If you haven’t listened to a lot of audiobooks, but you’re thinking about it, here are some recommendations, organized by some of the categories I like best by audio. For discussion of how audiobooks differ from print books, see Part 1.
Category 1: Memoirs
So far, memoirs are probably my favorite type of book to listen to rather than read in print. Mainly because you can usually get them read by the author, which really adds depth to their story. I’ve included two books here that I read but didn’t listen to, Becoming and Know My Name, because everyone says the audio versions are excellent.
- Shrill by Lindy West
- Save Me the Plums by Ruth Reichl
- Dear America by Jose Antonio Vargas
- Dear Girls by Ali Wong
- Know My Name by Chanel Miller
- Becoming by Michelle Obama
Category 2: Mysteries and thrillers
They are fun to listen to and can be very atmospheric. I especially recommend Ruth Ware’s books, read by Imogen Church.
- Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware
- The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware
- Conviction by Denise Mina
- The Lost Man by Jane Harper
- Sadie by Courtney Summers
Category 3: Books set in other countries or books about other cultures
I love listening to accents, maybe because I find linguistic differences really interesting, and I like to try to figure out what different words mean. Some recommendations:
- Asking For It by Louise O’Neill
- The Things She’s Seen by Ambelin and Ezekiel Kwaymullina
- The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea
- How Dare the Sun Rise by Sandra Uwuringiyama
Category 4: Literary fiction
Initially I thought I’d much rather read, rather than listen to, literary fiction – but I’ve found that with a great narrator, a powerful book can be even more resonant and memorable by audio. Here are some of my favorites:
- Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss
- If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin
- The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
- Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout
Category 5: Romance
Romances are a lot of fun to listen to, because they tend to be dialogue-driven and don’t have a lot of complicated characters and places you have to keep track of. Some of my favorites recently have beenThe Hating Game, Bringing Down the Duke, and Get a Life, Chloe Brown(though I had mixed feelings about the narration in that one, I absolutely loved the story). Romances aren’t always light and fluffy, but I find them a nice break in between books with much heavier topics. I will say that listening to a romance novel can be kind of strange because some of them get pretty steamy, and having sex scenes read out loud feels very different from reading them yourself. It’s one thing to be nestled under your covers while reading those scenes, and a whole other experience while walking through a park, surrounded by families. If you’re looking for something a bit less graphic,The UnhoneymoonersandDon’t You Forget About Mewere good stories.
Category 4: Books that have a performance element in their story
These are books where the story focuses on something you listen to, like music or poetry. Two of my favorite audiobooks featured a podcast within the story (Conviction and Sadie). Daisy Jones and the Six was a story all about music, and the book centers on interviews, so I’ve heard that’s a great audiobook. I’ve also heard The Poet X is excellent by audiobook, and I wish I’d listened to it.
Category 6: Multi-cast and celebrity narration
One last thing to look for are multi-cast audiobooks and celebrity narrators, since they are higher budget productions and you can expect particularly skilled narrators. A good example was Tom Hanks narrating The Dutch House. You always know he’s Tom Hanks, but his reading is so damn good you just forget about it. I suppose that’s how he is in movies as well. I was less enthused by Judith Light’s reading of The World That We Knew.
A lot of people really love the multi-cast in Daisy Jones and the Six. I really loved the narration in Sadie. I find that a lot of times, audiobook narrators aren’t as good at voicing different characters (for example, sometimes a female narrator will have trouble doing male voices, or vice versa). I think a really good audiobook narrator can differentiate different types of voices — but books that really rely on alternating perspectives will benefit from multiple narrators.
Those are my audiobook recommendations. These are only based on the roughly 40 audiobooks I’ve listened to, and a few I’ve heard great things about. For more audiobook recommendations, you can check out the Audie Awards. What types of audiobooks do you like to? I’d love to hear some of your favorites.
