Listen to These 36 Highly Popular Audiobooks

A great audiobook can transport you to a different country (or planet), capture your imagination through a cast of voices, or keep you driving around the block just to find out what happens next.
We asked followers on our Twitter and Facebook accounts to name their all-time favorite audiobooks. And despite some hot debate on the topic—readers have very strong opinions about Jim Dale vs. Stephen Fry as Harry Potter narrators—it turns out that there were some titles all our respondents could agree on.
Goodreaders overwhelmingly enjoy audiobooks narrated by celebrities and by their own authors (and sometimes their celebrity authors), full cast recordings, anything written or read by Neil Gaiman, a brand new recording of The Martian narrated by Wil Wheaton, and good Irish accents.
Here are the audiobooks your fellow members named again and again, ordered by category:
Read by Celebrities
Read by Their Authors
Full Cast Recordings
What's your favorite audiobook? Let's talk our favorite books to listen to in the comments!
Check out more recent articles, including:
The Seven Great Books Hitting Shelves This Week
Anne Bogel's Tips for Stress Free Reading
24 New Mysteries Readers Are Loving
Check out more recent articles, including:
The Seven Great Books Hitting Shelves This Week
Anne Bogel's Tips for Stress Free Reading
24 New Mysteries Readers Are Loving
Comments Showing 1-50 of 55 (55 new)
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Feb 27, 2020 04:03AM

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I had been dragging my feet on Born to Run for a while, despite being a big Springsteen fan. It just seemed so heavy to get into for some reason. But last year I finally just got the audiobook instead and it was one of my favourite books read in 2019! So much easier having Bruce just tell you his own story, with his own voice.

Definitely agree!

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night is probably my favorite audio book. I really struggled with the book and fell in love with the audio version.
I now find that I'm actually reading a book and listening to a different audio book.

I had been dragging my ..."
Trevor Noah's book wouldn't be the same without listening to his voice either.


I completely agree! It's such a big part of the story really.


I had been dragging my ..."
Agreed! I Loved Born a Crime even more because it was read by Trevor Noah himself.






Southern accent. My book club friends said the book was tough to read with crazy misspellings... but I didn’t see them at all!

Southern accent. My book club friends said the book was tough to read with crazy misspellings... but I didn’t see..."
Agreed! I just listened to this within the last couple of weeks. Touching book and Ruby Dee was amazing. She altered her voice perfectly for the different characters.

Fantasy can become a bit... dense and confusing when you don't see it I guess. But I was coming in here again because I remembered a piece of fiction I read that was amazing in audio and just had to recommend. And saw your comment... because yes. It's fantasy.
The Tales from Verania series by TJ Klune is hilarious, and even more so in audiobook form (I've done a bit of both but mostly stuck to audio) The narrator really brought the characters to life with all kinds of voices. And while I can't really remember the first few that well, I know that the last one had a bunch of sound effects too which always adds a little something.
Oh, and another splendid (albeit different) fantasy... The Memoirs of Lady Trent by Marie Brennan. They are written as memoirs after all, so having someone read it to you feels natural.

"True Grit" is brilliantly narrated by Donna Tartt and she contributes a very good essay at the end of the audiobook too.
I listen to a lot of audiobooks and these two were the standout books from last year for me.

He was such a great reader.

-Lilac Girls
-The Giver of Stars
-Ms. Bixby's Last Day
-The Dome
-Everything Here is Beautiful
-Strangers at the Feast

You could create that shelf, friend! Be the change you want to see in the world!



American Gods has an excellent full-cast narration.


My favorite narrated by celebrity is Matterhorn narrated by Bronson Pinchot!! Yes, that Bronson Pinchot. If you haven't listened to this one, you are in for a treat. Pinchot is amazing!!
Also anything Bahni Turpin narrates is magic!!

I had been dragging my ..."
Agreed, when I had to start long-distance driving for work, audiobooks are the best. I also love autobiographies read by the author. It brings another layer of intimacy.



Stephen Briggs reading Terry Pratchett's Discworld series is an example. He utterly disappears in the task and you don't hear him, you hear the characters themselves. Others read some of the earlier works, and they were good, but he was just excellent in my mind.
A Woman First: First Woman: A Memoir read by Selina Meyer.
For those who are not familiar with the TV show Veep, this is a false memoir of the main character in the show read by the actress who played that character. In character. With lots of additional stuff because the book was ghost written by one of her assistants and this is the first time she's seen the finished product. It just adds so much.
I also agree any book narrated by Neil Gaiman. I almost wish he were my dad (I'm too old for that sadly) so I could have had him tell me stories when I was little. :) Coraline is one that stands out in my mind.

I didn't think audio books would be for me but once I tried it I've never looked back. I listen while shopping, at the gym, walking down the road, would definitely recommend to others to give it a try. I now have 2 books on the go all the time one audio and one physical.



1. Harry Potter series- Jim Dale is great!
2. All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness- Jennifer Ikeda is incredible moving between different accents seamlessly.
3. The Rosie Project books by Graeme Simsion, Narrated by Dan O'Grady- simply hysterical!
4. The Girl With All the Gifts- great listen
5. All the Light We Cannot See
6. Where the Crawdads Sing
7. Pride and Prejudice- really brings out the humor
8. Lianne Moriarty books narrated by Caroline Lee- she is amazing at really capturing the mood of each scene
9. The Raven Cycle books by Maggie Steifvater- Will Paton is a wonderful narrator
10. Ruth Ware books narrated by Imogen Church- she is mesmerizing.

I agree, Kristine! Great idea! Anyone listening at GR???
