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 guidance on the best of 2020, we turned to the Audie Awards, set up by the Audiobook Publishers Assocation to celebrate books published every year across genres.

In our ‘audiobook of the year’ interview Robin Whitten, founder and editor of AudioFile Magazine (set up in 1992 and an invaluable resource for reviews) and Mary Burkey, who has served on multiple audiobook prize judging panels, talked us through what makes a good audiobook and what to look out for as a listener.

We’ve also got lists we’ve compiled ourselves, including some of the books we’ve come across and enjoyed listening to. They include:

1. Great actors reading great books (e.g. Dan Stevens—of Downton Abbey—doing an incredible narration of Frankenstein)
2. Audiobooks narrated by their author (eg. Michelle Obama, telling us her own story in Becoming).
3. The best audiobooks for kids, but which adults can enjoy too (e.g. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon, wonderfully narrated by Jeff Woodman)