Read more. Sit less. The Best Audio Books will help you meet two goals at once.
I have spent a lot of time in the car recently. And for this book geek, car time = audiobook time. Nothing makes better use of that time, keeps me awake, and gives my driving buddy and me more to talk about than listening to the best audio books while we burn the miles.
Audiobooks are also a great way to get in more steps. Listening to a book while taking a long walk — or getting on a treadmill — is a great way to keep boredom at bay. I often keep going, long after I’ve met my daily step goal just to find out what happens in my book.
Choosing an audiobook is more complicated than choosing a book. The narrator makes such a huge difference in your enjoyment that I almost always start there. Even then, the narrator has to be exactly right for that particular book. This person talks to you for hours. You have to enjoy their voice and the way they interpret the text.
Here is a list of 9 of the best audio books to add to your library.
Slow Horses
The Slow Horses series on Apple TV is getting a lot of attention — because it’s excellent — but this reading by Gerard Doyle is fantastic. This is the British spy genre at its best in the hands of the prolific and brilliant Mick Herron.
This is book one of a seven-book series and they are all terrific. You will feel the pain of these spies who have been ousted from The Park for various screwups and you can almost smell the self-neglect of their leader Jackson Lamb. I think this series is worth the price of an Audible membership.
The Cold, Cold Ground
by Adrian McKinty, read by Gerard Doyle
The Cold, Cold Ground is the first book in McKinty’s Sean Duffy series and Sean is likely one of the finest detective characters you’ll ever meet. Competent, flawed, and a bit too violent — but he’s living in Northern Ireland during “The Troubles” so that’s no surprise.
A few hours into a drive, my driving buddy and I are talking about Sean (and his colleague Crabby) as if he were in the car with us. We worry for their safety and frown at how much Sean is drinking. We even high-five if it seems likely he will get the girl.
There is a new book in the Sean Duffy series!
The Detective Up Late
by Adrian McKinty, read by Gerard Doyle
This is the latest in Adrian McKinty’s must-read series set in Northern Ireland during The Troubles. Sean Duffy is the best detective working. The audiobook is also narrated by the delightful Gerard Doyle.
Heart of Darkness
by Joseph Conrad, read by Kenneth Branagh
If you missed this book because it’s a classic and you thought that translated to ‘boring,” this audiobook version read by Kenneth Branagh is the way to fix that poor life choice.
This is an adventure classic. It’s the inspiration for the film Apocalypse Now, It’s a brilliant descent into hell. And Branagh is genius as the narrator. Don’t miss it.
The Hate U Give
by Angie Thomas
This book has won so many awards — National Book Awards Long List, Goodreads Choice Award, Coretta Scott King Honor Book — that it is a must-read. It’s a young adult novel that tells the story of a 16-year-old girl trying to survive in an upper-middle-class prep school. She ends up being the only witness to a murder.
Lincoln in the Bardo
by George Saunders
A father-son story featuring Abraham Lincoln. It’s set during the Civil War. Lincoln is president. His son is 11. Perhaps you know that story. This is an imagining of its details.
Read by Nick Offerman, David Sedaris, and others
American Wolf
by Nate Blakeslee
This is a true story. It’s the gripping tale of an alpha female wolf — a leader of her Yellowstone pack — who faces hunters, ranchers, and politics as she tries to survive and raise her family. “Fascinating book that pieces the story of Yellowstone’s reemergent wolf population as it struggles to thrive within the Park’s boundaries and survive forays into the kill zone outside,” said one reviewer.
Artemis
by Andy Weir, narrated by Rosario Dawson
From the writer of The Martian, this thriller is a heist set in Artemis a future city on the moon. Jazz Bashara, a low-key criminal, gets in over her head when she spots a lucrative crime. She finds herself in the middle of a political conspiracy. Nearly 18,000 five-star reviews and an all-star cast for the narration make this a sure bet for an excellent listen.
The Handmaid’s Tale: A Special Edition
by Margaret Atwood, narrated by Claire Danes
If you haven’t read this classic — or even if you have — this audiobook is a must-listen. Claire Danes narrates, along with Atwood herself. It includes an interview with Professor Piexoto (written by Atwood) that answers many of the questions about this story that have troubled readers since it was first published.
Long Way Down
written and narrated by Jason Reynolds
Lots of awards went to this one — A Newberry Honor, Coretta Scott King Honor — and it’s a New York Times best seller. It’s read by the author, which is always a treat. It’s a gritty trip through grief and thousands of people give it five stars.
