The Audible Essentials
The Audible Essentials is our list of 100 absolute must-listens. Hours were spent deliberating which books should (and shouldn't) make the cut. Ultimately, the final list was chosen to represent a wide range of genres, compelling stories, and can't-miss performances. These are the books that stand the test of time: vetted by our listeners and hand-picked by our editors as examples of excellence.

Product List
    • A Novel
    • By: Michael Crichton
    • Narrated by: Scott Brick
    • Series: Jurassic Park, Book 1
    • Length: 15 hrs and 10 mins
    • Release date: 05-12-15
    • Language: English
    • 5 out of 5 stars 42,613 ratings
    • Why We Think It's Essential
    • Over the week or so I spent listening to Scott Brick’s cool and unnerving narration of this sci-fi classic, it started to get into my head and even percolate into my dreams. Yes, I, a grown-up who had not had a nightmare in who knows how long, was shocked awake by dreams of being chased by dinosaurs, heart pounding and near tears. Despite this (or maybe because of this), Jurassic Park will forever be at the top of my must-listen list. It’s scary like a roller coaster and stays with you like a haunting dream. —Tricia, Audible Editor

    Regular price: $21.83 or 1 credit

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    • By: Bram Stoker
    • Narrated by: Alan Cumming, Tim Curry, Simon Vance, Katherine Kellgren, Susan Duerden, John Lee, Graeme Malcolm, Steven Crossley
    • Length: 15 hrs and 27 mins
    • Release date: 02-20-12
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 35,739 ratings
    • Why We Think It's Essential
    • There is no better way to (re)experience a classic like Dracula than by listening to this brilliantly produced multi-voice performance. It’s absolutely chilling (listen with the lights on) and at the same time theatrical (it brings the West End to audio). With too many top-notch performers to list (Alan Cumming, Katherine Kellgren, Tim Curry . . .) I found myself jumping with fear and excitement each time a favorite voice entered the scene. I’ll be listening to this annually as an homage to a gothic masterpiece brought to life by some of my favorite narrators in the world! —Tricia, Audible Editor

    Regular price: $29.95 or 1 credit

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    • By: Khaled Hosseini
    • Narrated by: Khaled Hosseini
    • Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
    • Release date: 08-01-03
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 20,323 ratings
    • Why We Think It's Essential
    • We've learned the hard way that authors don't always make great narrators, but Khaled Hosseini is remarkably gifted in both roles. I have listened to the The Kite Runner again and again to be transported to Hosseini's Afghanistan and can appreciate it all the more because of his authentic pronunciations. —Diana, Audible Editor

    Regular price: $20.24 or 1 credit

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    • By: Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett
    • Narrated by: Martin Jarvis
    • Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
    • Release date: 11-10-09
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 40,727 ratings
    • Why We Think It's Essential
    • The Apocalypse is coming, and it’s a surprisingly fun ride. Martin Jarvis’s skillful narration turns the varied characters of the Antichrist, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, angels, demons, and others into relatable people with familiar characteristics, making them somehow more tangible and certainly more hilarious than we’ve ever imagined. This was my first experience of “I enjoyed this audiobook so much that I need to find more from this narrator.” —David, Audible Editor

    Regular price: $24.29 or 1 credit

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    • By: Elie Wiesel
    • Narrated by: George Guidall
    • Series: Night Trilogy, Book 1
    • Length: 4 hrs and 17 mins
    • Release date: 01-16-06
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 10,766 ratings
    • Why We Think It's Essential
    • The legendary account of life and the fight for survival in Hitler’s death camps from the late Elie Wiesel deserves nothing less than masterful narration from George Guidall. This is a raw, bone-chilling, and sobering memoir that pays honorable tribute to all of those who suffered at the hands of Nazi Germany and offers great depth to their experience. Wiesel’s sparse, powerful prose shows just how real that experience was and how strongly it resonates. —Michael, Audible Editor

    Regular price: $11.17 or 1 credit

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    • By: Rebecca Skloot
    • Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Bahni Turpin
    • Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins
    • Release date: 02-02-10
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 16,696 ratings
    • Why We Think It's Essential
    • This story is fascinating. While listening, I was amazed by some of the most incredible scientific discoveries that took place in the 20th century; I also felt ashamed when I learned of the unethical behaviors which cloud these successes. Cassandra Campbell and Bahni Turpin team up to bring the encounters between the Lacks family and journalist Rebecca Skloot to life. —Laura, Audible Editor

    Regular price: $18.00 or 1 credit

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    • By: David Sedaris
    • Narrated by: David Sedaris
    • Length: 5 hrs and 51 mins
    • Release date: 06-30-00
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 12,132 ratings
    • Why We Think It's Essential
    • If you’ve never listened to an audiobook before, start with David Sedaris. (Sidenote: I’m super jealous of you if you still get to experience David Sedaris for the first time.) America’s most beloved comic essayist delivers hilarious stories about his sadistic French teacher, his unconventional family, and the minor annoyances of modern life—all in his signature, hysterical voice. All of his essay collections are fabulous, but you really can’t go wrong with Me Talk Pretty One Day, which is peak-Sedaris. —Rachel, Audible Editor

    Regular price: $14.81 or 1 credit

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    • A Novel
    • By: Nathan Hill
    • Narrated by: Ari Fliakos
    • Length: 21 hrs and 42 mins
    • Release date: 08-30-16
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 11,136 ratings
    • Why We Think It's Essential
    • There are so many different elements and layers to The Nix that no summary or review really does it justice. There's so much to this un-pauseable story, which spans from 1960s Chicago, to present day New York, to—surprisingly—Norway. Debut author Nathan Hill makes you marvel at every sentence. And in-house favorite narrator Ari Fliakos equally captivates, effortlessly voicing lame politicos, pampered college kids, lost souls, and stunted hopefuls. It was voted Audible's Best Book of 2016 . . . need we say more? —Laura, Audible Editor

    Regular price: $24.75 or 1 credit

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    • By: Jess Walter
    • Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
    • Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
    • Release date: 06-12-12
    • Language: English
    • 4 out of 5 stars 12,492 ratings
    • Why We Think It's Essential
    • When new-to-Audible people ask me what they should listen to, Beautiful Ruins is one of my first recommendations. There is something special here, and you find out right away with Edoardo Ballerini and his impeccable accent taking on Jess Walter’s description of the Cinque Terre along Italy’s coast. Walter then speaks of intersecting lives and flips back and forth between present-day Hollywood and the Italian Riviera of the 1960s, telling a captivating story of love, disillusionment, friendship, and the realities of responsibility that you won’t soon forget. —Diana, Audible Editor

    Regular price: $26.99 or 1 credit

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    • By: Tim O'Brien
    • Narrated by: Bryan Cranston
    • Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
    • Release date: 10-15-13
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 13,184 ratings
    • Why We Think It's Essential
    • Bryan Cranston—best known for his portrayal of Walter White on the Emmy Award-winning series Breaking Bad—lends his powerful voice to Tim O'Brien's classic The Things They Carried. Cranston fully inhabits O'Brien's collection of semi-autobiographical stories about the Vietnam War and brings to it a sense of experience and remembrance as though he were actually there. —Chris, Audible Editor

    Regular price: $19.95 or 1 credit

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    • The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban
    • By: Malala Yousafzai, Christina Lamb - contributor
    • Narrated by: Archie Panjabi
    • Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
    • Release date: 10-08-13
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 11,944 ratings
    • Why We Think It's Essential
    • In a world where terror begets violence, upends lives, and paralyzes the masses, Malala Yousafzai (winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, 2015) is among the brave who fight back. But Malala wasn’t a trained soldier or an undercover journalist when the Taliban in Pakistan shot and almost killed her in 2012—she was a fifteen-year-old girl. Archie Panjabi seamlessly performs the voice of a triumphant young Muslim woman navigating a dangerous landscape to fight for the right to receive an education. —Rachael, Audible Editor

    Regular price: $21.83 or 1 credit

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  • Regular price: $22.50 or 1 credit

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    • By: Truman Capote
    • Narrated by: Scott Brick
    • Length: 14 hrs and 27 mins
    • Release date: 01-03-06
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 15,137 ratings
    • Why We Think It's Essential
    • The book that effectively gave birth to the true crime genre we know and love today, In Cold Blood is just as shocking and suspenseful a listen today as it was when it was first written. And who better than the legendary Scott Brick to give this classic the performance it deserves? His delivery is at once menacing, sobering, and riveting. —Sam, Audible Editor

    Regular price: $20.25 or 1 credit

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    • By: Angie Thomas
    • Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
    • Series: Garden Heights, Book 2
    • Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
    • Release date: 02-28-17
    • Language: English
    • 5 out of 5 stars 45,873 ratings
    • Why We Think It's Essential
    • The Hate U Give took root in my heart and simply refuses to let go. Angie Thomas set a new standard in both the YA genre and among debut authors for me. This novel is transformative and stunning and one I’ll be recommending for years to come. Bahni Turpin’s performance reminded the team why we love audio so much. Not only does she embody Starr, she also gives each supporting character their own distinct personality and transitions so easily between teenage and adult characters that it’s (almost) unbelievable. —Katie, Audible Editor

    Regular price: $30.59 or 1 credit

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    • A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
    • By: Christopher McDougall
    • Narrated by: Fred Sanders
    • Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
    • Release date: 05-05-09
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 20,070 ratings
    • Why We Think It's Essential
    • In the real world I’ll never be the runner I am in my head, but having Fred Sanders in my ear playfully reading Christopher McDougall’s delightfully strange and complicated classic running tale inspires me in a way no training book could ever. Part memoir, though it may seem like fiction at times, it revolves around a tribe of the world's greatest distance runners and a true cast of characters, while showing the triumphant human spirit. —Abby, Audible Editor

    Regular price: $18.00 or 1 credit

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    • By: Jack Weatherford
    • Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Jack Weatherford
    • Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
    • Release date: 02-16-10
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 19,927 ratings
    • Why We Think It's Essential
    • This audiobook is essential for me, personally, because I raved about it in my job interview. So when Audible acquired me, I acquired it! Jack Weatherford has an anthropologist’s deep understanding of Mongolian culture, expressed in novelistic detail throughout this epic work of history. Jonathan Davis narrates the audiobook with meticulous attention to pronunciation, but also a performer’s sense of the arc of the story through time. —Christina, Audible Editor

    Regular price: $29.95 or 1 credit

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    • By: Charles Dickens
    • Narrated by: Tim Curry
    • Length: 3 hrs and 31 mins
    • Release date: 12-01-10
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 22,415 ratings
    • Why We Think It's Essential
    • Obviously this timeless tale is a heartwarming holiday classic, but Tim Curry truly elevates it, evoking the dirty, desperate, and barefoot landscape of Dickens’s Victorian London. I listen to it every year at Christmas time, and am always amazed anew at how the complexity and humanity in the story shines through. —Emily, Audible Editor

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    • By: Mark Twain
    • Narrated by: Nick Offerman
    • Series: Twain's Tom and Huck, Book 1
    • Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
    • Release date: 09-20-16
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 12,543 ratings
    • Why We Think It's Essential
    • Parks and Recreation's Nick Offerman is known for playing the quintessential gruff male, but he thoroughly astonishes here, bending his baritone effortlessly to give Twain's characters life. My favorites: the uptight, exhaustive wailing of Aunt Polly; the cracked pleading of drunkard Muff Potter; and, of course, the winking, boyish charm of Tom himself, which Offerman gracefully transforms into tenderness during moments of adolescent melancholy. —Doug, Audible Editor

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    • By: Mark Haddon
    • Narrated by: Jeff Woodman
    • Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins
    • Release date: 05-12-04
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 16,278 ratings
    • Why We Think It's Essential
    • Mark Haddon’s engrossing and intensely human novel about an autistic boy investigating the murder of a neighbor’s dog remains one of my favorite feats of storytelling. And I consider myself especially fortunate to have experienced it for the first time in audio. Award-winning narrator Jeff Woodman masterfully captures Christopher’s youth, intelligence and disarming directness, employing a detached delivery that conveys his condition while hinting at a rich emotional life that lays just underneath. It’s a beautifully nuanced performance that’s authentic, effortless, and deeply affecting. —Reid, Audible Editor

    Regular price: $19.99 or 1 credit

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