DR Jennifer, I'm a huge audiobook fan and, yes, the narrator can make all the difference. My habit developed when I had a long commute and continues now for my boring basement walking and when I'm knitting. When I was working and had a deadline to finish a book, I'd do what I called a "power read" - listening in the car and reading the book at home. If you're listening to nonfiction, you might want the dead-tree book at hand for illustrations. I listened to Stephen Ambrose's Undaunted Courage and Cheryl Strayed's Wild, but had to check out the book to look at the maps.
There are books I've read with my ears that I probably wouldn't have gotten through with my eyes - Annie Dillard's The Living and Geraldine Brooks' Caleb's Crossing, among others.
My favorite narrators are Kate Reading, Grace Conlin, C. J. Critt, and Orlagh Cassidy.