Best Audiobooks of 2024 (so far)
I will read books in any format–physical, ebooks, and, of course, audiobooks! I’m not one of those people who believes audiobooks don’t count as reading. If someone is consuming literature and engaging in prose someone put together, they are reading. Audiobooks have so many benefits! They can be useful if you want to be able to read but can’t sit down with a book (I’ll listen to audiobooks when I’m driving, doing chores, or even taking a walk). Some people may have visual impairment or other characteristics that interfere with reading a print book. And some books are enhanced through excellent audiobook narration!
Here are my favorite audiobooks of 2024 so far. I included any genre and the ones that I enjoyed the most. Get your earbuds, headphones, or whatever listening device you prefer ready to settle in with a great audiobook!
If you haven’t heard of Holly Gramazio’s genre-bending novel, The Husbands, then let me be the one to tell you this book needs to be on your TBR! This book is popping up on celebrity book club lists all over since it’s debut. With any good novel featuring iconic British banter, hearing the narrated version brings it to life, and Miranda Raison delivers the laughs with her expert narration. Read my full review here!
A woman arrives home to discover a husband in her flat she has no memory of. Before long, she realizes that each time her husband goes into the attic, a new husband comes back down. Can she find love in this endless loop of husbands?
Amy Tintera’s Listen for the Lie is not only one of my favorite books I’ve read in 2024, it’s also a book that shows why audiobooks are amazing. January LaVoy and Will Damron narrate this story to perfection, and this is one of those books that is better over audio.
Lucy Chase has spent years with everyone in her hometown thinking she murdered her best friend. Now that a popular true crime podcast has chosen to cover the case, she’s making national headlines. Read my full review here!
Lucy is one sassy character, and she has this running voice in her head that January LaVoy brought to life. Add to that the podcast elements of the story, which are narrated by Damron, and you’ve got a hit audiobook!
Romance fans will know Emily Henry’s work–she’s an auto-buy author for me! I don’t always like contemporary romance over audiobook, because it can be awkward. That couldn’t be further from the truth when it comes to Julia Whelan’s narration of Funny Story. She brought the emotion, chemistry, and vibrant story to life. See my full review here!
Daphne and Peter had the perfect love story…until they didn’t. After Peter breaks off their engagement to be with his best friend, Petra, Daphne bonds with Petra’s broken-hearted ex-boyfriend Miles. Miles and Daphne have nothing in common, except their unfortunate end to their relationships. And perhaps their attraction to one another…
B. A. Paris writes incredible psychological thrillers. The Guest is incredibly atmospheric, and there is something extra special about being able to close your eyes and picture certain parts. Add to that a book set in England and featuring French characters, and I thought that Emily Joyce’s narration enhanced the experience of this book. She captures the different accents seamlessly. See my full review here!
Have you ever had a houseguest overstay their welcome? That is the situation that Iris and Gabriel find themselves in when they arrive home from holiday and discover their friend Laure in their house. She is going through a separation from her husband, and she isn’t keen on heading back to Paris. And that is only the beginning of this twisted tale…
Sometimes I find that Australian audiobook narrators have a less-expressive style and it can make audiobooks more challenging for me to stay engaged with. However, that wasn’t the case at all with Sally Hepworth’s latest psychological thriller, Darling Girls! Jessica Clarke’s narration was vibrant, poignant, and captured the dry wit of Norah at the same time as the emotions of Jessica and Alicia. See my full review here!
Foster sisters Norah, Jessica, and Alicia bonded through a terrible experience living in the same foster home with a woman named Miss Fairchild. Now as adults, they find themselves in a bad situation when a body is discovered beneath the home.
A haunting, southern gothic novel set in Miami, Chanel Cleeton’s latest historical fiction novel The House on Biscayne Bay is an eerie story that weaves between two timelines in the same opulent mansion in Biscayne Bay. This story uses two narrators to perfection with Frankie Corzo and Caroline Hewitt. See my full review here!
A man promises to build his wife the most luxurious mansion in Florida. But not long after arriving, she finds something unsettling about the house on Biscayne Bay, Marbrisa. Years later, a young woman is sent to stay with her sister and her husband in Marbrisa, but something isn’t right with her sister or the house…
Imagine spending years struggling to remember the events of the worst night of your life. That’s the premise that kicks off Jenny Hollander’s psychological thriller, Everyone Who Can Forgive Me is Dead. Marisa Calin captures the mix of perfection in Charlie’s present life as an editor-in-chief at a major magazine, and tension in her flashbacks to the graduate school. See my full review here!
A woman has everything she wants in life, except for answers to what happened on that night long ago. Known as “Scarlet Christmas”, several of her closest friends lost their lives that night. Now, one of their classmates is sniffing around to make a buzzy film about what really happened, and she’s not sure she wants to find out the truth…
Vera Kurian’s sophomore book is somehow better than her debut. In A Step Past Darkness, Jeena Yi brought the small town and dark secrets to life through her narration. I think this book would be great in either format, but it’s a lengthy book and I think the audiobook made it fly by in a flash and allowed the pace to stay upbeat. See my full review here!
Six teenagers witnessed something terrible one night. They promise to never speak on it again and flee. But in this small town, secrets can’t stay buried forever. Twenty years later they are called back to that tiny town and must face the horrors they thought they left behind…
Tracy Siera’s novel, Nightwatching, starts with a heart-pounding scenario and the tension never lets up. Narrator Emily Ellet captures the fear in those early chapters expertly, and delivers the hazy quality of the flashback scenes with emotion. I thought the audiobook added to the story, particularly in the back half as we learn more about our unnamed narrator. See my full review here!
A woman and her children hide in a hidden space behind the stove when a stranger enters their home. At first she thinks she can wait it out, but with a winter storm cutting off access to her street, the stranger has settled in to wait for her to emerge.
2 Comments
Carla
I have 6 of these on my TBR, but would love to listen to them instead. Too bad that they are not all available at my 3 possible sources.
Jonetta | Blue Mood Café
Wow! All of these are on my shelf, three I’ve finished and one I’m currently listening to at the moment! Of course I’m loving your list, Mackenzie💜