2024 has brought us everything from reimagined classics to twisty thrillers to jaw-dropping performances, and it sometimes felt impossible to narrow down this list. Your savvy reviews and ratings got us started, and then our team hashed it out from there, debating and advocating for our favorites. The result? An obsessively curated list of 24 top picks that shine in audio. We hope you’ll love these listens as much as we do.
and find it anytime by adding to your Library Collections.
George Orwell’s 1984
Adapted by Joe White
Performed by Andrew Garfield, Cynthia Erivo, Andrew Scott, full cast
This almost unbelievably star-studded production, which both honors and reinvigorates Orwell’s terrifying classic, is one of the best original dramatizations we’ve ever heard.
Listen for the Lie
By Amy Tintera
Narrated by January LaVoy, Will Damron
This explosive mystery explores the complexities of female friendships and the impact of true crime podcasts, and features delicious dual narration from Will Damron and January LaVoy.
Wandering Stars
By Tommy Orange
Narrated by Shaun Taylor-Corbett, Alma Cuervo, full cast
Tommy Orange’s epic follow-up to There There challenges listeners while rewarding them again and again with beautiful prose and heartbreaking truths, read by an outstanding full cast.
The Women
By Kristin Hannah
Narrated by Julia Whelan, Kristin Hannah
Aided by Julia Whelan’s incomparable narration, Kristin Hannah honors the nurses of the Vietnam War with a sweeping story of courage and friendship that utterly gutted us.
Supercommunicators
By Charles Duhigg
Narrated by Charles Duhigg
Bestselling author Charles Duhigg rocks our world yet again, this time with insights on the art of good conversation and how it is so essential to the crucial task of connecting with others.
James
By Percival Everett
Narrated by Dominic Hoffman
Percival Everett brilliantly subverts racist stereotypes in this instant-classic reimagining of Huckleberry Finn from Jim’s perspective, with a knockout performance by Dominic Hoffman.
First Lie Wins
By Ashley Elston
Narrated by Saskia Maarleveld
Saskia Maarleveld’s versatile narration lights up this cat-and-mouse mystery full of twists that won’t make your head hurt or induce anxiety—but delivers everything you want in a thriller.
Funny Story
By Emily Henry
Narrated by Julia Whelan
Emily Henry’s knack for writing relatable characters that balance romantic love with relationships between friends and siblings adds even more joy to this beautiful story.
Bits and Pieces
By Whoopi Goldberg
Narrated by Whoopi Goldberg
EGOT winner Whoopi Goldberg voices her memoir as only she could, with realness and humor and heart, in a love letter to her late mother and brother.
Annie Bot
By Sierra Greer
Narrated by Jennifer Jill Araya
Narrator Jennifer Jill Araya’s subtle shifts in cadence between types of bots adds such dimension to Sierra Greer’s fresh take on AI and all the hopes and fears we ascribe to it.
Martyr!
By Kaveh Akbar
Narrated by Arian Moayed
Poet Kaveh Akbar’s debut novel teems with inventive language that mixes the humorous and profound, delivered in a vibrant performance from Succession star Arian Moayed.
How to End A Love Story
By Yulin Kuang
Narrated by Katharine Chin, Andrew Eiden
This contemporary romance debut from screenwriter and director Yulin Kuang will break your heart with its anti-meet-cute, and then jigsaw it back together in a real and satisfying way.
There's Always This Year
By Hanif Abdurraqib
Narrated by Hanif Abdurraqib
Hanif Abdurraqib’s rumination on basketball and his hometown of Columbus, Ohio, is so emotionally attuned, gorgeously constructed, and positively human that it rings universally resonant.
Knife
By Salman Rushdie
Narrated by Salman Rushdie
Literary hero and fatwa survivor Salman Rushdie reckons with his near-fatal stabbing in absorbing emotional, artistic, and forensic detail, made especially poignant by the author’s captivating reading.
Maybe This Time
By Cara Bastone
Narrated by Zoë Chao, Noah Reid, full cast
Zoë Chao and Noah Reid’s spot-on lead performances are further enhanced by a full-cast production of Cara Bastone’s charming time-travel rom-com full of humor and whimsy.
Blood at the Root
By LaDarrion Williams
Narrated by Jalyn Hall
A new magical legend unfolds in the first novel from playwright and filmmaker LaDarrion Williams—and Black characters take center stage in a genre that has room to grow in terms of representation.
Benefits with Friends
By Mae Martin and Sabrina Jalees
Narrated by Mae Martin and Sabrina Jalees
Listening to this podcast from Mae Martin and Sabrina Jalees is like sitting in a room with two of your funniest friends having a heart-to-heart and inviting you to join in, judgment-free.
When the Sea Came Alive
By Garrett M. Graff
Narrated by Edoardo Ballerini, Garrett M. Graff, full cast
Garrett M. Graff, celebrated narrator Edoardo Ballerini, and a full cast deliver a comprehensive, compassionate portrait of one of the most significant operations in military history.
Legacy
By Uché Blackstock
Narrated by Uché Blackstock
Dr. Uché Blackstock's deeply affecting memoir, which gives voice to her pioneering physician mother and the pervasive health woes of Black Americans, will forever change the way you view US health care.
Tress of the Emerald Sea
By Brandon Sanderson
Narrated by Michael Kramer
Brandon Sanderson’s “Secret Projects” were worth the wait in audio. Longtime Sanderson narrator Michael Kramer exuberantly imparts the story in the voice of the enigmatic Hoid, bringing intrigue and whimsy to this fairy tale.
The Husbands
By Holly Gramazio
Narrated by Miranda Raison
Holly Gramazio’s debut novel about a fantasy attic that produces an endless stream of husbands is about much more than finding romance; it’s about finding ourselves in a world with too many choices.
Yellow Face
By David Henry Hwang
Narrated by Daniel Dae Kim (CK), Ashley Park, full cast
The brilliance of David Henry Hwang's acerbically funny, Pulitzer-nominated play is elevated in audio, with an inspired cast that includes Daniel Dae Kim and Wendell Pierce.
There Is No Ethan
By Anna Akbari
Narrated by Anna Akbari, Justin Price
In this stranger-than-fiction memoir about how a stranger can be ... fiction, Anna Akbari spills the jaw-dropping tale of how she and two other women unmasked the mysterious catfish known as “Ethan.”
Letters from Guantanamo
By Mansoor Adayfi, Antonio Aiello
Narrated by Mansoor Adayfi, Fajer Al-Kaisi, Elias Khalil, Ibrahim El Helw
Mansoor Adayfi’s epistolary record of his 15 years imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay paints a portrait of resistance, resilience, and the triumph of the creative spirit.