The best audiobooks for beginners: where to start
If you've never finished an audiobook, start with a winner. Every title below took the Audie Audiobook of the Year — the Audio Publishers Association's pick for the single best audiobook of its year, judged on performance as much as story. They're the safest first credit: broadly loved, superbly narrated, hard to switch off.
Sunrise on the ReapingMy Name Is BarbraSurrenderFinding MeProject Hail MaryPiranesiThe Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11Children of Blood and BoneLincoln in the BardoHamilton: The RevolutionThe Girl on the TrainMandela: An Audio HistoryYour free trial credit covers any one of these →As an Amazon Associate, AudiobookIndex earns from qualifying purchases and program sign-ups made through links on this page. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.
Titles without their own page link to an Amazon search.
| Audiobook | Author | Narrator(s) | Award |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunrise on the Reaping | Suzanne Collins | Jefferson White | Audiobook of the Year (2026) |
| My Name Is Barbra | Barbra Streisand | Barbra Streisand | Audiobook of the Year (2025) |
| Surrender on Amazon → | Bono | Bono | Audiobook of the Year (2024) |
| Finding Me | Viola Davis | Viola Davis | Audiobook of the Year (2023) |
| Project Hail Mary | Andy Weir | Ray Porter | Audiobook of the Year (2022) |
| Piranesi on Amazon → | Susanna Clarke | Chiwetel Ejiofor | Audiobook of the Year (2021) |
| The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 | Garrett M. Graff | Holter Graham, full cast | Audiobook of the Year (2020) |
| Children of Blood and Bone | Tomi Adeyemi | Bahni Turpin | Audiobook of the Year (2019) |
| Lincoln in the Bardo | George Saunders | Nick Offerman, David Sedaris, George Saunders, full cast | Audiobook of the Year (2018) |
| Hamilton: The Revolution on Amazon → | Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jeremy McCarter | Mariska Hargitay, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jeremy McCarter | Audiobook of the Year (2017) |
| The Girl on the Train on Amazon → | Paula Hawkins | Clare Corbett, Louise Brealey, India Fisher | Audiobook of the Year (2016) |
| Mandela: An Audio History on Amazon → | Nelson Mandela (with Joe Richman) | Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, Joe Richman | Audiobook of the Year (2015) |
| Still Foolin' 'Em | Billy Crystal | Billy Crystal | Audiobook of the Year (2014) |
| The End of the Affair on Amazon → | Graham Greene | Colin Firth | Audiobook of the Year (2013) |
| Bossypants | Tina Fey | Tina Fey | Audiobook of the Year (2012) |
| Life on Amazon → | Keith Richards | Johnny Depp, Joe Hurley | Audiobook of the Year (2011) |
| Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales on Amazon → | Nelson Mandela (ed.) | Samuel L. Jackson, Whoopi Goldberg, full cast | Audiobook of the Year (2010) |
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More guides: filter every record yourself in the finder · best audiobooks by award · Audiobook of the Year · best full-cast & multi-voiced audiobooks · best author-narrated audiobooks & memoirs · best audiobooks for long drives & road trips.