best autobiography audiobooks 2022

Best of the Year: The 15 Best Bios and Memoirs of 2022

From ruminations on addiction and recovery to genre-bending blends of biography and cultural criticism, these are 2022's best memoirs.

This list is part of our Best of the Year collection, an obsessively curated selection of our editors' and listeners' favorite audio in 2022. Check out The Best of 2022 to see our top picks in every category.

There are few stories more compelling or more intimately told than those soul-baring memoirs that seek not just to recount the experiences of one's own life but to draw some greater commentary on the big existential questions. What does it mean to be human? What is our purpose in being here? How much of who we are is purely self-determined? How much is an amalgamation of all those who have left an impact on us? Like all great autobiographies, the very best memoirs of 2022 muse on those questions, contemplating everything from the impact of art and culture on identity to navigating the labyrinthine worlds of grief and illness, addiction and recovery. Exceptional in both their prose and narration, these listens represent a few of the year's best memoirs.

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Constructing a Nervous System

Audible's Memoir of the Year, 2022 To call Margo Jefferson’s exquisite Constructing a Nervous System a memoir is a bit of a misnomer. After all, this skillfully crafted autobiography dances between genres so fluidly, leaping from the personal to deft cultural analysis in a dazzling display of narrative choreography. Jefferson constructs this stunner of a memoir through a literary lens, one that all but embodies the artists she riffs off of and analyzes, developing a story of the self through the creations, personalities, and perspectives of other artists. In a totally unique style that splinters the form of memoir altogether and frequently sees the text in dialogue with itself, this sharp listen illuminates that so much of who we are is built upon what we love and the things we encounter—be it the lasting presence of a late family member or a voice rising from a turntable. — Alanna M.

Told through the perspective of his nine-year-old self, Javier Zamora’s Solito is a moving account of his perilous, exhausting solo journey from El Salvador to the United States, where his parents awaited him. Zamora was entirely reliant on the support and compassion of his fellow migrants to survive—a story that is both his own and shared by many. Zamora is a poet first, and his delivery is pitch-perfect, lending a lyrical cadence and a well of emotion to an already beautifully crafted memoir. His voice, at times quivering, small, or uncertain, much like his young self, is wielded as an instrument of the story, not an appendix, reminding the listener of the human beings behind the statistics and political platforms. — A.M.

Did Ye Hear Mammy Died?

There are some sounds I consider synonymous with my Irish heritage: the slap of ghillies and the clack of reel shoes, the melodic jaunt of lilting or swell of an accordion, and the entrancing lull of a good story. The latter is embodied in Séamas O’Reilly’s tender retrospective on grief, family, and childhood, all amidst the din of the Troubles. However, a dry tearjerker this is not. Instead, whether musing on his father’s unmatched haggling abilities or offering asides on the oddities of death’s theatrics, O’Reilly brings so much joy and soul into his story that it’s impossible not to smile along. There is simply so much love, life, and heart in this rich memoir that you can almost hear it breathing. — A.M.

The Invisible Kingdom

In this deeply researched and insightful memoir, author Meghan O’Rourke illuminates how chronic illness has become the defining medical mystery of our times, and the source of a painful dissonance between the promises of modern medicine and the lived experiences of so many. Drawing on her own health issues as well as her background as a poet, O’Rourke weaves insights from doctors, patients, researchers, and other experts into a captivating and lyrical narrative. The current spotlight that long COVID has thrown on autoimmune and other “invisible” conditions is a central focus of the memoir, and many people will feel seen—and hopefully heard—by the eloquent voice O’Rourke gives to a monumental challenge. — Kat J.

Lost & Found

I’ve always found something peculiar about “loss” as a euphemism for death. Even still, it feels so apt—that sense that something is missing, at first an acute awareness and in time, an understanding of that absence’s permanence. Kathryn Schulz pulls on this thread in her gorgeous memoir Lost & Found , an account of the universality and ubiquity of those two most human experiences—love and death—as filtered through the loss of her father and the life she built with her wife. As someone muddling through a similar grief journey while trying to nurture a relationship of my own, I found a resonant comfort and hope in Schulz’s thoughts on bereavement and all the life there is still left to lead. — A.M.

What My Bones Know

As someone with a mood disorder, I find solace in listens that take new avenues for exploring the complicated and often isolating side effects of mental health conditions. Reconstructing her experiences with guided meditation and using recordings from real therapy sessions, Stephanie Foo takes a highly journalistic approach to dissecting her CPTSD diagnosis in this vulnerable and intelligent memoir. Unpacking how and why her trauma affects her the way it does, What My Bones Know is not only uniquely suited for audio but constructs a creative audio experience that challenged me as a listener in unexpected and illuminating ways. — Haley H.

Quite the Contrary

This juicy and culturally significant listen, which happens to be the memoir of one of my Audible colleagues, is one of the best I’ve had the pleasure of gulping down. In Quite the Contrary, Yvonne Durant gradually unfurls the mother of all cocktail-party stories—the intimate account of her love affair with jazz legend Miles Davis—against her equally compelling career trajectory as a rare Black woman making waves in advertising’s competitive heyday. Witty, poignant, and funny, Durant lets us into secret spaces of celebrity, culture, and bygone New York, unforgettably brought to life by narrator Allyson Johnson. — K.J.

His Name Is George Floyd (Pulitzer Prize Winner)

This landmark biography from Washington Post reporters Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa is built on more than 400 interviews conducted in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, offering the most complete portrait of Floyd’s life and legacy to date. Star narrator Dion Graham pairs with the authors to create a powerhouse performance that moves from Floyd’s ancestral roots in the tobacco fields of North Carolina to the housing projects of Houston and his death at the hands of Minneapolis police, paying homage to his life while revealing its deep intersections with America’s history of racism and inequality. — H.H.

To fans of Brandon Stanton's street photography project and bestselling book Humans of New York, Stephanie Johnson—better known as Tanqueray—is nothing short of a superstar. So, to finally hear the septuagenarian share more unfiltered, incredible stories about being a burlesque dancer in 1970s New York City—and many other necessary reinventions to survive life's ups and downs—in her own feisty, raunchy, badass way is a milestone storytelling event that is at times hilarious as well as heartbreaking. Millions fell in love with her indomitable spirit by reading about her life on social media, but listening to this legendary lady is unforgettable. As she says: "Make room for Tanqueray, because here I come." — Jerry P.

The Book of Baraka

Told in collaboration with renowned journalist Jelani Cobb, The Book of Baraka combines poetry and prose with the history that helped to shape Ras Baraka, the current mayor of Newark, New Jersey, into the man he is today. It’s the story of a young Black boy’s coming of age as the son of one of the most influential and controversial poets and revolutionaries of the era but also of how that boy would later shape his city—first as a poet, then as an educator, and now, as mayor. As a former resident of Newark myself, I have nothing but praise for Baraka’s accomplishments. But don’t just take it from me. His is a story you definitely don’t want to miss out on, and it should be heard from the mayor himself. — Michael C.

Full disclosure: I’m a sucker for any story involving animals, particularly when those little critters are of the motley variety. Needless to say, I was drawn to Laurie Zaleski’s Funny Farm immediately. An account of running a rescue for beasties ranging from cats to horses? That ridiculously cute cover? Sign me up. What I didn’t expect, however, was a truly affecting memoir that extended far beyond barnyard antics, exploring the depths of Zaleski’s difficult childhood, her mother’s remarkable strength, and carrying on a mission inherited. So sure, come for the adorable furry and feathered friends, but stay for the author’s graceful, heartrending tribute to her late mother and a testament to the redemptive power of caring for others, four-legged or otherwise. — A.M.

Fatty Fatty Boom Boom

If you’re a fan of true crime podcasts, you probably already know Rabia Chaudry’s euphonic voice—as host of both Undisclosed and Rabia and Ellyn Solve the Case , her skills behind the microphone are well documented. Chaudry's gifts for performance and storytelling shine the clearer in her deeply personal debut memoir. So named in reference to Chaudry’s childhood nickname, Fatty Fatty Boom Boom is an immensely relatable listen for anyone who has ever battled body image issues, a rumination on those most complicated relationships (with both food and family), and a love letter to Pakistani cuisine. — A.M.

Also a Poet

A true blend of biography and memoir, Ada Calhoun’s Also a Poet is a fascinating gem of a listen. Calhoun, the author behind nonfiction listens like Why We Can’t Sleep and St. Marks Is Dead , turns her eye toward a subject matter far closer to home. In examining her strained, complicated relationship with her father, the acclaimed art critic Peter Schjeldahl, Calhoun comes across an unexpected connection between them: the late bohemian poet Frank O’Hara. Twisting in its exploration of family, legacy, and art, this Audible Original—which features exclusive archival audio of artistic giants—is an evocative act of catharsis. — A.M.

Corrections in Ink

Journalist Keri Blakinger has dedicated much of her career to shining a light on the stark realities of criminal justice in America. Her ongoing work with nonprofit news collective The Marshall Project aims to provide a better quality of life for prisoners, with Blakinger advocating for inmate safety and well-being while underscoring their oft-disregarded humanity. But Blakinger’s focus isn’t merely academic—as detailed in Corrections in Ink , she’s lived through the prison system herself. Employing well-crafted, blazing prose and narration marked by an uncommon frankness, she recounts her battle with addiction and subsequent incarceration. Listening to her story is sometimes difficult, painful even, but that’s part of its power—this is a courageous, contemplative memoir poised to change the conversation. — A.M.

Dirtbag, Massachusetts

Kidlit author Isaac Fitzgerald rocketed into the capital-L literary landscape with this astounding memoir-in-essays, its instantly iconic title matched by an unforgettable voice. With his origins firmly in Massachusetts, Fitzgerald grew up with a love of literature and a bohemian sensibility that transcended his rough-and-tumble background and its narrow presentation of masculinity. That foundation serves him well in this fiercely honest, vulnerable, and rowdy collection of reminiscences that range from Boston to Burma (now Myanmar), connecting the dots from Fitzgerald’s former lives as an altar boy, fat kid, and small-time criminal to lightning-bolt musings on religion, race, body image, and family. Both literally and literarily speaking, his voice is one to savor. — K.J.

Best of the Year: The 14 Best Celebrity Memoirs of 2022

Despite the glitz and glamour, these celebrity memoirs take us through the highs and lows of the human experience.

Editors Select: May 2024

14 new listens our editors say you can't miss — from fiction to romance to thrillers, check out our most anticipated listens of the month.

The birth of "Quite the Contrary"

Debut memoirist and Audible editor Yvonne Durant goes behind the scenes of how the true story of her great love and pioneering career came to life as an Audible Original.

• Best of 2022
• Best of the Year

21 of the Best Memoir Audiobooks (Read by the Author)

Not all authors have the skill to read their own material. But those who do can add a lot of value to their memoir audiobooks if they can deliver a great performance. It doesn’t even have to be a celebrity audiobook (although there are plenty on this list). Any author can really deliver the goods if they can nail a performance with subtle intonation, character voices, just the right pauses for humor, and audio-only flourishes.

If that sounds like what you want, then you’ve come to the right place. Because we have a line-up of 21 of the best autobiographies and memoirs that are read by the author.

(This article contains affiliate links. This means that if you choose to purchase, I’ll make a small commission.)

Best Memoir Audiobooks (by Authors, Bloggers & Regular Folks)

Furiously Happy : A Funny Book About Horrible Things, by Jenny Lawson

Who knew that a memoir audiobook about crippling anxiety and depression could also be endearing and surprisingly funny. Some folks have found her light hearted look at such a serious subject to be off-putting. But its Lawson’s life to live and she can share it with us however she wishes. She chooses to (over)share with a strong dose of humor and she doesn’t shy away from telling stories from her bizarre childhood, which bytheway was full of taxidermied animals.

Her delivery is great. She got a very clear voice and dead pans the funniest parts of the book.

Anything by David Sedaris

Always listen to Sedaris, never “read” him.

David Sedaris honed his audio skills as a storyteller on NPR’s This American Life. As his books became popular, he further refined his skills at book readings. I daresay, he now makes as much money doing paid speaking events as he does on his books. His unique, (and frankly weird) voice, is the perfect vehicle for his delivering his own words.

If you’ve never listened to a Sedaris audiobook memoir, then you could start with the most recent Carnival of Snackery or The Best of Me . However, these books re-surface previously published works. If you want fresher content, then check out his Calypso , which was published in 2018. It covers his family gatherings at a new beach home which he and his partner Hugh have purchased on the Carolina coast. Sedaris reflects on his family’s history, relationships and regrets.

Wow, No Thank You , by Samantha Irby

This series of life essays have a very conversational tone. They cover Irby’s foibles with the Hollywood industrial complex, her discomfort with social engagement, and her inept approach to suburban life. She also has some poo issues and no cartilage in her knees. Because we needed to know that.

She delivers all of this in a really funny audio performance. She nails the right mix of outrage and dry humor with just a tinge of the long-suffering sigh. Great for a laugh out loud while out on a walk.

Irby also has a newer memoir out called Quietly Hostile . They are both worth it for a listen.

Shrill , By Lindy West

If you are looking some audio memoirs by comedians, then check out  Shrill  by Lindy West. West is fat. And in the bro-tastic world of comedy, a funny, fat, feminist who takes no sh**t and gives no f**ks wears a target on her back.

West discusses her relationship with her body, how she came to be in comedy, why some white men in politics are so very very dumb, and how she dealt with her Twitter trolls. Her story has also been turned into a very touching show on Hulu .

Her audio delivery is very funny and you can hear every eye roll. If you like it, then you should also give a listen to her newer book The Witches are Coming . It’s a searingly funny feminist screed.

High Achiever : The Incredible True Story of One Addict’s Double Life, by Tiffany Jenkins

Jenkins considered herself a master manipulator, getting what she wanted from others and keeping up a good front while also an opioid addict. It worked for her, until it didn’t. The memoir covers her life, her shocking behavior while addicted, her prison sentence and her road to recovery.

Her performance offers a raw and open access to her story.

Where I Come From : Stories from the Deep South, by Rick Bragg

“Tupperware is the Wedgewood of the South.” This quote should tell you everything you need to know about Bragg’s series of essays. They’ve been assembled from years of writing about his life in the Deep South. He covers the eccentricities of the south with a strong emphasis on food, fishing, dogs and pick-ups. He offers a nostalgic tone, but he doesn’t shy away from the South’s darker side. The book’s essays also acknowledge how racism stains Southern culture.

Pour yourself a tall glass of iced tea (sweet, of course) and listen to Bragg slowly drawl his way through his own stories. This is a good listen for sitting on the porch on a hot summer day.

Between the World and Me , by Ta-Nehisi Coates

How can we have an honest reckoning with our nation’s fraught, racist history? And how do we free ourselves from this burden?

These are the questions that Coates poses in this open letter to his son. He’s not hopeful, that’s for sure. But he’s earnest, raw and heartfelt. And he wants to give his son (and you the reader) an honest assessment of his life’s experience as a Black man in America.

If you want the full gut-punch, listen to the whole three hour audio in one go.

If you choose to read this for book club, check out our discussion guide for Between the World and Me .

Solito , Javier Zamora

When Zamora’s parents fled El Salvador, they worked for years in the US before finally sending for him. As a nine-year-old, he made the perilous journey to the US through El Salvador, Mexico and the Sonoran desert. It would be perilous enough for an adult, but to tackle this journey as a child is remarkable. His prose is descriptive and heart-breaking and it provides a very sympathetic take on the immigrant experience.

His audio performance will make you feel like you are there with him. Read this one for book club and use our Solito book club questions to discuss it.

Best Memoir Audiobooks (by Celebrities & Musicians)

I’m Glad My Mom Died , Jennette McCurdy

Jennette McCurdy’s memoir offers up a very tough take on her upbringing and her stardom on the iCarly Nickelodeon show. Forced to follow her mother’s dreams, McCurdy ends up in a profession that she doesn’t love, held hostage by her mother’s impossible expectations and abusive demands. 

Her trauma included physical and emotional abuse, a severe eating disorder, and abuse of power. It’s tough content. But McCurdy’s audio delivery brings just enough snark and humor to soften some of the horror. And her journey to a more healthy place as an adult is very satisfying.

Read it for book club and use our I’m Glad My Mom Died discussion guide .

Crying in H Mart , by Michelle Zauner

Crying in H Mart is far more than a simple food memoir. In the book, Zauner explores her life growing up as a Korean American, an awkward adolescence, her Mom’s high expectations and lots and lots of eating in her Grandmother’s apartment. It’s also a painful foray in to the pain of grief. It’s a searing, devastating and often funny look at Zauner’s life (so far).

Zauner is a singer and guitarist, so she certainly knows how to deliver a performance. But what makes this memoir so good on audiobook is that you can really hear her emotions coming through.

Read it for book club and use our H Mart discussion guide .

Never Broken : Songs are Only Half the Story, by Jewel

Jewel had an unconventional upbringing — homesteading in Alaska, learning to yodel and building an independent life for herself (which she kinda didn’t want to do, but her family circumstance forced the issue). There’s a lot to her story as a homeless-to-riches musician. She doesn’t shrink away from sharing some painful childhood stories, an unfiltered look at her career and her own imperfections.

The audio is great because she also sings some of her songs, which adds a lot of value to the narrative.

Broken Horses , by Brandi Carlisle

Like Jewel, Brandi Carlisle grew up with a lot of instability in her childhood. There were a lot of moves, childhood illness and the risks associated with coming out gay as a teenager. Carlisle also covers her journey as a musician and a mother and how she created a great found family for herself.

This audiobook memoir also has the delightful value-add of songs, so it’s like getting both a book and an album.

Born a Crime : Stories from a South African Childhood, by Trevor Noah

Born a Crime  is a remarkable memoir. Many celebrity memoirs simply offer a voyeur’s view into the life of someone whose work that we admire. And  Born a Crime  has that, but it’s also an education on how the warped Apartheid policies impacted day-to-day life for Black and Colored South Africans. And Noah’s mixed race heritage made that even more complicated. Noah offers up insight (with a strong dose of humor) into the complexities of class and race, which are disturbingly applicable elsewhere in English-speaking world.

This is a fantastic audiobook because Noah offers distinct voices for all of his friends and family members. His Mom’s voice is priceless.

This book makes a good book club read, which you can supplement with our Born a Crime reading guide .

Greenlights , by Matthew McConaughey

Matthew McConaughey has the gift of gab and he deploys it with a full throttle in his memoir, Gr eenlights . The book covers his childhood, his first acting gigs and dealing with stardom. Greenlight’s themes include strong family bonds, a willingness to pivot, a spirit of adventure and being honest with yourself.

The format for Greenlights is an interesting mix of standard memoir, self-help advice, poems and pithy bumper stickers.

McConaughey delivers all of this with an enthusiastic audio performance– and even a few Alright Alright Alrights.

If you are listening to McConaughey for your book club, use our Greenlights book club questions to guide your discussion.

Becoming , by Michelle Obama

I have political opinions, and I always vote, but I’ve never been a fan of political non-fiction or presidential memoirs. Too much wonk. But Michelle Obama’s memoir is another matter entirely. In it, she covers her childhood, her growth as a professional woman, the sacrifices that she had to make when her husband decided to go for it, and the major adjustments she had to make as a political wife and First Lady.

Her audio delivery is smooth and warm.

If you do indeed like presidential memoirs, then Barack Obama’s A Promised Land makes for a good companion listen.

Read Becoming for book club and use our discussion guide to get the conversation started.

Not My Father’s Son , by Alan Cumming

Cumming had a very rough childhood at the hand of his cruel and violent father. He gets invited to participate in a genealogy TV show and through that process, he becomes reconnected with his estranged father and learns about his long lost grandfather. The memoir covers Cummings process of coming to terms with his personal history. He’s willing to share some long buried family secrets with his readers.

His audio is deeply personal and honest. Plus, that Scottish accent doesn’t hurt.

If you are keen on the setting, we’ve also got a whole list of books set in Scotland .

Finding Me , Viola Davis

The official publisher synopsis for Finding Me is the only one I’ve ever seen written in the first person. That alone tells you that you are in for something special. When Davis decided to stop running and own her voice, she really decided to own it.

The book covers her childhood up to her present career. She unapologetically tells her ugly truth, covering childhood trauma, misogyny, racism, and colorism, all delivered in her unique and powerful voice.

Year of Yes , by Shonda Rhimes

Since Shonda Rhimes helped Viola Davis nail one of the juiciest roles of her career, we think it’s also worth taking a look at Rhimes’ own memoir.

Rhimes is the creative genius behind hit TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder. It’s easy to say “no” when you are running hit TV shows and have kids at home. But when her sister told her that she never says yes to anything, Rhimes was shaken out of her complacency. This memoir follows her as she busts out of her introverted comfort zone and says yes to far more than she ever thought she would.

Rhimes overcomes her introverted nature by doing her own entertaining audio performance.

Walking with Ghosts , by Gabriel Byrne

The Irish are masterful storytellers and Byrne is right up there with the best of them. In this audio autobiography, he shares his childhood and his creative life with a keen eye for observation, quiet humor and poignancy.

“I begin to apply my makeup. My mask. Our tragedy, O’Neill said, is that we are haunted not just by the masks others wear but by the masks we wear ourselves. We all act all the time. Life makes us necessary deceivers. Except maybe when we are alone.”

Byrne’s writing style is very poetic and he delivers the audio with every inch of his acting talent.

A Very Punchable Face , by Colin Jost

Jost is a host of Weekend Update and lead writer for SNL. In this memoir, he talks about his childhood on Staten Island, his career and how he occasionally gets punched in the face. He shares his goofy antics and dancing rats on the ferry as well as some very heart felt stories, like his mom’s contribution to saving lives during 9/11. You also get some insider baseball on SNL.

If that doesn’t convince you, just ask Larry David, who blurbed the book with ““I always wanted to punch his face before I read his book. Now I just want to kick him in the balls.”

For a guy who didn’t even speak until he was four years old, Jost is able to delivery a very charming celebrity audiobook performance.

The Princess Diarist , by Carrie Fisher

Fisher crafted this delightful memoir using the notebooks that she kept while working on Star Wars as a teenager. The book covers her affair with Harrison Ford (what?!?), her efforts to get work after the filming of the movie and the weird aftermath of being in a cult culture classic. She delivers all of it with her trademark crisp wit.

From her notebooks- “If anyone reads this when I have passed to the big bad beyond, I shall be posthumorously embarrassed. I shall spend my entire afterlife blushing.”

RIP Princess Leia.

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The Best Biographies & Memoirs of 2022

I'm Glad My Mom Died

• By: Jennette McCurdy
• Narrated by: Jennette McCurdy
• Length: 6 hrs and 26 mins
• Overall 5 out of 5 stars 13,097
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 11,544
• Story 5 out of 5 stars 11,517

A heartbreaking and hilarious memoir by iCarly and Sam & Cat star Jennette McCurdy about her struggles as a former child actor—including eating disorders, addiction, and a complicated relationship with her overbearing mother—and how she retook control of her life....

• 5 out of 5 stars

Heartwrenching

• By Ellie Moore on 11-08-22
• Release date: 09-08-22
• Language: English
• 5 out of 5 stars 13,097 ratings

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• By: Viola Davis
• Narrated by: Viola Davis
• Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
• Overall 5 out of 5 stars 2,575
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 2,345
• Story 5 out of 5 stars 2,339

In my book, you will meet a little girl named Viola who ran from her past until she made a life-changing decision to stop running forever....

Outstanding

• By Alison on 12-02-23
• Release date: 26-04-22
• 5 out of 5 stars 2,575 ratings

Be Careful What You Wish For

• By: Simon Jordan
• Narrated by: Simon Jordan
• Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
• Overall 5 out of 5 stars 1,583
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 1,429
• Story 5 out of 5 stars 1,422

Simon Jordan made his fortune building a mobile phone company from scratch. When he sold it for £75 million, he bought Crystal Palace FC, the club he'd supported as a boy, and led them into the Premier League....

The only Entrepreneur that really fascinates all spectrums of Audience

• By Ben Talbot on 15-06-22
• Release date: 02-06-22
• 5 out of 5 stars 1,583 ratings

I Don't Take Requests

• By: Tony Marnoch, Michael Hennegan
• Narrated by: Tony Marnoch
• Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins
• Overall 5 out of 5 stars 1,250
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 1,125
• Story 5 out of 5 stars 1,116

The outrageously candid memoir from club culture's most beloved—and notorious—DJ, Fat Tony: Here he tells the most extraordinary stories of depravity and hedonism, of week-long benders and extreme self-destruction—and of recovery, redemption, friendship and the joy of a good tune....

This was the book I was meant to listen to now

• By Saundejo on 01-06-22
• By: Tony Marnoch , Michael Hennegan
• Release date: 26-05-22
• 5 out of 5 stars 1,250 ratings

I'd Like to Play Alone, Please

• By: Tom Segura
• Narrated by: Tom Segura
• Length: 6 hrs and 4 mins
• Overall 5 out of 5 stars 759
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 667
• Story 5 out of 5 stars 665

From a massively successful stand-up comedian and co-host of chart-topping podcasts “2 Bears 1 Cave” and “Your Mom’s House,” hilarious real-life stories of parenting, celebrity encounters, youthful mistakes, misanthropy, and so much more....

Definitely not stingey.

• By Tom Geddes on 15-06-22
• Release date: 14-06-22
• 5 out of 5 stars 759 ratings

• By: Danielle Marin
• Narrated by: Nikki Patel
• Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,030
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 909
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 906

Danielle has a safe, happy childhood growing up in West London, but her bright future fades as she turns her back on school for gang life and crime....

• 3 out of 5 stars

A girl called Danielle.

• By Sigrin on 16-08-22
• Release date: 03-03-22
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,030 ratings

Regular price: £15.99 or 1 Credit

Sale price: £15.99 or 1 Credit

Managing Expectations

• By: Minnie Driver
• Narrated by: Minnie Driver
• Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
• Overall 5 out of 5 stars 897
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 791
• Story 5 out of 5 stars 783

In this dazzling 'tell-most' memoir, actor Minnie Driver shares a collection of stories about how things not working out—worked out in the end....

Beautifully written

• By KK on 10-05-22
• Release date: 03-05-22
• 5 out of 5 stars 897 ratings

Regular price: £29.99 or 1 Credit

Sale price: £29.99 or 1 Credit

Beyond the Wand

• The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard
• By: Tom Felton
• Narrated by: Tom Felton
• Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
• Overall 5 out of 5 stars 2,995
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 2,738
• Story 5 out of 5 stars 2,731

From Borrower to wizard, Tom Felton's adolescence was anything but ordinary. His early rise to fame saw him catapulted into the limelight aged just twelve when he landed the iconic role of Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films....

Wonderful surprise

• By Bethany Key on 22-11-22
• Release date: 20-10-22
• 5 out of 5 stars 2,995 ratings

Mack the Life

• By: Lee Mack
• Narrated by: Lee Mack
• Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,014
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 904

Where do comedians come from? Why is it that one person is a funny bloke down the pub while another actually makes a living by standing up in front of an audience telling jokes? And where does all that material come from....

Mack the life

• By Dean on 16-07-22
• Release date: 14-07-22
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,014 ratings

Good Pop, Bad Pop

• By: Jarvis Cocker
• Narrated by: Jarvis Cocker
• Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
• Overall 5 out of 5 stars 826
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 736
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 732

We all have a random collection of the things that made us—photos, tickets, clothes, souvenirs, stuffed in a box, packed in a suitcase, crammed into a drawer....

I could have listened to this forever.

• By Rebecca Morgan on 11-06-22
• 5 out of 5 stars 826 ratings

The Escape Artist

• The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World
• By: Jonathan Freedland
• Narrated by: Jonathan Freedland
• Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
• Overall 5 out of 5 stars 972
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 871
• Story 5 out of 5 stars 871

A thrilling history with enormous historical implications, The Escape Artist is the astonishing, forgotten story of the hero who escaped from Auschwitz to reveal the truth of the Holocaust....

Astonishing achievement

• By Seagull on 25-08-22
• Release date: 09-06-22
• 5 out of 5 stars 972 ratings

Happy-Go-Lucky

• By: David Sedaris
• Narrated by: David Sedaris
• Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
• Overall 5 out of 5 stars 602
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 539
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 536

David Sedaris once again captures what is most unexpected, hilarious, and poignant about these recent upheavals, personal and public, and expresses in precise language both the misanthropy and desire for connection that drive us all....

latest and possibly last excellent work by maestro

• By Julian Konczak on 19-06-22
• 5 out of 5 stars 602 ratings

A Heart That Works

• By: Rob Delaney
• Narrated by: Rob Delaney
• Length: 3 hrs and 25 mins
• Overall 5 out of 5 stars 1,467
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 1,336
• Story 5 out of 5 stars 1,331

In this devastating, beautiful and deeply moving memoir of the loss of his son, Rob Delaney explores what life really means, and why it matters....

• By e deoliveira on 18-09-23
• 5 out of 5 stars 1,467 ratings

Regular price: £7.99 or 1 Credit

Sale price: £7.99 or 1 Credit

Ten Steps to Nanette

• A Memoir Situation
• By: Hannah Gadsby
• Narrated by: Hannah Gadsby
• Length: 13 hrs and 47 mins
• Overall 5 out of 5 stars 513
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 462
• Story 5 out of 5 stars 460

Multi-award-winning Hannah Gadsby broke comedy with their show Nanette . Now they take us through the defining moments in their life and their powerful decision to tell the truth—no matter the cost.

Astounding memoir from a phenomenal person

• By Els on 13-04-22
• Release date: 29-03-22
• 5 out of 5 stars 513 ratings

Regular price: £13.99 or 1 Credit

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This Is Not a Pity Memoir

• By: Abi Morgan
• Narrated by: Fiona Button
• Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
• Overall 5 out of 5 stars 538
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 491
• Story 5 out of 5 stars 488

One morning in June, Abi had her to-do list—drop the kids to school, get coffee and go to work. Jacob had a bad headache so she added 'pick up steroids'. She returned home and found the man she loved and fought and laughed with for 20 years lying on the bathroom floor....

Honoured to share this story.

• By POINT OF VIEW on 22-05-22
• Release date: 12-05-22
• 5 out of 5 stars 538 ratings

• By: Melanie C
• Narrated by: Melanie C
• Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 644
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 576
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 575

For the first time ever, Melanie C, aka Sporty Spice, tells her amazing life story in her own words and gives a full and honest account of what life was really like in The Spice Girls....

Absolutely phenomenal!

• By Catarina Francisco on 18-09-22
• Release date: 15-09-22
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 644 ratings

Regular price: £19.99 or 1 Credit

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Behind the Seams

• The perfect gift for fans of The Great British Sewing Bee
• By: Esme Young
• Narrated by: Esme Young
• Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 363
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 330
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 324

From adventures at Central Saint Martins to The Great British Sewing Bee , go behind the seams of Esme Young's amazing life....

Interesting Life

• By Girliewirlie on 11-05-22
• Release date: 14-04-22
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 363 ratings

Boy in a China Shop

• Life, Clay and Everything
• By: Keith Brymer Jones
• Narrated by: Keith Brymer Jones
• Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
• Overall 5 out of 5 stars 260
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 235
• Story 5 out of 5 stars 234

The star presenter and judge of Channel 4's The Great Pottery Throw Down looks back on his life and career - and the passion for ceramics that started it all....

Genuinely surprised, in a good way

• By stu on 26-06-22
• Release date: 03-02-22
• 5 out of 5 stars 260 ratings

When the Dust Settles

• Stories of Love, Loss and Hope from an Expert in Disaster
• By: Lucy Easthope
• Narrated by: Lucy Easthope
• Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
• Overall 5 out of 5 stars 296
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 263
• Story 5 out of 5 stars 263

Lucy Easthope lives with disaster every day. When a plane crashes, a bomb explodes, a city floods or a pandemic begins, she's the one they call. In her moving memoir, she reveals what happens in the aftermath....

That rare thing, a must-read

• By Glenn Myers on 18-10-22
• Release date: 31-03-22
• 5 out of 5 stars 296 ratings

• Read the inspirational life behind Tom Parker
• By: Tom Parker
• Narrated by: Kelsey Parker, Ben Heathcote
• Length: 4 hrs and 6 mins
• Overall 5 out of 5 stars 190
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 164
• Story 5 out of 5 stars 162

In March 2022, much-loved pop star, father and son Tom Parker died from incurable brain cancer. This story is his legacy, in his own words....

Sad and brilliant.

• By Susan Taylor on 19-03-23
• Narrated by: Kelsey Parker , Ben Heathcote
• 5 out of 5 stars 190 ratings
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The Best Audiobooks of 2022, According to Audiofile

Celebrating the year in good listening.

Every Monday through Friday, AudioFile ’s editors recommend the best in audiobook listening. We keep our daily episodes short and sweet, with audiobook clips to give you a sample of our featured listens.

AudioFile’s Robin Whitten joins host Jo Reed to talk about the 2022 Best Audiobooks — listen to hear about how these audiobooks were chosen out of the thousands reviewed this year, to learn about Robin’s favorites from the list, and to find out about upcoming interviews with narrator’s of some of this year’s honored titles. Jo and Robin also share the list of 2022 Best Memoirs, including some big names in audiobooks this year.

AudioFile’s 2022 Best Memoir Audiobooks:

Finding Me by Viola Davis, read by Viola Davis I Was Better Last Night by Harvey Fierstein, read by Harvey Fierstein In Love by Amy Bloom, read by Amy Bloom Solito by Javier Zamora, read by Javier Zamora Wake by Rebecca Hall, Tyler English-Beckwith, read by DeWanda Wise, Chanté Adams, Jerrie Johnson, Bahni Turpin, and a Full Cast Woman Without Shame by Sandra Cisneros, read by Sandra Cisneros

For the full list of 2022 Best Audiobooks, visit: audiofilemagazine.com 

Support for Behind the Mic comes from Oasis Audio, featuring the finest in specially curated novels including THE MAN WHO LAUGHS, Victor Hugo’s 1869 biting arraignment of the aristocracy for their vices, crimes, and selfishness. Lavishly narrated by Simon Vance. Available everywhere.

To listen to the whole archive of Behind the Mic with AudioFile Magazine, subscribe and listen on Apple Podcasts , Stitcher , Google Podcasts , or wherever else you find your favorite podcasts.

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The Best Audiobook Biographies

The best biographies are often more engaging than fiction. Whether they're autobios or told from an outside perspective, a good biography or memoir is like listening to someone interesting tell you their life story. The best biography audiobooks make it easier to listen to interesting lives while you go about yours at work, or just doing tasks around the house.

Some of the best biographies have inspired movies, such as Wild , American Sniper and Eat, Pray, Love . Great biography audiobooks also range from the life stories of the very famous, such as Steve Jobs , to people who lived fascinating lives without achieving fame, like the historical biography Maude . There are even versions of biographies read by the author, such as The Glass Castle , written and read by Jeannette Walls; What Happened, written and read by Hilary Rodham Clinton; and Becoming , written and read by Michelle Obama.

Which of these biographies will you download? Try Audible and get two free audiobooks - which makes it even easier to start listening to life stories. Vote for the biography audiobooks you would recommend and add any must-listen books we might have missed.

Lucky: A Memoir

Born a crime.

Educated: A Memoir

American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis

Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10

The Glass Castle

Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed

The Yorkshire Shepherdess

High school: a memoir tegan quin , sara quin.

Shakespeare: The World as Stage

No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden

Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison

The Magnolia Story

When Breath Becomes Air

What Happened

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia

A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea

Inside out demi moore.

Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary

Ranking the best novels and non-fiction books of every genre.

• NONFICTION BOOKS
• BEST NONFICTION 2023
• BEST NONFICTION 2024
• Historical Biographies
• The Best Memoirs and Autobiographies
• Philosophical Biographies
• World War 2
• World History
• American History
• British History
• Chinese History
• Russian History
• Ancient History (up to 500)
• Medieval History (500-1400)
• Military History
• Art History
• Travel Books
• Ancient Philosophy
• Contemporary Philosophy
• Ethics & Moral Philosophy
• Great Philosophers
• Social & Political Philosophy
• Classical Studies
• New Science Books
• Maths & Statistics
• Popular Science
• Physics Books
• Climate Change Books
• How to Write
• English Grammar & Usage
• Books for Learning Languages
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• Political Ideologies
• Foreign Policy & International Relations
• American Politics
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• Religious History Books
• Mental Health
• Neuroscience
• Child Psychology
• Film & Cinema
• Opera & Classical Music
• Behavioural Economics
• Development Economics
• Economic History
• Financial Crisis
• World Economies
• Investing Books
• Artificial Intelligence/AI Books
• Data Science Books
• Sex & Sexuality
• Death & Dying
• Food & Cooking
• Sports, Games & Hobbies
• FICTION BOOKS
• BEST NOVELS 2024
• BEST FICTION 2023
• New Literary Fiction
• World Literature
• Literary Criticism
• Literary Figures
• Classic English Literature
• American Literature
• Comics & Graphic Novels
• Fairy Tales & Mythology
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• Crime Novels
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• Short Stories
• South Africa
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• Arctic & Antarctica
• Afghanistan
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• Kids Recommend Books for Kids
• High School Teachers Recommendations
• Prizewinning Kids' Books
• Popular Series Books for Kids
• BEST BOOKS FOR KIDS (ALL AGES)
• Ages Baby-2
• Books for Teens and Young Adults
• THE BEST SCIENCE BOOKS FOR KIDS
• BEST KIDS' BOOKS OF 2023
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• Best Audiobooks for Kids
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• Best Books for Teens of 2023
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• THE BEST AUDIOBOOKS
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Make Your Own List

The Best Audiobooks: the 2022 Audie Awards

Recommended by michele cobb.

The Audie Awards

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.

Interview by Sophie Roell , Editor

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir & Ray Porter (narrator)

A Promised Land by Barack Obama

The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl

The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris & William DeMeritt (narrator)

All the Lonely People by Mike Gayle & Ben Onwukwe (narrator)

1 Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir & Ray Porter (narrator)

2 a promised land by barack obama, 3 the storyteller: tales of life and music by dave grohl, 4 the sweetness of water by nathan harris & william demeritt (narrator), 5 all the lonely people by mike gayle & ben onwukwe (narrator).

H ow has the past year been for audiobooks and can you tell me how the books we’re talking about today were chosen?

What’s the process for getting on the shortlist for audiobook of the year at the Audies? Are you trying to choose a mix of fiction and nonfiction , memoir etc.?

Let’s turn to the first book on the shortlist, Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, which is a work of science fiction . Tell me more about the book, and why it’s such a great listen.

With Andy Weir, you’re always going to get a great story, and then a little bit of science. The reason I like his books is because they’ve also got a great sense of humor. It starts with someone who is a survivor in a spacecraft who doesn’t remember anything—what a great setup! Then you’ve got lots of characters involved in the tale. So Ray Porter, who narrates the book, gets to play and have fun with a great text with a sense of humor, and then do a lot of different characters.

I don’t know if you’re a reader of sci-fi in general, but do you think people who aren’t necessarily into science fiction will enjoy Project Hail Mary ?

I do. I’m more of a thriller person, but that’s one of the reasons I really love audiobooks. I’m much more willing to be experimental with audio. I tend to read thrillers and some literary fiction with my eyes, but not much nonfiction or science fiction. I listen to a lot of things that I don’t read with my eyes (which doesn’t mean I don’t listen to a lot of thrillers too). With audio, I’m more willing to give myself over to what the narrator’s doing, especially with science fiction where, oftentimes, there are made up words. With my eyes, I’ll just skip over those. I like listening to science fiction because the narrator does some of the work for me.

It’s quite a long book, isn’t it, 16 hours or so?

Yes, you’re not just going to sit down for five minutes and listen to it. It’s a commitment, although not as long as one of the others we’re going to be talking about today.

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Let’s go on to that one next: A Promised Land, which is Barack Obama ‘s presidential memoir. This audiobook is more than 29 hours long.

Yes, and it is book one—so he hasn’t made it through everything yet. Luckily, he’s a fantastic narrator. It is wonderful to hear his words about his life: as a young person with Michelle, all the things that he’s dealing with as president. But it is 29 hours, so you have to be aware that there’s going to be a lot of listening, and that there’s more to come in the future.

It is fairly easy listening, though, isn’t it? He has a nice style of writing and speaking.

Yes, absolutely. One of the fun things that I get to do as someone who interacts with a lot of the publishers, is one day I was on a meeting for the Audio Publishers Association, and the producer of this audiobook was there. We had a meeting that was allotted an hour. We had about 15 minutes of material, and then he spent the other 45 minutes talking about what it was like to record Obama out on Martha’s Vineyard. It was really fun to hear about that experience.

And did you say nine people will have listened to this, if it wins?

Let’s go on to The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl. This is another memoir , again narrated by the author himself.

Dave Grohl is part of the band Foo Fighters. People really expected a lot of stuff about his life now, but he doesn’t really deal with that in the book. He’s really talking about his career and the whole space. It’s less intimate than some autobiographies are, but he does a great job. He is very jovial, is the word that I would use. He seems like a warm human being, as you listen to this book. Again, it’s not super short, it’s 10 hours.

I was talking to a literary scholar about some of the new celebrity memoirs earlier this year, and she says they often have elements of self-help, life tips about how to succeed etc. Maybe it’s self-help for people who don’t want to be seen buying a self-help book . Does this one fall into that category?

The fourth and final book that’s on the audiobook of the year shortlist is The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris. It’s a historical novel that was longlisted for the Booker Prize , but I haven’t read it. Tell me a bit about it.

It was a big hit, because it was also an Oprah’s Book Club pick. It’s about late Civil War-era Georgia, so you’re dealing with a lot of different themes here. There is a lot of heavy stuff in this book. William DeMeritt is just so fantastic as a narrator. This is a great example—much like with Hail Mary and Ray Porter—of how, when you have a strong text and a fantastic narrator, it elevates the work even more.

What’s your final choice?

My fifth choice I think works really well when we’re talking about the world of the pandemic. It’s called All the Lonely People by Mike Gayle and read by Ben Onwukwe. I love the setup of this. It’s about an older man, he’s a widower. He’s kind of making up his life when he talks to his daughter—so that she doesn’t think that he is lonely. Of course, it turns out he is. But he starts to get to know his neighbors and becomes involved in a community. It’s just a really warm story. It was kind of hopeful in the pandemic, when I wasn’t seeing very many people, to listen to this particular book.

And Ben Onwukwe’s narration is particularly well done?

It really is. I very much enjoyed the narrator; I had not listened to anything from him before. That made it really a fun experience. It’s always great when you discover someone who you didn’t know, doing a fantastic job. I see a lot more new voices coming into the space as well.

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All the Lonely People is on the best fiction shortlist at the 2022 Audies. Which other genres do you cover?

There are 25 categories: fiction, nonfiction, young adult, children’s…If you go to AudioFile Magazine, you’ll see all the categories and a review of shortlisted books that AudioFile has put together , as well as a sound clip. It’s a great place to get some ideas for listening. Because these aren’t brand new, it’s a great place to go and ask, ‘Ooh, what have I missed?. There’s some definite fun standouts in there.

I just like having a guarantee that an audiobook is going to be of a reasonable quality and, presumably, if it’s made an Audies shortlist, I can be fairly confident that it’s going to be well done.

That’s exactly right. Most categories have five finalists, so you’ve got a lot to choose from, but it’s also very targeted. If you go to https://www.audiopub.org/ you can actually watch the Audies online on Friday, March 4th, 2022 at 9pm Eastern time, 6pm Pacific time. I hope people will watch either live, or if you don’t want to stay up late, it’ll still be there after.

Part of the best books of 2022 series

March 3, 2022

Five Books aims to keep its book recommendations and interviews up to date. If you are the interviewee and would like to update your choice of books (or even just what you say about them) please email us at [email protected]

©Max Flatow

Michele Cobb

Michele Cobb is Publisher of AudioFile Magazine , Executive Director of the Audio Publishers Association, and a partner at Forte Business Consulting, which provides Business Development services for the publishing industry.

We ask experts to recommend the five best books in their subject and explain their selection in an interview.

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Best Autobiography Audiobooks Read by the Author

Before books, there were storytellers.

Autobiographies and memoirs are more than just a peek into someone’s private life. These authors bravely capture the pivotal moments where life’s big lessons are learned, whether gained through loss or triumph. Icons, heroes, and artists — to hear these stories told in their own voices makes them all the more significant.

Undaunted: My Fight Against America’s Enemies, at Home and Abroad

By john o. brennan, narrated by the author. 14 hours, 22 minutes..

This is what decades of civil service looks like. Since applying to the CIA in 1980, Brennan has served as an analyst, station chief, chief of staff, and in 2013, Obama tapped him to be Director. He advised presidents from Reagan to Trump with a tight grip on the values instilled in him by his Irish immigrant father. In Undaunted , he unpacks his wins and losses along the way. It’s a treasure to have John Brennan as our guide through the halls of the CIA during some of the most important events in recent political history, and to get his unique perspective on America’s future.

 Available at Audible.com and Libro.fm

Hollywood Park

By mikel jollett, narrated by the author. 11 hours, 45 minutes..

In the early 1970s, Jollett is born into the Church of Synanon, a cult that separates infants from their parents to be raised by cult teachers. One night, Mikel, his mother, and his older brother, Tony, make a desperate and dangerous escape. With no understanding of life on the outside, it takes Jollett years to realize that they live in poverty, that his mother is severely depressed and emotionally abusive, and that his brother is struggling, too. Through the decades, Jollett reconnects with his father, goes to college, forms the indie rock band The Airborne Toxic Event, and learns to forgive. Bonus: The audiobook includes original music from The Airborne Toxic Event’s album of the same name, which acts as a soundtrack to the book.

A Promised Land

By barack obama, narrated by the author. 29 hours, 10 minutes..

We all witnessed Barack Obama’s road to the White House, but now he tells the story as only he can. In the first of more presidential memoirs to come, Obama pinpoints the moments that changed him from a community organizer, to a senator, to a historic candidate, and finally, POTUS. History lovers will thrill to his in-the-room-where-it-happened retellings of key events. Heartfelt stories of family life are peppered throughout. And in the end, his defense of hope and change is a love song to the country he once led.

Eat a Peach

By david chang, narrated by the author. 9 hours, 6 minutes..

Chef Chang never imagined that his tiny ramen noodle spot in NYC would be the birthplace of the next big culinary trend. What started with late-night ramen noodles and pork buns is now the Momofuku empire with a Netflix show to boot. Navigating restaurant culture is difficult enough for a young chef, but throw in a struggle with mental illness amid runaway success, and you’ll see why Chef Chang’s victories are so delicious.

Available at Audible.com and Libro.fm

Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics

By dolly parton, narrated by the author. 5 hours, 18 minutes..

Songteller is part autobiography, part concert, and all Dolly. Her decades of iconic songs, big-hearted personality, beloved movies, and complete inability to take herself too seriously are what make Dolly Parton a living legend. What a treat to hear these songs, plus the history and the creative process behind them, straight from the woman herself. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry…probably all at once.

Once I Was You: A Memoir of Love and Hate in a Torn America

By maria hinojosa, narrated by the author. 12 hours, 12 minutes..

Hinojosa is an award-winning reporter and the host of Latino USA on NPR. Her Mexican-American family of immigrants has long informed her journalism and her understanding of our nation.  Here, her own experience growing up in Chicago is the diving board for a deeper look at how America talks about all immigrants, how immigrants are afforded pathways to success (or not), and the current state of America’s immigration system.

The Best of Me

By david sedaris, narrated by the author. 13 hours, 8 minutes..

Sedaris has been inviting readers into every corner of his life for years, which is why this collection of stories hand-picked by him, told by him, is already such a fan favorite. The greatest hits include some of his most popular tales and probably a few you missed. Never boastful, always hilarious, often heartbreaking, Sedaris’ selections run the gamut from silly observations to melancholy regrets about friends and family.

Greenlights

By matthew mcconaughey, narrated by the author. 6 hours, 42 minutes..

Who would have guessed that McConaughey is an avid diarist? For the last 35 of his 50 years, he has kept journals with, as he calls them, “my sights and seens, felts and figured-outs, cools and shamefuls.” From an early age, he realizes that life is complex and deserving of reflection. It takes a milestone birthday for him to pore over his many diaries and synthesize them into Greenlights , his framework for accepting reality and then moving forward in peace.

By Glennon Doyle, narrated by the author. 8 hours, 22 minutes.

Doyle goes deeper than almost anyone else these days in writing about what it means to be a woman. In Untamed , she pays tribute to her inner voice — the one that questions and doubts then questions again. Finally, Doyle realizes that to fix her life, she has to break it first. Hear how she stopped worrying about people’s expectations and created a life she always knew she was intended to live.

World Wild Vet: Encounters in the Animal Kingdom

By evan antin, narrated by the author. 6 hours, 51 minutes..

If you follow Dr. Antin’s veterinary adventures on his show,  Evan Goes Wild , you already know how serious he is about wildlife conservation. With World Wide Vet , we learn what sparked his passion from an early age and we go behind the scenes on hard-earned lessons about how to interact with wild animals. Antin’s at his most poignant when talking about wildlife abuses he has witnessed first-hand and what we all can do to help prevent them.

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20 Audiobooks You Should Listen to Right Now

Run out of great podcasts to listen to? Looking for something a bit weightier? Audiobooks could be the perfect solution. Whether you're driving to work or wandering the streets, this selection will keep you entertained. With A-list actors providing the narration and a host of new productions of old favorites, there's never been a better time to start listening. Should you want to read actual pages, give WIRED's guides to the best sci-fi books and the best fantasy books a try.

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By Siddhartha Mukherjee

You may think a book subtitled “A Biography of Cancer” would not be the lightest of listens, and you would be right, but that doesn’t make it any less brilliant. Siddhartha Mukherjee‎ does a remarkable job of charting the history of this complex disease, weaving together the narrative with stories from his own experience as an oncologist. It’s a triumph precisely because it never loses sight of the people at the heart of the story: the researchers who pushed forward and found treatments in unusual places and the patients and their families who faced losing everything.

By Amit Katwala

Penned by WIRED's Amit Katwala, with spine-tingling narration by Matt Reeves, Tremors in the Blood tells the true story of two murders—one in San Francisco in 1922, the other in Chicago in 1935—and how they intersect with the creation of the polygraph machine. The book combines true crime elements, tense gunfights, and courtroom drama with science and history as it explores how the inventors of the lie detector—a rookie cop, a teenage magician, and a visionary police chief—ended up unleashing a power they couldn't control. 

By David Mitchell

Cloud Atlas is a difficult book to get through, there’s no doubt about that. But the beauty of audiobooks is that they make getting through such novels a breeze. Cloud Atlas spans a number of centuries and is told from the perspective of six interconnected characters. The tonal shift from flowery 19th-century prose to the incomprehensibly simplistic final chapter comes across beautifully in audio form. Best of all, each tale is read by a different narrator, bringing the book to life better than the novel's polarizing film adaptation ever could. 

By Lucy Foley

A modern murder mystery in the vein of Agatha Christie, The Hunting Party sees a group of friends—Londoners, Oxford graduates, just the worst people—heading up to a remote lodge in Scotland for their annual New Year’s Eve get-together. Things quickly take a dark turn, and with the lodge cut off from the outside world, it’s up to the place's only two staff members to piece together what happened, all while battling dark secrets of their own. It’s a fun, slightly ridiculous story—and you will probably hate some of the main players, but it works well for audiobook because the story switches between different characters, each with their own voice actor. Just don’t listen if you’re somewhere remote.

By Stephen Fry

Greek mythology can at times feel a little impenetrable. There are just too many gods, goddesses, and nymphs—all with countless stories of love, wrath, and revenge. Stephen Fry makes it easily digestible by picking out key events and adding dialogue to modernize them. Though your head will boggle at the complex family tree of the Greek deities, you’ll learn about the legends that inspired millennia of writers, from Shakespeare to Rick Riordan.

By Graham Greene

Set during the blitz, Graham Greene's classic novel is a semi-autobiographical account of an adulterous man's jealousy toward his lover. When she breaks off their tryst, he's consumed by insecurity and hires a private investigator, suspecting she is seeing someone else. It's based in no small part on a notorious affair Greene himself conducted with Catherine Walston, the wife of a prominent Labour MP. This real-life context and Greene's customary skill combine for one of his most highly regarded works. It's narrated expertly by Colin Firth, who is perfectly cast to voice the inner monologue and lamentable pettiness of Maurice Bendrix.

By Caitlin Moran

If you are a woman, you should have already read this book. But if you don't have time to read it right now, let Caitlin Moran do it for you. Her awkward, autobiographical account tackles hair removal, getting fat, tiny pants, and being one of too many siblings in a way that will leave you cringing one minute and laughing the next. 

By David Sedaris

If you're a fan of David Sedaris' previous books and podcasts, strap in: You're about to have (possibly) the best one-sided conversation of the year. But if you don't want to hoot with laughter on public transport, this is not the book for you. In Calypso , Sedaris delivers a barrage of sheer brilliance with his remarkably deadpan voice. A quest to feed his benign tumor to a snapping turtle; disastrous family gatherings at his dream holiday home, dubbed the Sea Section; and his wildly inappropriate compulsion to buy useless fashion (including a toilet brush hat)—all of these stories are here. Sedaris has built his essays on the weird and wonderful things of everyday life, but with Calypso he bravely exposes ugly flaws with the same panache as his finest quips. You'll walk away transformed.

By Anthony Daniels

Since Star Wars first premiered in 1977, millions of people have met, loved, and loathed the now-iconic golden droid C-3PO from a galaxy far, far away. Inside the minute hinges of C-3PO’s suffocatingly tight metal costume was Anthony Daniels, who acts as a soft-spoken guide with a unique backstage pass to the intricate world unveiled on screen. In a deeply personal account of the personalities behind the iconic movie series, Daniels unveils how he became an accidental star of the franchise, the pain and challenges of being trapped in a golden cage, and the friendships he made along the way. 

By Bill Bryson

Travelogue master Bill Bryson has retired to the library in recent years, and his gentle Midwestern tones are perfect for audiobooks. In his latest book, The Body , Bryson takes a characteristic approach familiar to his readers, unearthing fascinating, disgusting, and hilarious nuggets of information about our bodies. He explores everything from genetics to our immune system, all in a soothing voice that will keep you calm while you panic-Google various ailments.

By Adam Kay

This diary of life on the medical frontlines by junior-doctor-turned-comedian Adam Kay sold more than a million copies in print and shone a light on the chaotic and compassionate world of the UK's NHS. The audiobook is read by Kay—who first came to fame in the mid-2000s with a Tube-strike-inspired parody of “Going Underground” by The Jam that he made while part of comedic musical duo Amateur Transplants. The audio version includes extra diary entries about Kay's life in the hospital ward.

By Philip Pullman

The long-awaited follow-up to Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy shows the protagonist of those books, Lyra Belacqua, much earlier in life. The action of the first part of this new trilogy, The Book of Dust, follows Malcolm Polstead—an 11-year-old living on the outskirts of Oxford—as he’s swept away in a flood of biblical proportions while trying to protect the infant Lyra from mysterious assailants. The audiobook is read by Michael Sheen, who brings his customary energy to Pullman's wild tale.

By Ben Aaronovitch

Set in modern-day London, the series follows copper Peter Grant as he’s slowly introduced to the world of magic lurking beneath the city’s streets. If you’re reluctant to dive into a tale of wizard’s hats and magic wands, don’t worry—author Ben Aaronovitch approaches the premise like a scientist, and Grant conducts controlled experiments that would put the stars of CSI to shame. The audiobooks, expertly narrated by Kobna-Holdbrook Smith, are a pleasure, particularly when the series ventures into the jazz world in book two, Moon Over Soho .

By George Saunders

Acclaimed short story writer George Saunders’ first foray into long fiction was a huge critical success. He won the 2017 Man Booker prize for his portrayal of a grieving Abraham Lincoln, harangued by ghosts after his son’s death. The audiobook has a suitably stellar cast, featuring Susan Sarandon, Lena Dunham, Ben Stiller, and a host of other famous—and slightly less famous—actors. There are 166 cast members in total.

By William Boyd

If you're after an easy listen, William Boyd's James Bond novel Solo fits the bill. In a fictional African nation, an aging Bond goes undercover as a journalist in an attempt to foil a separatist movement. Read skillfully by actor Dominic West, the novel is set in 1969 and offers a pleasant antidote to the modern Bond movies while benefiting from an excellent villain in Kobus Breed, a ruthless mercenary on whom Bond seeks revenge.

By Douglas Adams

The BBC's radio adaptations of Douglas Adams' seminal comedy works are legendary and all six series—one for each book—are available on Audible. With each clocking in at around two-and-a-half to three hours, complete with brilliant music, sound effects, and full cast, they're the perfect way to enjoy the adventures of the last surviving man from Earth and his alien “friends” through your headphones. If you'd rather experience the books in full, all six are also available with narrations from Stephen Fry and Martin Freeman, who played Arthur Dent in the movie adaption. 

By Margaret Atwood

Narrated by Elizabeth Moss, the star of the ongoing television adaptation, The Handmaid’s Tale is an increasingly powerful reminder of the thin ice the modern, relatively liberal society we live in rests upon. Margaret Atwood’s novel has spawned countless imitators since it was first published in 1985, but its description of Offred’s life in Gilead and the slow ratcheting back of progress that led society to that point remains chilling.

By John le Carré

Written by John le Carré, A Legacy of Spies acts as both prequel and sequel to one of his earliest novels, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold —famously adapted into a film starring Richard Burton. Here a now-retired intelligence officer is summoned to London to defend his actions during a Cold War operation in which a British agent was killed. Decades later, the agent’s son is suing the British government for wrongful death, and the bureaucratic apparatus is desperate to shift the blame. It’s an absorbing listen, thanks to le Carré’s skill in building character and tension, and it’s further enhanced by the deft narration of actor Tom Hollander.

By Frank Herbert

In 2012, WIRED readers voted Dune the best science-fiction novel of all time. It’s also the best-selling of all time and has inspired a mammoth universe, including 18 books set over 34,000 years. The series takes place 20,000 years in the future in galaxies stuck in the feudal ages, where computers are banned for religious reasons and noble families rule whole planets. Frank Herbert focuses on the planet Arrakis, which holds a material used as a currency throughout the universe for its rarity and mind-enhancing powers. 

By Neil Gaiman

Neverwhere is a tale of London—not the city you know, but the London Below, a city unseen by the majority yet no less real, populated by the ignored, lost, and forgotten. It's a world that Richard Mayhew, a Scottish expatriate to the Big Smoke, slips into when he helps Door, a young woman on the run from unstoppable assassins who have killed her entire family. Now invisible and forgotten by London Above, Richard and Door—along with the trickster Marquis de Carabas and the stoic Hunter—must travel across Night's Bridge, seek an audience at the Earl's court, and acquire a rare key from the Black Friars for the angel Islington if either of them has a hope of returning to their former lives. Gaiman's urban fantasy takes the metropolis of London and rebuilds it into a unique realm of mythology, one that will leave you wondering what's really happening, a half-glance out of sight, the next time you find yourself wandering around the city. The audiobook is read by Gaiman himself, while a full-cast audio drama offers a more immersive journey through London Below. 

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This article was originally published by WIRED UK

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The Best Audiobooks of 2022, According to the New York Times

Always books. Never boring.

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The New York Times released its Best Audiobooks of 2022 list, adding it to its collection of end-of-year lists — which include best fiction and nonfiction , and the first ever best romance . The list includes books from other best-of lists, but adds a few other titles. There are nonfiction and fiction titles that will do everything from creep you out to provide a nuanced exploration of mortality.

Here are the best audiobooks of 2022, according to The New York Times :

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

Stay True bu Hua Hsu

Blood Orange Night by by Melissa Bond

Finding Me by Viola Davis

We Spread by Iain Reid

What We Do in the Dark by Michelle Hart

Visit The NYT for a more detailed write-up of each book.

Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in  Breaking in Books .

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Great Audiobooks to Listen to in 2022

The audiobook category is expanding every day, and we certainly can’t listen to everything. The goal of this column is to steer you toward audiobooks that we hope will provide the best experiences, pop-culture value, and something to talk about at your cocktail party. For December, we’re looking back at a few notable titles released earlier in 2022 that we missed along the way.

December Picks

Read by : Michael Beck Length: 17 hrs, 22 mins Speed I listened: 2x

As advertised, this new thriller is heavy on the testosterone. Though it definitely could benefit from more female characters, I was surprised how rapt I was by the soapy family saga. Two immigrant families in Mississippi — the Rudys and the Malcos — find themselves on opposite sides of the law with a rivalry that continues through generations. Listening is like binging a really good TNT series, one certainly enhanced by Beck’s deliberate narration. As much as I hate to admit it, lately Grisham has been pretty bulletproof on the audiobook front.

Read by: Deepti Gupta, Kamran R. Khan, Kausar Mohammed Length: 10 hrs, 25 mins. Speed I listened: 1.75x

When this young-adult novel came out in March, it seemed too medicinal for me. But it won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature and was Audible’s top pick of 2022, so I figured I’d better give it a shot. Even with separate vocal narrators (all of them strong), trying to suss out the relationships between the characters in the first third of the book is a teensy bit confusing. But once their interconnectedness becomes clear, All My Rage turns into a powder keg that can explode at any moment. It’s a story that’s tough on all its characters, but it’s also one that’s pretty tough to turn off.

Read by: Charlie Thurston Length: 21 hrs, 3 mins. Speed I listened: 1.8x

This contemporary rewrite of Dickens’s David Copperfield was ubiquitous this fall — Hello Oprah’s Book Club! Hello nearly every Best of 2022 list ( though not Vulture’s )! — so I decided to bite the bullet and give it a listen. It’s a longer audiobook than I typically prefer, and for me, at least, it drags in its final third. But for the most part, our orphan narrator, read with deep feeling by Thurston, is amazing company, even more so than the odd cast of characters he meets along the way. Good for a long journey.

Read by: Stephanie Willis Length: 12 hrs, 18 mins. Speed I listened: 1.85x

Kapelke-Dale’s previous novel, The Ballerinas , which came out around this time last year, is tighter than her new revenge thriller about a concert pianist prodigy and her legacy of secrets. But thanks to Willis’s creepy narration, I still wanted to know what exactly happened to Saskia Kreis, and why her mother, Evelyn, a writer of feminist fairy tales for kids (cue echoes of Gone Girl ), decided not to will her Milwaukee mansion to her own daughter.

Read by: Dion Graham Length: 6 hrs, 50 mins Speed I listened: 2x

Williams, who appeared on The Wire and Boardwalk Empire , died of a drug overdose in September 2021 . In turn, listening to his posthumous memoir seemed like an exercise in sadness. However, it’s actually a compelling artifact of a life of fame and addiction. Williams passed away before he could read it himself, but Graham is a potent substitute. I especially enjoyed hearing about Williams’s aspirations to become a dancer and how that led to his substantial acting career.

Read by : Jeff Daniels and others Length: 8 hrs, 45 mins. Speed I listened: 2x

Paul Newman began writing a memoir-slash-oral history of his life in 1986. He died in 2008. Scraps of the book were found by his family in his basement and they were stitched together to make this strange and affecting memoir. Obviously, here’s another example of where a fellow actor steps in to narrate, and in this case it’s the great Jeff Daniels. He’s an amazing interpreter of Newman’s intense self-analysis. (Additional readers who chime in to voice Joanne Woodward, Tom Cruise, and others are not as effective.) I don’t think I would have enjoyed spending time with Newman — it sounds like he was very hard to read — but this glimpse into the life of a reluctant movie star is pretty fascinating.

Read by: Amir Abdullah Length: 6 hrs, 42 mins. Speed I listened: 2x

Elliptical literary fiction is often better read than heard, but here it may be the opposite. This play on James Bond movies has an on-the-spectrum math professor named Wala Kitu — which, in Tagalog and Swahili, translates to “Nothing Nothing” — going to work for an aspiring Bond supervillain named John Sill. Don’t listen to Everett’s novel for the thrills, but more for the various jeux de mots. Abdullah orates all of them with an admirable flatness. Sometimes this feels like a seven-hour version of Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s on First?” but in a really good way.

November Picks

Read by: The author Length: 8 hrs, 49 mins. Speed I listened: 1.8x

I thought Jennette McCurdy’s memoir about her relationship with her mother, the aptly named I’m Glad My Mom Died , was scary — but this book , from the man we also know as Chandler Bing, is simply terrifying. It starts with the Friends actor (now a fledgling screenwriter) describing not being able to have a bowel movement for ten days. It quickly moves from there to his colon exploding. For anyone with a sensitive stomach, that’s like Buffalo-Bill-in- Silence-of-the-Lambs spine-chilling. This is already an intimate book, made even more so by Perry’s own audio narration. Things get more uncomfortable when he starts talking about his sexual addiction. But why else would you listen to a celebrity memoir? It’s a wild ride on 55 Vicodin a day, even if it just ends in a place where Perry describes seeking a life partner who’ll play pickleball with him.

Read by: Rory Kinnear Length: 8 hrs, 31 mins. Speed I listened: 1.6x

I love this self-reflexive mystery series in which author Anthony Horowitz appears as a character who solves crimes with a gruff detective named Daniel Hawthorne. This one takes place as Horowitz debuts a new play on the West End. A nasty critic ends up dead, and Horowitz is fingered for the crime. I usually read these books, but I decided to give this one a listen. The experience was equally pleasurable thanks to Kinnear, a charming British actor perhaps known for his work in the Bond films.

Read by: The author Length: 39 minutes Speed I listened: 1.25x

This is a collection of about 125 “small poems” by the former poet laureate, and some of them are just a few words or a sentence. To paraphrase Collins, small poems give you only a little bit of room for a flash of humor or poignancy. In a blink or a beep of a taxi horn you might miss a poem or two, which is why I found myself rewinding quite often. I can also see myself listening to this amazing audiobook on a regular basis. It helps that Collins has a calming, folksy presence. I wouldn’t mind spending a half-hour with him every day; there’s so much cleverness here. For instance: “Tom Thumb’s Thumb was so small, it failed to get the attention of passing cars and trucks. And what was he doing out there anyway, hitchhiking all by himself?”

Read by: Kotaro Watanabe Length: 7 hrs, 35 mins Speed I listened: 1.75x

I’ve often found Murakami’s nonfiction about running and music a bit flat and repetitive, and in the last few years his novels and stories have left me a little cold too. These essays exploring his theories about writing are an illuminating breath of fresh air. I felt like I was absorbing Murakami’s good habits — which mostly involve structure and repetition — via aural osmosis. Watanabe’s voice offers a complementary, casual spareness to the text. This book is especially useful if you feel like you need a kick in the pants about your own writing.

Read by: Callie Dalton, Brittany Pressly, Graham Halstead Length: 8 hours Speed I listened: 1.9x

If there’s one amazing takeaway from this Devil Wears Prada retread, it’s that whoever wrote it ( the figures behind Deuxmoi remain anonymous ) turned the New York Post columnist Cindy Adams into a verb. To go “Cindy Adams-ing” is to go out collecting gossip. This novel is a creation story of the now-infamous Instagram gossip site, a Bildungsroman, if you will, about the fictional Cricket Lopez, who suddenly finds herself exposing secrets about not-exactly-gluten-free bakeries in Hollywood and celebrities like B.J. Novak. Listening doesn’t take too many brain cells — that’s a compliment, by the way. Once Cricket breaks the news to her readers that an Armie Hammer type has been biting women, things get cooking. I didn’t always feel safe in the hands of the audio narrators, though. I’m pretty sure one of them mispronounces the name of the jeweler Jennifer Meyer.

Read by: Ginnifer Goodwin Length: 6 hrs, 13 mins Speed I listened: 1.6x

I regularly recommend the swiftly moving audiobook version of Nothing to See Here , Wilson’s previous novel, about a woman who helps raise a friend’s kids who, on occasion, spontaneously combust into flames. This follow-up is about Frankie Budge, a teenager in 1996 who accidentally creates a piece of street art with her friend Zeke that winds up taking on a life of its own. I’d read the novel a few months ago, but I wanted to try out the audio version too. It doesn’t disappoint, thanks to the innocence of Goodwin’s narration, which hides its own secrets. An afterword about the genesis of the book is especially moving when Wilson reads it himself.

Read by: The author Length: 9 hrs, 59 mins. Speed I listened: 2x

Whether you consider it a call to arms, a memoir, or a self-help tome, I can’t say there are any revolutionary takeaways from this follow-up to Obama’s Becoming . But it’s just so damn inspiring to listen to the former First Lady talk about anything for a few hours. Her voice is so steady, so clear, so positive that I think this audiobook probably did more for my mood this month than anything else I consumed. (Although Zanab and Cole’s shocking wedding in this season’s finale of Love Is Blind comes close.)

Read by: the author Length : 5 hrs, 13 mins Speed I listened: 2x

I should be here telling you how exciting I found the experience of listening to Bono’s new memoir, Surrender , which clocks in at over 20 hours. But even at twice the speed, I didn’t get much further than three and a half hours. Granted, I’m not a huge U2 fan, and maybe I’ll return to it, but it’s kind of pretentious and the truth is some people need a filter. The outspoken Swedish model Porizkova, however, does not. Here, she grapples with her ex-husband Ric Ocasek leaving her out of his will, and she’s very compelling company.

Read by: The author and Edoardo Ballerini Length: 10 hrs, 9 mins. Speed I listened: 1.6x for Tarantino, 1.9x for Ballerini

It’s probably a good thing that Tarantino doesn’t read this entire audiobook — he’s just so exhausting. But his quirky voice comes through even in Ballerini’s far more calming narration. Regardless, it’s just fun to be around Tarantino for a few hours, listening to him opine on movies from the 1970s, whether he’s the one speaking or not. He’s so darn opinionated, and he loves a digressive sidebar. However, I can’t believe he remembers at what movie theater he saw each of these movies and with whom. That seems diabolical.

Read by: The author, Busy Phillips, Ted Danson, Patti Smith, Andrew Rannells, and others. Length: 7 hrs, 4 mins. Speed I listened: 2x

This collection of essays on “food and feelings” is a real oddity. There’s no real connective tissue except these are essays about, yes, food and feelings by friends of the star of Girls and The Flight Attendant . Some of the pieces are a few sentences, so I can’t imagine they amount to a whole meal when reading them. But as audio bits and bites, a handful are quite interesting windows into celebrities as real people. I admired the candor in the stories by Rosie Perez, Gabourey Sidibe, and especially Kaley Cuoco, who seems to break down in tears after a one-minute recollection of an ex who used to fix her a regular cocktail.

October Picks

Read by: The author Length: 7 hrs, 53 mins. Speed I listened: 2.1x–2.5x

Some chapters in this book of essays by the Crazy Rich Asians actress are a mixed bag. I’m not sure we really need to know about Wu’s high-school jobs working at competing bread stores in Virginia. Other parts are jaw-dropping. When Wu goes off the rails, she kinda goes off in a great way. For instance, I was especially touched by the repetition of a mantra she learned in acting class: “Get the fuck out of your head.” Also, for a Hollywood actress, she talks a surprising amount about oral sex and boners. She owns it, though. Late in the book, Wu recognizes that male genitalia appears a lot in her writing. “I adore penii,” she says. “They’re obviously on my mind.” This is also a woman who devotes an entire chapter to the cars she’s owned and mentions that she named her Prius “Masha” after a character in Chekhov’s The Seagull . In solidarity, I’m going to start calling my couch Medvedenko.

Read by: The author Length: 11 hrs, 11 mins. Speed I listened: 2x

Boundaries have become one of my favorite topics, so as soon as Urban introduced herself as “the boundary lady,” I was hooked. Urban also happens to be the co-founder of the Whole30 program, but she only refers to that detail a few times in the book, which I thought was a particularly good example of creating a boundary between writer and listener. If I wanted a diet book, I would have listened to that. Usually, Urban gives a green-light, yellow-light, and red-light option of what to say to protect your boundaries, so I should probably order a hard copy as a reference resource. But she’s very direct and no-nonsense; it’s a good companion piece to Nedra Glover Tawwab’s Set Boundaries, Find Peace , which I suggested last year . Apparently, I’m still working on ’em.

Read by: The author Length: 7 hrs, 36 mins. Speed I listened: 2x

I didn’t realize that I had so much space in my heart for Geena Davis until I listened to her memoir. Her career blossomed at the same time that my love of movies did. So this month, she reawakened my early memories of Tootsie (shockingly, her first film audition and her first film), Beetlejuice , Thelma and Louise , and — swoon — Earth Girls Are Easy. In one anecdote, Davis reveals that every morning while getting ready for A League of Their Own , she and her makeup team would sing along to the soundtrack of Jesus Christ Superstar , and Tom Hanks dropped in daily to cameo as Caiaphas. I think that’s when I understood that she and I were soul mates. Her impression of Penny Marshall is a hoot.

Read by: The author Length: 10 hrs, 51 mins. Speed I listened: 2x

Steadman’s previous book, The Disappearing Act , surprised me as a great listen last summer , so I was eagerly awaiting this follow-up. Steadman is an actress too, and she does a very good job at narrating her twisty tales. For my part, this had maybe a teensy bit too much in common with the 2019 Samara Weaving thriller Ready or Not , but there’s enough different family intrigue to separate the two. It’s all about being careful of not just who you marry, but the family you’re marrying into, too. There’s a rather large death count here, which I appreciated for a “woman in jeopardy” thriller. A bulk of the audiobook involves listening to a tape-recorded confession, and the crackly production of that is terrifically clever.

Read by: Key Taw and Carrie Coon Length: 15 hrs, 12 mins Speed I listened: 2x

A friend texted asking if I would judge her negatively for reading this new novel by Jodi Picoult. Of course I wouldn’t, I replied, though I did, a little bit. And then I downloaded the audiobook for myself. I happily discovered it was read, in part, by the incomparable Carrie Coon. Picoult typically writes kitchen-sink melodrama, and this, with co-author Finney Boylan, is genuinely compelling kitchen-sink melodrama. Olivia is a beekeeper in New Hampshire. Her teenage son Asher begins dating Lily, a new girl in school. Then Lily (read affectingly by Taw) turns up dead. My friend said she was genuinely surprised by a twist halfway through the novel, one that I didn’t see coming either. This is a totally great road-trip listen, though I definitely missed the significance of the bees and the honey.

Read by: Steven Crossley Length: 19 hrs, 23 mins Speed I listened : 1.7x–2x

Rickman, known for his roles as Hans Gruber in Die Hard and Snape in the Harry Potter flicks, died in 2016 , at 69, of pancreatic cancer. This audio would, obviously, be so much better if Rickman had read his diaries himself. But they’re pretty fascinating as a listen, even if it’s not always clear what or who the very opinionated Rickman is talking about. I found the actor’s vicissitudes here very interesting — whether he’s getting stiffed with the bill by his fancy friends at the Ivy, hanging out until 4 a.m. at the Box in New York, or mistaking Jane Campion for Meryl Streep. Excerpts that particularly struck me: “Sometimes I truly hate this business,” “A trip to the dry cleaners is good for the brain,” and “Why is the actuality of one’s work so far from its intention?” Rickman made me realize a diary entry can be rhythmic and flip instead of emotional and in-depth. I’ve finally started my own, and hopefully Carrie Coon can do the audiobook when I’m done with the first volume.

Read by: The author Length: 3 hrs, 33 mins Speed I listened: 1.5x

Olds, a professor at NYU, recently told the New York Times that the poems in this new collection should only be digested one at a time, otherwise “someone might get a serious stomachache.” Still, I listened all the way through and, even with my sensitive stomach, I was okay. As soon as I turned this audiobook on, Olds announced, “How much difference is there anymore between me and a cadaver?” and her wise, 79-year-old timber swept me away. That’s not to say I understood what she was talking about all the time, but amongst all her words on death, sex, and grief, I just felt enveloped in a Sunday-night Sharon Olds cocoon, and that felt good.

You Might Also Try:

➽ Liberation Day , by George Saunders , with stories read by Saunders, Jenny Slate, Michael McKean, and others. Tina Fey reading “The Mom of Bold Action” is by far the standout.

➽ Colleen Hoover’s It Starts With Us , read by Colin Donnell and Olivia Song. Then you can explain to me why people on BookTok go crazy for Hoover’s novels. I liked this fine enough, though I definitely prefer Verity .

September Picks

Read by: Seth Numrich and the author Length: 24 hours, 6 minutes Speed I listened: 2x

I have no idea how King keeps track of his plots or his characters. Excel spreadsheets? An iPhone App? A locked shed in the backyard? In this superlong novel, Charlie, a teenager, befriends an old recluse and discovers a portal to another world in, yes, a locked shed in the guy’s backyard. The first 12 or so hours of Fairy Tale are creepy, grounded Stephen King. Afterward, it gets a bit Wizard of Oz via H.P. Lovecraft, somehow managing to be all over the place and familiar at the same time. Still, 12 hours of prime King is great audio fodder, and Numrich (currently appearing in Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt on Broadway) provides Charlie with a wide-eyed innocence. If you get lost midway, here’s permission to skip to the end.

Read by: Simon McBurney Length: 17 hours, 33 minutes Speed I listened: 1.75x

In the same week that I started watching the third season of Love Is Blind , I spent nearly a full waking day with the English actor McBurney listening to him read McEwan’s latest opus. That’s a pretty fabulous pairing of high culture and low. It turns out they’ve got something in common too: the search for companionship. Lessons stays mostly with Roland Baines, a failed poet abandoned by his wife to raise their child. It’s a fascinating monologue bestowed with lots of feeling by the crisp, clear and erudite McBurney, whose last Broadway appearance was an audio-only theatrical piece called The Encounter . There’s nothing truly scary here, but Lessons somehow chilled me more than this month’s Stephen King.

Read by: Helen Laser, Suehyla El-Attar Young, Frankie Corzo, and Phoebe Strole Length: 3 hours, 56 minutes Speed I listened: 2x

I wish there were more than four stories in this collection. I wish they were darker, creepier, more Tar than She Said . I also wish there were fewer references to septum piercings. But you can’t have it all. So I think of this book as a short palate cleanser, kind of like watching episodes of Black Mirror if they were written by Emily Giffin or Jennifer Weiner. A Magic 8 Ball gets out of control. There’s a bloody bachelorette party. And, of course, a psycho doll shows up. All the narrators are solid; it’s a good “shake up the week” listen for your Monday commute.

Read by:  Joy Nash and Sebastian York Length:  11 hours, 5 minutes Speed I listened:  2.3x

Let’s not mince words here: This book is insane. It’s a rom-com about the making of a Hallmark Channel–like Christmas movie. We’re in a holiday village in Vermont, and the starring leads are Nolan Shaw, a former member of an ’N Sync–like boy band, and Bee Hobbes, also known as Bianca Von Honey. Bianca/Bee (played amiably by Nash ) is a plus-size porn star with a particularly popular OnlyFans (here called ClosedDoors). This book is not for those prone to blushing: Bianca once did a sex scene on a jet ski. There’s not much merry, cute, or even little about this book. Still, I laughed a lot, mostly because it’s so jaw-droppingly audacious and absurd.

Read by: The author Length: 7 hours, 8 minutes Speed I listened: 2.2x

“What exactly did you think you were going to get when you got this book?” the Jackass star asks early on here. As with all self-help books, I guess I was hoping for my life to change dramatically after listening to it. It hasn’t — though, with Steve-O admitting, “I know I’m an insufferable douche,” I’ve begun doing everything in my power to not be an insufferable douche like him. Is it working? Jury’s out.

Read by: The author Length : 7 hours, 43 minutes Speed I listened: 1.6

The best anecdote in this memoir by the current editor of British Vogue comes early. Just as the priest asks if there’s any reason why Enninful shouldn’t wed his longtime beau, Alec , Rihanna bursts through the back doors of the church “in a black lace dress, her pregnant belly resplendent.” Everyone, Enninful narrates, “burst into peels of laughter. Classic Ri.” That’s a tale on the precipice of what Steve-O might call “insufferable douche,” but I loved it. I want to be able to roll my eyes and say “Classic Ri” whenever Rihanna does something amusing in my presence. Enninful reads the rest of this book with deep sensitivity. His honesty about topics like substance abuse and the death of his friend Alexander McQueen made me want to slow down the speed so I could catch every accented word.

Read by: Kristen Atherton Length: 8 hours, 10 minutes Speed I listened: 2x

Maybe 15 years ago, I was super into Jonathan Coe, but he lost me somewhere. This one sounded a little bit like Jess Walter’s Beautiful Ruins , so I gave it a shot. (If you can’t tell, I love a book about Hollywood.) I was immediately charmed by this fictional chronicle of a young female Greek composer’s dalliances with the director Billy Wilder during the time his career had gone a bit pear shaped. Atherton keeps things brisk. I especially loved her Austrian-accented take on Wilder when he gets talking about Steven Spielberg and Jaws: “ Now every stupid executive in town wants more movies with sharks!” Wilder says. “I’m not really comfortable around fish.” Is anyone?

➽ The House Party , by Rita Cameron, a dynamic novel about teenagers who destroy a spec house in a Philadelphia suburb, read entertainingly by Karissa Vacker.

➽ Jonathan Escoffery’s rhythmic, interconnected short-story collection If I Survive You , fervently narrated by Torian Brackett.

➽ The Wheel of Doll , the latest in Jonathan Ames’s quirky Los Angeles–based series about the detective Happy Doll, featuring plenty of sardines, a houseless amputee lover, and a motel-room murder.

August Picks

Read by: The author Length: 6 hours, 50 minutes Speed I listed: 1.7x

I was hesitant to listen to this memoir because (a) the title is off-putting, especially when your mom isn’t around anymore, and (b) I had never heard of Jennette McCurdy. I’ve since learned that she starred on the Nickelodeon series iCarly and its spinoff series Sam & Cat , though she is notably absent from the former’s Paramount+ reboot. I’ve never watched iCarly , but I have a strong affinity for a Miranda Cosgrove meme . I’m also fascinated by the lives of child actors. This is a warts-and-all portrayal of McCurdy’s mother , a woman somewhere between Dee Dee Blanchard (a.k.a. Patricia Arquette on The Act ) and Mama Rose from Gypsy. She’ll stop at nothing to turn her daughter into the next Dakota Fanning, even if that involves emotional abuse, eating disorders, and trying to stall puberty. I listened straight through; it’s hard to take a break from McCurdy’s take-no-prisoners narration.

Read by: A full cast Length: 10 hours, 30 minutes Speed I listed: 2x

I read this book — the story of the fictional Carrie Soto trying to make a comeback, in her late 30s, and reclaim her title as the best tennis player in the world — as soon as I could. I’m not a tennis person, but I am an emotions person, and I cried and cried on the elliptical at the gym when I finished. It’s Jenkins Reid’s best, just beating the BookTok sensation The Seven Husbands of Eveyln Hugo , which, P.S., is also a great audio. Is it better to read or listen to Carrie Soto ? I’m not sure. But this is a damn good audiobook, with ersatz sports newscasts inserted throughout and a bravura performance by Stacy Gonzalez as Soto, and more importantly, her father Javier, who is the beating heart of the novel.

Read by: The author Length: 7 hours, 30 minutes Speed I listened: 1.9x

Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis made me more interested in the King, if only because the movie didn’t really reveal anything at all about him. This is a fascinating companion piece. It was first published in 1985, but Priscilla Presley only recently recorded an audiobook edition. There’s a ton of bananas behavior in here: Elvis courts Priscilla at 14 years old. Elvis asks Priscilla for a break in their relationship when she’s seven months pregnant. Elvis takes a lot — and I mean a lot — of pills. Kind of bizarrely, the Dallas actress also giggles regularly as she reads, e.g., when she recalls riding her motorcycle up until her eighth month of pregnancy or when she asks the maternity nurses to let her keep her fake eyelashes on during labor. I guess it’s refreshing that she has a sense of humor about this time in her life?

Read by: Isabella Star LaBlanc Length: 7 hours, 34 minutes Speed I listened: 1.9x

From my minimal experience with Graham Jones’s horror fiction, I know there’s going to be a moment — and most likely more than one moment — where the twists will get so over the top that I’m going to have absolutely no clue what in the hell is going on. With that in mind, this book, only available on audio, is a crazy hoot. I think it’s about a babysitter stuck with twins on Halloween Eve in a haunted house. There’s lots of talk of spider eggs, and that alone creeped me out and made me itch all over. Eek. However, I’d argue that the author would have been a better choice than the actress/“bagel enthusiast” who is the narrator here. Graham Jones reads his own acknowledgements with a sexy, throaty voice, including a thank you to “one of my uncles for haunting my grandmother’s house when I was 4 or 5.” He’s kind of magic.

Read by: Nancy Wu Length: 4 hours, 38 minutes Speed I listened: 2x

What a weird, funny comedy of manners. To avoid annoying tasks at her new job at a cardboard-tube-manufacturing company in Tokyo — see, you could always be working at a cardboard-tube-manufacturing company! — Ms. Shibata tells her colleagues that she’s pregnant. The lie starts to take on the patina of truth, and then, well, eventually it’s hard to know what’s fantasy and reality. Wu’s narration is brittle and straight, never quite tipping her hat to what’s really going on in Ms. Shibata’s mind. A quick, bizarre escape.

Read by: The author Length: 7 hours, 12 minutes Speed I listened: 2x

Here’s another August memoir with an off-putting title that once I started listening, I couldn’t stop. Zhu is a queer Chinese Australian writer who posts self-reflective, inspirational, and encouraging blocks of text on Instagram. Zhu’s book chronicles a particularly emotionally abusive relationship and the recovery thereafter. Things can get a bit offtrack when the book enters gender-politic territory, but anytime Zhu focuses on the personal aspects of their life, it’s gripping. The narration is especially charged. As a kind of reset between each chapter, Zhu takes several loud, deep breaths on the audio track. It’s such a simple gesture, but the effect is incredible.

Read by: Lesley Sharp Length: 10 hours, 7 minutes Speed I listened: 2x

There are so many female-driven thrillers out there that, like everyone else, sometimes I just need Reese Witherspoon to tell me which one to pick up. I couldn’t tell you how she chose this as her August Book Club pick, but it’s far niftier than its snooze of a title. It’s about a lawyer who witnesses her son commit a crime. Then, for some inexplicable reason, she starts time-traveling backwards so she can figure out why her son did what he did. I’m not sure what the takeaway is here — pay more attention to the secrets your family is hiding from you in order to save them from doing even more bad things? — but the audio is elevated by Lesley Sharp’s deliciously haughty take.

Read by: Jennifer Kim and Julian Cihi Length: 13 hours, 52 minutes Speed I listened: 1.7x–1.8x

I haven’t savored listening to a book in recent memory quite as much as I did this novel. It’s about two friends — Sadie Green and Sam Masur — who meet as kids in Los Angeles and then reconnect at MIT, where they begin developing experimental video games together. The lead characters (and let’s throw in the supporting ones too) are at times completely relatable, at times bittersweet, and almost always completely heartwarming. The book is mostly read by Kim except for a short fever dream by Cihi. Kim’s delivery might be monotone in places, but I found it steady, deliberate, and clear, so I didn’t have to miss a moment.

Read by: A full cast Length: 11 hours, 9 minutes Speed I listened: 1.85x

I couldn’t get through Montimore’s previous book, Oona Out of Order , but I figured I’d give her another chance because I’m a sucker for a novel about a magician. I’m glad I did. This one has a female magician as its center. Her name is Violet Volk. She disappeared ten years ago, leaving behind a sister, Sasha, who’s stopped looking for her even though the rest of the world is still obsessed with how and why Violet vanished. A lot of the story is told via a podcast about what happened to Violet, and, using a wide cast of actors, the audiobook version simulates that genre especially well. It elevates the experience far beyond the book’s less interesting kitchen-sink drama.

Read by: Julie Teal Length: 12 hours, 22 minutes Speed I listened: 1.9x

Vaughan wrote Anatomy of a Scandal , which became a big hit on Netflix this year with Sienna Miller. I didn’t read or watch it, but I might go back because I enjoyed this follow-up so much. Emma is a politician who has an affair with a journalist. Her daughter, Flora, does something stupid, and the journalist finds out and wants to write a story. Somehow the journalist ends up dead inside Emma’s home. The mechanics are all more twisty than shocking, but the books makes up for it with the brittle humor, the none-too-subtle feminist slant, and the quick jump from crime to courthouse. You could do a hell of a lot worse this summer.

Read by: The author Length: 8 hours, 12 minutes Speed I listened: 1.75x

Does there have to be a book about the making of 1988’s Bull Durham ? Probably not. Did I get a kick out of this trip down memory lane with the movie’s writer-director? I did. It’s rare you get a glimpse into the making of a Hollywood movie in minute detail, and this one’s pretty soup to nuts, down to Shelton hiring the on-set script supervisor. These kind of books always start and end with the idea that everyone in Hollywood is crazy, and it’s good to be reminded of that. To that end, here, Kevin Costner’s agents tried to prevent him from starring as Minor League Baseball star Crash Davis, which turned out to be one of his most iconic roles. Shelton has a knowing but aw-shucks vibe that makes great company even if his performance of dialogue scenes from the original script could use more oomph.

Read by: Jonathan Coleman Length: 19 hors, 41 minutes Speed I listened: 2x

A darker addition to July’s “Hollywood Is Crazy Files” is this gripping account of Harvey Weinstein’s rise to a nd fall from power . You’re probably familiar with many of the sordid details in this book, and at 20 hours, it isn’t short. Still, I couldn’t turn off this compendium of the disgraced movie producer’s unbelievable behavior, from his rampant spending on hotel rooms to his truly despicable treatment of so many women. Auletta’s reporting is mostly firsthand, and hearing it cumulatively is jaw-dropping. As the narrator, Coleman is deadpan and direct enough to sometimes make you forget you aren’t listening to an actual thriller. Also kudos to the drippingly ironic title.

Read by: Xe Sands Length: 10 hours, 2 minutes Speed I listened: 1.75x

This is a weird, scary book about Vera, who comes home to take care of Daphne, her horridly mean, dying mother. Making things slightly more complicated is the fact that Vera’s dad was a serial killer who buried the bodies in the house. With the exception of novels by Stephen King, I usually find this kind of tale ridiculous, but as the story jumps back and forth between Vera’s present and her past, it’s compulsively listenable. That’s thanks in part to Sands’s intense narration, whether she’s playing the inscrutable Vera or her wretched mother asking for yet another glass of lemonade.

➽ A rerelease of Peter S. Beagle’s The Last Unicorn , read by Orlagh Cassidy, which still has the inscrutably named Schmendrick the Magician but now also boasts a very funny new introduction by Patrick Ruthfuss .

➽ Sirens & Muses , by Antonia Angress, a totally satisfying comedy of manners about students sorting things out at art school read by Rebecca Lowman.

➽ Teleporting to the scary future of Blake Crouch’s Upgrade , read by Henry Levya. It might make you feel as if you’ve had an upgrade the faster you listen to it.

Read by: Julia Whelan Length: 8 hours, 56 minutes Speed I listened: 2x

I never imagined I’d recommend a book in which a duck decoy serves as a major plot point. (That said, I do know a thing or two about duck decoys .) Evvie Drake Starts Over , Linda Holmes’s first novel, is about a young widow in Maine who meets a baseball player with the “yips.” I’d start with that book before reading Flying Solo ; it’s more of a full meal. (Both are read warmly by Julia Whelan, a total pro.) Flying Solo is more of a light lunch, an adorable listen for when you’re cleaning the summer house. In this one, Laurie, a jilted bride, returns to Maine to sort her great-aunt Dot’s estate. Finding the wooden duck sets things in motion, leading to a duck-decoy scam and a duck-decoy romance, fulfilling all your duck-decoy desires.

Read by: Bernadette Dunne Length: 11 hours, 3 minutes Speed I listened: 2x

While life turns out okay for Holmes’s heroines, things aren’t quite as peachy for the protagonist in this thriller. She’s Casey Fletcher, a disgraced actress who hides out at her family’s lake house, spying on tech titan Tom Royce and his supermodel wife, Katherine. Casey has a drinking problem, of course, and there’s a sprinkle of Woman in the Window , a dash of Girl on the Train , and a little bit of What Lies Beneath . Regardless of the tropes, it’s all about Bernadette Dunne’s performance. She’s not how I would imagine Casey if I had read her on the page, but her eccentric voice is relatable and alarming at the same time, a compulsively listenable combination.

Read by: Antony Ferguson and Wesleigh Siobhan Length: 10 hours, 46 minutes Speed I listened: 2.1x

Every once in a while, I’ll pick up a romance and be shocked by the explicit sex. That’s what happened listening to this book about a Cardi B–like rapper named Danielle “Duchess” Nelson who has an affair with the gorgeous, tall Prince Jameson. The flap copy suggests the plot is inspired by Meghan “Duchess” Markle and Prince Harry. I suppose it’s not that much of a stretch. I hung out with Markle a bit when she was married to her first husband. We nicknamed her “So Delicious” because she endearingly knew all the lyrics of “ Fergalicious .” Like many books of this ilk, the narrators alternate reading chapters. Antony Ferguson’s are a bit flat. He voices Duchess as if she’s a southern Belle from Steel Magnolias . Wesleigh Siobhan, however, is delightful. But beware: Things begin amusingly enough, but very quickly Prince Jameson’s, well, little prince, starts stirring and/or throbbing on the regular.

Read by: The author Length: 8 hours, 9 minutes Speed I listened: 1.7x

There are some books that are perfect to consume as you amble around New York City. This is one of them, especially if you’ve (a) ever worked in media or (b) ever dated someone. Disclosure: Sloane Crosley is an old friend, but anyone will enjoy listening to her read her novel about Lola, a young arts-and-culture editor who mysteriously keeps running into her ex-boyfriends. Sometimes I bumped on the names of the characters, which felt right out of Search Party . Besides Lola, there’s Vadis, Boots, Chantal, Amos, Kit, Jeannine, Eliza, Howard, Brody, Cooper, Oscar, Willis, Clive, Errol, Georgette, Adella, Jin, and a cat named Rocket.

Read by: Yes, James Patterson Length: 7 hours, 5 minutes Speed I listened: 2.2x

In real life, the blockbuster novelist James Patterson does not look like the picture on the cover of this memoir. (In real life, he’s also gotten into some hot water lately.) But I guess selling trillions of books makes you look like Kevin Costner. I expected Patterson to have a booming movie-trailer voice, but instead it’s just regular and squawky. The early chapters in this collection of quick bites can be annoying. The way he describes working at a mental institution — both James Taylor and Susanna Kaysen ( Girl Interrupted ) were patients — can feel flip. But before I knew it, Patterson was ingratiating himself in my life. He hooked me when he called Jeffrey Epstein a “piece of human garbage.” (Patterson co-authored a 2016 book about his Palm Beach “neighbor” Epstein, which became a Netflix documentary.) He also dreams about getting nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize only to arrive in Stockholm and discover it is a great big joke. He wishes that Hollywood would make a decent movie or TV show out of one of his properties. And while he knows it’s great that he’s the best-selling writer in the world, a lifetime of reading great literature suggests it’s also “sad” that that’s the case. A specific quibble: I wish Patterson’s reading recommendations throughout were as diverse as the many series on his bibliography.

Read by: Rosie Perez Length: 10 hours, 43 minutes Speed I listened: 1.85

Ronnie Spector, the lead singer of the Ronettes and ex-wife of notorious music producer Phil Spector, had recently finished revising her 1990 memoir when she died in January . So actress Rosie Perez stepped in to read the audiobook, and, go figure: She’s a total dream. It helps that there are amazing details in this book, from the first time Ronnie saw a dead body to her tendency, in her later years with Phil, to get drunk, alone, on sweet Manischewitz wine . But Perez’s emotion toward Ronnie feels so genuine, whether when she breaks out giggling at a particularly amusing moment in Ronnie’s life or starts sniffling during a more tragic turn. If nothing else, it’s worth it to hear Perez pronounce that “Phil Spectah” happened to have “had a great tush.”

Read by : The author Length: 10 hours, 50 minutes Speed I listened: 1.9x

Did Kenny Loggins release this book to coincide with Top Gun: Maverick , or did Top Gun: Maverick come out to capitalize on the success of Kenny Loggins’s memoir? It’s a head-scratcher. Loggins famously recorded “ Danger Zone ,” from the first Top Gun film. In this book, he says he channeled Tina Turner when he sang it, which is just one of the fascinating facts I learned here, knowing next to nothing about the singer-songwriter prior to listening. He wrote “ House at Pooh Corner ” when he was 17, perhaps foreshadowing his marriage to his colonic hygienist in 1992. They were going to have a naked wedding, but it ended up being too cold outside. Loggins has an affable, chatty demeanor that provides a nice complement to Perez as Ronnie Spector. Definitely stay for his great story about becoming pals with John Travolta and shortly thereafter ending their friendship.

Read by : Joniece Abbott-Pratt Length: 10 hours, 48 minutes Speed I listened: 1.75x

I got through about two hours of this audiobook and decided that it could wait. Being the latest Oprah’s Book Club selection , I knew it’d certainly get enough attention whether I included it or not. But something pulled me back to Nightcrawling , and at that point, frankly, I couldn’t turn it off. It was suddenly riveting, heartbreaking, and wise beyond its years. (Leila Mottley started writing the book at 16 and finished it at 20.) Joniece Abbott-Pratt’s performance as Kiara, a teenager just trying to survive in East Oakland who turns to selling her body on the streets, is spellbinding. Sometimes books don’t always hit you at the right moment, but this is one of those that stays with you for a long time.

Read by: The author Length: 10 hours, 55 minutes Speed I listened: 1.9x

This is a crazy honest book. Since it was published in 2013, I’ve read Song of Spider-Man twice. Now it’s being released for the first time on audio. Berger gives his raw, personal account of his time writing the script with Julie Taymor of the epically troubled musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark . The play, which closed in January 2014, may be Broadway ancient history, but this memoir still cuts to the bone, partly because Berger is so candid about the artistic process behind the runaway-train production. There’s so much insecurity, so much backstabbing, so much back-channeling, I’m almost surprised that Hulu hasn’t adapted it into a docudrama.

Read by: The author Length: 7 hours, 30 minutes Speed I listened : 1.3x

I crow a lot about David Sedaris audiobooks, but that’s because the category was pretty much built for him. These essays, some performed in front of an audience, made me laugh — and laugh loudly while waiting for the Q train on 57th Street. People stared. In this collection, Sedaris talks a bit more circumspectly about his father, who died in 2021, than he has in the past, and his observations about his marriage with Hugh are funnier than ever. Sedaris spent a lot of time on the Upper East Side during the pandemic. He bought one apartment, he writes, and then another one upstairs to have some alone time. (His sister Amy did the same thing downtown, but so she could get a break from her pet rabbit.) Now that I know he might be in the neighborhood, I’m keeping an eye out for him with the hope that one day we can go shopping together at Comme des Garçons.

Read by : Caroline Hewitt and Robert Petkoff Length: 11 hours, 31 minutes Speed I listened: 1.9x

Years ago, when I plowed through Jennifer Weiner’s oeuvre on audio, that led to me to start on the Emily Giffin catalogue. They both write what might be considered elevated women’s fiction. This month, I decided to skip Weiner’s latest, The Summer Place (even if it is read by Sutton Foster ) and go for Giffin’s instead. Meant to Be is a loose retelling of a relationship like JFK Jr.’s and Carolyn Bessette. Joe Kingsley III, a political scion and lawyer, meets Cate Cooper, a fledgling supermodel, on the beach in Southampton. Are they meant for each other? Check out the title and give it a guess. Hewitt and Petkoff narrate alternating chapters more than pleasantly. They make the book go down like a pitcher of frosé. I especially enjoyed Hewitt’s frosty take on Cate’s South African fashion-model roommate.

Read by: The author Length: 6 hours, 48 minutes Speed I listened: 2x

COVID-19 has reaped a truly unbelievable onslaught of celebrity memoirs, and I low-key don’t hate it. In this book of essays, Driver admits her manager asked what she wanted to do to make some money during the Hollywood shutdown. She chose to write a memoir. On audio, she’s very likable company, especially when she talks about the tumult of dating Matt Damon (whom she met on Good Will Hunting ) and exquisitely pronounces phrases in a variety of foreign tongues. Driver makes you believe she actually knows what the word “Proustian” means. Stay for the end when the author Emma Forrest — you should read or listen to Your Voice in My Head — interviews Driver. It’s a surprisingly perceptive conversation that includes one of my favorite topics: mistrusting celebrities who don’t read books.

Read by: The author Length: 8 hours, 10 minutes Speed I listened: 1.8x

Liu may now be recognized worldwide as Marvel’s Shang - Chi, but he’s also an unlikely star who worked as an accountant until he decided he needed to pursue acting. He started with being an extra on Pacific Rim and actually enjoyed it. That led to more jobs as extras, some pop-up flash mobs, and, eventually, the Canadian sitcom Kim’s Convenience. Liu is surprisingly tough on his Chinese immigrant parents who gave him a hard time about some of his choices, though he also, quite touchingly, interviewed them extensively for this memoir. Like the MCU hero he plays onscreen, Liu is totally endearing, whether he’s recalling the high-school boy band he started or how much he loves boba tea. And he really loves boba tea.

I get that the title of this memoir is a reference to Dirty Dancing . Baby, a.k.a. Jennifer Grey, won’t be put in the corner ever again, but I especially responded to a moment where Grey uses the term “legend lasagna.” She’s describing the cast of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Cotton Club , which is filled with just “layer upon layer of geniuses.” Why didn’t Grey take a big swing and call this book Legend Lasagna ? That’s just a marvelous expression that transcends pasta and celebrity. I was never a huge fan of Dirty Dancing or the Catskills, but there’s something dazzling about Grey’s candor, not to mention her congenial narration. We get great digressions about Matthew Broderick, Johnny Depp, and a terrible appearance on Johnny Carson . Things only get sappy in the end, once she wins Dancing With the Stars . And, yes, I know no publisher would approve Legend Lasagna by Jennifer Grey, though maybe if this one does well, she’ll write a cookbook.

Read by : The author Length: 7 hours, 2 minutes Speed I listened: 2.1x

Gilbert was the lead child star of Little House on the Prairie and also appeared, more recently, as an adult star of a Little House on the Prairie musical . In one of those life-imitating-art switcheroos, Gilbert and her husband, the actor and director Timothy Busfield , bought a house in the Catskills for slightly less than $90,000, or basically “beer money for George Clooney.” They spent the pandemic there simplifying their life. I found it all very grounding, but maybe because I listened as I watched coverage of the Met Ball. Though Gilbert relies on way too many puns about raising chickens, I want to throw my support around anyone who has a chapter in her book called “Meshuggah from Michigan” and willingly describes stuffing-flavored potato chips she found at Trader Joe’s as “life-changing.” They don’t serve stuffing-flavored potato chips at the Met Ball, do they?

Read by: The author Length: 9 hours, 43 minutes Speed I listened: 2.5x

Of all the celebrity memoirs I listened to this month, this one’s the toughest and most intense. Miss Memory Lane by Colton Haynes is a close second and somehow even more unsettling. That’s a feat for Haynes because Blair, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, categorically goes there on some tough issues: her strained relationship with her mother; her even more complicated relationship with her basically estranged father; at least one sexual assault; her troubles with alcohol since childhood; and how her son, Arthur, was, like her, a “mean baby.” There are moments of inspiration and hope, but Blair seems to audibly break down at least once per chapter. I’ve listened to a lot of celebrity memoirs, and I can’t remember a narrator crying so much. But that’s what makes it real. Make sure you stick around for the acknowledgments. Blair’s thank-yous to a lengthy list of celebrity friends is a real trip.

Read by: The authors Length: 8 hours, 26 minutes Speed I listened: 2.2x

I liked the U.S. version of The Office — I really did. Do I like it enough to listen to Office Ladies , a podcast on which co-stars Fischer and Kinsey talk through old episodes of The Office ? No. In fact, I didn’t even know said podcast existed. Am I going to start listening to it now? Nope. But it’s a delight to spend a few hours with these actors as they discuss their early careers and the ups and downs of their friendship. Their banter is occasionally interrupted by, say, Ed Helms playing the banjo or Creed Bratton singing a bizarre theme song. There’s a service element, too. Fischer and Kinsey give impeccable advice on attending awards shows and red-carpet events: Always eat before you go. Go to the bathroom with a buddy. And, when trying to meet people like Meryl Streep, use “the lap-around-the-room laughing approach.”

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30 Best Audiobooks of All Time

Listen to new picks for 2022, non-fiction best-sellers and much more.

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The next time you find yourself in need of a creative way to pass the time, break out one of these best audiobooks of all time . (Don't forget to sign up for the Audible free trial using your Amazon account before you go, to make working your way through that TBR pile even more affordable). Some of our favorites are recorded with big-name casts full of voices you may recognize, others are just the author or a voice actor sharing the work; some are brand-new, others are classic literary texts reinvigorated through your headphones. The one thing they have in common is that all of them are positively captivating. Work your way through these, then hit up the Good Housekeeping Book Club for even more feel-good favorites.

'Sherlock Holmes' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Actor Stephen Fry is an audiobook legend. In addition to voicing the hysterical Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy , he also did his own take on the Harry Potter franchise. This time, he takes on another titan of British literature: Sherlock Holmes. He reads all four novels and five collections of short stories featuring the world's greatest detective in a classic series mystery buffs will love.

'Lafayette in the Somewhat United States' by Sarah Vowell

This humorous biography of Revolutionary War hero Marquis de Lafayette is narrated by an all-star, A-team lineup of comedians, including Patton Oswalt, Fred Armisen, John Hodgman and Nick Offerman. It's still on Amazon's bestseller list for audiobooks , even though it came out in 2015. Even if you aren't a history person, this one is worth your time.

'Stone Mattress' by Margaret Atwood

Fans of The Handmaid's Tale will want to try Stone Mattress, a series of short stories by legend Margaret Atwood. Because each story has its own narrator, readers range from Catastrophe 's Rob Delaney to The Young and the Restless star Lorna Raver. Atwood herself narrates the last one, to top it all off.

Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators' by Ronan Farrow

Ronan Farrow won a Pulitzer Prize for breaking the Harvey Weinstein scandal for The New Yorker but the road to publication was a long and rocky one. News and history buffs will love this behind-the-scenes story about how he got his work out into the world — along with the scare tactics, from surveillance to intimidation, employed to try and stop him.

The 'Harry Potter' Series by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter needs no introduction, but the audiobook can be a great way to start kids off on the series. British actor Jim Dale's whimsical take on each of the characters' voices gives the story a renewed sense of wonder, so you'll fall even more in love with all of your favorite Hogwarts inhabitants.

RELATED: 30 Magical Harry Potter Gift Ideas for Your Favorite Potterhead

'One by One' by Ruth Ware

Does getting snowed in at a remote ski resort with your coworkers sound like your worst nightmare? Oh don't worry, it could get so much worse. And it does, in this gripping suspense by mistress of horror Ruth Ware. You'll want to hold your breath all the way to the shocking end.

Talking to Strangers' by Malcolm Gladwell

This immersive version of Gladwell's book explores the ways our approach to strangers can invite conflict. It features the voices of the criminologists, scientists and military psychologists Gladwell interviewed for the book, as well as reenactments of court transcripts and even audio from the arrest of Sandra Bland.

'Me Talk Pretty One Day' by David Sedaris

True confession time: I once laughed so hard while listening to David Sedaris that I nearly fell off a treadmill. So maybe sit down before you turn on this audiobook that features Sedaris moving to France and butchering the language, among other too-funny tales.

'A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire' by George R.R. Martin

Lots of audiobooks have won awards, but this one has also broken records: It won a spot in the Guinness World Records for the " most character voices in an audiobook ." If you're counting, that's 224 characters to be e xact. According to the record, Roy Doltrice gives each of them a "distinct and distinguishable" voice, a real feat for any actor.

'The Dutch House: A Novel' by Ann Patchett

If there's a better voice for this expansive Patchett novel than Tom Hanks, we've never heard it. This moving story explores the bonds between siblings, the meaning of home and how much our past influences who we become.

'Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe' by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Two loner teens Aristotle and Dante couldn't be more different, and that's part of what brings them together. The unlikely match form a deep and lasting friendship in this coming-of-age novel your tweens will adore. Hamilton creator and Mary Poppins Returns star Lin-Manuel Miranda narrates this one, so you know the voice work is stellar.

RELATED: 40 Fantastic LGBTQ+ Books to Read for Pride Month (and Beyond)

'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee

Actress Sissy Spacek narrates this classic novel with an unfussy and confident style that lets Harper Lee's story shine through. She doesn't need to rely on a bunch of gimmick voices and accents when the source material gives her so much fantastic material to work with.

'Lock In' by John Scalzi

In this sci-fi thriller, FBI detective Chris Shane's consciousness jumps between machines. And because Shane is therefore genderless, readers can fill in that information for themselves. You can listen to the book narrated by Amber Benson, or the version read by Wil Wheaton , depending on your preferred experience.

'The Glass Hotel' by Emily St. John Mandel

What does the collapse of a massive Ponzi scheme have to do with a woman mysteriously disappearing from a ship between ports of call? You'll just have to tune into this masterful audiobook from the author of Station Eleven and Sea of Tranquility.

RELATED: The 20 Best and Most-Anticipated Books of 2022

'Becoming' by Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama narrates her memoir herself, giving it an extra-personal feel. Listen to her tell her own story of her journey from the South Side of Chicago to the White House in this inspirational story about a woman coming into her own.

RELATED: Michelle Obama on Facing Criticism, Life After the White House and Advice for Meghan Markle

'Sabrina & Corina' by Kali Fajardo-Anstine

This stunning collection about Indigenous Latina women living in the Northwest will break your heart open, and the sensitivity and range of the cast that reads them is astounding. Short stories make great audiobooks for dipping into one at a time, so turn to this one if you don't have long stretches to fill.

RELATED: 22 Best Books by Latinx Authors to Read Beyond Hispanic Heritage Month

'The Vanishing Half' by Brit Bennett

Twin sisters raised in a small, Southern Black community run away at 16 and end up taking very different paths. One returns with her daughter years later, the other goes on to live as a white woman, with a husband who knows nothing about her background. It's a story about family and identity that addresses the subject of race in a fresh way that will stick with you.

RELATED: 25 Books By Black Authors to Add to Your Reading List

'At Home: A Short History of Private Life' by Bill Bryson

With so many of us spending more time at home these days, you may have found yourself thinking more about your own house and how it came to be the way that it is. This comforting book delves into the history behind our habitat and habits that may make you look at your own surroundings in a new way.

'The Graveyard Book' by Neil Gaiman

This spooky tale follows the story of Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod. He's being raised by ghosts and ghouls in a graveyard in this story that will send chills crawling up your spine. A whole band of actors, including Fleabag 's Andrew Scott and Gladiator 's Derek Jacobi, bring the story to life in a wonderfully robust way.

'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott Fitzgerald

If you haven't read this classic since high school, let Jake Gyllenhaal's narration help you fall back in love with it. The jazz age never sounded so good. And if your kids have to read it for school, listening will give them a different perspective than the page and maybe get them to finish their reading assignment with less nagging.

@media(max-width: 64rem){.css-o9j0dn:before{margin-bottom:0.5rem;margin-right:0.625rem;color:#ffffff;width:1.25rem;bottom:-0.2rem;height:1.25rem;content:'_';display:inline-block;position:relative;line-height:1;background-repeat:no-repeat;}.loaded .css-o9j0dn:before{background-image:url(/_assets/design-tokens/goodhousekeeping/static/images/Clover.5c7a1a0.svg);}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.loaded .css-o9j0dn:before{background-image:url(/_assets/design-tokens/goodhousekeeping/static/images/Clover.5c7a1a0.svg);}} All the Best Books to Read Next

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Reader's Digest

34 Best Audiobooks in Every Category to Listen To

Posted: July 28, 2023 | Last updated: February 9, 2024

Best audiobooks of all time

Whether reading is your new favorite pastime or you've always loved books, you're in luck. Because when you read every day , chances are you're doing more than just enjoying a good story: Reading is a workout for your brain that could lead to an improved IQ and vocabulary, as well as reduce your risk of dementia. But what if you don't have the time to pick up an actual book? Choosing the best audiobooks is a great hands-free alternative you can enjoy just about anywhere.

Start your search for the best audiobooks by signing up for Audible's free trial via your Amazon account. In addition to the best Audible books, there are plenty of other ways to listen to free audiobooks (legally) if you don't want to commit to a subscription service. Regardless of your interests, schedule, or budget, there's something for you, be it classic books, gripping nonfiction books, book series, or even some of the best books of all time.

If you want to make listening to storytelling a family affair, you can also find the best family audiobooks and a ton of free audiobooks for kids .

Join the free Reader’s Digest Book Club for great reads, monthly discussions, author Q&As and a community of book lovers.

How we chose the best audiobooks

The audiobooks in our curated collection come from a variety of best-of lists, critically acclaimed titles, and award winners, mixed with some of our personal favorites. These selections include brilliant debuts from new authors, anticipated novels from your favorite writers, highly rated books, nonfiction written by experts in their fields, and a few tried-and-true classics. Our picks also reflect not just the book's merit, but also the quality of the audio narration—you'll recognize some celebrity voices here! Keep reading to find the best audiobooks in every category to start listening to today.

Looking for your next great book? Read four of today’s bestselling novels in the time it takes to read one with  Reader’s Digest Select Editions . And be sure to follow the Select Editions page on Facebook !

Best fiction audiobook

Cloud cuckoo land by anthony doerr.

In Pulitzer Prize winner Anthony Doerr's newest novel, five characters all have one thing in common, in spite of spanning almost 600 years: their love for a long-lost and, at times, nonsensical story written by the ancient Greek author Antonius Diogenes. For them, this story has a massive impact and is alternately entertaining, consoling, motivating, even life-saving. One of the best fiction books of the year, Cloud Cuckoo Land immediately won over critics and readers alike. It was on the New York Times best-seller list for 11 weeks and earned a spot in AudioFile Magazine 's Best Audiobooks of 2021. It has also been named a New York Times Notable Book, a Barack Obama Favorite, a National Book Award Finalist, and more.

Best nonfiction audiobook

Fuzz: when nature breaks the law by mary roach.

Can nature break the law? Popular science writer Mary Roach delves into the science behind human-animal conflict to answer just that in Fuzz . She tagged along with animal-attack forensics investigators, human-elephant conflict specialists, bear managers, and "danger tree" faller blasters in attempts to uncover the best ways to solve or prevent conflicts between humans and wildlife. While talking about getting mugged by monkeys and taste-testing rat bait, she mixes plenty of her trademark humor with a wealth of scientific facts in her own narration, making it one of the funniest books to listen to as well.

Best thriller audiobook

Win by harlan coben.

Fans of the Myron Bolitar series who already love the morally gray sidekick Windsor Horne Lockwood III are ecstatic that master of thriller books Harlan Coben has finally given Win his own set of spin-off novels. In this series starter, Win's suitcase and a long-lost stolen painting belonging to his family are discovered in the penthouse apartment of a murder victim. Win has no idea how they ended up there, but his personal connection to the case leads him to take up his own investigation using his own fortune and unique ideas of justice. The audiobook is read by actor and frequent Coben narrator Steven Weber.

Best fantasy audiobook

A court of thorns and roses by sarah j. maas.

Whether you're lover of fantasy books or have never before mingled with any high fae, A Court of Thorns and Roses is a must-read. In this novel, loosely based on Beauty and the Beast , readers will meet Feyre, a 19-year-old huntress whose skills are the only things keeping her family alive. But trouble comes to her cabin after she kills a wolf during one of her hunts—which wasn't a wolf at all, but rather a shape-shifting faerie whose high lord comes and steals her away as retribution. She finds herself captive at the cursed Spring Court, ruled by the immortal and beautiful Tamlin. As Feyre adapts to his world, her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion, and she'll do anything she can to break the curse—or risk losing him forever.

Best sci-fi audiobook

Neverwhere by neil gaiman.

This 1996 book, the debut novel of now-science-fiction-superstar Neil Gaiman, is one of NPR's Top 100 fantasy and science-fiction books of all time. When a young man stops to help a girl on the streets of London, he inadvertently becomes invisible, losing his life as he knows it while getting pulled into the alternate, magical world of the London Below. This supernatural British tale is sure to captivate you while its read out loud by the author himself.

Best romance audiobook

Outlander by diana gabaldon.

They say that the books are always better, but if you're already a fan of the Starz series, listening to the original audiobook will make you realize that the show is done pretty darn well. Of course, it's nearly impossible to pack everything into a series of hour-long television episodes, so true Outlander fans will love having the gaps filled in and relationships further explored (not to mention even more steamy scenes involving Claire and her smoldering Scot, Jamie Fraser) by the unabridged romance novels in this series.

Best biography audiobook

Robin by dave itzkoff.

When Robin Williams died in 2014, many of us felt like we lost a member of our own family. Author Dave Itzkoff combed through more than 100 original interviews with Williams's family, friends, and colleagues, and relied on extensive archival research to write this comprehensive biography that delves into the life of the beloved comedian. Covering everything from Williams's unparalleled talent to his struggles with addiction and depression, Robin paints a stunning portrait of the legend that is Robin Williams.

Best autobiography audiobook

In order to live by yeonmi park.

Brainwashing. Starvation. Human trafficking. Rats feasting on the bodies that line the streets. To say that life in North Korea is grim is an understatement. In one of the most gripping autobiographies you'll ever read, Yeonmi Park details her life in North Korea and the harrowing details of fleeing with her mother at just 13 years old. In Order to Live candidly recounts what it was like to be sold by human traffickers, to make a second escape through a brutal desert, and to know that death is the best option should she be caught. This incredible story of one girl's bravery, resilience, and desire for a better life will leave you reeling.

Best memoir audiobook

Educated by tara westover.

Tara Westover's memoir was named one of the best of 2018 by the Washington Post , the New York Public Library, TIME magazine, and countless others. If you haven't read Educated yet, now is a great time to listen to actress Julia Whelan recount one of the most moving memoirs of overcoming some of life's biggest obstacles, all in the name of getting an education.

Best true crime audiobook

Finding tamika by erika alexander, kevin hart, charlamagne tha god, ben arnon, rebkah howard, david person, and james t. green.

In 2004, 25-year-old Tamika Huston disappeared. Her case, like so many others involving people of color, received little to no media attention. Actress and narrator Erika Alexander teamed up with Kevin Hart, Charlamagne Tha God, and a team of other talented people to produce this true crime Audible original in hopes of changing a system in which missing Black girls have been largely ignored. In this powerful and important audiobook, readers will hear chilling details about Huston's case along with eerie, beyond-the-grave commentary from Tamika herself. This is one of the best true crime books that's only in audiobook form.

Best horror audiobook

Imaginary friend by stephen chbosky.

A screenwriter and director in addition to author, Chbosky is best known for his beloved novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower . In 2019, 20 years after that book's release and infinite success, Chbosky penned one of the creepiest horror books in recent memory, about a seven-year-old boy who is sent on a terrifying mission by a "nice man" only he can hear. His encounters with the hissing lady, fanged deer, and an entire town gone mad make Imaginary Friend a book you definitely won't want to listen to when the lights go out.

Best classic audiobook

Atlas shrugged by ayn rand.

If you've never read the classic dystopian novel Atlas Shrugged by controversial author Ayn Rand, now's the time. See (or, rather, hear) what happens when one man sets out to show what would happen to the world if all the heroes of innovation and industry went on strike. This book will challenge everything you think you know about economics, government, and morality, and ultimately leave you questioning your own world views. It's also one of the most notable books written by a female author .

Best coming-of-age audiobook

The goldfinch by donna tartt.

This coming-of-age novel won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2014—and if you haven't had time to read it, try listening to it, because it's also one of the best audiobooks in literary fiction. A haunting story that begins with a bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and a boy who survives along with the title painting, the acclaimed audiobook lets you take Donna Tartt's crystalline prose and intricate storytelling on the go. Winner of Audie Awards for Solo Narration-Male and Literary Fiction, The Goldfinch is narrated by actor David Pittu.

Best beach read audiobook

Golden girl by elin hilderbrand.

Is summer even summer without an Elin Hilderbrand book? In her novel Golden Girl , Nantucket author Vivian Howe is killed in a hit-and-run accident while out jogging. In the afterlife, Vivi is assigned to another woman, Martha, who allows her to watch over her loved ones for one last summer. She is also given three "nudges," which she can use to help guide her three children as they begin to navigate life without her. But it's hard for Vivi to find peace as she learns about the struggles her children have kept hidden from her and worries about one of her own hidden truths coming to light.

Best audiobook for women

The light of days by judy batalion.

Looking for stories about some of the bravest women to have ever lived? Look no further than this powerful and enlightening tale of the Jewish women who became resistance fighters during World War II. Their stories haven't been told often, but thanks to The Light of Days , which was written by the granddaughter of Polish Holocaust survivors and has already been optioned by Steven Spielberg for a major motion picture, their bravery will live on.

Best feminist audiobook

How to be a woman by caitlin moran.

Need some humorous empowerment during this weird time? Journalist, author, and narrator Caitlin Moran provides that in spades with one of the funniest feminist books in recent memory. How to Be a Woman is an exploration of how far women have come, how much further there is to go, and the seemingly endless "rules" for being a woman—and how to break them.

Best audiobook about racism

The hate u give by angie thomas.

Angie Thomas's important debut novel, The Hate U Give , tackles racism, injustice, and activism and is now being taught in schools across the country. Starr Carter is a 16-year-old Black student from a poor neighborhood who attends a predominantly white prep school. Though she normally feels out of place in her neighborhood, Starr attends a party where she runs into her childhood best friend, Khalil Harris. The party is cut short when gunshots are fired during a gang fight, and Khalil offers to drive Starr home. On the drive home, Khalil is pulled over and searched by a white police officer. When Khalil opens the door to check on Starr, the officer opens fire. Khalil's death becomes a national headline, as protesters take to the streets to demand justice while others are determined to paint Khalil as a trouble-making thug.

Best audiobook by a Black author

Becoming by michelle obama.

The former First Lady sold out stadiums for her book tour when she rolled out this memoir at the end of 2018. If by chance you haven't read (or listened to) it yet, now should be the time, as it's one of the best books by Black authors . Michelle Obama narrates her own story, from growing up in Chicago to her time at Harvard Law School to her eight years as First Lady. Not to mention, it's one of the best audiobooks you could listen to: Becoming won the 2020 Grammy for Best Spoken World Album. Is there anything she can't do?!

Best LGBTQ+ audiobook

A carnival of snackery by david sedaris.

Let's get snarled in every kind of traffic delay while we listen to these seriously funny diary entries written and read by the deliciously subversive David Sedaris , author of some of the best LGBTQ+ books . He shares his commentary on everything from people-watching to politics, with a generous helping of dirty and dirtier jokes. Funny woman Tracy Ullman joins Sedaris in narrating this intriguing and often hilarious collection of anecdotes and observations.

Best historical fiction audiobook

The four winds by kristin hannah.

Author Kristin Hannah has written some of the best historical fiction books of all time, and now she has one of the best audiobooks as well. Her latest novel, The Four Winds , takes you back to the Great Depression of the 1930s, in which Elsa Martinelli discovers the real meaning of love, family, and survival. There's a reason this novel, which was released in February 2021, has been named a number one best seller by the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and the New York Times .

Best mystery audiobook

The shadow of the wind by carlos ruiz zafon.

If you love mystery books , listen to this gripping historical entry set in 1945 Barcelona. When Daniel is 11 years old, his father, an antiquarian book dealer, initiates him into the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a secret library guarded by the city's guild of rare-book dealers as a place for books forgotten by the world. Daniel falls in love with a book titled The Shadow of the Wind by an author named Julian Carax. When Daniel sets out to read other works by the long-dead Carax, he discovers that someone has been destroying them. But who? And why? This beautifully written story is filled with mystery, love, and a reminder of how powerful books can truly be.

Best audiobook by a Latinx author

Afterlife by julia alvarez.

It's been almost 15 years since readers have been treated to a new novel for adults by Julia Alvarez, who's written some of the most significant books by Latinx authors , but it was worth the wait. In Afterlife , Antonia Vega's life is completely turned upside down when, after she retires from her job as an English professor, her husband dies, her sister disappears, and an undocumented, pregnant teen shows up at her doorstep. For once, Antonia is unable to find solace in the literature she loves. Rather than fall apart, she is determined to keep her husband's memory alive while navigating her relationship with her sisters and just trying to figure out what, exactly, we owe one another.

Best dystopian audiobook

The every by dave eggers.

What would happen if the world's largest and most influential Internet company merged with the world's most dominant e-commerce site? Would it bring a sense of order to our chaotic world, or would it mean the final days of free will? Either way, life as we know it would be over. Welcome to The Every . Tucked away on its own island, this massive company is rife with surveillance, outlandish outfits, and the overall devolution of our species. Delaney Wells is determined to take it down from the inside with the help of her friend, Wes Makazian. Audie Award winner Dion Graham narrates this dystopian novel, which raises questions about memory, history, privacy, democracy, and the limits of human knowledge. It could end up being one of the books that predicted the future .

Best banned audiobook

Brave new world by aldous huxley.

Sex, drugs, and a predetermined caste system rule in this disturbing yet relevant novel written in 1932. It's set in the year 2450, when humans are grown in bottles and then conditioned to belong to one of the World State's five castes. Mass media suppresses the possibility of any original thought. Art and religion no longer exist, and consumerism is king. If that sends chills up your spine, you're not alone. Not only is Brave New World one of the most famously banned books , but it's also one of the best science-fiction novels ever written, read here by acclaimed British actor Michael York.

Best children's audiobook

Harry potter and the sorcerer's stone by j.k. rowling.

No list of book recommendations would be complete without Harry Potter , one of the best children's books ever written. Kids and adults of all ages will relish the magical world of the title character, an orphaned wizard who lives in a cupboard under the stairs in his cruel (non-magic) aunt and uncle's house. That is, until mysterious letters begin to arrive from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In this timeless classic, Harry embarks on a fantastical adventure in which he learns the truth about his identity, what it means to belong, and the meaning of friendship. It's also one of the best audiobooks ever, read by Grammy and Audie Award winner Jim Dale.

Best young adult audiobook

The golden compass: his dark materials by philip pullman.

If you picked up these considerably sized fantasy young adult novels — The Golden Compass and its two sequels—in high school, maybe it's time to do so again, or listen with your own teens. The author is the narrator, with every character played by a different actor, making the audiobook "like watching a movie in your head," says one user. And that's saying something, considering the books were also turned into an HBO series with James McAvoy and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Best audiobook by a blogger

Broken (in the best possible way) by jenny lawson.

In Broken (in the Best Possible Way) , Jenny Lawson, aka The Blogess, narrates her experiences living with mental illness, and she does it in the most candid, humorous, and relatable way possible. Laugh out loud as Lawson shares ideas she'd like to pitch to Shark Tank , argues why she is more full-grown mammal than actual adult, and lets you know that it's totally okay to eat floor onion rings because, at the end of the day, being who you are, quirks and all, is the best way to be.

Best nonfiction audiobook for kids

As you wish: inconceivable tales from the making of the princess bride by cary elwes.

Although it's not specifically written for kids, fans of all ages will enjoy this behind-the-scenes look at one of the most beloved funny family movies —and what better way to get youngsters interested in nonfiction? Westley himself, Cary Elwes, narrates As You Wish (which he also wrote) chronicling the making of the classic. He also snagged interviews with castmates including Billy Crystal, Robin Wright, Wallace Shawn, and Carol Kane, plus director Rob Reiner. Perfect for listening to during a family road trip!

Best historical true crime audiobook

The trial of lizzie borden by cara robertson.

If you think you know anything about Lizzie Borden , who went on trial for two grisly axe murders in 1892, think again. Author Cara Robertson dives into more than 20 years of research and newly unearthed evidence into the crime that enthralled the world. This story, hailed by Publisher's Weekly 's starred review as a "definitive account to date of one of America's most notorious and enduring murder mysteries," allows the listener to act as judge to the infamous Lizzie Borden.

Best self-help audiobook

Redefining anxiety: what it is, what it's not, and how to get your life back by dr. john delony.

Scratch everything you thought you knew about how to deal with anxiety : This is one of the best self-help books to inspire and motivate you. Millions of people suffer from anxiety, and if you're one of them, author and narrator Dr. John Delony does a great job letting you know that you're not broken. In Redefining Anxiety , he breaks down our culture's myths about anxiety, practical steps you can take to reclaim your life and calm what he refers to as your body's alarm system, and long-term strategies for moving forward.

Best business audiobook

The infinite game by simon sinek.

Want to make sure your business is in it for the long haul? Simon Sinek's The Infinite Game explains, in detail, the strategies that work to keep companies going strong for generations. A must-read for every business owner, executive, and leader.

Best finance audiobook

The total money makeover by dave ramsey.

Ready to stop living paycheck to paycheck? Finance guru Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover offers simple yet effective strategies, also known as the baby steps, that will allow you to take control of your finances and ultimately achieve financial freedom. Could it be one of the books that make you rich ? Maybe!

Best audiobook about grief

Finding meaning: the sixth stage of grief by david kessler.

You may already be familiar with the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, acceptance, and depression. But did you know there's a sixth stage? Grief expert David Kessler narrates Finding Meaning , which was inspired by the sudden death of his own son. He acknowledges that grief will never go away completely, but we can lessen the pain when we find meaning in our loss. Since no two losses are the same, this book is filled with a variety of stories, insights, and emotions that will help validate your own feelings and help you on your healing journey.

Best supernatural audiobook

Lincoln in the bardo by george saunders.

Lincoln in the Bardo is the first novel by acclaimed short story writer George Saunders. He narrates the audiobook with the help of 166 others, including big names such as Susan Sarandon, Julianne Moore, Ben Stiller, and Don Cheadle, in this 2018 winner of the Audie Award for Audiobook of the Year. It's a groundbreaking work of historical fiction that explores a lesser-studied period of Honest Abe's life during the first year of the Civil War, when Lincoln was also dealing with a far more personal tragedy: the death of his 11-year-old son, Willie. This experimental novel, which won the 2017 Man Booker Prize, takes place over the course of one evening in a space between life and death called the bardo, where ghosts contemplate their existence.

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Australia Letter

Australia’s ‘national crisis’ of domestic abuse.

The government has committed hundreds of millions of dollars for people fleeing domestic violence, but among those who work with victims and survivors, optimism is hard to find.

By Julia Bergin

The Australia Letter is a weekly newsletter from our Australia bureau. Sign up to get it by email.

Late last month, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared that violence against women had become a “national crisis .” His comments came after thousands rallied in Australia’s big cities to demand action from the government in the face of alarming statistics, with activists identifying at least 29 women who have been killed in Australia so far this year.

On top of that, newly released data from the government found that in the 2022-2023 fiscal year, 34 women were killed by a current or previous intimate partner, up 28 percent from the previous fiscal year. In other words, the trend lines for Australia’s domestic violence problem are heading in the wrong direction. While the rates are lower than in the United States, for Australians, the risk of violence and death at the hands of a partner is now increasing.

The government has now responded: In the new federal budget, Mr. Albanese’s government committed 1 billion Australia dollars, about $665 million, over five years to help women and children fleeing domestic violence.

But among those who work with victims and survivors, optimism is hard to find.

Many advocates, like Michelle Glasgow, general manager of Women Illawarra, a nonprofit founded in 1979 that provides services to rural areas in New South Wales, report many decades’ worth of experience with public outrage — seeing countless women march to end domestic violence, stop sexual assaults, gain access to health care and safe housing, and demand fair and equal access to jobs. None of it, they note, has produced much progress.

“We’re still beating on that same drum,” Ms. Glasgow said.

The problem persists, she added, because too many communities and men are still stuck on the “laissez-faire attitude of ‘She’ll be right, mate.’”

“She won’t be right, mate,” she said.

In her area, demand for Women Illawarra’s services — support circles, education programs, court advocacy and pathways for abused women going in and out of the justice system — has risen exponentially in recent years, especially after the pandemic lockdowns. Many women are stuck in what she described as a constant cycle of seeking accountability and safety.

“It’s another full-time job seeking help,” Ms. Glasgow said. “It’s relentless.”

From the outer suburbs of Melbourne, Tara Schultz, an abuse survivor and an advocate for others in that situation, painted a similar picture of no change, particularly for women who are poor or struggling with other forms of disadvantage. Young, low-income women are still more likely to be expelled from school because of behavioral or substance abuse problems or targeted by a predator than to be referred for help, she said. “Young girls are still facing the same problems that I was growing up.”

And as bad as it is in Australia’s cities and suburbs, the problem is often even worse in remote areas.

Just this week, a nearly yearlong inquest focused on four of the 76 Aboriginal women killed by their partners in the Northern Territory since 2000 was extended after the coroner said she had seen no improvement over time.

“Beyond the inquiries and reports, it is still not clear to me what has actually been done to start addressing the urgent need in the Northern Territory,” Elisabeth Armitage, the Northern Territory coroner, told a Darwin courtroom on Monday.

The landmark investigation, which started in June last year, has in addition to examining the specific deaths also been scrutinizing the territory’s patterns of domestic, family and sexual violence. While the territory accounts for less than 1 percent of Australia’s population, women there are seven times as likely to be killed by domestic violence compared with the national average, and the victims are almost always Indigenous people.

This is because on top of all the standard drivers of violence (such as gender inequality and discrimination), poverty, trauma and other forms of disadvantage are deeply entrenched in the Northern Territory, says Chay Brown, a domestic, family and sexual violence expert. Issues like hunger; a lack of running water, power and electricity; and homelessness at rates up to 30 times higher than the rest of the country all feed instability, fuel violence and hinder services that could help, Dr. Brown said. Those services that are available, she added, have “ridiculously low” funding and lack the resources needed to attend to an area twice the size of Texas.

“In most of these places, there’s no sealed roads, no phone network coverage, no public transport. And yet, all the measures and everything we talk about when it comes to domestic violence presume people live in urban centers.”

In the Northern Territory, police modeling presented at the inquest showed that rates of domestic, family and sexual violence are expected to jump 73 percent in the next decade. That would be smaller than a spike of 117 percent over the past decade, but still a stunning increase that many experts blame on a lack of attention to the root causes such as homelessness and poverty, all in a country that is among the wealthiest in the world.

The human cost of that, says Dr. Brown, who has worked on previous government plans to address domestic violence, will be “astronomical.”

“For those of us on the ground, we see this every day. It’s not a job, it’s not a 9-to-5, this is our lives,” she said. “People die and up top they’ve forgotten that.”

Here are this week’s stories.

Australia and New Zealand

A Furious, Forgotten Slave Narrative Resurfaces After Nearly 170 Years . John S. Jacobs was a fugitive, an abolitionist — and the brother of the canonical author Harriet Jacobs. Now, his own fierce autobiography has re-emerged.

Assange Can Appeal Extradition to U.S., British Court Rules . The WikiLeaks founder won his bid to appeal his extradition to the United States on espionage charges, opening a new chapter in a prolonged legal battle.

‘Where Did Justine Go?’ One Woman Disappears Into Devotion . Justine Payton was drawn to a Hare Krishna ashram for its yoga, meditation and vegan meals. She’s still figuring out what went wrong.

This Man Did Not Invent Bitcoin . For years, Craig Steven Wright, an Australian cryptocurrency enthusiast, claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious creator of Bitcoin. Then the courts got involved.

Around The Times

On Campus, a New Social Litmus Test: Zionist or Not? Some Jewish students say they’ve been dropped by old roommates and sorority sisters and ostracized from campus clubs and teams because of their views — which are sometimes assumed.

‘Dropping Very Dramatically’: What Deadly Turbulence Did to a Flight . Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 was a rare instance of turbulence resulting in a death.

Cannabis Tops Alcohol as Americans’ Daily Drug of Choice . A new study shows a growing number of people are regularly using cannabis, while frequent alcohol consumption has remained stable.

America’s Monster . How the U.S. backed kidnapping, torture and murder in Afghanistan.

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