Another audiobook post to keep on celebrating National Audiobook Month! By now you have found out what my most recommended audiobooks are and which narrators are my favorite but this time — let’s talk about all the best audiobooks narrated by celebrities.
As I told you in the last post, I definitely always prioritize a book I want to read on audio if I know a favorite narrator is doing the performance. I also am a sucker for audiobooks read by celebrities or famous people and that can sometimes sway my opinion of what to listen to next.
For this list I’m going to keep it to audiobook read by celebrities that AREN’T their own books. This list would be massive if I added celebs reading their own books as most of the time that’s what happens — especially with memoirs or other non-fiction.
Perhaps I will do a separate list to share some of those because there really are some great audiobooks by celebs/famous folk whose narrations honestly elevate their whole book.
Sometimes it might be obvious whose voice it is (ie like a Tom Hanks) but, other times, you might be listening along with no idea! I typically always check to see the narrator/sample a book before I listen but there have been a few times I’ve just downloaded a book without checking and been pleasantly surprised.
So let’s get to this list of best audiobooks read by famous actors and other celebs/famous people. This is by no means an exhaustive list of every celeb read audiobook but just the ones that I loved and thought were fantastic or ones I’ve heard great things about from trusted sources and are on my personal “to listen to” list.
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Where do you get your audiobooks from?
Best Audiobooks Narrated By Celebrities
This post was originally written in June 2022 and has been updated for 2024.
Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe
Narrated by Elle Fanning
Actress Elle Fanning does a stand-out job narrating one of the most equally hilarious and heart-warming books I’ve read all year. She’ll also be starring in the adaptation for the tv series.
You will fall in love with this young, struggling single mom trying to do her best to provide for her son by creating an OF account to make money after losing her job and reluctantly letting her estranged, ex-pro wrestler father back into her life in a trade of a place to live for help with childcare.
If you are looking for a stand-out family drama that is more up upbeat than dark and depressing, check this one out.
The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith
Narrated by Mae Whitman
I will forever love Mae Whitman from Parenthood and just in general so I jumped at the chance to listen to this one on audio (even after having already read an advanced copy of the book) when I found out she was doing the audio. Mae does a great job and I was so impressed that I had to look up to see if she did any other audiobooks and I saw that she did the City of Bones audiobook, fun fact! This book is one of my favorites of 2022 so definitely recommend the audio version.
Hard by a Great Forest by Leo Vardiashvili
Narrated by Luke Thompson
Fans of Bridgerton — if you’ve ever wanted Benedict Bridgerton to whisper sweet nothings into your ear, I can’t help you there BUT he is the narrator of this new release if you’d like him narrating a book to you.
This book is inspired by the tale of Hansel & Gretel and is about a young man returning home, to the place he fled from as a child during a time of war, to follow the breadcrumbs in hopes to find both his father (who went looking for his wife who stayed back all those decades ago) and his brother (who went looking for his father).
Mrs. Nash’s Ashes by Sarah Adler
Narrated by Mara Wilson
Every since I listened to another book (further down this list) by Mara Wilson (the actress who played Matilda and the precocious child in Mrs. Doubtfire), I’ve been keeping my eye on more books narrated by her.
Enter one of my most favorite audiobooks of last year!
This book was a DELIGHT!! It’s about a woman who ends up a mishap-filled road trip with the ashes of her elderly bff and a grumpy writer semi-acquaintance to fulfill her promise of reuniting the older woman with the woman she fell in love with 80 years ago.
The road trip shenanigans and romance are fantastic as well as Mrs. Nash’s love story as a secondary plotline.
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
Narrated by Tom Hanks
I’ll be honest with you — I really wasn’t interested in this book. It just really didn’t pique my interest when it first released but then everyone kept raving about Tom Hanks and his performance in it.
And well, I could honestly listen to Tom Hanks speak all day. I love him as an actor and a human. So I decided to trust people and I’m really glad I did.
A really good book and his performance honestly makes it all the better. I honestly think the slowness of the story might have made this slog a little bit for me if I didn’t listen to Hanks’ performance but he is just so engaging.
It’s literally one of the top 15 best-selling audiobooks on LibroFM right now!
One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle
Narrated by Lauren Graham
I genuinely would listen to anything that Lauren Graham narrates. She’s so dynamic and, while it’s hard for me to think of her as anything other than Lorelei Gilmore, I really loved her performance in this. Hit all the right notes.
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
Narrated by JK Simmons
I initially didn’t listen to this on audio but was really craving a re-read of it and re-reading books via audio is one of my favorite ways to revisit stories I love.
Imagine my surprise when I find out actor JK Simmons is the narrator. He is such a talented actor (with a voice I could listen to all day) and he brought this favorite story of mine to life in ways I couldn’t imagine.
His acting chops are on display here and you can just FEEL that performance to your bone. Genuinely one of the best audiobooks read by an actor/celebrity!
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Narrated by Carey Mulligan
British actress Carey Mulligan delivers a seriously wonderful performance here! I didn’t realize it was Carey Mulligan who was the narrator at first. I was really struck by the narration and had that “A-HA!” moment when I looked it up. Fantastic book!
Daisy Jones & The Six
Narrated by Jennifer Beal, Benjamin Bratt, Judy Greer, Pablo Schrieber
This full cast audiobook performance not only features some of my favorite audiobook narrators, like Julia Whelan and January LaVoy, but it also boasts a few famous actors and actresses. One of my favorite audiobooks ever!
You May Also Like: Books To Read If You Liked Daisy Jones and the Six
You by Caroline Kepnes
Narrated by Santino Fontana
Santino Fontana, best known as Prince Hans from Frozen or Greg from Crazy Ex Girlfriend, is the perfect narrator for Joe throughout this series. Like sometimes could make the hairs on my arm stand up with his delivery of certain lines.
(He also narrates The Institute by Stephen King as well as The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes)
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Narrated by Maggie Gyllenhaal
This has been one of my favorite books since my senior year in high school and I recently wanted to reread it so I decided to sample the audio and did NOT expect to see actress Maggie Gyllenhaal as the narrator. I really appreciated her understated and beautiful performance as I was really nervous about messing with the voice I heard while reading this book the 5 other times I had read it previously. Highly recommend the audiobook if you’ve been wanting to knock this classic off your list!
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Narrated by Lin Manuel Miranda
I know that Lin Manuel Miranda is too famous and too busy to narrate more audiobooks but I’d really like that. He even won “Best Male Audiobook Narrator” for his performance in the sequel to this.
I really loved this YA book and I feel like Lin was a spectacular narrator.
Unbroken
Narrated by Edward Herrmann
When I discovered that Edward Herrmann (patriarch of the Gilmore family in Gilmore Girls amongst many other things) narrated quite a few audiobooks (mostly non-fiction) I absolutely had to listen to them so I dug into Unbroken and The Boys in the Boat even though they aren’t typically what I’d read. His voice is magic — so rich and strong and captivating. I honestly cried the first time I started listening to one of his audio performances because I’m just so sad he’s no longer with us.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Narrated by Tatiana Maslany
The ever impressive Tatiana Maslany (I mean HOW did she convincingly play several different clones of herself in one show) narrates The Hunger Games series which really made it enjoyable for a re-read via audiobook for me!
The Eye of the World (Wheel of Time Book 1)
Narrated by Rosamund Pike
If you are looking for a chunky (and LONG on audiobook) fantasy book to listen to, look no further than Rosamund Pike’s freshened up performance of the first Wheel of Time Book! If you’ve seen the tv show on Amazon Prime you know Rosamund stars in it.
Her audiobook performance is FANTASTIC and honestly everything you could hope for. It’s ambitious, pitch perfectly dramatic and wholly impressive. And I say that as someone who would much prefer to READ fantasy tomes rather than listen to them.
Rosamund also narrates A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins as another book of note.
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stievfater
Narrated by Will Patton
One of my favorite YA book series ever and actor Will Patton is a terrific narrator for this series. He totally draws you in and makes the atmosphere of this series even more palpable.
Will Patton also narrates a handful of Stephen King novels as well as a bunch of James Lee Burke books though I can’t speak to the performance in those but I hear raving reviews as I’d imagine. One of my all time favorite and best YA audiobooks!
Going Bicoastal by Dahlia Adler
Narrated by Mara Wilson
My fellow millenials I know are gasping right now — yes, THE Mara Wilson who brought Matilda to life and was the absolutely adorable daughter in Mrs. Doubtfire. She’s also an audiobook narrator also.
If you like YA rom-coms and sliding doors novels, check this one out on audiobook to listen to Mara’s fantastic performance.
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Narrated by Wil Wheaton
Geek culture mogul and actor Wil Wheaton does a spectacular job narrating Ready Player One (and Ready Player Two). His portrayal of Wade Watts is nothing short of perfect to me — he just really brought him to life so vividly.
The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante
Narrated by Marisa Tomei
Actress Marisa Tomei knocks this one out of the park and just pulls you into the coming of age story of Giovanna, a young teenage girl, trying to figure out who she is in Naples. I felt like Tomei’s narration delivered the melodramatic teenager in such a pitch perfect way and I loved her portrayal of Vittoria (her despised aunt that she barely knows in the beginning of the novel).
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
Narrated by Full Cast
This full cast audiobook is STARSTUDDED. How did it get so many stars attached to it? I WISH I KNEW. Admittedly I haven’t listened to this one because I am quite intimidated by it but I know when I eventually get to it that I will be doing it on audiobook.
The list is long for this one but a few of the famous actors and actresses narrating this audiobook are: Don Cheadle, Nick Offerman, Lena Dunham, Susan Sarandon, Ben Stiller, Bill Hader, etc.
Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee
Narrated by Reese Witherspoon
This book came out to much controversy and I am pretty much of the opinion that I don’t think it should have been published, if we are being honest here.
That being said, plenty of people feel differently and have enjoyed the performance of Reese Witherspoon in this. Honestly, it’s the only reason I’d ever read it to satiate my curiosity and I wish Reese had a few other performances I could enjoy on audio!
What audiobooks have you found that are read by famous actors or other celebrities? I’d love to discover more!
Tiff @ Mostly YA Lit says
Haha, funny thing, I read several of these books on audio without even realizing there were celebrity voices attached to them! I totally just read The Midnight Library last year and loved it without knowing it was Carey Mulligan. Same for A Man Called Ove. And I remember years ago, when Hamilton first came out, thinking I recognized Lin’s voice and then finally coming across an old tweet where he mentioned doing the Aristotle and Dante audiobook and it clicked for me! Hilarious. Anyway, I just added One Italian Summer and The Unsinkable Greta James to my list for the narrators. They were already there for the authors, but now I get to bask in Parenthood/Gilmore Girls galore. Thanks for that.
Amy says
The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant
Narrated by Linda Lavin
Jamie says
Will have to check this one out! I read one of Anita’s other books awhile ago and enjoyed!
dux says
ok i’ve gotta try the edward hermann one bc i’m ride or die with gilmore girls.
i also might try the rowing one he narrates!