The Best Audiobooks of 2025 (So Far)

Gem Carmella is new to us as an audiobook narrator, but we are ready to start her fan club. Her work in this poignant fairy tale, the solo debut of New York Times bestselling author Amal El-Mohtar, is laden with magic seemingly bestowed by fairies themselves. Her voice is imbued with a gritty yet beautiful sadness, which is perfectly matched to the story of two sisters who cannot be separated, even in death. Making this even more of a must-listen is music performed by the author and her sister on harp, flute, and vocals, as well as songs sung by Carmella. Might this short but memorable audio experience also make our Best of the Year list? It’s a definite contender! 

The Sirens is another mesmerizing genre-bending and time-bending tale about sisterhood, resilience, and the power of dreams by Emilia Hart, whose debut novel, Weyward, is a former Barnes & Noble Best Audiobook of the Year. From the very first notes of the melancholy music in the opening credits, you are gripped by a sense of mystery and magic. And then Barrie Kreinik begins her majestic and masterful narration, wrapping the characters in Irish and Australian accents and even delivering a poignant rendition of a folk song. This special production also includes a 20-minute conversation with Hart, and we bestow extra bonus points for the enchanting book cover. 

This is a Holocaust family memoir like no other. Welsh writer and poet Joe Dunthorne was researching his grandmother’s escape from Germany as a young girl in the 1930s when he found something else: evidence that his Jewish great-grandfather made chemical weapons for the Nazis. Dunthorne narrates this deeply personal memoir with expected poignancy, as well as some unexpected humor, reflecting on the hard choices people make, the myths families create, and the impact of inherited guilt. 

To werewolf, or not to werewolf. Nat Cassidy once again gives us a unique twist on a classic trope in his third novel. This chilling and lingering horror thrives in how grounded and realistic it feels, despite a rather hairy foe. With a young boy in danger, our main character is determined to protect him at all costs. Narrator Helen Laser throws body and voice into this frantic-paced chase for clarity, safety, and sanity. 

Newbery Medal-winning authors (and real-life friends) Kwame Alexander and Jerry Craft team up for this ridiculous and hilarious adventure featuring two creative fifth graders who will stop at nothing to one-up each other. This is one where we recommend pairing the audiobook with the hardcover so you can follow along and take in the fantastic artwork throughout.  Sure, you could just read the book, but it is a real treat to hear the two popular authors narrate this one.   

We return to the dystopian country of Panem in this unexpected fifth book in Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games series. The Fiftieth Annual Hunger Games are about to begin, and the focus is on Haymitch Abernathy, who decades later will become mentor and nemesis to Katniss and Peeta. A phenomenal success in hardcover, Sunrise on the Reaping is also an Earphones Award winner for debut narrator Jefferson White, who starred in the TV series Yellowstone. White distinguishes a large cast with ease and emotion, leaning in to the combination of tenacity, fear, sadness, and resilience that the young and heartbroken Haymitch requires.   

Phil Hanley is a Canadian stand-up comedian and actor. When he was in first grade, he realized that he was different from his friends and classmates in a significant way: he couldn’t read. Being dyslexic has affected many aspects of Hanley’s life ever since. Here, he writes and narrates with humor, heartbreak, humility, and gratitude about how he successfully adapted to dyslexia and continues to use it as an inspiration.    

We wholeheartedly agree with Emily Henry, who says, “No one does funny, emotional, life-affirming love stories quite like Abby Jimenez. She just keeps outdoing herself.” With thousands of miles between them, can this pair find love — or was it all a fluke? Celebrity narrators Christine Lakin and Matt Lanter lend their voices as Samantha and Xavier, and their duet narration is memorable. A big-hearted story about family, memory, love and heartbreak, Abby Jimenez’s latest can’t be missed. 

Only available as an audiobook, Lights On is an audio documentary that explores the unknown corners of consciousness and the cosmos. A journalist who specializes in neuroscience and physics, Harris makes a complex subject universally accessible by structuring it as a Q&A with other deep thinkers in the fields of science and philosophy. A soothing soundscape adds to the easy listening experience about something almost unfathomable. We agree with well-known author and psychologist Adam Grant, who raves, “You’ll never think about what happens between your ears in the same way again.”   

Move over, Daisy Jones and Billy Dunne. Katarina Shaw and Heath Rocha are taking the spotlight. Passion turns into obsession; obsession turns into scandal. Enter the world of elite figure skating and get caught up in its gossip. This full-cast narration will suck you in like the best tell-all documentary that it emulates. Throw in a real-life Olympic figure skater, Johnny Weir, as one of the narrators and you have an audiobook guaranteed to go for the gold.