Our Favorite Audiobooks of 2025

After his father falls ill, one-time hockey star Kyle McCray returns to the hometown he left behind, where he’s forced to face all the people he abandoned — including his ex-wife, Casey. Despite his initial plan to keep a low profile, Kyle ends up coaching the town’s middle school hockey team, which inspires him to reconnect with his community and rectify the mistakes of his past. What Happened to the McCrays? is a tender tale of family and togetherness, filled with hope and heart. “[Dual narrators] Stephanie Németh-Parker and William DeMeritt work together beautifully to narrate this exquisitely crafted and stirring family story” (AudioFile). 

Thérèse Plummer delivers a stirring performance narrating the audiobook of Kristin Koval’s debut novel, Penitence, a suspenseful drama about tragedy, love, and forgiveness. When a shocking murder rocks Angie and David Sheehan, they enlist the help of small-town lawyer Martine Dumont. Martine’s relationship with Angie and David runs deep — her son, Julian, a big-city criminal defense attorney, is also Angie’s ex. As Angie and David grapple with the mystery, tensions begin to build among the characters because of their complex histories and connections.

Bestselling thriller author Alex North delivers another dark and twisted tale with The Man Made of Smoke. Dan Garvie has never been the same after surviving a frighteningly close encounter with a serial killer as a child. Now a criminal profiler, Dan is back in his small hometown following his dad’s suspicious death. Could the sinister force that’s haunted him since childhood have come back for Dan’s father? Narrated by actor Shane Zaza, North’s latest serial killer thriller makes for a satisfyingly chilling listen.

Harvard undergrads Zoe and Jack share a strong meeting of the minds as they move toward a major breakthrough in biotech. Yet just as their start-up opens the door to eternal fame and fortune, a shocking accusation threatens to destroy everything they’ve built — including their blossoming relationship. Notes on Infinity is performed in alternating parts by narrators Helen Laser and Shahjehan Khan, giving compelling voices to the central characters. 

Sunny Greene has a lot going for her — a lovely apartment, wonderful friends, and a successful career. So at 35, she’s decided it’s time to embrace her whole self. Sunny Side Up follows Sunny as she embarks on a journey of self-love, seeks out a plus-size swimsuit that looks divine, and maybe even finds a shot at love. Narrator Yael Rizowy brings Sunny to life in this stylish and delightful rom-com by body-positivity advocate Katie Sturino. As AudioFile says, “[Rozowy’s] lively, engaging narration infuses the story with warmth, humor, and emotional depth.”

Today’s wildly competitive housing market serves as the spark for Marisa Kashino’s darkly comedic real estate thriller, Best Offer Wins. Thirty-seven-year-old Margo is more than ready to put her life plan in motion, but she can’t do it in the cramped apartment she shares with her husband. When Margo discovers that her dream home is about to hit the market, she knows it’s hers — and she’ll go to increasingly dangerous lengths to make sure her offer wins. Read by voice actress Cia Court, Kashino’s topical thriller is compulsive, twisted, and laugh-out-loud funny.

A multi-cast narration brings Charlotte McConaghy’s New York Times bestseller Wild Dark Shore to vivid life in this spellbinding audiobook. Dominic Salt and his children are the only inhabitants of Shearwater, a remote island that’s home to the largest seed bank in the world. But when a mysterious woman washes up on their shores, it upends the family’s fragile dynamic. Now they must decide if their bond can hold firm or if their secrets will overcome them.

An AudioFile Earphones Award winner, Karen Russell’s sweeping magical realism narrative The Antidote explores the fictional town of Uz, Nebraska, through the eyes of an ensemble cast. After a devastating dust storm sweeps through the region in 1935, a “prairie witch,” an orphaned teen, and a wheat farmer contend with the harsh realities of Dust Bowl living and the weight of the past. With a talking scarecrow and a camera that photographs the past, present, and maybe the future, Russell’s tale is a bewitching delight — one that vividly explores memory, history, and the magic of storytelling.

Narrated by the author, Dealing with Feeling by Marc Brackett explores the vital importance of better emotional health. With a clear voice that draws on his seasoned experience as the founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, Brackett reveals why emotion regulation is the key to improving every aspect of our lives, from success at work to our relationships at home. The author provides us with the information and tools we need to manage our emotions and outlines the path to improve our emotional well-being.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s musical partnership is legendary. In John & Paul, Ian Leslie traces the course of their close and complex creative bond in all of its dazzling highs and infamous lows, using the songs Lennon and McCartney wrote together as a guide. A delight for Beatles superfans and music memoir enthusiasts alike, John & Paul delivers a captivating and immersive experience. “[Narrator] Chris Addison provides a BBC-quality narration of this insightful songwriter bromance” (AudioFile). 

Besha Rodell narrates Hunger Like a Thirst, infusing her delectable food memoir with sincere humor and heart. Now a successful food critic, Rodell’s journey was far from easy. From her early days as a restaurant server to breaking into food writing as one of the culinary world’s last anonymous critics, the author’s path to the table is filled with life lessons learned both in and out of the kitchen, along with many memorable meals — and not all of them good.

In 2001, John J. Lennon killed a man. He entered the New York prison system with a sentence of 28 years to life. Today, he’s a journalist, writing from behind bars to make sense of everything as he offers a bold new perspective on justice and our cultural obsession with true crime. In The Tragedy of True Crime, narrated by Will Damron, Lennon introduces us to four men who have killed. With profound insight and sensitivity, Lennon explores their stories, detailing the lives of these individuals before and after their crimes in an attempt to cut through the lurid headlines and see the people for who they are. Along the way, Lennon intertwines his own life story, producing “a haunting and innovative blend of memoir and true crime” (Publishers Weekly).

Christine Kuehn was stunned when she received a letter asking about her family’s involvement in WWII. After confronting her father with the letter, the shattering truth was revealed: Her family served as spies for the Axis powers. Family of Spies documents this propulsive and shocking story for the very first time, detailing how, after Kuehn’s half-Jewish aunt had an affair with Nazi leader Joseph Goebbels, the family was dispatched to Hawaii to work as secret agents. There, they shared information with the Japanese — and ultimately played a key role in the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor. 

Ron Butler delivers an Earphones Award–winning performance as the narrator of Nicholas Boggs’s Baldwin: A Love Story. A sweeping biography, Boggs’s epic account traces the life of iconic writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin through his most important relationships, exploring the ways his mentors and loves impacted his art. Suffused with detail, Baldwin is sure to enthrall. “Butler’s narration is a master class.… He makes every change in tone, volume, and pace with careful purpose, creating a seamless listening experience” (AudioFile).