An audiobook can turn into a memorable listening experience if narrated by a talented audiobook narrator. Listening to a story can grasp your attention and pull you into the story a hundred times better than reading it visually, with the best of narrations.
Finding a brilliant narrator can give you as much pleasure as finding a good writer. Sometimes, you will find such exceptional best audiobooks narrator’s voice performers whose narration solely will encourage you to listen to an audiobook, even if you are not a big fan of the plot.
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What are some of the best narrated audiobooks?
Most of the narrators work only in a few specific genres, and so you can choose a few of your favourite narrators in your genre of choice and listen to all their work. The better a performer a narrator is, the more you will enjoy listening to their voices, and you will feel the setting, the characters, and the plot of the book coming into life. Here are our ten best recommendations of best narrated audiobooks.
Best Narrated Audiobooks With Review:
- With the Fire on High
Emoni is a seventeen-year single mother whose culinary skills are exceptional. Her dream career is that of a chef. But her luck doesn’t seem to be so supportive. Culinary art classes are starting in her school, but a seventeen-year-old with a baby barely has the time or money to join these classes. From the little money that comes from her part-job, she needs to feed her baby.
Many obstacles are in her way, and she doesn’t know how to follow her passion for food anymore. The novel has been narrated with a lot of heart in the form of a beautiful prose that is sure to melt you. And of course, you might yourself want to take up baking by getting inspired by her story of passion. The author has sketched some fabulous characters in this audiobook that are worth rooting for.
Fun Fact:
The author Elizabeth Acevedo is an American poet, novelist, and performer who narrates her work.
- Clap When You Land
This audiobook is dedicated to the thousands of lives lost in the passenger American Airlines flight 587 crash. The audiobook revolves around the themes of the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives. The airplane was flying from Santo Domingo from JFK on November 12, 2001, when this incident took place. This historical event is the central plot of this audiobook.
It is a story of two teenage girls; one of them lives in New York, and the other girl lives in Santo Domingo. After the crash, they discover the truth of their father’s double life. They are shocked to discover that, in reality, they are each other’s sisters. The girls share their stories of love and pain and bond closely with each other. This audiobook is a lyrical, heartfelt exploration of the journey of discovering family secrets, facing losses, and much more.
Fun Fact:
The poet cum author of this audiobook is a national award in poetry winner and a New York Times best-selling author.
If you want to dive deeper into the trend of age-themed novels, this National Award-winning audiobook for Young People’s Literature is something you cannot afford to miss. Xiomara loves her notebook with whom she shares her feelings: hurt, joy, anger, or jealousy. She pours down her heart into it, where she turns her every secret into a poet. She has many secrets- the one in which she was harassed, the one in which she achieved many things and so many that frustrated her.
But she has finally found her voice in this notebook. Slam Poetry Club invites her to share her poetry, but she is unsure if she should go or hide her brimming passion for poetry from her orthodox family. But she realizes she has learned nothing but speaking up and living her reality. She wants to be no one but herself and express it fully. So she tells her stories of powerful truth to the world with blazing words. Even if you are not a great lover of poetry, this audiobook is a masterpiece that you are bound to fall in love with.
Fun Fact:
This Audiobook is an Odyssey Honor and an AudioFile Earphones Award winner and one of the most digitally acclaimed plots with a lot of critical appreciation.
- The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
Marie Kondo, the author and narrator of this audiobook, is a Japanese “personal tidying expert.” She likes herself to call so rather than an organizer. She has mastered the Japanese Art of decluttering and cleaning up, and she’s a bit too extreme with this Art. But her Japanese clients know it works the best.
She has written her decluttering manifesto. If you are already planning a cleaning fest this weekend, this best audiobook narrator’s is the only kick you need. She has given all her best-decluttering tips and cleaning techniques in this audiobook. Like, if it doesn’t sparkle joy in you, rather throw it away. The best part of this audiobook is the quirkiness and fun in the narrator’s voice.
Fun Fact:
This audiobook was once a global publishing phenomenon, and now it has been produced into a Netflix series original.
- The Leavers
11-year-old Deming waits for his mother to return from work, but she never does. He has no family to care for him, so two white professors adopt him and move him from the Bronx to upstate New York. There, they bring him up by them as an ideal “all-American boy.” He is no longer Deming, but Daniel. But it is not all so a fresh start for him. He is still struggling to come to terms with his past and move on from it.
His childhood memories and his mother’s sudden disappearance still haunts him. The audiobook has been set in China and New York. This story is well knitted into a beautifully narrated story in motion that brings up immigration, identity, and belonging themes. It is a story of how a boy reconciles with his traumatic past where everything he loves is taken away from him and of a mother who somehow learns to live with her past mistakes.
Fun Fact:
This book was long-listed for the 2017 National Book Award and has been appreciated by many critics.
- Loveboat, Taipei
Ever Wong is an eighteen-year-old Asian American girl in Ohio who has an excellent dancing talent that she has kept hidden from her parents. She has dreams in her eyes of being a professional dancer once she graduates. But her parents had always wanted her to go to a medical school, and when they got to know their daughter has different plans, they send her to Taiwan to spend the rest of the summer at Chien Tan.
She takes admission in one of those high school programs where the place’s language and culture are preached. She doesn’t want to leave, but the environment of the school surprises her. It is not one of those typical scholarly places. The high school students call the program “Loveboat” since this program leads many lovers to get into a serious long-term relationship.
The students have a lot of leisure time when they are not under supervision and try to find love. Even Ever Wong’s roommate is an exciting person who has come here in search of a husband. You will have a lot of fun listening to this story of a young girl traveling worldwide to find herself, and maybe even her true love.
Fun Fact:
This one is an intense rush of rebellion and romance by New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Barber. The narrator, Abigail Hing Wen, makes her debut with this dazzling, fun-filled romp and is perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Sarah Dessen.
- Educated: A Memoir
Tara Westover had an oppressive childhood when she lived in rural Idaho mountains with her survivalist family that practiced extreme fundamentalist Mormonism. Her father was diagnosed with maniac depression, and there is hardly any ray of hope for Tara to lead a normal life with a good future. Taara never thought she could marry and settle down to raise a family of her own.
But as the saying goes, when there is a will, there is a way. The narrator does a brilliant job of striking just the right tone, nor too dramatic nor too joyous to convey Westover’s family story’s grim. And she does a perfect job of doing so. This is a story of self-exploration from the grief that comes from severing one’s closest ties.
Fun Fact:
The author Julia Whelan is a prolific narrator and is an audio-fan favorite. In 2019, she won the Audie Awards for the narration of this book.
- Beach Read
January is a 29-year-old romance writer for whom mushy endings and “happily-ever-afters” are just an illusion. She no longer believes in love after one of her college incidents and moves to her father’s beach house she inherited on her father’s death, hoping to move on. She is demotivated and feels heart-broken but still works on her current manuscript.
But the wicked fate of hers as different plans. The same problem from which she has been running away till now is now her neighbor. Literary fiction writer Augustus Everett, and her old college crush cum rival. She thought she would never see him again, but her destiny decided to put in some twisty punches.
It seems Gus has troubles of his own, and so they both make a bet to get complete their writings. January will try her hands on “bleak literary fiction,” and Gus wants to write a romance novel. A warm, delightful story of love, writing, and second chances, this best audiobook narrator’s will take you on a fun ride.
Fun Fact:
The author, narrator Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction, and this one is his bestselling romance.
- Evvie Drake Starts Over
This one is a debut novel from Pop Culture Happy Hour host Holmes, a grieving widow, and a disgraced Major League pitcher starting all over their new lives after suffering their tragedies. Evvie’s husband dies in a car accident, and the reason for the death is even more painful than the death itself. Dean’s career is taking a low steep because no one wants to give his business pitches a chance.
Evvie needs someone in her life to earn something, and Dean needs emotional support. A mutual friend connects the two of them, and their friendship bond develops from their witty banter and affection towards each other. Maybe it is something even more than just friendship. But falling in love all over again after having faced so much as grown-up adults is more complicated than you think. This one is those warm, cheerfully hopeful audiobooks you can spend days listening to.
Fun Fact-
In this book, Holmes writes with an easy warmth about kind people trying their best but messing things up, anyway. It is a lovely romance, perfect for listeners of Rainbow Rowell and Louise Miller.
- The Nickel Boys: A Novel
Colson Whitehead brings Jim Crow-era Florida to life with this account of a school in Tallahassee that reforms delinquent boys and gives them a chance to rehabilitate. But the truth is something else. The boys have been abused and terrorized in the school for years. Elwood Curtis makes an innocent mistake, which lands him here.
He has always idealized Dr. Martin Luther King and held on to his preachings and words like a sermon. But his friend Turner is of a complete opposite belief and feels that the world is an ugly place where you have to plot and plan stuff for survival. Elwood is confused and torn apart from two sides, and all this leads to such harrowing repercussions that he has to regret for life.
Fun Fact:
The narrator, JD, is a recipient of Golden Voices Lifetime Achievement for audiobook narrators.
Verdict:
If you’re an avid listener and in search of your next read, these suggestions can help. The narrators of these audiobooks are all well-acclaimed and award winners, and you should listen to their best audiobook narrator’s for getting deep into these marvelous stories.
Here are a few hand-picked guides for you to read next:
10 Best Mystery Audiobooks For When You Want To Be Like Sherlock
10 Best Finance Audiobooks Richest People Listen (2021)
Learn Japanese At Home! 7 Best Recommended Audiobooks
Best Free Spotify Audiobooks From All Genre[Updated]
Here are a few other websites to find best narrated audiobooks :
This article was written by 10audioz and published on Sunday, 20 December 2020. The last update was made on Thursday, 20 January 2023.