10 must-listen books chosen by our critic

Audiobooks used to be an important recommendation. Not anymore. Instead, they have become one of the fastest growing areas in publishing. The fact that you can use the book while walking, working, washing, or lying in bed with your eyes closed makes it a desirable option, especially for those who haven’t picked up a physical book in a long time. And with the advent of big-name narrators, full casts and innovative production methods, the appeal of the audiobook is even greater. Here are the top 10 songs from 2026 to date, across a variety of genres.

George Saunders’ Vigil

Narrative: Judy Greer, Stephen Root and 20 actors, including the author.
When listening: 5 hours 32 minutes
Type: Fiction

In Saunders’ first novel since his Booker win Lincoln in the Bardowe meet Jill “Doll” Blaine, a doula who accompanies the dying into the afterlife. In fact, he has taken 343 people from life to death, so he is an old man at this. But his latest charge, hard-line climate-change fuel-denialist KJ Boone, is so full of himself that he doesn’t want help and doesn’t show much sympathy. Should Jill try to save her soul, or leave him in his righteous deserts? It’s a small novel and short audio book, but the main voice, directed by actors Judy Greer and Stephen Root, brings life after death.

The Country and Its People by David Sedaris

Narrative: David Sedaris
When listening: 7 hours 26 minutes
Type: Non-fictional memories

If you’ve ever seen David Sedaris read live on stage, you know what you’re in for here – funny stories, sharply written gathered from his life that unexpectedly tugged at your heartstrings or punched you in the gut, it was all said in that happy-dropping drawing. “I’m in the hard part of getting old,” he says at one point, “the part where everything annoys you.” Whether she’s writing about her husband Hugh’s hip replacement or the freedom to decide she feels now that her father is dead, Sedaris still has sass and satire.

Things We Never Said by Elizabeth Strout

Narrative: Robert Petkoff
When listening: 6 hours 35 minutes
Type: Fiction

Fans of Elizabeth Strout see the workers, the characters of the small American town in her novels as real people, and even friends. He has adapted his best-known creations, Olive Kitteridge and Lucy Barton, into various novels. But his latest book introduces a new character – Artie Dam is a 57-year-old school teacher who has a happy marriage and a good life. But – you knew there was a “but” coming – after living through this tragedy, and before the 2024 American elections, he begins to feel uneasy about a world he doesn’t understand. And that’s when a family secret from the past turns everything upside down.

London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe

Narrative: Patrick Radden Keefe
When listening: 12 hours 59 minutes
Type: Non-false

The body of 19-year-old Zac Brettler was recovered from the River Thames in November 2019. Security camera footage revealed that he had fallen from the fifth-floor balcony of a luxury apartment building. But did he die by suicide? Or was something more sinister involved? His parents are desperate for answers. By Patrick Radden Keefe, respected author of The New Yorker and of books Don’t Say Anything and Empire of Painhe is the one to know. He discovers that Brettler, who was English and middle-class, was pretending to be the son of a Russian oligarch, and was not alone in the apartment that night, but with other very shady characters.

You With Sad Eyes: A Memoir by Christina Applegate

Narrative: Christina Applegate
When listening: 8 hours 27 minutes
Type: Non-fictional memories

Christina Applegate has been defined by her public image throughout her life, first as the insecure 80s mute, blonde beauty Kelly Bundy in Marriage…And Children. Of course, Applegate was anything but dumb and dizzy, and she struggled with the role, her looks and her body. We also find out in his memory that he struggled with a bad upbringing, which included a drug-addicted mother, sexual abuse, and physical violence from the men in his life. Then, in 2021, life dealt him a big blow – he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The audio book is narrated by Applegate, giving the emotional scenes extra weight, but he also knows how to pull off the gossip and tell a joke, even if the humor can be dark.

During my youth I was told the meaning of being a man and Tom Junod

Narrative: Tom Junod
When listening: 18 hours 24 minutes
Type: Non-fictional memories

Tom Junod is one of the best creative long-form non-fiction writers around: his magazine stories about children’s TV entertainer Mr Rogers and the infamous photo of the man who jumped from the World Trade Center on 9/11 are classics. But in this book, he turns his reporting skills to his own family, especially his late father. Lou Junod was larger than life, a businessman with a gift of gab, a personality too big for any room, and – as Junod discovers – a closet full of secrets. As he begins to discover more about the lies and deceit in his family years ago, Junod learns lessons about how to be a better man.

The Rise of the Lanterns by Steve Toltz

Narrative: Henry Nixon
When listening: 10 hours 37 minutes
Type: Fiction

Australian novelist Steve Toltz, who was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for his first novel. Part of All, has shape when it comes to male characters falling apart at the seams and trying to put themselves back together. In The Rise of the Lanterns, we meet Rusty Wilson, who early in life was separated from his twin sister when their divorced parents threw dice to decide who got who. It’s no wonder that at the age of 51, fired from his job because of AI and cheated on by his wife, he’s become a bad guy. Will he remain in the sad and painful role he was born to play, or will he free himself and rejoin the human race?

Harry Potter series (Full Cast Audio Version) by JK Rowling

Narrative: Hugh Laurie, Matthew Macfadyen, Frankie Treadaway and several hundred voices
When listening: 115 hours
Type: Fiction/fantasy

“Wait a minute!” we hear you ask. “Isn’t there already a great Harry Potter audiobook series with Stephen Fry narrating? What is this, then?” Well, this is nothing more than a complete remake of the Potter audiobook universe. Starting with Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone at the end of last year, and for the final installment of the seven-book series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, dropped last month, this “full version” is not only known for its loud sounds, but also for its incredible sound design. It feels like you’re in a large dining hall accompanied by loud speakers, or in a classroom surrounded by bubbling potions, or in the middle of a Quidditch match chasing the Golden Snitch.

Watch What You Made Me Do by John Lanchester

Narrative: Louise Brealey and Genevieve Gaunt
When listening: 9 hours 4 minutes
Type: Fiction

What if the hottest new show on TV turns out to be based on details about your three-decade marriage, that only you and your spouse would know about? That’s what happens to Kate, as she watches the secrets of her private life unfold on screen for her entertainment. It turns out that a young writer named Phoebe has written the text. But how does he know so much about Kate? So begins a dark tale that delves into rivalry, age, betrayal and who can tell whose story. With two female narrators in an audiobook, you get the full effect of two lives colliding, and the result is part dark comedy, part battle royale.

The End Writes Itself by Evelyn Clarke