Today I have some recommendations for you! I’ve been listening to audiobooks for a long time now and I absolutely love them. To start with, I was not convinced. One of the first audiobooks I listened to was the Diviners by Libba Bray but I really disliked the audiobook performance and it completely ruined the book for me.

And I don’t think I’m alone in the struggle against bad audiobooks (or at least ones you don’t like). It wasn’t until I tried listening to Harry Potter narrated by Stephen Fry that I found my love of audiobooks. And that’s the way with books in whatever format, isn’t it? You just need ONE book that is up your alley to fall in love.

My advice to you is, if audiobooks are something you want to try (because they’re great to listen to when doing chores, walking or driving) then keep trying until you figure out what you like!! I know that I cannot, under no circumstances, stomach Australian narrators. Which is weird considering I am Australian. But I just can’t handle how unprofessional the accent sounds to my ears! I don’t like most American narrators either, but some are okay (such as Greg Tremblay who does Scythe or Amy Landon who does some of Verity). But my favourite narrators are always British.

So without further ado, let’s look at my top five audiobook recommendations!

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Uprooted 
by Naomi Novik

narrated by Katy Sobey

Katy Sobey is a pleasant British narrator who I trust to do a good job. I’ve listened to several audiobooks by her and actually find myself seeking out books that she has done the narration for.

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Sleeping Giants
by Sylvain Neuvel

narrated by Andy Secombe, Christopher Ragland,
Charlie Anson, Laurel Lefkow, Eric Meyers and Liza Ross

This has a whole cast of voice actors as you can see and is my favourite audiobook performance. I have never listened to something so well done and would highly recommend reading this as an audiobook!

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The Pearl Thief
by Fiona McIntosh

narrated by Katy Sobey

I told you!! I remember starting this book and thinking, gosh this voice is familiar and I love it. Lo and behold, it was Ms Sobey herself. She does the most incredible job of female/male voices as well as a range of accents from Czech to French to British.

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Circe
by Madeline Miller

narrated by Perdita Weeks

This was a thoroughly enjoyable narration of a fantastic story. I don’t think you can go too far wrong whichever way you go with reading this book but Circe has a brilliant narration.

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Outlander
by Diana Gabaldon

narrated by Davina Porter

Davina Porter is actually the secret love of my life. She does one of the most spectacular performances I’ve ever listened to. I forget that it is a woman narrating Jamie’s voice because Porter nails a male intonation and the Scottish accent. It is unbelievable.

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Scythe
by Neal Shusterman

narrated by Greg Tremblay

Tremblay was one of the American narrators that I mentioned earlier. I’ve really enjoyed listening to the first two books in the Arc of a Scythe trilogy (though I am going to read the final one in physical format, only because I loved the covers so much I needed the physical copies). He makes this story comes to life!

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They Both Die at the End
by Adam Silvera

narrated by Michael Crouch, Robbie
Daymond and Bahni Turpin

This is the book that turned me into an Adam Silver fan. I was initially unsure if I could get through all the American narrators for this audiobook but ended up loving it! This is done really well and the three-way cast is actually a nice touch.

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Believe Me
by Eddie Izzard

narrated by Eddie Izzard

Now, of course, depending on whether you are interested in Eddie Izzard will completely determine whether you’re interested in this book. However, this is brilliant and hilarious. I love it when comedians narrate their own memoirs because they truly bring it to life in a way no-one else can. And this book is extra funny because Izzard includes extra footnotes and extra, extra footnotes that aren’t in the book.

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Harry Potter
by J. K. Rowling

narrated by Stephen Fry

Stephen Fry is my favourite narrator, no question about it. And I now heavily associate him with Harry Potter. All seven of the Harry Potter books (for the UK/Aus market—I know Americans for some reason have a different person) are narrated by him and IT IS THE BEST THING YOU WILL EVER EXPERIENCE. Trust me. Go listen to Stephen Fry read your favourite series and fall in love all over again.

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Mythos
by Stephen Fry

narrated by Stephen Fry

And to drive the point home, my final book is also written and narrated by Stephen Fry (his memoirs are also excellent). Mythos is both entertaining and intelligent and there is just something about Fry’s voice that is so captivating. This is the most fun I’ve ever had learning about mythology.

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What is your favourite audiobook?

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~~ Kirstie ~~

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