The Left Hand of Darkness
by Ursula K. Le Guin (Ace, 1967)
audiobook read by George Guidall (Recorded Books, 2017)
Accomplished prose, meticulous worldbuilding. The Left Hand of Darkness won Nebula and Hugo Awards, and on the strength of its pioneering contribution to feminist SF, who can argue? The plot, however, is far from riveting—a slog for readers and characters alike.
Changing Planes
by Ursula K. Le Guin (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2003)
audiobook read by Gabrielle de Cuir (Phoenix Books, 2007)
A fix-up collection of short stories, none of which function as stories per se. Instead, with languid, dreamy prose, Le Guin describes alien societies, her narrator observing and reflecting and, through gentle osmosis, stirring the reader to think more deeply about humankind.