10 audiobooks for fans of The Hour I First Believed
- 1
We Are Water
by Wally Lamb
Narrated by Wally Lamb, George Guidall, Maggi-Meg Reed, Tavia Gilbert, Richard Ferrone, Edoardo Ballerini, Cynthia Darlow, Therese Plummer, Robin Miles, Sandy Rustin
★ 4.03 ABR Score (59.5K ratings)★ 3.84 Goodreads (56.6K) ★ 4.32 Audible (2.9K)More about this pick
A stellar ensemble cast transforms this multigenerational family reckoning into something closer to theater than narration, with each voice bringing authentic depth to competing perspectives on love, loyalty, and secrets.
- 2
The River
by Wally Lamb
Narrated by Jeremy Sisto
★ 4.47 ABR Score (159.0K ratings)★ 4.3 Goodreads (155.0K) ★ 4.61 Audible (4.0K)More about this pick
Jeremy Sisto voices Corby Ledbetter's journey from addiction and tragedy through prison brutality toward possible redemption in Lamb's latest.
- 3
The Corrections
by Jonathan Franzen
Narrated by George Guidall
Why this book?
George Guidall's measured, introspective narration brings the same contemplative depth to *The Corrections* that makes *The Hour I First Believed* so absorbing, while both novels weave complex family mysteries through richly detailed character studies that reward close listening.
★ 4.00 ABR Score (202.8K ratings)★ 3.85 Goodreads (199.7K) ★ 4.23 Audible (3.1K)More about this pick
The Lambert family's dysfunction explodes during one final Christmas gathering as parents age and adult children struggle with modern life. Guidall captures the bitter humor and genuine pathos of this Midwestern family's slow-motion collapse.
- 4
Lost Man's River
Shadow Country Trilogy • Book 2
by Peter Matthiessen
Narrated by George Guidall
★ 3.68 ABR Score (566 ratings)★ 3.93 Goodreads (534) ★ 4.06 Audible (32)More about this pick
Matthiessen's haunting exploration of Florida's violent frontier history through the Watson family saga. Guidall's weathered voice suits the swampy, blood-soaked atmosphere perfectly.
- 5
East of Eden
by John Steinbeck
Narrated by Richard Poe
★ 4.78 ABR Score (674.9K ratings)★ 4.44 Goodreads (655.0K) ★ 4.78 Audible (19.8K)More about this pick
Two California families—the Trasks and Hamiltons—reenact biblical themes of good and evil across generations in Steinbeck's sprawling Salinas Valley epic.
- 6
The Master and Margarita
by Mikhail Bulgakov, George Guidall, Diana Burgin - Translator - translator, Katherine Tiernan O'Connor - Translator - translator
Narrated by George Guidall
★ 4.64 ABR Score (428.1K ratings)★ 4.28 Goodreads (428.1K)More about this pick
George Guidall guides listeners through Bulgakov's wild satire where Satan visits Stalin's Moscow and chaos erupts across the literary scene.
- 7
Cutting for Stone
by Abraham Verghese
Narrated by Sunil Malhotra
★ 4.61 ABR Score (445.5K ratings)★ 4.34 Goodreads (431.3K) ★ 4.65 Audible (14.2K)More about this pick
A luminous family saga whose emotional depth justifies the full 24-hour audiobook. Malhotra captures both the intimacy and epic scope of this prose.
- 8
DON QUIXOTE. Translated
Don Quijote de la Mancha #1-2
by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
Narrated by George Guidall
★ 4.31 ABR Score (314.6K ratings)★ 3.91 Goodreads (308.1K) ★ 4.54 Audible (6.5K)More about this pick
An aging gentleman reads so many chivalric romances that he decides to become a knight-errant himself, accompanied by his practical squire Sancho Panza. Guidall's narration spans the epic adventures of literature's most famous delusional hero and his increasingly wise fool companion across their quixotic journeys.
- 9
The Brothers K
by David James Duncan
Narrated by Robertson Dean
★ 4.17 ABR Score (17.2K ratings)★ 4.39 Goodreads (17.1K) ★ 4.78 Audible (83)More about this pick
Robertson Dean captures each family member's distinct voice as the Chance family navigates Vietnam War-era America through baseball, religion, and sibling bonds spanning decades.
- 10
Gilgamesh: Versión de Stephen Mitchell
by Anonymous, Stephen Mitchell
Narrated by George Guidall
★ 4.06 ABR Score (124.6K ratings)★ 3.76 Goodreads (120.4K) ★ 4.35 Audible (4.2K)More about this pick
The world's oldest epic follows King Gilgamesh and wild man Enkidu through friendship, loss, and the search for immortality. George Guidall's commanding voice suits Mitchell's accessible translation of this ancient tale of power, friendship, and mortality.
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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.