I'm looking for a book to listen to on a long trip and did a search of the audiio CDs. So many have no or very low ratings. Even some that are well known titles. Anyone have any ideas or theories to set forth??

I don't know, but may I recommend these titles?

Water for Elephants on CD by Sarah Gruen

Can You Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella on CD

The Year of Living Biblically by AJ Jacobs on CD

I recently listened to "Pillars of the Earth" on CD and it was WONDERFUL!  I think it has 32 discs, so that would hold you for quite a while ;)   Then again, I imagine it's wishlisted here.   As to the low or no ratings, I don't know.  I'm probably guilty of not rating things myself, now that I think about it.

I've noticed the same thing.  The person reading/performing the audiobook can really make or break it. and I'd like to see more on that aspect.

Like some of the posts above - I have no ideea about the ratings. 

I can highly recommend two audio books that I recently listened to.  Boom by Tom Brokaw, also narrated by Brokaw and Same Kind of Different as Me..

Usually the number of ratings / reviews that a book gets here on PBS is directly in proportion with how many copies are swapped here.   Since far more BOOKS get swapped than audiobooks, there are less ratings & reviews on the audiobooks.   If you are also noticing that the ratings are lower than average, I have no idea why.

I'm a big fan of audiobooks but get almost all of mine from my local library.  Here are some favs that I would recommend to you (keeping in mind that I have no idea what type of books you like):

Pompeii by Robert Harris

Sue Grafton's Alphabet Mysteries

Brian Freeman's mysteries (Immoral, Stripped & Stalked)

The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw - narrated by Tom Brokaw

White Hot & Chill Factor by Sandra Brown

The Alienist by Caleb Carr

The Sea Hunters by Clive Cussler (non-fiction - about hunting for shipwrecks)

Sahara by Clive Cussler (fiction - a great adventure with an ecological/historical twist!)

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (narrated by the author, who did a wonderful job IMO)

Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz

Bloodsucking Fiends and it's sequel You Suck! by Christopher Moore

I personally forget to rate things, and I probably should..eek.  I personally don't do Audio books though, just aren't my thing.  I get all figity when listening, and end up missing parts, lol.  I have to stick to regular books, or I don't get the whole picture..haha.  I could be weird, but I don't know.

I also am bad with the rating thing. Jennifer ,my husband does not enjoy  audio books either. Probably same reason as you, but I like them while on the exercise bike or doing handwork which requires my eyes but not my ears.

I only listen in the car.  I have a two year old, so listening with ear phones or on the stereo is Not an option right now.  LOL

I don't listen to them that much but my husband does. He's almost done with The DaVinci Code and he really likes it. He said that reader does a great job. I've listened to Gilead and the reader had a nice voice that complemented the 'voice' of the story.

My recent favorite is A Trip to the Beach: Living on Island Time in the Caribbean by Melinda and Robert Blanchard. I think what really made this book  was that it was read by Melinda Blanchard and although she is not an experienced reader and it occasionally shows, she brings the story to life because she lived it and has the native dialect down. After I listened to it I was ready to chuck everything and move to Anguilla.

I truly try my best to review my audios, esp since a reader can make or break a book.  Even a well-loved book.  But, I think when we post a review for a book, whether audio or not, that specific review goes for that specific ISBN.  Thus, if you review a hardcover, it will not show up on a paperback.  Review a cassette audio and it won't show on an audio of CD's.  Or, if the CD versions are more than one and have different ISBN's, then only the one ISBN will have your review. 

Please, someone pop in if I am wrong.

That makes sense to me, Bonnie. 

My husband checks audio books out from some of the libraries in the area.  (We still call them "story tapes" from the days when my oldest was 2-4 yrs old and listened to them every day. That was in the late 70s!)  He LOVES them, and listens to them on his way to and from work.   He recently finished The Pillars of the Earth and The End of the World.  He listens to Grisham, Delinsky, Oliver North---a huge eclectic range of authors and styles, even some juvenile fiction and classics. 

If anyone would like audio books on cassette tapes, I've got a few on my bookshelf and would be glad to give you a 2 for 1 deal.  Just holler.

I love audiobooks, I get them from the library and occasionally from audible.com, but sadly I don't usually rate the ones I've listened to as audiobooks, I rate them as books.  I should probably rate the audio versions more often.

I loved "The Green Mile", a Stephen King novel.  It was wonderful on audio.  Also, "Angela's Ashes" read and written by Frank McCort.  It was wonderfully narrated in his Irish list.

If the narrator is George Guidall, or Nelson Runger, or Flo Gibson, you're golden.

I have listened to some really good ones, and I have listened to some stinkers!  They all get requested when I post them, regardless of my review.  I was brutally honest when I reviewed two Stephanie Plum audio CDs read by Lori Petty....blech!