- Sister Mother Warrior by Vanessa Riley. It’s narrated by Anjoa Andoh and Robin Miles who bring this unbelievable true story to life with beautiful French, Spanish, and tribal pronunciations of people, places, and common phrases. It makes you want to rewind 30 seconds to hear it again. —Jill Ferrie
- I think many celebrity memoirs are better experienced in audiobook form when the celebrity author narrates it, specifically Matthew McConaughey's Greenlights. Of course, you have to be someone who appreciates his acting style (his voice, inflections, etc) in order to thoroughly enjoy his memoir. I couldn't get over how highly entertaining it was, and I loved his storytelling ability. Another one I loved was the memoir Forever Young by actress Hayley Mills. The book became more intimate because of Mills narrating it herself. Again, if you don't care for certain celebrities, obviously I'd pass, but I believe they're better when read by the celebrity (even if the book was ghostwritten). But, I believe it all depends on who is narrating a book as to whether or not it's a great listen, rather than reading it, and that's obviously personal preference. —Angela L Eckhart
- Lincoln in the Bardo **by George Saunders has 166 narrators, including Nick Offerman and David Sedaris as two of the main voices, but also Megan Mullally, Carrie Brownstein, Don Cheadle, Bill Hader, Ben Stiller, Keegan-Michael Key, and on and on. It feels like a play. It's a beautiful book in print, too, but the audiobook is a unique and immersive way to experience it. —Leah Tracosas
- The book I loved on audio was Wintering by Katherine May. Read by the author. Her voice and the memoir really hit home much more than if I had read it in print. —Catherine Lloyd
- Born a Crime by Trevor Noah and Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey —Jule Kucera
- I like books that the author reads. Fern Brady's Strong Female Character and Sabrina Imbler's How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures. —M Wilson Duff
- I have listened to all of the many Outlander books by Diana Gabaldon for the wonderful voice actors. I know this series is not for everyone, but the time travel, history elements, and wonderful characters had me snared from book 1, and I started listening to them after the first one and then went back and listened to the first one! The Scottish, British, Irish, American, Native American, French, etc. characters are wonderfully filled out by the voice actors in these books. Reading them is lovely, but hearing their voices and accents/dialects adds so very much to the already fantastic relationships and adventures in the books. I would definitely recommend listening to them. —Heidi Heiby
- I recommend How the Word Is Passed, read by Clint Smith. He has the most beautiful voice! And though it’s nonfiction, it’s a very personal book. —Ann Espo
- Dylan Thomas's poetic radio play, Under Milk Wood, was written to be read out loud. On the page the dialogue can seem Joycean in complexity; read by the definitive 1954 BBC cast, including a career high performance by Richard Burton, the lyricism takes the listener straight to the magical Welsh world of the poet's nostalgic imagination —Chris Norris
- A book made more wonderful via the audiobook? Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders has such recognizable cast members that each voice comes across clearly. Who can resist Nick Offerman, David Sedaris, Susan Sarandon, Ben Stiller, Megan Mullaly and more? I understood the whole book without becoming confused or irritated once. And you can probably find it at your local library. —Gabi Coatsworth
- Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Red is an amaaaazing audiobook. —Hollie
- John Paul the Great: Remembering a Spiritual Father. Her personality comes through. I will never forget her tone of irritation as she read something, followed by a pause, a sigh and then “Well…” in a tone of triumph. —Joel Whitaker
- The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese. Verghese had to audition to read his own book, but he did a masterful job. —Kathryn Means
- The Bomber Mafia by Malcolm Gladwell. It includes clips from news reels, plane sounds, and other audio effects perfectly blended with the narration. And The Crow Folk by Mark Stay.
Hearing all the quaint 1940’s English phrases, like “blimey” and “blimmin’ ‘eck,” is delightful. —Liz Green
- Great audiobook over written: Project Hail Mary!! by Andy Weir —Tammy Euliano
- I can’t make a straight comparison because I’ve only listened to the audio version, but I thought the voice cast of Daisy Jones and the Six was stellar and did an amazing job. I remember thinking I was glad I got it as an audiobook rather than print. —Christina Carroll-Pavia
- Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. This is due to the additional sound design that was created to accompany the storytelling alongside Ray Porter's performance. It was unexpected, and far better than its print version. Explaining it any further may ruin a surprise in the story. Highly-recommended! —Rodney
- The John Lee narration of Dan Simmons' Drood is amazing. I'm not sure why there's a second narration by Simon Prebble, but the Lee version is better than both the book and the Prebble version in my experience. I'm not sure that it is about how Lee does it, other than that he seems to have become Wilkie Collins somehow in a very convincing way that I cannot when reading the book. Prebble is good, but he's not really in the role. —Anthony Metivier
- The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle on repeat helped me get through an abusive relationship and toxic workplace. His voice is unusual but soothing, and not for everyone, but this book is WAYYY better than reading it, and I prefer reading over audiobooks any day!Message #recommend-things —Lani
- Trevor Noah reading Born A Crime is a wonderful experience. —Phlogopite007