Best Audiobooks
Last updated: December 02, 2024
Finding the best audiobooks is a tough task. The underlying book has to be good, but the audio performance has to be good, too. Perhaps some books which aren't so good can be transformed into something stunning by a great audio performance, or a book that's wonderful can be ruined by an audio performer who isn't great at dialogue (say). For an expert introduction to what makes a good listening experience, we recommend this interview, with two veteran audiobook critics, Robin Whitten and Mary Burkey.
Audiobooks for kids | Audiobooks narrated by their author | History audiobooks | Thriller audiobooks.
The Best Audiobooks of 2024 (so far), recommended by Michele Cobb
For an engrossing read, it doesn’t get much better than a good audiobook. Michele Cobb, publisher of AudioFile magazine, shares her favourite new audiobooks from the first half of 2024—from engaging memoirs narrated by their authors, to dark psychological thrillers and a post-apocalyptic novel set in New Hampshire.
Great Actors Read Great Novels
If you enjoy listening to books as audiobooks, it’s a great time to be alive. From Rosamund Pike narrating Pride and Prejudice, Jeremy Irons reading Lolita to Meryl Streep telling the story of Heartburn, many prominent actors have signed up for performing their favourite books in unabridged versions.
The Best Audiobooks of 2023, recommended by Laura Sackton
AudioFile magazine is one of the best places on the web for audiobook reviews. At the end of every year, its editors compile lists that highlight the best audiobooks across a range of genres, including fiction, nonfiction, biography and mystery. Laura Sackton, a contributor at AudioFile, talks us through some of her favourites from their best of 2023 lists—and explains how she got the bug for listening to books as well as reading them.
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1
Birnam Wood: A Novel
by Eleanor Catton & Saskia Maarleveld (narrator) -
2
All the Sinners Bleed
by S.A. Cosby -
3
Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers
by Jesse Q. Sutanto and narrated by Eunice Wong -
4
The Secret Hours
by Mick Herron -
5
I Have Some Questions for You
by Rebecca Makkai and narrated by Julia Whelan and JD Jackson
The Best Mystery & Suspense Audiobooks of 2023, recommended by AudioFile Editors
The Best Mystery & Suspense Audiobooks of 2023, recommended by AudioFile Editors
It’s a lot of fun listening to mystery books or crime novels as audiobooks, with good narrators adding suspense and enjoyment to the reading experience. Editors at AudioFile magazine, who specialize in reviewing audiobooks, pick out the best ones of 2023, good books made even better by being read aloud by a skilled narrator.
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1
Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers
by Jesse Q. Sutanto and narrated by Eunice Wong -
2
Code Gray: Death, Life, and Uncertainty in the ER
by Farzon Nahvi and narrated by Aden Hakimi -
3
I Have Some Questions for You
by Rebecca Makkai and narrated by Julia Whelan and JD Jackson -
4
The Survivalists
by Kashana Cauley and narrated by Bahni Turpin -
5
Pineapple Street: A Novel
by Jenny Jackson and narrated by Marin Ireland
Best Audiobooks of 2023 (so far), recommended by Michele Cobb
Best Audiobooks of 2023 (so far), recommended by Michele Cobb
As summer kicks off in the northern hemisphere, it’s a great time to relax and listen to a good audiobook. Michele Cobb, publisher of AudioFile magazine, shares her favourite new audiobooks from the first half of 2023—from cozy mysteries and beach reads to the memoir of an ER doctor during Covid.
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1
The Bride Test
by Helen Hoang and Emily Woo Zeller (narrator) -
2
Get a Life, Chloe Brown
by Talia Hibbert and Adjoa Andoh (narrator) -
3
Boyfriend Material
by Alexis Hall -
4
Desire Lines
by Elizabeth Kingston & Nicholas Boulton (narrator) -
5
Love Lettering
by Kate Clayborn & Nicol Zanzarella (narrator)
The Best Romance Audiobooks, recommended by Emily Connelly
The Best Romance Audiobooks, recommended by Emily Connelly
With Valentine’s Day only days away, it’s time to get in the mood for love—and what better way than listening to an audiobook about two people who at first don’t get along but then fall madly in love? Emily Connelly, assistant editor of AudioFile magazine, recommends her favourite romance audiobooks.
Audiobooks Narrated by Timothy West
As well as appearing in many plays and movies, the British actor Timothy West (1934-2024) was a great narrator of audiobooks. He narrated a large number of Victorian novelist Anthony Trollope’s works, as well as abridged versions of Simon Schama’s History of Britain, a three-volume work. Below, some of the books in his audiobook oeuvre (not all are easy to get hold of or are only available in some countries).
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1
The Marriage Portrait: A Novel
by Maggie O'Farrell & narrated by Genevieve Gaunt -
2
The Maid
by Nita Prose & narrated by Lauren Ambrose -
3
You Don't Know Us Negroes and Other Essays
by Zora Neale Hurston and narrated by Robin Miles -
4
Inside Voice: My Obsession with How We Sound
by Lake Bell -
5
In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss
by Amy Bloom
The Best Audiobooks of 2022, recommended by Robin Whitten
The Best Audiobooks of 2022, recommended by Robin Whitten
Every year AudioFile magazine reviews thousands of new audiobooks and in its annual best-of-the-year lists its editors include only books that make exceptional listening. Here Robin Whitten, AudioFile’s founder and editor, picks out five outstanding audiobooks in a range of genres and explains what it is that makes them special.
The Best Audiobooks: the 2022 Audie Awards, recommended by Michele Cobb
The movie industry has the Oscars to celebrate its achievements, but if you love audiobooks, you’ll be more interested in the Audies. Here Michele Cobb, Executive Director of the Audio Publishers Association, talks us through the 2022 shortlist for ‘audiobook of the year,’ as well as one of her favourite books from the fiction category.
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1
Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019
by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain (editors) -
2
Facing the Mountain: A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II
by Daniel James Brown -
3
The Alexandria Quartet
by Lawrence Durrell -
4
Eartha & Kitt: A Daughter's Love Story in Black and White
by Kitt Shapiro (with Patricia Weiss Levy) -
5
The Night Gate
by Peter May
The Best Audiobooks of 2021, recommended by Robin Whitten
The Best Audiobooks of 2021, recommended by Robin Whitten
In 2021, as in previous years, AudioFile magazine picks out the very best audiobooks of the year, books that make great listening and where outstanding narration brings additional pleasure over and above reading the book in print with your eyes. Here, AudioFile editor and founder Robin Whitten picks out the best audiobooks of 2021 for us—out of the 2,300 books that she and her team listened to and reviewed.