For the last week, I’ve been transfixed by Tom Hanks. Not his acting or any of his movies–my favorite is Saving Private Ryan–but rather his narration of Ann Patchett’s Pulitzer Prize Finalist novel, The Dutch House. After Circe, narrated by gorgeous voice of Perdita Weeks, The Dutch House is the best audio rendering of a novel I’ve ever listened to.* The Dutch House is a first person story, narrated by Danny Conroy. Danny and his sister Maeve were born in the 40s outside Philadelphia. The novel, switching back and forth in time, covers 50 years of Danny’s life. It is a role Hanks was made to speak. It’s Tom Hanks for sure–you never forget that–but he is the character. The truth of his storytelling has a heft that seems autobiographical. I was crushed when the book ended and I can still hear Danny’s words–Hank’s words–as I write.
I am always listening to an audiobook. They are a mainstay of my life and I give thanks regularly we are living in their golden age.
How about you? I know many of you are audiobook fans. What’s your favorite and why? Who’s your most beloved narrator?
*I have excluded from this calculation the Harry Potter books and the original audiobooks of His Dark Materials. Those books are woven into the fabric of my soul. Dale is astonishing and Pulman’s multiple case, perfect. I can’t be objective about either set.
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I absolutely adored the audio version of “Daisy Jones and the Six” by Taylor Jenkins Reid. The other audio version that comes to mind as an all-time-winner was the “Raven Boys” series (Maggie Stiefvater) narrated by Will Patton. Amazing.
I can’t wait for the miniseries of Daisy Jones and the Six!
Many wonderful books and narrators have been listed here, so I’ll just add a few that haven’t been mentioned yet.
One of my favorite RS books is ENVY by Sandra Brown Narrated by Victor Slezak. The author/narrator combo is perfect!
I love Stella Riley’s books, and especially her historical fiction. I highly recommend The Marigold Chain, and A Splendid Defiance is so good. Riley really does her research so the history is fascinating, and she builds incredible characters and some romance into her books. I especially have liked her Roundheads and Cavaliers series about the English Civil Wars. A Splendid Defiance is related to that series. Alex Wyndham does an amazing job with the narrations.
I’ve listened to most of Georgette Heyer’s romances on audio, most of which aren’t available anymore. There were some superb narrators. And while I have many “favorites,” I admit one of the most fun to listen to is The Talisman Ring, narrated by Phyllida Nash. The story is funny and Ms. Nash does a wonderful job with the humor, and with the French!
Penguin in the UK has recently put out new recordings of all/almost all GH’s HR, many with narrators I’ve never heard of. There are some good ones (Joe Jamison has done a couple) but reviews are very mixed and a lot of them cite mispronunciations as an issue. Sadly it doesn’t surprise me, as I come across them all the time when I’m audio-proofing – British narrators mispronouncing words I consider regular vocabulary. I sometimes think it’s an age thing.
I haven’t tried any yet as I’ve already got most of my favourite Heyers in audio, but I’ve got one or two of the new ones on my wishlist.
I was wondering about the new recordings. I used to have basically every book of her’s on audio on a DVD, but in one of our reshufflings it’s been misplaced. I only had a few downloaded and I bought 8 or so on Audible when the original recordings were available, but that’s it. I’d be interested to know which ones you feel are worth buying. Joe Jamison would be great.
I’m not sure which ones are availalble in the US, tbh. Matt Addis is really good in Sylvester, and JJ has done Frederica and The Talisman Ring. Michael Maloney in Devil’s Cub and Alexander Vlahos in These Old Shades… I find it hard to believe anyone could better Daniel Philpott in The Unknown Ajax, and I really liked most of the Naxos recordings that came out a decade ago, but I presume the rights have expired, as they’ve disappeared. Julian Rhind-Tutt was good in The Black Moth, as was Georgina Stutton in The Corinthian. And of course, Phyllida Nash in Venetia and Arabella. I don’t recognise most of the narrators in the newer versions, but I’ll be trying some when I get the time.
Thanks for this. I’m not sure any are available here yet but I’ll keep a lookout.
I don’t listen to a lot of audiobooks but one that does stand out is Cilka’s Journey narrated by Louise Brealey. I find her voice strong and clear. She has a voice that’s very easy to listen to.
I’ve always loved to read and was thrilled to discover how much more reading I can get done in a year with audio books. Between quilting, exercise and chores, audio books add another 25-30% read in a given year. And when you get a good narrator reading a good book, you get an entertainment experience that is something really very special.
My absolute favorite example of this is Trevor Noah reading his own memoir Born A Crime. Noah’s facility with languages (and accents) not only makes the content of the book incredibly “listenable” but clearly illustrates one of his most important points in writing the book: we humans fear what is “different”. Different looking (clothes/skin color) is one thing, but even more jarring to humans are people who sound different. Noah relates more than one occasion in his life when his ability to sound like the people around him likely saved him from a beating or worse. It was incredibly impactful to hear him switch from one “accent” to another, in real time so to speak, as he is relating these experiences/making this point.
Two more favorite audio books (leaving out Jim Dale (?!) as noted above) make a similar point: I honestly don’t think I’d think about these two “books” the same way if I’d read them off the page first before listening to them:
Agnes and the Hitman – Written by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer; read by Sandra Burr (This is a book I listened to before I tried to read it off the page and I’ve never been able to finish it off the page. I always end up going back to the audio version to reread it.)
Anansi Boys – Written by Neil Gaiman; read by Lenny Henry (I heard the author praise Henry’s narration. He basically said he recommends that fans listen to the book rather than read it off the page because Henry’s narration does a much better job of communicating who the characters are, than if they read it off the page. I agree!)
Other favorite narrators – these are people I’d listen to, almost no matter who the writer is/was – in no particular order:
Rosalyn Landor
Anna Fields
Nicholas Boulton
Kate Reading
Jim Dale
Stephen Fry
Edward Herrmann
Lorelei King – If you have any doubt about what a narrator can do to make or break an author’s words compare early Stephanie Plum audio books with King’s narration. It isn’t that the early books narrator was “bad”, but King is so much better at bringing the different characters to life. . . .
Everyone I know who has listened to Noah’s version of his book has been blown away. I read it and don’t think I want to do it again but it is tempting.
I assume you mean you read it off the page? Give the audio book a try. (I’d be shocked if your local library doesn’t have it in its collection to read for “free”.)
You’ll know very quickly whether his voice work is worth the reread. And if you aren’t enjoying it, DNF it. No harm done. But unless you have something in audio format totally calling your name, waiting to be started, I bet you’ll find it hard to stop listening. ;-)
Agree with the acclaim for Jim Dale & the HP series. My favorite narrator is probably Julia Whelan, who narrates a wide range of genres inc. contemporary romance. She has a novel coming out in August about an audiobook narrator . Also like Juliet Stevenson, JD James, Jason Clarke, Saskia Maarleveld, Gerard Doyle, Orlagh Cassidy, Kate Reading. The late Ralph Cosham and Anna Fields.
I can’t choose a favorite audiobook as I absolutely inhale them, especially since the onset of Covid.
Jason Clarke *swoon* Sadly, he doesn’t narrate many books I care to listen to but he’s been fantastic the few times, I’ve heard him.
I wonder why the HP books got a different narrator in the US? The UK versions are narrated by the lovely Stephen Fry.
Fry’s accent was considered too “English” for US listeners, especially children.
I don’t think I can convey just how HARD I’m rolling my eyes right now. Just like the US publisher didn’t think US audiences could cope with a Philosopher’s Stone..?
SMH. I grew up in England in the 1960s and Jim Dale was a fixture–as a singer & an actor (very popular in the “Carry On” movies, especially). I agree that Fry’s accent is perhaps a little more “upper-class” (some might say “plummy”) than Dale’s, but it’s not as if Dale doesn’t sound “English”.
You have to remember–this was 1997. Amazon was still in its relative infancy and all books were bought at stores. Only 15% of Americans had passports and most people’s exposure to British accents was via television and most were not watching the BBC.
No one had any idea how successful those books would be–they were actually more successful with US kids than they initially were with British kids!
It wasn’t just the title they changed. They changed words and phrases they didn’t believe the US readership would understand.
Actually, the web tells me this:
It’ll be a licensing issue. That is, the audio rights would have been licensed to two different entities, and they decided to each make their own audio version for sale in their territory.

I believe Harry Potter is published by Scholastic in the USA (it’s Bloomsbury in the UK) so that would make sense. I suppose whoever got to market with their audiobook first could have sub-licensed their version to the other company; but then there’s also the fact that Stephen Fry is a much, much bigger name in the UK than Jim Dale. (I understand Jim was big on Broadway for a while, so possibly the reverse is also true.)
I think most of the books published by large US publishers have different imprints here, and I remember it being fairly common for there to be different audio editions. I think that’s gradually changing, but I do own several audiobooks that have different narrators according to where they were published.
Jim Dale was, as someone has said here, famous in the UK in the 60s and 70s, but not so much after that – I’m assuming he moved to and worked more in the US after that, so he’s probably a lot less well-known now than he was, and I doubt many under 30s will have heard of him here. Unless they’re afficionados of Carry On films!
I’ve had Jim Dale’s audio book version of Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings trilogy on CDs for decades . . . long before HP arrived on the scene. And if you like him as a narrator and audio books, LOTR is hours of fabulous listening.
When I decided to relisten to all the HP books last summer, I thought I’d give the Stephen Fry version a listen. Was curious to see if there were substantive differences between US and UK books, beyond just different narrators. Additionally, fans who have listened to both versions have definite opinions about which narrator handles particular scenes in the books better than the other. I thought it would be fun. Unfortunately, it would have meant buying the entire series over again. I already own the Jim Dale versions and none of the libraries I belong to have the UK version. So, Jim Dale it was.
I’m also on board with leaving colloquial vocabulary in place in novels written by non-US authors. Learning new words/slang is part of the fun of reading books from around the world – even if it means I need to keep a dictionary close to hand.
Dabney, you and I seem to have similar tastes in audiobooks. I loved Circe and The Dutch House. The Harry Potter books are fantastic, and I guess I need to put His Dark Materials on my list since you love those, too!
Here are a few other favorites:
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik, Lisa Flanagan narrator
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, Ray Porter narrator
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker, George Guidall narrator
Piranesi by Susanna Clark, Chiwetl Ejiofor narrator
Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley, narrated by Isabella Star LaBlanc
Glitterland by Alexis Hall, narrated by Nicholas Boulton
For me, listening to an audiobook is a very different experience than reading one. A good narrator nicely conveys the author’s intent. A great narrator elevates the story beyond the narrator’s intent and creates a beautiful interpretation of the author’s work and elevates it further. The books I noted above fall into the latter category.
I LOVE the audio of Glitterland! I admit, before that I’d heard Nicholas Boulton narrating all Laura Kinsale’s historical romances and I did wonder how he was going to work in an Alexis Hall book… but of course he’s wonderful! His portrayal of Darian is brilliant!
Caz, I believe your raving about Boulton got me to listen to this, so thank you! I’d read Glitterland, but it wasn’t until I listened to Boulton that I really got Darian’s accent and manner, and that was everything.
Yes, Nicholas Boulton’s narration of Glitterland is terrific. I lived and worked in Estuary Essex for 35 years and he got Darian’s accent spot-on……Babes!
His narration of Alexis Hall’s Something Fabulous is also great, but entirely different. He’s obviously having a whale of a time!
I can go you one better ;) and say that I COME from Essex; when I was born, Walthamstow was in Essex, although it’s now North East London. My accent has a distinct twang of Estuary English – although it’s not quite as, er, strong as Darian’s. His dialogue read and sounded perfectly normal to me!
Heh! “Raving” is probably the polite way to put it!!
I loved the audio of Spinning Silver!
I expect the narrator to be good when I listen, so I only notice when they aren’t. As a result, I can name worst rather than best. I loved, loved, loved Janet Evanovichh’s Metro Girl and Motor Mouth in book form but C.J. Critt did an awful job narrating it for listening. Radium Girls is a serious look at the poisoning of young women in an industrial setting but narrator Angela Brazil had a tendency to try dramatic renderings at all the wrong places.
I can’t pick just one audiobook or just one narrator. Favorite narrators are
Alex Wyndham, especially when reading Stella Riley’s books
Susan Ericksen, especially when reading J D Robb
Davina Porter
Matthew Lloyd Davies
Unfortunately there are many favorite romance books that I can’t listen to on audiobooks because I can’t listen to the narrator. Luckily there are many solid narrators who fill the gaps for me.
I really wish Maggie Smith would narrate a few audiobooks, I could listen to her for hours!
I see you mentioned Alex Wyndham on Stella Riley’s books! I missed this post before I posted mine. They are wonderful!
I’m not much of an audiobook listener—I feel as if I have to SEE the words to get what’s happening—but on long trips, we will usually listen to one. My favorites were Michael York reading Huxley’s BRAVE NEW WORLD and Isla Blair reading Christie’s WHILE THE LIGHT LASTS. One of my daughters, however, is a huge audiobook fan (she’s also a knitter and likes to listen while she knits). She is currently listening to Jim Dale’s reading of the entire HARRY POTTER series. Naturally, the books & movies have been fixtures of her life since childhood (she’s 24), but she says listening to Jim Dale narration opens up a whole new element of appreciation for the stories.
Your daughter is right. I listened to all the HP books–again–during the pandemic and, though I’d always thought Rowling a storytelling goddess, my appreciation of her deepened even further.
Like you, I’ve always got an audiobook on the go, whether it’s for review or just personal listening, but I honestly can’t say there’s one that I’d pick as being a favoutite. Narrators, though, I have many Opinions about, and I can pick some favourites there. In fact, if I want a comfort listen I’m far more likely to choose it based on who the narrator is than I am based on who the author is or what the book is. I’m a massive audiobook fan, but if my favourite book in the entire world was narrated by a narrator I didn’t like, I wouldn’t want to listen to it.
These (in no particular order) are the narrators whose names are guaranteed to get me to take a second or third look:
Greg Tremblay/Greg Boudreaux
J.F. Harding
Gary Furlong
Cooper North
Joel Leslie/Joel Froomkin
Nick J. Russo
Adam Gold
Zachary Johnson
Iggy Toma
Kirt Graves
Kale Williams
Declan Winters
(I’ve probably left someone out and will spend the rest of the day wracking my brains trying to remember who it is!)
Rosalyn Landor and Kate Reading are the doyennes of historical romance.
They’re terrific vocal actors who do so much more than simply read the words; they can really get into the heads and under the skins of characters and imbue every little nuance and emotion into the story. If a character laughs or sighs or sobs, I want to hear it, and these guys can do all that without going over the top.
I listen pretty much exclusively to romance, although I have a much more varied diet when it comes to work, where I listen to non-fiction as well as fiction, and have listened to a number of really good books that wouldn’t even have been on my radar otherwise.
I am a dedicated audiobook listener (as a knitter, it’s the only way to combine by two favorite pastimes). Narrators are make-or-break for any book. I think I have listened to everything Gary Furlong has ever narrated, and nearly the same can be said for Joel Leslie and Greg Boudreaux. I recently listened to the entire KJ Charles catalog so Cornell Collins makes my list as well. Nicholas Bolton, Davina Porter and Rosalyn Landor are my historical favorites. I have avoided some author’s entire body of work because I can’t abide the narrator (John Solo fits this category).
Cornell Collins/Matthew Lloyd Davies is a great fit for KJ Charles’ books, I agree, and he does a good job with Alexis Hall’s Pansies, and in some recent Con Riley books, too. I’ve listened to him in other books where he’s not been such a good fit, though, which is why he didn’t quite make my GOAT list!
There’s a dearth of good British male romance narrators – which is probably why Gary, Joel (okay, he’s American but went to British schools so his English accent is 99.9% spot on) and MLD get so much of it! I can’t get on with Dan Calley though, who Garrett Leigh is using to narrate her books at the moment.
I don’t like Justine Eyre, who is narrating a lot of big-name historicals right now
If you read my reviews at AudioGals, you’ll probably be able to tell my dislikes by their absence!
Joe Jameson (Boyfriend Material) and Hamish Long (many Jay Northcote and some Harper Fox books) are good British narrators. I also love Shane East’s voice but the books I’ve listened to him narrating are not wonderful.
Agreed – I haven’t listened to HL/JJ that much but he’s really good. And Shane, yes – you probably know he narrates a fair bit of YA and fantasy under his original name, but although he’s wildly popular in a certain sector of CR, those books are definitely not my cup of tea.
He’s just done a book with Teddy Hamilton, but after my last few experiences with that author’s books, I’m not going to bother. I suppose it pays the bills, but it’s so frustrating to see such terrific narrators narrating such mediocre books.
I’m just going to say “ditto” with the addition of Alex Wyndham on Stella Riley’s books, Sean Crisden, and Mary Jane Wells. I know Alex got a little breathy, but then he’s on, he’s really on!
I’m so spoiled by having such great narrators on so many mm books (Joel, Greg, Gary…) that I’m sometimes disappointed with the merely good narrators.