Find your next listen
- New to Literature & Fiction? Start here → Sunrise on the Reaping
- No series commitment → Theo of Golden
- Shortest on this list → Animal Farm (3h 11m)
- For a long haul → Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter #5) (26h 28m)
- Most popular of all time → The Hunger Games
- Hidden gem → The Correspondent
- Prefer something shorter? →
- 1
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter • Book 3
by J.K. Rowling
Narrated by Jim Dale
★ 5.00 ABR Score (5.0M ratings)★ 4.58 Goodreads (4.9M) ★ 4.94 Audible (130.7K)More about this pick
Jim Dale's narration transforms this into the series' emotional turning point, giving each character distinct life while building genuine dread alongside the mystery. His performance alone justifies the nearly 12-hour listen.
- 2
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter • Book 6
by J.K. Rowling
Narrated by Jim Dale
★ 5.00 ABR Score (3.8M ratings)★ 4.58 Goodreads (3.7M) ★ 4.95 Audible (109.4K)More about this pick
Jim Dale's performance reaches its peak here, giving each character such distinct voice and energy that the darker, more complex storytelling lands with real weight. The emotional gut-punches hit harder when you're hearing them delivered this well.
- 3
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter • Book 4
by J.K. Rowling
Narrated by Jim Dale
★ 5.00 ABR Score (4.4M ratings)★ 4.57 Goodreads (4.2M) ★ 4.94 Audible (125.6K)More about this pick
Jim Dale's performance transforms this darker turn into something almost unbearably gripping—his voices for the Triwizard Tournament's chaos and Voldemort's return will haunt you long after the 20+ hours end.
- 4
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter • Book 5
by J.K. Rowling, Mary GrandPré
Narrated by Jim Dale
★ 5.00 ABR Score (3.9M ratings)★ 4.5 Goodreads (3.8M) ★ 4.93 Audible (117.3K)More about this pick
Jim Dale transforms this sprawling fifth book into something transcendent—his voice work captures Harry's adolescent rage with such raw precision that the anger becomes contagious and impossible to look away from.
- 5
Sunrise on the Reaping
The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins
Narrated by Jefferson White
★ 4.90 ABR Score (1.2M ratings)★ 4.5 Goodreads (1.1M) ★ 4.85 Audible (32.5K)More about this pick
Young Haymitch faces the brutal Quarter Quell with twice the usual tributes in this Hunger Games prequel. Jefferson White captures the desperation beautifully.
- 6
The Hunger Games
The Hunger Games • Book 1
by Suzanne Collins
Narrated by Tatiana Maslany
★ 4.89 ABR Score (10.0M ratings)★ 4.35 Goodreads (10.0M) ★ 4.89 Audible (16.9K)More about this pick
Collins' brutal dystopia gets the perfect voice in Tatiana Maslany, whose Katniss balances teenage vulnerability with steely determination.
- 7
Theo of Golden
by Allen Levi
Narrated by David Morse
★ 4.85 ABR Score (178.8K ratings)★ 4.57 Goodreads (168.5K) ★ 4.89 Audible (10.3K)More about this pick
A mysterious stranger buys pencil portraits in a small Southern town, with David Morse's weathered voice adding layers of intrigue to every encounter.
- 8
The Hate U Give
The Hate U Give • Book 1
by Angie Thomas
Narrated by Bahni Turpin
★ 4.83 ABR Score (1.1M ratings)★ 4.45 Goodreads (1.0M) ★ 4.78 Audible (45.9K)More about this pick
Bahni Turpin's narration gives each character a distinct, lived-in voice that makes Starr's internal conflict feel devastatingly real. This is essential listening for anyone who wants to understand why this book became a cultural phenomenon.
- 9
Remarkably Bright Creatures
by Shelby Van Pelt
Narrated by Marin Ireland, Michael Urie
★ 4.83 ABR Score (1.4M ratings)★ 4.36 Goodreads (1.3M) ★ 4.79 Audible (62.8K)More about this pick
Marin Ireland and Michael Urie breathe warmth into this unlikely story about a widow who forms a bond with a giant Pacific octopus while cleaning the aquarium at night.
- 10
To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird • Book 1
by Harper Lee
Narrated by Sissy Spacek
★ 4.82 ABR Score (7.0M ratings)★ 4.26 Goodreads (7.0M) ★ 4.8 Audible (49.0K)More about this pick
Sissy Spacek channels Scout's adult voice looking back on childhood innocence lost to ugly truths about justice and prejudice.
- 11
The Correspondent
by Virginia Evans
Narrated by Maggi-Meg Reed, Jane Oppenheimer, Carly Robins, Jeff Ebner, David Pittu, Chris Andrew Ciulla, Mark Bramhall, Petrea Burchard, Robert Petkoff, Kimberly Farr, Cerris Morgan-Moyer, Peter Ganim, Jade Wheeler, Various
★ 4.81 ABR Score (383.3K ratings)★ 4.53 Goodreads (364.9K) ★ 4.8 Audible (18.3K)More about this pick
Through discovered letters, the life story of a remarkable woman unfolds across decades of love, loss, war, and artistic passion. This epistolary novel examines how written words preserve and transform our understanding of both ordinary and extraordinary lives.
- 12
Demon Copperhead
by Barbara Kingsolver
Narrated by Charlie Thurston
★ 4.81 ABR Score (858.9K ratings)★ 4.46 Goodreads (824.6K) ★ 4.77 Audible (34.3K)More about this pick
A David Copperfield retelling set in Appalachian poverty, following a boy through foster care and opioid addiction. Charlie Thurston's authentic narration captures Demon's resilient voice and mountain dialect beautifully.
- 13
The Great Alone
by Kristin Hannah
Narrated by Julia Whelan
★ 4.79 ABR Score (1.3M ratings)★ 4.46 Goodreads (1.2M) ★ 4.7 Audible (58.5K)More about this pick
Julia Whelan captures both Alaska's brutal beauty and a family's desperate struggle when a volatile Vietnam vet moves them off-grid in 1974.
- 14
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.
- 15
James
by Percival Everett
Narrated by Dominic Hoffman
★ 4.76 ABR Score (552.1K ratings)★ 4.42 Goodreads (533.5K) ★ 4.77 Audible (18.6K)More about this pick
Jim's perspective on the Huckleberry Finn story reveals the brutal realities of slavery through brilliant code-switching between dialects. Dominic Hoffman's performance captures every nuanced layer of survival and dignity.
- 16
Small Great Things
Ruth Jefferson • Book 1
by Jodi Picoult
Narrated by Audra McDonald, Cassandra Campbell, Ari Fliakos
★ 4.74 ABR Score (478.4K ratings)★ 4.36 Goodreads (444.3K) ★ 4.75 Audible (34.1K)More about this pick
Three stellar narrators handle this explosive story of a Black nurse forbidden from touching a white supremacist couple's newborn with devastating emotional precision.
- 17
Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë Collection 1)
Jane Eyre • Book 1
by Charlotte Brontë
Narrated by Thandiwe Newton
★ 4.72 ABR Score (2.4M ratings)★ 4.16 Goodreads (2.3M) ★ 4.8 Audible (21.8K)More about this pick
An orphaned governess falls for her brooding employer, but Rochester harbors a dark secret that threatens their love. Thandiwe Newton brings fierce intelligence and quiet strength to Brontë's independent heroine.
- 18
Lessons in Chemistry
by Bonnie Garmus
Narrated by Miranda Raison, Bonnie Garmus, Pandora Sykes
★ 4.68 ABR Score (1.9M ratings)★ 4.28 Goodreads (1.8M) ★ 4.67 Audible (38.5K)More about this pick
1960s chemist Elizabeth Zott becomes an unlikely TV cooking show host, using science to revolutionize both recipes and women's expectations.
- 19
The Color Purple
The Color Purple Collection • Book 1
by Alice Walker
Narrated by Alice Walker
★ 4.68 ABR Score (764.1K ratings)★ 4.28 Goodreads (758.4K) ★ 4.81 Audible (5.7K)More about this pick
Celie's letters to God chronicle brutal abuse and gradual empowerment in rural Georgia. Walker herself reads this Pulitzer winner, adding an intimacy that matches the epistolary format.
- 20
The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell
by Robert Dugoni
Narrated by Robert Dugoni
★ 4.68 ABR Score (253.5K ratings)★ 4.45 Goodreads (230.8K) ★ 4.67 Audible (22.7K)More about this pick
Born with red pupils that make him a target for bullying, Sam Hell navigates childhood with the help of two fellow misfits and family faith. Author Robert Dugoni narrates his own touching story.
- 21
Atmosphere: A GMA Book Club Pick
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Narrated by Kristen DiMercurio, Julia Whelan, Taylor Jenkins Reid
★ 4.68 ABR Score (778.0K ratings)★ 4.33 Goodreads (758.2K) ★ 4.7 Audible (19.8K)More about this pick
Joan Goodwin abandons her quiet professor life to join NASA's first female astronaut program, chasing childhood dreams among the stars. The multi-narrator approach captures different perspectives in this space race drama.
- 22
Animal Farm
by George Orwell
Narrated by Ralph Cosham
★ 4.67 ABR Score (4.7M ratings)★ 4.02 Goodreads (4.6M) ★ 4.74 Audible (43.5K)More about this pick
Ralph Cosham's straightforward narration lets Orwell's barnyard allegory speak for itself—no theatrical flourishes needed when the pigs become tyrants.
- 23
A Thousand Splendid Suns
by Khaled Hosseini
Narrated by Atossa Leoni
★ 4.66 ABR Score (1.8M ratings)★ 4.46 Goodreads (1.8M) ★ 4.61 Audible (15.2K)More about this pick
Two Afghan women from different generations find sisterhood and strength amid decades of war, oppression, and domestic violence in Kabul.
- 24
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.
- 25
A Christmas Carol: A Signature Performance
by Charles Dickens, Tim Curry
Narrated by Tim Curry
★ 4.63 ABR Score (971.0K ratings)★ 4.09 Goodreads (947.2K) ★ 4.74 Audible (23.8K)More about this pick
Scrooge's supernatural Christmas Eve encounters with three spirits offer his last chance at redemption. Tim Curry's dark, theatrical narration returns this beloved holiday story to its Victorian gothic roots with delicious menace.
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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.
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