Here are all of the audiobooks that I’ve read in 2019. If you’d asked me at the beginning of the year how many audiobooks I’d read, there’s no way I would have guessed this many. My commute did get longer to work, which is partly the reason for this.The other reason is that it’s just so dang enjoyable to listen to a book! I think it triggers the same part of my brain that TV shows sometimes do and it makes me feel like the book is its own TV show. For some reason, I find that more entertaining. Who knows! The full list is below, and then I chose to highlight some of my favorites (I did my best to narrow it down to a top-10). I listen to my audiobooks through Libro.fm supporting Interabang Books in Dallas and my referral link is at the end of this post.
A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) by V.E. Schwab
A Fatal Grace (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #2) by Louise Penny
A Quiet Life in the Country (Lady Hardcastle #1) by T.E. Kinsey
All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells
Becoming by Michelle Obama
Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
Lethal White by Robert Galbraith
Miss You by Kate Eberlen
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Collapsing Empire (The Interdependency #1) by John Scalzi
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth #1) by N.K. Jemisin
The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne
The President Is Missing by Bill Clinton
The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle #1) by Maggie Stiefvater
The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery by Ian Morgan Cron
The Rook (Chequey Files #1) by Daniel O’Malley
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
Transcription by Kate Atkinson
Wanderers by Chuck Wendig
Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow (Nevermoor #2) by Jessica Townsend
You by Caroline Kepnes
I didn’t aim with this list to pick top 10 audiobooks released this year, or top 10 science-fiction audiobooks, or anything like that. This is just, straight-up, the 10 audiobooks that I liked the most that I listened to this year. And — don’t forget this — listening to a book is reading! Yes! It’s science!
Becoming by Michelle Obama
Michelle is an idol to me. The parts of this where she discussed her early childhood were slow, but her chapters on high school and college life touched my heart. One of my friends was once told “You’re living your life like you’re checking the boxes” and I thought “Well, yes. That’s how you succeed.” And Michelle’s advice in this book covers many realms of success and discusses how to find success and yourself in the midst of your family (and in her case, the country). The version I listened to was narrated by Michelle herself. Because of that, we are now best friends.
Lethal White by Robert Galbraith
The fourth installment in the Cormoran Strike series was all the more compelling for its character development. The narrator, Robert Glenister, has the most perfect accent that I could imagine for this setting. Galbraith’s books can get a bit gruesome for me, so the audio format works better. You definitely need to read the first three before this one. I listened to all but the first one and liked the audio format.
Miss You by Kate Eberlen
I searched Libro.fm and the internet for books that had English / Irish narrators (I love love love their accents). I hadn’t heard of the book before, but read the synopsis and listened to the sample and fell in love. There are two narrators here, who portray two people who keep missing each other throughout their lives, and tells the story of their lives with a few key points where they might have run into each other. A different take on the ‘missed chances’ love story and I really liked that there was a male and female narrator for both sides of the story.
The Collapsing Empire (The Interdependency #1) by John Scalzi
I listened last year to John Scalzi’s book “Lock In” (narrated by Wil Wheaton, one of my favorites) so when this one was on sale, I snagged it because it was also narrated by Wil Wheaton. His voice is just so soothing! This space opera had a hefty dose of drama and political intrigue.
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
TOM FREAKING HANKS narrated this book. That’s almost all I have to say about it. Tom Hanks is an amazing voice actor and he portrayed Danny SO SO WELL. I cannot rave enough about this book. Listen!!!
The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne
A lot of online bookish folks recommended this (like Sarah’s Bookshelves) and I decided to do it on audio because I like hefty books on audio. About 21 hours later, I had cried multiple times. I felt so much for the characters and hearing the descriptions of the settings of time and place made me feel like I was right alongside Cyril. A warning though, you should look at a physical character list so that if you read reviews online you know what characters they’re talking about. Also, trigger warnings here for a variety of things.
The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle #1) by Maggie Stiefvater
Earlier in the year when I was looking for my new job, I spent a lot of time cross-stitching and listening to audiobooks. This is one I particularly remember doing while stitching a bookshelf. A little spooky but an intriguing YA read.
The Rook (Chequey Files #1) by Daniel O’Malley
I originally read this with a paper copy, and wanted to re-read it before the second novel. I picked audio instead of a paper read and it was amazing! The descriptions and events really came to live when listening to it vs. reading it. I think this would be a great TV series as well — there is one, but I haven’t watched yet.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
This audiobook was done with a whole cast of characters and that really brought them to life. Told through two timelines, you get to experience Hollywood at its finest. Plus, there’s a twist at the end that I didn’t see coming.
Wanderers by Chuck Wendig
An artificial intelligence computer takes the future of the human race into its own ‘hands’ when a disease that presents like the flu ravages the human population. Following a few characters, this is a race against time to figure out how to protect the ‘sleepwalkers’ who aren’t sick from the growing pro-white movement who think they are the only ones who deserve to be alive. This touches on a lot of modern day themes and concerns about the political climate in a relatable way along with a hefty dose of investigative work around the disease.
Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow (Nevermoor #2) by Jessica Townsend
I fell back into the world of Nevermoor quickly and did not want it to end. I felt that the story was stronger in book 1 but I can see that this book did a lot of the heavy lifting for the overall plot line while also introducing new magic concepts and seeing Morrigan mature.
SJP Books 