Tired eyes from staring at a screen all day? Give your eyes a break and dive into these audiobooks (有声读物) instead.

The story of Adam Buxton’s life and upbringing might not sound like the most fascinating listen, but his fans will know that he switches between humour and bitterness to produce a show that’s regularly as moving as it is funny. Ramblebook is about the author’s childhood, friendships, and 1980s pop culture. The audiobook is better than the hard copy because Buxton is such a friendly guide.

The word “ friendly ” was invented to describe Bill Bryson, and you’re reminded why when you hear him read his own books. Bryson’s genius lies in his ability to write about hard subjects — from Shakespeare to the human body — while making them seem so easy. It will teach you about everything from the Big Bang to modern physics, without ever feeling like a lesson.

Sometimes you just want to hear something funny, in which case, this, the third volume in Alan Partridge’s memoirs (回忆录) is perfect. Having a comedian — particularly one with a voice as recognisable as Partridge’s — makes more sense than reading the text. As a rule, books by comedians almost always work better on audio.

If you’ve heard the humourist David Sedaris read his autobiographical (自传的) stories on Radio 4, you’ll know what to expect and are probably already a fan. Listening to the audiobook means you’re listening to his story, in its own unique voice.

When he was 7, Diebedo Francis Kere left his native village Gando at the insistence of his father so that he might learn to read and write. Gando had neither a school nor electricity nor running water. Kere returned home on holidays, and at the end of every visit, the women villagers would reveal a penny tucked in their waistbands — often their last penny — that they’d give him as a parting gift. The pennies were their way of contributing to the boy’s education.

It was a worthwhile investment: Kere is now an architect, and in 2001, he did return to Gando to build his first education building, Gando Primary School. Kere settled on a method of fortifying (加固) locally made clay bricks with concrete and created a floating, double-roof system that allows hot air to rise out of the building and cool air to come in. Colorful shutters (百叶窗) allow teachers to direct sunlight into the room depending on the hour of the day. Most significantly, the school was built by village members — who helped produce the bricks, build the walls and polish the mud floors. This not only allowed the village to build a new school in a timely and economical fashion but it also taught marketable construction techniques to untrained laborers.

For this work and other high-profile projects, Kere became the first African architect to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize. “Francis Kere’s work shows us the power of materiality rooted in place. It is sustainable to the earth and its residents — in lands of extreme scarcity (缺乏),” announced Tom Pritzker, chairman of the award.

Of his work, Kere said in a statement, “It is not because you are rich that you should waste material. It is not because you are poor that you should not try to create quality.”