Listening to a title being read to you can really bring it alive in new ways, which is why we love an audiobook at Good Housekeeping.
To have a memoir read by the author themselves can be a real treat for a fan, likewise when a classic gets paired with a perfectly pitched narrator.
Books told from multiple perspectives also work brilliantly on audio, as do certain genres like thrillers, where a narrator can heighten the pace and suspense.
And let’s be honest, there are times when audiobooks are more convenient than sitting down with a physical read. They can be the ideal companions when getting your steps in, during long car journeys, or to have on in the background while getting through mundane jobs at home.
They can also come in very handy when you’ve left buying your latest book club title too late to actually have time to sit and read it.
How to access audiobooks ?
You can usually get audiobooks for free from your local library via Borrowbox , uLibrary or Libby, though bear in mind you may have to wait for the title to be available.
To have access whenever you want, there are subscription services, such as Amazon’s Audible – the one I use for its sheer number of titles –or Kobo.
Or if you don’t want to commit to a monthly subscription, the likes of Google Audiobooks and xigxag let you buy books as one-off purchases.
We think the titles on this list are all enhanced by the audio format and have chosen a selection that has something for everyone and might inspire you to try something a little different or revisit an old favourite.
The best audiobooks to listen to this winter:
The People on Platform 5 by Clare Pooley, narrated by Clare Corbett
For an uplifting listen, The People on Platform 5 should be top of your download list. From the author of The Authenticity Project, it follows six commuters who take the same train every day, with former socialite-turned-agony-aunt Iona (and beloved dog Lulu) at the centre. The train gang’s lives become entwined in surprising ways.
It’s a celebration of multi-generational friendships and human resilience – and a lesson in not jumping to assumptions. Clare Corbett deftly narrates every character, from posh banker Piers to Martha, a 15-year-old schoolgirl. There are laugh-out-loud moments and poignant ones too. I raced through it while sofa-bound with an injury and it really brightened my day.
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, narrated by Maya Angelou
This first instalment of writer, poet and activist Maya Angelou’s autobiography was published in 1969. Even if you’ve read it before, the fact that this is narrated by Angelou, who died in 2014, makes it a special listen.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings covers her childhood and teenage in the 1930s and 1940s, first in deeply segregated rural Arkansas, then St Louis, Missouri and finally San Francisco. Though it deals with confronting themes, such as sexual abuse, the knowledge that Angelou went on to play a major part in the civil rights movement and was an advocate of LGBTQ+ rights, means there’s always a note of hope running through.
Oh Miriam! by Miriam Margolyes, narrated by Miriam Margolyes
Miriam Margolyes is a force to be reckoned with, and whether you agree with her views or not, I challenge anyone not to be entertained by this follow-up to her 2021 memoir This Much Is True.
Narrated by Margolyes herself, in Oh Miriam!, she shares her life lessons, with chapters on topics ranging from swearing and sex to her Jewish identity and staying relevant at eighty. There’s plenty of celebrity name-dropping and a lot of colourful language in Miriam’s world – make sure you listen away from young ears.
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh, narrated by Jeremy Irons
Jeremy Irons starred in ITV’s much-loved 1981 adaptation of Brideshead, playing the book’s protagonist Charles Ryder, so he feels a perfect fit to bring all the characters to life here.
You’ll be swept along with Charles who meets reckless aristocrat Sebastian Flyte while studying at Oxford in the 1920s and becomes absorbed in his world, not least at the family’s ancestral home from which the book takes its name. Waugh’s book tackles themes of love, faith and the decline of the old-world order in rich, evocative language that is perfectly delivered by Irons.
The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, narrated by Claire Benedict, Janice Acquah, Nadine Marshall, Joseph Marcell and Ben Onwukwe
Here’s a treat for fans of Alexander McCall Smith’s Botswana-set series following Precious Ramotswe and her detective agency "for the problems of ladies, and others".
This series was adapted by the author for broadcast on Radio 4 and covers 35 stories from the books. Even if you’ve read them all, this cast and evocative African music brings Mma Ramotswe’s world to life in a way that the written word can’t.
The cases are more “cosy crime” than grisly murder – think foiling corrupt local politicians, confronting unethical doctors and locating missing husbands – but that is part of the charm. Purists will note that beyond the first few, the stories are not in order, but that makes this audiobook one you can dip in and out of.
The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith (Narrated by the full cast)
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters, narrated by Juanita McMahon
There are so many twists and turns in Sarah Waters’ Fingersmith that it works brilliantly as an audiobook, immersing the reader in a harsh and divided Victorian England.
Narrator Juanita McMahon brings the characters to life so distinctly, not least the two protagonists: Sue Trinder, who grows up with a family of petty thieves in Dickensian London, and wealthy heiress Maud Lilly, living in a sprawling countryside mansion.
Their lives are inexorably linked from birth and their coming together makes for a gripping thriller with a gothic romance at its heart – at almost 24 hours long, it’s one you can savour.
Geneva by Richard Armitage, narrated by Richard Armatige and Nicola Walker
Richard Armitage has teamed up with former Spooks co-star Nicola Walker to read his debut thriller. It follows Nobel-prize-winning scientist Sarah and her neurologist husband Daniel as they travel to the titular Swiss city for the announcement of a major scientific breakthrough. All is not as it seems and Sarah is left not knowing who or what to trust.
Told in first-person chapters, interspersed with blog posts, the format lends itself to audio. While there’s plenty of action (and a few moments where you may need to suspend disbelief), there’s also a sensitively handled Alzhiemer’s storyline and tackling of questions of medical ethics in a post-Covid world. The wintery setting makes it great cold-weather listening.
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Geneva, by Richard Armitage (Narrated by Richard Armitage, Nicola Walker, Jane Perry)
Violeta by Isabel Allende, narrated by Yareli Arizmendi
This is a family saga cleverly woven with real-life events, told from the perspective of 100-year-old Violeta, who’s born during the Spanish flu epidemic and dies during the Covid pandemic.
It’s set in an unnamed South American country that we assume is Allende’s native Chile and so we get a Latin American perspective on the likes of the Wall Street Crash, World War II, the fight for women’s rights and living under a dictatorship as it progresses to democracy. Yareli Arizmendi's evocative narration helped transport me to Violeta’s world and I didn’t want to leave!
The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold, narrated by Louise Brealey
We’re back in Victorian London here. Historian Hallie Rubenhold is on a mission to give a voice to the victims of one of the most well-known serial killers in British history, rather than zooming in on the gruesome details of their deaths or the story around the murderer. (Recent ITV drama The Long Shadow took a similar approach for the women killed by the so-called “Yorkshire Ripper” Peter Sutcliffe in the North of England the 1970s.)
Rubenhold’s book is divided into five parts, each one focussing on a single woman, telling her life story. The audio brings Rubenhold’s meticulous research to life and I predict it will change the way you feel about depictions of “true crime”.
The Five The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper, Hallie Rubenhold (Narrated by Louise Brealey)
