Audiobooks Like Born a Crime

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Chumel Torres earns every second of Born a Crime's nine hours — he moves through languages and accents with the ease of someone who grew up code-switching, and the tonal range he sustains is striking: a story that can make you laugh out loud one moment and land something genuinely painful the next without either feeling forced. The runtime is calibrated, not padded — enough room for the memoir to unfold across decades without ever losing momentum. The audiobooks here carry that same balance of emotional honesty and high readability: nearly all rate above 4.3 on Goodreads, and they run close to that nine-hour mark where a memoir has space to breathe without asking more of your attention than the story can justify.

10 audiobooks for fans of Born a Crime

  1. 1
    Finding Me cover

    Finding Me

    by Viola Davis

    Narrated by Viola Davis

    ★ 4.93 ABR Score (228.9K ratings)
    ★ 4.53 Goodreads (184.9K) ★ 4.94 Audible (44.0K)
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    Viola Davis narrates her own journey from poverty in Rhode Island to Oscar-winning actress with raw honesty and power. Hearing her voice tell stories of trauma, resilience, and artistic discovery creates an intimate connection.

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  2. 2
    I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings cover

    I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

    Maya Angelou's Autobiography • Book 1

    by Maya Angelou

    Narrated by Maya Angelou

    ★ 4.61 ABR Score (596.3K ratings)
    ★ 4.3 Goodreads (586.4K) ★ 4.74 Audible (9.9K)
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    Maya Angelou chronicles her childhood in 1930s Arkansas, from racist violence to finding her voice through literature and poetry. Hearing Angelou read her own words creates an intimacy that print cannot match.

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  3. 3
    The Glass Castle cover

    The Glass Castle

    by Jeannette Walls

    Narrated by Jeannette Walls

    ★ 4.53 ABR Score (1.4M ratings)
    ★ 4.33 Goodreads (1.4M) ★ 4.58 Audible (18.5K)
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    Walls' childhood with brilliant but destructive alcoholic parents comes to vivid life through her own narration of this harrowing yet loving memoir.

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  4. 4
    Never Finished: Unshackle Your Mind and Win the War Within cover

    Never Finished: Unshackle Your Mind and Win the War Within

    by David Goggins

    Narrated by David Goggins, Adam Skolnick, Jacqueline Gardner

    ★ 4.78 ABR Score (80.2K ratings)
    ★ 4.39 Goodreads (48.0K) ★ 4.9 Audible (32.2K)
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    Goggins continues his brutal honesty about mental toughness, sharing strategies from his 'Mental Lab' for pushing past perceived limitations and comfortable mediocrity.

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  5. 5
    Stripped Down cover

    Stripped Down

    by Bunnie Xo

    Narrated by Bunnie Xo

    ★ 4.74 ABR Score (12.2K ratings)
    ★ 4.59 Goodreads (7.6K) ★ 4.92 Audible (4.6K)
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    From Vegas trailer parks to Nashville mansions, Bunnie Xo narrates her own brutal journey with unflinching honesty and surprising humor about addiction and redemption.

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  6. 6
    God's Smuggler cover

    God's Smuggler

    by Unknown Author

    Narrated by Simon Vance

    ★ 4.65 ABR Score (50.5K ratings)
    ★ 4.38 Goodreads (47.8K) ★ 4.9 Audible (2.6K)
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    Simon Vance's measured, trustworthy delivery transforms this true account of Bible smuggling into a page-turner that feels both intimate and urgent. A modern classic that still grips because the stakes, and the faith, feel devastatingly real.

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  7. 7
    The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times cover

    The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times

    by Michelle Obama

    Narrated by Michelle Obama

    ★ 4.64 ABR Score (111.3K ratings)
    ★ 4.27 Goodreads (99.7K) ★ 4.83 Audible (11.6K)
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    Obama's personal narration adds warmth to her practical strategies for maintaining hope and balance during turbulent times.

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  8. 8
    The Elephant Whisperer: Learning About Life, Loyalty and Freedom from a Remarkable Herd of Elephants cover

    The Elephant Whisperer: Learning About Life, Loyalty and Freedom from a Remarkable Herd of Elephants

    Elephant Whisperer • Book 1

    by Lawrence Anthony, Graham Spence

    Narrated by Simon Vance

    ★ 4.63 ABR Score (41.2K ratings)
    ★ 4.5 Goodreads (33.3K) ★ 4.76 Audible (7.9K)
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    Simon Vance's narration transforms this true story into an intimate portrait of grief and redemption, letting you hear the quiet breakthroughs between a man and a traumatized herd he refuses to abandon.

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  9. 9
    Outlaw Platoon: Heroes, Renegades, Infidels, and the Brotherhood of War in Afghanistan cover

    Outlaw Platoon: Heroes, Renegades, Infidels, and the Brotherhood of War in Afghanistan

    by Sean Parnell, John R. Bruning

    Narrated by Ray Porter

    ★ 4.63 ABR Score (20.7K ratings)
    ★ 4.4 Goodreads (13.3K) ★ 4.84 Audible (7.4K)
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    Ray Porter's gravelly delivery cuts through the chaos of combat and the raw intimacy of brotherhood—he makes you feel the weight of command decisions that haunt you long after the final mission ends.

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  10. 10
    The Diary of a Young Girl cover

    The Diary of a Young Girl

    by Anne Frank

    Narrated by Selma Blair

    ★ 4.61 ABR Score (4.2M ratings)
    ★ 4.2 Goodreads (4.2M) ★ 4.75 Audible (7.5K)
    More about this pick

    Selma Blair captures both Anne's teenage concerns about boys and body changes and her profound observations about human nature under extreme circumstances.

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How We Rank Audiobooks

Rankings are driven by listener ratings and review counts from Audible and Goodreads. Books with high ratings across a large number of listeners rank higher — a 4.5 with 50,000 ratings says more than a 4.8 with 200.

Unlike most book lists, we weight audiobook-specific factors: narrator performance, production quality, and how well a story translates to audio. A great book with a poor narration isn't a great audiobook.

We don't accept paid placements or prioritize new releases. These rankings reflect what listeners actually enjoy, not what's being promoted.

Rankings update periodically as new ratings come in and new titles are added to the collection.

Read our full ranking methodology →