I’ve always found choosing a good audiobook to be complicated. Not only do I want the title to be interesting and compelling, there is also the added layer of the quality of the narration. It can be the greatest book in the world, but if I find the narrator’s delivery dull, grating or outright annoying I won’t touch it. On the flip side, if I discover a narrator I really like I will often give a book a listen even if the narrator is reading a title I wouldn’t normally touch with a ten foot pole. So clearly the narrator is key, but how exactly do you choose a good narrator?
One of the easier ways is to take a look at the Audie awards. The Audies are awarded annually by the Audio Publishers Association to titles deemed to have excellent narrators in a wide variety of categories. While this year’s awards won’t be until May 31st, the APA has just come out with all the titles that have been nominated. This list is an easy way to look for titles with potentially great narrators. Listed below is a partial list of the categories and titles that have been nominated for the 2017 awards. Feel free to look at the full list of all the titles and categories, via this link, as well.
Autobiography/Memoir
Buffering: Unshared Tales of a Life Fully Loaded by Hannah Hart, narrated by Hannah Hart and Judy Young
The Rainbow Comes and Goes written and narrated by Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt
Best Female Narrator
Another Brooklyn: A Novel by Jacqueline Woodson, narrated by Robin Miles
The Little Red Chairs by Edna O’Brien, narrated by Juliet Stevenson
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, narrated by Bahni Turpin
Best Male Narrator
End of Watch by Stephen King, narrated by Will Patton
Jerusalem by Alan Moore, narrated by Simon Vance
Fantasy
The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson, narrated by Michael Kramer
Fiction
America’s First Daughter by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie, narrated by Cassandra Campbell
Belgravia by Julian Fellowes, narrated by Juliet Stevenson
History/Biography
Paul McCartney: The Life by Philip Norman, narrated by Jonathan Keeble
Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick, narrated by Scott Brick
Humor
The Bassoon King: My Life in Art, Faith, and Idiocy written and narrated by Rainn Wilson
Black Man, White House: An Oral History of the Obama Years by D.L. Hughley, narrated by Keith Szarabajka, John Reynolds, Fran Tunno, Cherise Boothe, Dan Woren, P.J. Ochlan, Gregory Itzin, Paula Jai Parker-Martin, Mia Barron, Ron Butler, and James Shippy
You’ll Grow out of It written and narrated by Jessi Klein
Multi-Voiced Performance
The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom, narrated by Mitch Albom, Roger McGuinn, Ingrid Michaelson, John Pizzarelli, Paul Stanley, George Guidall, and more
Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult, narrated by Audra McDonald, Cassandra Campbell and Ari Fliakos
Mystery
Crimson Shore by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, narrated by Rene Auberjonois
The Crossing by Michael Connelly, narrated by Titus Welliver
A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny, narrated by Robert Bathurst
Narration By The Author or Authors
Dear Mr. You written and narrated by Mary-Louise Parker
The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo written and narrated by Amy Schumer
The View from the Cheap Seats written and narrated by Neil Gaiman
Non-Fiction
Hillbilly Elegy written and narrated by J.D. Vance
Romance
First Star I See Tonight by Susan Elizabeth Phillips, narrated by Nicole Poole
The Obsession by Nora Roberts, narrated by Shannon McManus
Science Fiction
Star Wars: The Force Awakens by Alan Dean Foster, narrated by Marc Thompson
Thriller/Suspense
Cross Justice by James Patterson, narrated by Ruben Santiago Hudson and Jefferson Mays
Home by Harlan Coben, narrated by Steven Weber
Young Adult
Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, narrated by Carla Corvo, Steve West and various
Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco and James Patterson, narrated by Nicola Barber
Winter by Marissa Meyer, narrated by Rebecca Soler
A Reading Life 