Five great summer books that require no reading – grab your headphones, lie back and listen.

Whoever came up with reading on the beach as the ultimate image of relaxation? Clearly, they’d never encountered sand, sun cream, or the burning sensation in your elbows as you try to keep Mr George RR Martin’s A Storm Of Swords over your head in direct alignment with the midday sun. Frankly, when you’re on holiday, even keeping your eyes open for extended periods can feel too much like hard work. So this summer, we recommend – if you’re struggling, that is – that you ditch the page-turners and opt instead for a compulsive listen. If you’re intent on chilling out, audiobooks are the only sensible way to go. Stock your iPod with these five summer releases, from cult classics to acclaimed new work, and you’ll have the perfect beach mix of gripping fiction and engrossing fact – though we can’t promise you’ll look at the ocean in quite the same way again.

By Mr Jules Verne, read by Mr Bill Homewood Naxos, 18 hours and 51 minutes, unabridged

X-Men director Mr Bryan Singer is set to start shooting the film remake this autumn, so what better time to immerse yourself in the murky depths of this Victorian sci-fi classic? An intelligent aquatic adventure that’s proved a huge influence on steampunk, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea features a giant squid attack, a trip to Atlantis, a fantastical submarine and one of the most mysterious characters in fiction – the tortured Captain Nemo, with his iconic seaweed cigars.

By Mr Haruki Murakami, read by Mr Ray Porter Whole Story Audiobooks, 4 hours and 30 minutes, unabridged

This autobiographical meditation on running from cult Japanese author Mr Haruki Murakami is ideal listening for a jog through the surf. The author of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle has been long-distance running since 1982, around the same time he sold his jazz bar to become a novelist. He’s a funny and engagingly philosophical guide to the loneliest of sports, from the agony and ecstasy of a 62-mile ultramarathon to the unique relationship between running and creativity.

By Mr James Ellroy, read by Mr Jeff Harding Isis Publishing, 16 hours and 53 minutes, and 15 hours 59 minutes, unabridged

It’s been said that Mr James Ellroy’s prose could shatter wine glasses, so make this one a headphone listen for sure. The middle two books in Mr Ellroy’s brutal neo-noir masterpiece, the LA Quartet, have just been released on audio with the actor Mr Jeff Harding as narrator. Gripping and groundbreaking, these are loosely linked and semi-factual tales of crime and corruption in the City of Angels during the 1940s and 1950s. Mr Harding gives a suitably seedy and visceral reading.

By Mr Giles Milton, read by Mr Ric Jerrom Isis Publishing, 12 hours and 36 minutes, unabridged

Did you know that Mr Adolf Hitler took cocaine via his eyeballs, Sir Charlie Chaplin’s corpse was held to ransom and Sir Winston Churchill slaughtered sheep? Would you like to discover who ate the last dodo, and who really killed Mr Grigori Rasputin? A sort of Horrible Histories for grown-ups, Fascinating Footnotes From History is full of infinitely sharable bizarre nuggets of information spanning 20 centuries. Apologise to whoever’s on the sun-lounger beside you in advance – you’ll probably be nudging them every five minutes.

By Mr Alex Garland, read by Mr Alfie Allen Penguin, 10 hours and 59 minutes, unabridged

Mr Alex Garland’s backpacking classic turns 20 this year, making it the perfect beach read for 1990s revivalists. Part Boy’s Own adventure, part dystopian horror, The Beach is narrated by a disaffected young traveller who acquires a map to a secret cove in Thailand. But there are real and psychological dangers waiting for him in paradise, and you’ll soon find yourself edging your towel a little further from the shore.