Audiobook Favourites from the Better Reading Team

For anyone yet to discover the pleasure of reading on the go, audiobooks are booming, as is the narration industry. While great audio reads have been around for years – think Stephen Fry – it’s only recently that audiobooks have really been established as another performance platform.

In 2019, Boy Swallows Universe won Audiobook of the Year at the ABIA Awards. Author Trent Dalton accepted the award and raved about how it was read by one of his favourite actors, Stig Wemyss. This was a pivotal moment in the industry, as audiobooks moved from being read to performed.

The 2023 winner of the same award was The Whitewash by Siang Lu, narrated by a whole cast of actors. Another bestseller with a big cast is Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. This is audio at its most entertaining and immersive; it will wrap you up in its music and vibrancy from the first minute.

Read on for some personal favourites from the Better Reading team…

Cheryl
Michelle Obama’s reading of her memoir Becoming is so personal that Cheryl felt it was recorded just for her. She felt the same about Walking with Ghosts, the stunningly evocative memoir by Irish actor and Hollywood star Gabriel Byrne. Apparently, Gabriel Byrne read his own book just for Cheryl too. Another favourite is Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork, To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s Cheryl’s favourite book, so she was thrilled when it made its digital debut as an unabridged audiobook narrated by Academy Award-winning actress Sissy Spacek.

Jane
Jane listens to a lot of nonfiction in audio. Recent favourites are How to Deal with Angry People by Dr Ryan Martin, and Gigorou: First Nations Wisdom and Womanhood, read by author Sasha Kutabah Sarago. Another favourite listen for the year is Belinda Alexandra’s Emboldened. The narrator Caroline Lee does a brilliant job bringing Belinda’s wonderful memoir to life. One recent book on Jane’s fiction list was Homecoming, the latest from award-winning, internationally bestselling Australian author Kate Morton. It is read by powerhouse Emmy award-winning actress Claire Foy from The Crown, and is sensational.

Dexx
Dexx is enjoying catching up on some crime thrillers, with recent favourites Traced by Catherine Jinks and The Double Bind by Loraine Peck. Both have excellent voice actors who kept him transfixed on his commute to work.

Natalie
Anna Funder’s Wifedom is everywhere at the moment, including on Natalie’s audiobook playlist. She says the narration from Arianwen Parkes-Lockwood and Jane Slavin is outstanding. Another recent favourite is Academy Award winner Kate Winslet’s captivating narration of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s book, Matilda.

Sophie
Our newest team member has both hardcopy and audio on the go. Her current commute listens are All in the Mind by Lynne Malcolm (which Jane also enjoyed), and The Drowning Girls by Veronica Lando, narrated by Dominic Gruenwald. He gives a pitch-perfect performance of this tense and gothic thriller.

Looking for your next great audiobook? Check out Bolinda Audio’s library app, Borrowbox – we love how easy it makes reading on the go!