Best Books of 2024

Playground

A Novel

By: Richard Powers
Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, Robin Siegerman, Eunice Wong, Pun Bandhu, Krys Janae & Kevin R Free
Length: 13 hours 50 minutes

A magisterial new novel from the Pulitzer Prize–winning and New York Times best-selling author of The Overstory and Bewilderment.
Four lives are drawn together in a sweeping, panoramic new novel from Richard Powers, showcasing the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Overstory at the height of his skills. Twelve-year-old Evie Beaulieu sinks to... Read more

In My Time of Dying

How I Came Face to Face With the Idea of an Afterlife

By: Sebastian Junger
Narrated by: Sebastian Junger
Length: 4 hours 34 minutes

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A near-fatal health emergency leads to this powerful reflection on death—and what might follow—by the bestselling author of Tribe and The Perfect Storm.

For years as an award-winning war reporter, Sebastian Junger traveled to many front lines and frequently put his life at risk. And yet the closest he ever came to... Read more

Funny Story

By: Emily Henry
Narrated by: Julia Whelan
Length: 11 hours 22 minutes

“Emily Henry is always a good time, and this audiobook proves it! Funny Story may just be Emily's best book yet. Read more

James

A Novel

By: Percival Everett
Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman
Length: 7 hours 48 minutes

“A powerful, compelling novel that steps gracefully into its place as a classic. James is not a companion, or a retelling, of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, it's its own breath of fresh air, its own story, and its own message. Everett understands each of his characters, especially his main character, in the most intimate and sure of ways. Read more

The Women

A Novel

By: Kristin Hannah
Narrated by: Julia Whelan & Kristin Hannah
Length: 14 hours 56 minutes

“An eye-opening perspective to give a woman's voice of the Vietnam war. Well-written covering an array of emotions from resilience to heartbreak to hope. Read more

Clear

A Novel

By: Carys Davies
Narrated by: Russ Bain
Length: 3 hours 6 minutes

“This historical fiction felt like a classic. It takes place in the 1840s during the Scottish Clearances, when the rural poor of Scotland were forced off the land in droves. John is a poor minister who must leave his wife and home to evict the last man left on the island. When John arrives on the island, he gets in an accident, and Ivar, the man... Read more

The Ministry of Time

A Novel

By: Kaliane Bradley
Narrated by: George Weightman & Katie Leung
Length: 10 hours 22 minutes

“A unique, futuristic story. Characters you will quickly fall in love with, a story that keeps you wanting more, and a world you want to fall into. Read more

All the Colors of the Dark

By: Chris Whitaker
Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
Length: 14 hours 34 minutes

“I don’t know how I missed this book when it came out, it was my first read/listen in 2025. I don’t know if I will love another book this year as much as I love this one. It’s a big book, a sweeping book of love, friendship, and loyalty. I didn’t want it to end. I’m sad it is over. I loved these characters so much. So many twists and turns as... Read more

The Spellshop

By: Sarah Beth Durst
Narrated by: Caitlin Davies
Length: 12 hours 11 minutes

“Stolen spellbooks, homemade jams, magic storms, winged cats, talking plants! I absolutely ADORED this book and recommend it to anyone looking for a cozy little escape. Amidst all the charm is a heart-opening story of starting over, and the bravery required to break down your walls to let the light & magic in. Five stars for pure enjoyment! Read more

I Was A Teenage Slasher

By: Stephen Graham Jones
Narrated by: Michael Crouch & Stephen Graham Jones
Length: 11 hours 12 minutes

“Didn’t think I could actually love a slasher character, but in this subversion of the genre I truly connected with Tali Driver! Read more

You Dreamed of Empires

A Novel

By: Álvaro Enrigue
Narrated by: Gabriel Porras
Length: 6 hours 23 minutes

“Hilarious and beautiful. The final days of the Aztec empire as if they were taking place in the boardrooms of today. A poignant satire of colonialism and the evil that lives on in its descendants. Read more

Supercommunicators

How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection

By: Charles Duhigg
Narrated by: Charles Duhigg
Length: 7 hours 28 minutes

“This was an engaging book to listen to! I loved learning about communication styles and how to do it effectively in different situations. Read more

A Walk in the Park

By: Kevin Fedarko
Narrated by: Kevin Fedarko
Length: 14 hours 40 minutes

“The lifelong obsession of the Grand Canyon led to Kevin Fedarko’s memoir. It is about him and his bestfriend Pete McBride’s journey along the length ofthe Grand Canyon, a 750 mile path. This was a grand adventure of survival. They had limited access to water and no through trail. They were very unprepared with little hiking experience and they... Read more

There's Always This Year

On Basketball and Ascension

By: Hanif Abdurraqib
Narrated by: Hanif Abdurraqib
Length: 8 hours 40 minutes

“Using basketball as a vehicle for reflection of East Columbus history and personal memoir, There’s Always This Year is a triumph of contemplative, emotionally-rich writing that will have you wiping tears and on the edge of your seat. Read more

The Wide Wide Sea

Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook

By: Hampton Sides
Narrated by: Peter Noble
Length: 15 hours 40 minutes

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES, TIME, THE ECONOMIST, NPR, THE NEW YORKER, THE SMITHSONIAN, AND KIRKUS REVIEWS

A “thrilling and superbly crafted” (The Wall Street Journal) account of the most momentous voyage of the Age of Exploration, which culminated in Captain James Cook’s death in Hawaii, and... Read more

The Mango Tree

A Memoir of Fruit, Florida, and Felony

By: Annabelle Tometich
Narrated by: Annabelle Tometich
Length: 10 hours 56 minutes

This “witty, humorous, and heartfelt“ (Cinelle Barnes) memoir navigates the tangled branches of Annabelle Tometich’s life, from growing up in Florida as the child of and a Filipino mother and a deceased white father to her adult life as a med-school-reject-turned-food-critic.

When journalist Annabelle Tometich picks up the phone one June... Read more

The Silver Snarling Trumpet

The Birth of the Grateful Dead—The Lost Manuscript of Robert Hunter

By: Robert Hunter
Narrated by: Fred Berman, Dennis McNally, Brigid Meier & John Mayer
Length: 6 hours 18 minutes

Discovered at last, the legendary lost manuscript of Grateful Dead co-founder and primary lyricist Robert Hunter, written in the early 1960s—a wry, richly observed, and enlightening remembrance of “the scene” in Palo Alto that gave rise to an incredible partnership of Hunter and Jerry Garcia, and then to the Grateful Dead itself—with a Foreword... Read more

Just for the Summer

By: Abby Jimenez
Narrated by: Christine Lakin, Zachary Webber & Abby Jimenez
Length: 11 hours 42 minutes

“Justin and Emma share the same curse: everyone they date goes on to meet and marry their soulmate. They decide to date just for the summer to break the curse. Abby Jimenez writes characters working through their traumas with humor and joy. Read more

Heartless Hunter

The Crimson Moth: Book #1

By: Kristen Ciccarelli
Narrated by: Grace Gray
Length: 12 hours 8 minutes

"A steamy game of cat and mouse between witch and witch-hunter, played out against a backdrop of opulence, secrets, and bloody history. I couldn't look away." - Kendare Blake, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Champion of Fate

Enemies-to-lovers doesn't get more high stakes than a witch and a witch hunter falling in love in bestselling... Read more

The Night We Lost Him

By: Laura Dave
Narrated by: Julia Whelan
Length: 7 hours 48 minutes

“A mystery plus a family drama with all the feels. Read more