My 12 Most Recommended Audiobooks

Nothing To See Here by Kevin Wilson
Narrated by Marin Ireland

This was my first Marin Ireland audiobook and I am a fan for life now! I genuinely think I loved this quirky book MORE than I would have had I read it physically. Her performance made it even more funny and heartwarming and brought the main character’s whole personality to life. Her southern accent was fantastic!

What It’s About: The main character is contacted, out of the blue, by an old classmate/friend that she hasn’t spoken to in many years with an offer to care for her two stepchildren for an absurd amount of money. The catch? The twins sometimes spontaneously combust into flames. Intrigued, a bit apprehensive and with nothing to lose — she agrees!

Don’t back away because I KNOW this might sound too strange of a premise but I PROMISE YOU — this delightfully strange book will capture your heart as it explores found family, motherhood and loyalty.

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City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
Narrated by Blair Brown

Blair Brown’s narration of this older woman’s recollection of her younger life made me feel like I was sitting across from this woman in absolute rapt attention listening to her fascinating and sometimes scandalous life. I am certain listening to it made the character more endearing to me. I could hear the appropriate wistfulness in her voice and the hard won wisdom. A truly stunning audiobook performance!

What It’s About: Set mostly in the 1940’s through the recollection of the now 89 year old main character, we follow her as a young upper-class woman who has just been kicked out of Vassar College and has been sent to live with her eccentric aunt in New York City who owns an equally eccentric midtown theater. Thrust into this new world full of glamour and people of the likes she’s never known (showgirls, actors, etc), she comes of age in all the messiness you can expect. Until she makes a mistake that turns her life upside down and changes the trajectory of her life for years to come but ultimately sets her on the path to being free to live the life she wants.

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
Narrated by Elizabeth Acevedo & Melania-Luisa Marte

Not only is Elizabeth Acevedo a powerhouse writer but she is a fantastic audiobook narrator for her own books! It was hard to pick just one of her books to put on this list, because they’ve all been wonderful on audiobook, but this one is just my favorite book in addition to working so well on audiobook.

It’s a novel-in-verse but PLEASE don’t let that deter you if you’ve never read one. Audiobook is the PERFECT way to read this one –it flows perfectly and is suited for this medium. It’s just beautifully narrated and made me love this book more (I actually READ the book first but decided then I wanted to check it out on audio and ended up listening to the whole book).

What It’s About: Mostly set in the Dominican Republic and NYC, it’s about two girls who lose their father in a plane crash and the reckoning of the secrets exposed after — namely the fact they never knew the other one existed.

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The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton
Narrated by Full Cast

A newer one but one that I have already recommended a ridiculous amount of times based on how suburb the audiobook was.

This is definitely an experience, like Daisy Jones and the Six, whose format really lends well to an audio experience to enhance this compelling story told in a unique way.

Bringing life to characters and the stories through the interviews and the editor notes in this oral music history that you’ll wish wasn’t fiction. I wish I could put on an Opal record for real!

What It’s About: “It’s about the meteoric rise of an iconic interracial rock duo in the 1970s, their sensational breakup, and the dark secrets unearthed when they try to reunite decades later for one last tour.“

Know My Name by Chanel Miller
Narrated by Chanel Miller

I love listening to memoirs/essays on audiobook because I find them so much more compelling this way to hear (for the most part) the person who wrote the book tell their story. Chanel Miller’s story was gripping as she told it and would often have me stopping whatever household chore I was engaging in to fully listen to her powerful words and story that so often had me in tears. A powerful read itself but hearing her read it made it doubly so for me. It’s not an easy listen by any means but there are few times I’ve ever listened so raptly to an audiobook.

What It’s About: This is Chanel Miller’s memoir — about everything that happened as a sexual assault survivor in the Stanford case and the center of the media coverage but about so much more. Truly one of the most power

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Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Narrated by Jennifer Beals, Benjamin Bratt, Judy Greer & Pablo Schreiber

I knew so many people who couldn’t initially get into this book but then gave the audiobook a whirl and LOVED it. It is faux rock & roll biopic (VHI’s Behind The Music-esque) about a group’s rise to fame and the whole cast just absolutely nailed it and made it come alive.

What It’s About: Written as a faux oral history, it reveals the rise of a popular 1970’s rock group (and their lead singer Daisy) and delves into the salacious behind the scenes mystery of the group’s infamous breakup.

The Switch by Beth O’ Leary
Narrated by Alison Steadman and Daisy Edgar-Jones

This book was a delight! If you are looking for something on the lighter side with a whole lot of heart, this is it. The performance is done by actresses Daisy Edgar-Jones and Alison Steadman and they just nail the alternating perspectives of the grandmother and grandaugther. It was just a performance that had me smiling a whole lot. I think I would have definitely enjoyed it if I read it but the audiobook definitely enhanced it for me. Some romance, some self-discovery and some great family dynamics.

What It’s About: A grandmother and granddaughter swap lives for two months when both have hit very different ruts in their lives. The grandaughter escapes to her grandma’s small village after she blows something at work and her grandma heads to her flat in London to find love in her 80’s. Will the swap help them both find what they need?

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Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Narrated by Ray Porter

Listen, I am not even a HUGE sci-fi fan. I do like it, for sure, but I rarely ever LISTEN to it because I really like reading fantasy and sci-fi as a physical book because I seem to absorb it better. This audiobook just had an absolute wow factor that made it truly feel like a PERFORMANCE and made the experience even better. I’m glad a friend recommended this one strongly to me just solely based on performance alone and she wasn’t wrong. Even if you don’t like sci-fi, trust me on this one! It will be worth it. The downside is this book is only and Audible exclusive.

What It’s About: A man wakes up from a very long sleep to find himself all alone in space with no idea who he is or why he is there. Oh and there’s two corpses next to him. As he tries to figure out what the mission is, his memories slowly start to return and he realizes that he, Ryland Grace, is the sole survivor on a mission Ryland Grace is all alone in space and he has no idea how he got there, where he’s going, or even his own name. Slowly the memories return and he realizes he is on a crucial mission to figure out how to save the human race from an extinction level threat.

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
Narrated by Emily Shafer

This YA dystopian (that is also part survival thriller) would have been good on its own but Emily Shafer just gave a wonderful performance as Tierney but most notably there is a large cast of different characters — from teenage mean girls to creepy townsmen — and the range that Emily Shafer showed in her narration is incredible. I also really appreciated the conversation between the narrator and the author at the end. Her pacing and ability to make you feel like your heart is thudding along with Tierney’s through some of the horror of this story is commendable. You can read my review of The Grace Year.

What It’s About: In this world, girls are banished to the wilderness together when they turn 16 so that they can purify themselves from the magic that lives inside them and be ready to be proper women ready for marriage.
Nobody is allowed to talk about what happens in that year but the girls come home with mangled body parts or not at all and are very clearly changed.

Tierney, the main character, is on the cusp of her grace year and she is not looking forward to it at all. As she sets off, she learns that all the things she has been told to fear, like the poachers who could catch her and skin her for money out in the woods, aren’t the ONLY things she should be most afraid of.

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The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett M. Graff
Narrated by FULL CAST

When a friend recommended this to me because the audio performance was incredible, I was wary and unsure if I would be able to handle this subject matter (I still remember everything about that day). I’m glad I gave it a try because this cast (45 people!!) put their whole soul into this performance and it was truly powerful.

Definitely one that I would pick the audio for every single time over the text — it was made to be listened to like this! Plus there are some audio bonuses that include archival audios.

What It’s About: The author and narrators take us through a 360-degree, account of 9/11 told through firsthand accounts through the people who lived that day from start to finish through the use of “never-before-published transcripts, declassified documents, original interviews, and oral histories from nearly five hundred government officials, first responders, witnesses, survivors, friends, and family members.”

Sadie by Courtney Summers
Narrated by Dan Bittner, Fred Berman, Gabra Zackman & Rebecca Soler

This full cast production makes an already compelling story even more compelling. If you like true crime podcasts, definitely check this one out! Truly unforgettable as we hear the podcast version trying to piece together where Sadie is and Sadie’s own story of trying to find her sister’s killer.

What It’s About: Sadie and her sister have had a rough upbringing but have survived together. When her sister is found dead and the police botch the investigation, Sadie takes off to bring her sister’s killer to justice with the few clues she has to find him. In an alternating voice, an investigative journalist catches wind of Sadie’s story and becomes obsessed with trying to find out what happened and where Sadie is now which prompts him to start a podcast tracking her down.

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell
Narrated by Tamaryn Payne, Bea Holland & Dominic Thorburn

The three narrators really made this book all the more suspenseful and I’m not sure I would have loved this one as much had I not listened to it. They really added to the unsettling atmosphere of the story and their narration hit the perfect spot as the tension kept mounting as the characters (and we) get closer to the answers.

What It’s About: A woman turns 25 and receives a long awaited letter about her biological parents and she finds out she has inherited an abandoned mansion in London — the same place that, 25 years ago, a baby was found crying next to three dead bodies. Told in multi-POVs, we find out what happened all those years ago with three families and just who else has been waiting for this inheritance to kick in and to finally meet this woman.