and live recordings for the Book of the Year 2019 tour. 

Once again the fact-finding foursome behind the podcast No Such Thing as a Fish have been newspaper-trawling and website-crawling to create your ultimate guide to the past 12 months.

Learn which of Donald Trump’s claims are so bizarre they can’t even be fact-checked. Find out why every single French MP received Camembert in the post. And get to the bottom of all the improvements made to the Ford company’s robotic bum. All this and much, much more, including the news that:

• Two tourists planning to visit the Norwegian village of Å, ended up 1,310km away, in Aa.
• Five guys were arrested at a branch of Five Guys.
• Hollyoaks was partly written by the British government.
• The US town of Hell froze over.

From Assange to Zuckerberg, taking in Cardi B, CCTV, D-Day, and eSports, The Book of the Year is the only book you need to make sense of the year, no matter how senseless it might have seemed.

©2019 No Such Thing as a Fish (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic Reviews

"My favourite geeks. Hilarious. Sideways. Brilliant." (Tim Minchin) 

A delight every year.

Listening to the audiobook version of a book that sprung out of a podcast is a no-brainer. We already know and love the narrators, and all the bonus material is a treat — extracts from the live shows, additional facts, and hilarious bloopers. You won’t believe what Dan found at the bottom of the Marianas Trench, but because James made a pun out of the mistake, you do get to find out.

It’s reasonably light on Tr*mp and Br*xit, and any mentions are indeed hilarious and minimally triggering.

Better than their previous Audiobooks of the Year!

I don't understand how these four have gotten more interesting and funnier the longer they've been together, but they've somehow managed to do it. This Audiobook manages to be at least as good as, if not better than, any number of their episodes stitched together.

Makes the year seem better than you thought it was

so much of what is given to us in the news cycle is negative. the team at No Such Thing As A Fish have sorted through all that mess to bring the weirdest, funniest, and most wonderous news from 2019 to you in neatly organized, alphabetical, bite-sized chunks. as it is read by four people, you get the feeling of being in a room with friends telling stories together which makes for a very cozy and fun listening experience. also, because there's no real narrative, you can pick it up and listen for a few minutes at any time without any of that "wait, go back, what did I miss?" so it's perfect for people (like me) who always struggle with that. thanks to Anna, Andy, Dan, and James for another wonderful Book of the Year!

if you like the show you'll like the audio book

if you like the show you'll like the audio book. it is funny and irreverent

Entertaining Educational Funny

I listen to the No Such Thing as a Fish podcast and this book is an extension of that.
All the presenters are great and play off each other very well.

A book to listen to many times

Very entertaining, I have listened to this a couple of times and will probably listen a couple more. It never gets old.

Not for me

I hated it right from the start. This is the type of book that turns on the dislike of something bad in me. I hate this kind of book.

A long podcast

I enjoy the podcast and enjoyed this too but it just feels like a long podcast.

like a SUPER long podcast episode: hilarious

I love the No Such Thing as a Fish Podcast, and the Audiobook of the Year 2019 didn't disappoint! Buy the book, listen to the podcast, laugh out loud and learn random facts! ❤️

no such thing as a fish

what to say? if you love no such thing as a fish aka the QI elves, you will undoubtedly love this book.

More fun to make than to listen to

It sounds like they had a lot more fun recording this than the listener actually gets from hearing it. It is not particularly funny and the stories are too short, some just headlines.

listen to the podcast instead

normally enjoy no such thing as a fish but this lacks the energy and spontaneity of the podcast. not bad however.

The weirdest, wackiest, and most unbelievable news

Walruses are falling off cliffs, blue tits are pecking out other birds' brains, Britain is in the throes of wormageddon, and James' fear of mushrooms must now extend to being swaddled in a suit of them and, quite literally, left to rot. Just in case that wasn't bad enough the QI Elves from No Such Thing as a Fish cover a myriad of other calamitous topics, with equally thought-provoking and hilarious consequences. Full of facts and interesting tidbits from the last year, the aptly-named Audiobook of the Year 2019 brings you all the fascinating things that may have slipped under the radar over the past twelve months.

The Audiobook of the Year has been excellently narrated by each of the regular podcasters from No Such Thing as a Fish; Dan Schreiber, Anna Ptaszynski, Andrew Hunter Murray, and James Harkin. Its tone will be familiar to those fond of the aforementioned podcast, as it is both conversational and educational, with the facts clearly presented but the narrators occasionally interjecting with responses, queries, and laughter. This balances the heavily-scripted nature of audiobook narration with the moments of spontaneity that we are used to, and makes this audiobook very easy to listen to, even if you usually struggle with non-fiction.

In many ways it feels like an extended edition of the podcast without the live audience, which is exactly what I'd hoped for in a book from one of my favourite podcasting teams. I would recommend this audiobook to anyone who is a fan of QI, or No Such Thing as a Fish, or is looking for a humorous and engaging review of what has certainly been an eventful year.

It has been the perfect audiobook upon which to end 2019, and one of the things I am most looking forward to in 2020 is the potential for the next edition.

Great podcast. Less than great audiobook.

Very disappointed - I'm a big fan of the NSTAAF podcasts and have been a listener since the first. Unfortunately it doesn't really translate as an audiobook, without their trademark ad libbing. Not to say that the content isn't interesting, it's just not that funny without the genius that is the NSTAAF team spirit. I really wanted to love it; sorry, I just didn't.

Best 2019 Audiobook except the mention of ******

Amazing audiobook. The only problem was in Chapter 11 3min 24sec where ****** wasn't bleeped!!

truly enjoyable

If you like the podcast this is a must. if you never heard the podcast, but enjoy interesting facts and light hearted humor, then again "a must listen"

A great winter pick-me-up

Have been listening to this series of audio books since the first one a few years ago and it never fails to be a good pick-me-up for that gloomy start of winter period.
It’s 10 hours of the lovable, friendly people from the weekly podcast, so there’s about a weeks worth of listening to get you through the chores with a smile, although you’ll definitely need to re-listen a few times to take it all in.
Careful where you listen though as it’s hard to keep a straight face - it has me nearly in tears walking down the high street as you just can’t hold back the laughter at some of their jokes.
Cracking work guys, have a great Christmas!

Brilliant

Really really funny, entertaining and interesting. Pretty much an extended version of my favourite podcast!

Interesting facts

Interesting facts from three years ago (2019) performed in a humorous way. An excellent book that is still worth listening to now as the information is enlightening, interesting and engaging

Additional content!

Even more fish content? Very much yes please. Delightful as always from the fish folks!