Best Audiobooks to Listen to During the Holidays

In Big Heart Little Stove, chef Erin French serves up fresh wisdom from the kitchen alongside favorite recipes from her family’s collection and her acclaimed farm-to-table restaurant, The Lost Kitchen. The extended audiobook version is truly special and makes the perfect holiday listen for at-home chefs hosting their own festive get-togethers. In addition to offering recipes for every course and an array of occasions, from intimate gatherings to full-family banquets, French shares her best hosting tips for creating a cheery party atmosphere and audio-exclusive interviews with colleagues, family, and her dear friend Ina Garten. The holidays often mean more time in the kitchen, but who says the cooking can’t be part of the celebration?

Available at Audible

In this spirited narrative, renowned naturalist Jane Goodall joins author Douglas Abrams to discuss the life-changing power of hope. Through her incredible travels and groundbreaking achievements in the field, Goodall has developed a unique outlook to remaining hopeful in a world that all too often appears out of control. In The Book of Hope, she shares her perspective and illustrates why remaining optimistic in the face of uncertainty is both crucial and warranted. Narrated by the authors, this inspirational audiobook is sure to brighten your holidays.

Available at Audible

’Tis the season for cheer, and Martha Teichner’s bestselling memoir delivers. When Harry Met Minnie is a touching meditation on love, loss, friendship, and the gift of devotion we receive from our furry four-legged companions. Narrated by the author, a CBS Sunday Morning News correspondent, the audiobook version will warm your heart all winter long. The dog walkers of New York City share a special bond, so when an acquaintance approaches Teichner about rehoming a bull terrier named Harry, she agrees. After all, her current dog, Minnie, is also a bull terrier; perhaps they’ll become fast dog friends. Then Martha meets Carol, Harry’s owner, and learns why Harry needs a new home — because Carol is dying of cancer. What begins as a quick exchange between pet owners soon deepens into a profound friendship that changes their lives forever. 

Available at Audible

Silva’s imaginative novel takes us behind A Christmas Carol, into Dickens’ inspiration for his most famous work. With money running low and his writing career looking grim, Dickens nearly says “Bah, humbug!” to it all when his publisher offers one last chance: write a Christmas story they can sell. Battling writer’s block, he wanders into town at night where he meets Eleanor Lovejoy, a woman who shows him the real London and forces him to examine his own life, too.

Available at Audible

Sara, a 28-year-old Swedish woman, can’t wait to travel around the world to meet Amy, her 65-year-old friend in Iowa. They’ve been exchanging favorite books and rambling letters for years, so a meeting is long overdue. Sadly, when Sara arrives in Iowa, Amy has unexpectedly passed away. In Amy’s honor and with the support of the community, Sara opens a bookstore with Amy’s books and builds a new life for herself. After the parties and the gifts, stories like this are a beautiful reminder to cherish the friends we’ve lost and the new ones who step in when you need them the most.

Available at Audible

Maguire continues to create fantastic backstories to enduring fairy tales, now with a holiday icon: the nutcracker soldier. Drosselmeier, a German toymaker, has no enviable status in life. When he hears of a sick little girl in town, he uses the only skill he has in an implausible attempt to help. He carves a wooden nutcracker soldier and breathes magic into it with instructions to care for Klara through a troubling holiday season. Throughout all of their struggles, one truth stands out: Everyone has something to give. Precisely when everyone counts you out, that’s when your magic emerges.

As if having J. R. R. Tolkien as a dad wasn’t cool enough, apparently he pulled out all the stops for the holidays. Every year, the Tolkien children would write letters to Father Christmas, and every year they would receive mail from the jolly man himself. Unique, illustrated, hand-written letters describe life at the North Pole, which includes goblin wars, secret ice caves, rampant polar bears, and mischievous reindeer. Collected over 20 years, we’re so fortunate that the Tolkien family has shared these personal holiday treasures with the world.

Available at Audible

January Scaller lives with Mr. Locke, a wealthy eccentric who regards her as just another curio in his sprawling home. Upon discovering a book that holds the secret to other worlds, January asks herself if she’s brave enough to change her boring and secluded life forever. Thankfully for us she is, because with each door she opens, with each adventure she survives, we get to see an alternative reality. Eventually, January finds a door that leads to her own past, exposing the story behind her mother’s death and her absent father. January’s courage and self-reflection is something to inspire us all as the year comes to a close.

Available at Audible