A couple of years ago, I shared 10 literary fiction audiobooks narrated by their authors after noticing I’d listened to a handful of novels narrated by their authors. Since then, I’ve listened to even more novels narrated by the author so I decided it was time for another list.
It’s not unusual for nonfiction authors to narrate their own audiobooks but it’s still pretty uncommon for fiction authors to do it. Audiobook narration is its own skill set, which is part of why I’m so impressed when I find an author who knows how to tell a good story and perform it. The best audiobooks aren’t a substitute for actual books; instead they enhance them, adding layers to the reading experience.
There are plenty more fiction authors who narrate their own work than we could get to today but I hope this list offers a good variety, no matter your audiobook preferences. I’m always on the hunt for more: I hope you’ll share your favorites in the comments.
19 novels narrated by the author
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Apeirogon
An apeirogon is a polygon with an infinite number of sides, an apt metaphor for this non-linear tale of the real life friendship between Bassam Aramin, a Palestinian, and Rami Elhanan, an Israeli. They form a bond through their shared grief and empathy after their daughters are killed in separate incidents. More than that, they want their grief to lead toward peace and lasting change. A timely heartbreaking yet ultimately hopeful read. 15 hrs 20 mins. More info →
Signal Fires
This is Dani Shapiro's eleventh book but her first novel after a fifteen-year gap, about a single tragic event that changes the lives of one family forever, and those of the family next door as well. Despite being character-driven the story has a super plotty opener: on a summer night in 1985, three teenagers go out drinking, one of them gets behind the wheel anyway, and there’s a terrible accident. Someone dies, someone else lies about it—and the consequences will be felt for generations. This moving story spans fifty years as it slowly examines the many secrets held between two families with an unexpected connection, and reflects on aging, grief, love and redemption, and what it means to be a family. 7 hrs 30 mins. More info →
Long Way Down
This tense and tautly-written novel-in-verse takes place in the short span of sixty seconds. Fifteen-year-old Will gets on the elevator with his brother's gun tucked into his waistband. His brother Shawn is dead, and he wants revenge. The elevator stops on the sixth floor, and Buck enters. He tells Will to check the gun; one bullet is missing. Did Shawn ever use his gun? And then Will remembers: Buck is dead. Another figure from Will's past enters a few floors later, and then another, all connected to Shawn. Each one reveals pieces of Shawn's story, and Will has a decision to make as the elevator reaches the ground floor. This won the Newbery and Edgar Awards. 1 hr 43 mins. More info →
Caramelo
Every summer, Lala Reyes’ entire extended family drives from Chicago to visit her paternal grandparents in Mexico City. She begins to tell the story of Awful Grandmother’s life, starting with the rebozos her family manufactured and the prize design Caramelo, with frequent interjections and corrections from her grandmother. A sprawling multigenerational family story with plenty of lies, secrets, and warmth. 15 hrs 57 mins. More info →
The Guncle
When Patrick aka Gay Uncle Patrick aka GUP is called in to take care of his nine-year-old niece Maisie and six-year-old nephew Grant after the death of their mother (and his best friend) at his brother’s request, he tries to get out of it. What does a former actor know about raising kids? But needs must and so to Patrick’s Palm Springs home they go. In the process, Patrick has to take stock of his fading career and finally grieve the past loss of his partner, all while shepherding Maisie and Grant through their new normal. A heartwarming exploration of grief and family. 11 hrs 23 mins. More info →
A Thousand Ships
"Men’s deaths are epic, women’s deaths are tragic." Haynes seeks to upend that familiar narrative in this retelling of the Trojan War myth that centers the voices of women, girls, and the three goddesses whose feud started it all. While not shying away from the brutality of the ancient narrative, Haynes, a former stand-up comedian, laces her often difficult tale with a dark edge of humor. Nowhere is this more evident than in Penelope's story, which unfolds as a series of gloriously snarky letters to her husband Odysseus. 8 hrs 34 mins. More info →
The Sentence
By turns delightful and dreadful, this is set inside the very real independent bookstore Birchbark Books, owned by novelist Louise Erdrich, and takes place from November 2019 to November 2020. Wonderful and beautiful and at times laugh-out-loud funny, but also heart-stopping in its descriptions of the Covid-19 pandemic and the murder of George Floyd (which took place just a few miles away). Avid readers take note: this book about books includes more than 150 book recommendations, thoughtfully compiled in an appendix that listeners can access by downloading the audiobook supplement. 11 hrs 49 mins. More info →
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
An adult fairy tale about childhood and magic and monsters. A middle-aged artist returns home to the English countryside for a funeral. While there, he takes a walk and begins reflecting on what happened to his family while he was a young boy when he turned to the witches at the farm up the road for help. Gaiman writes incredibly well and poignantly about regret and the sense of loss in innocence. I'm in awe of the fantasy world he created. Gaiman narrates most of his books and his British accent is a nice touch. 6 hrs 22 mins. More info →
Still Life
The gently-paced story spans four decades and nearly five hundred pages, is packed with observations on the indispensability of art and beauty, and offers countless incarnations of the many ways to find and give love in this world. I had to nudge myself to pick this one up, but when I did I was happy to read more about the chosen family brought together by protagonist Ulysses (purveyor of globes, named after a racehorse) that endures and evolves from WWII Italy to the 1980s. My favorite moments are those in which Forster's novel A Room with a View is consciously paralleled, or art historian Evelyn Skinner makes a serendipitous appearance. 14 hrs 54 mins. More info →
Wolf in White Van
John Darnielle is best known for his band The Mountain Goats but he also writes fiction, including this debut, which won an Alex Award and was nominated for a National Book Award. After a disfiguring injury as a teen, Sean Phillips retreated from society and focused on creating the text-based roleplaying game Trace Italian, in which players are guided through a dystopian America. Disaster strikes when two players take the imaginary game into the real world and Sean is called to account. Structure nerds, this one's for you: the story unfolds in reverse, traveling back to Sean’s accident. 5 hrs 22 mins. More info →
Thank You for Listening
Two audiobook narrators find love in this meta take on contemporary publishing. In her long-anticipated sophomore novel, Whelan has a ball skewering the tired objections of romance skeptics as she takes us deep into the world of the field she knows so well. Actress-turned-narrator Sewanee is still recovering from a terrible accident that scarred her inside and out when she’s cast alongside the sexy and secretive Brock McKnight in a coveted project. Whelan clearly enjoys playing with the genre’s familiar tropes—snowed in, just one night, mistaken identity. With wittily named chapter titles (don’t miss them!) and great supporting characters, this romance shows our heroine forgiving herself and finding true love. (Open door.) Don’t miss my conversation with Julia Whelan in WSIRN Episode 340: The secret life of an audiobook narrator about the ins and outs of audiobook narration and how that inspired her book. 11 hrs 16 mins. More info →
A Tale for the Time Being
A couple of years after the devastating 2011 tsunami, a woman finds a Hello Kitty lunchbox—possibly debris from the wave, containing a diary—washed up on the shore of her remote island home in the Pacific Northwest. The woman is an American novelist with writer's block; the diary belongs to a troubled Japanese schoolgirl who's contemplating "dropping out of time," via dying by suicide. Ruth is determined to find the girl and get her help, but how? And even stranger—as she acts on the diary's clues and begins reaching out to people who may know the teen's family, the words in the diary begin changing. This was a weird book, a real brain-bender. I found it fascinating, but heads up: the content is strange, sad, and gritty. 14 hrs 43 mins. More info →
The Idea of You
To her great surprise, 39-year-old gallery owner Solène falls madly in love with a 20-year-old member of the boy band August Moon, embarking on an initially secret and then all-too-public relationship that unfolds in glamorous (read: seriously fun to read about) settings all over the world. The premise sounds squidgy but Lee really sells it, believably showing their clandestine affair evolve into a serious and loving relationship. This novel is packed with emotional drama, lavish descriptions of luxe locales, and interesting details on the business of contemporary art. This is also very much a story about an "aging" woman reclaiming her sexuality: heads up for some seriously racy scenes. 11 hrs 55 mins. More info →
Night of Miracles
I've looked at Elizabeth Berg's work differently ever since Liane Moriarty said this author changed her life—and not just her writing life. Set in the small town of Mason, Missouri, the novel begins with a link to The Story of Arthur Truluv; many of the same characters reappear. Berg writes warmly of sympathetic characters facing uncertain times, and leaning on each other (and a little bit of magic) to find their way. 6 hrs 51 mins. More info →
The Covenant of Water
In this 2023 Summer Reading Guide pick and Oprah Book Club selection, physician and author Verghese narrates this epic story, portraying three generations of an Indian family who suffer from what they have come to call the “condition.” For each of the past seven generations, at least one family member has drowned unexpectedly, even though they avoid the water. But this family is determined to find meaning despite the suffering they experience and anticipate. Unfolding in 20th century rural South India (with one short trip to Scotland), this is a sweeping tale of love, family, faith, and medicine. 31 hrs 16 mins. More info →
The Night Tiger
Dancehall girl Ji Lin’s fate is intertwined with houseboy Ren in this historical mystery set in colonial Malaysia. Before Ren’s master dies, he asks Ren to find his long-ago severed finger and reunite it with his body so that his soul won’t roam the earth as a tiger. When Ji Lin’s dance partner gives her a severed finger as a parting gift, she decides she must return it to its owner. With 49 days ticking down, Ren and Ji Lin’s lives draw ever closer. Choo brings her trademark touch of magic to themes of colonialism, superstition, and sibling rivalry. 14 hrs 8 mins. More info →
Legends & Lattes
What’s an orc to do after they retire from the mercenary life? Why, open up the very first coffee shop in Thune, of course. Viv is ready for a fresh start but she’s going to need help from new friends, whether that’s introducing people to coffee for the first time or handling rivals. This is high fantasy with low stakes and an interesting combination of fantastical characters with coffee shops, cinnamon rolls, and lattes, making for a cozy read. 7 hrs 19 mins. More info →
With the Fire on High
Seventeen-year old single mother Emoni has always been told she has a magical touch in the kitchen. She dreams of a career as a chef but she doesn't have the time or money for her school's new culinary arts class, not if she's going to still be able to work part-time and provide for her child. She's torn in a lot of directions but her passion for food is clear. Told in stunning prose, this novel captured my heart—and made me want to bake! Acevedo creates fabulous characters to root for, and you'll be cheering for Emoni as you listen. 7 hrs 27 mins. More info →
Death Valley
A writer flees Los Angeles to check in at a Best Western (her favorite hotel chain) in Death Valley, seeking to write a "desert epiphany" scene for her work in progress and also to get some relief from the grueling demands of tending a father in the ICU and a husband living with chronic illness. She has no intention of hiking while she's there, but when the desk clerk recommends a hike and draws her a map, she follows it—and soon finds herself entering a cactus portal where she can connect with her loved ones in ways she never dreamed possible. This story is sad, tender, surprising, and more than a little weird. It was a little outside my lane but I'm glad I took a chance on it; the five-hour run time made it easy to do so. 5 hrs 9 mins. More info →
What are your favorite fiction audiobooks narrated by their authors? Please share in the comments.
P.S. 10 literary fiction audiobooks narrated by their authors, 20 extra long audiobooks so you can get the most out of those credits, and 10 favorite audiobook narrators (plus 30 excellent audiobooks they narrate).
31 comments
So many of these were fantastic narrated by the author. I was also blown away by Jesmyn Ward reading Let Us Descend, and I am really enjoying Zadie Smith reading The Fraud (she does the accents so well!!).
Ditto!! I just finished Smith’s work last month. I really didn’t understand a lot of what was going on in the book (Smith is too smart for me!) but I highly enjoyed the audio version because Smith nailed the accents and has such a lyrical voice, I could listen to her read the phone book (if those still exist).
Came to add this comment! Just finished Let Us Descend. Love it when the author reads his/her own work. My favorite of these is Still Life!
I just finished the audio version of Charlotte Illes is Not a Detective written (and read) by Katie Siegel. Highly recommend the book for anyone who is a fan of cozy (but ever-so-slightly edgy) mysteries. It reminded me a lot of The Spellman Files: it features a (former) child detective who has a supportive, but also sometimes meddling family; lots of character introspection about their career path; a few close sidekicks/friends; and fantastic (and often snarky) banter. The author does a great job of bringing every character to life and you will absolutely fall in love with Charlotte’s bestie, Lucy.
The Wingfeather Saga narrated by Andrew Peterson. It’s a children’s book series but he truly brings his book to life.
The Guncle! The Sentence! ANYTHING Elizabeth Acevedo!!! I love so many of these books, and it is extra special when the author narrates the audio. Who better to bring out the “voice” of the characters than their creator?? I’ve wanted to read Be Brief and Tell Them Everything by Brad Listi since it came out. He hosts The Other People Podcast and has a great voice. Plus, the book is about a man trying to write his next novel while coming to terms with his son’s disabilities. It’s auto-fiction so having the author narrate the audiobook feels more intimate. I’ll report back if I get the chance to read it.
Wild that you didn’t include anything by Joshilyn Jackson – but, I guess regular MMD readers already know how great she is. The Almost Sisters is my favorite!
Joshilyn Jackson definitely needs to be on this list!
Where do you listen to your audio books? Libby? I’m having trouble finding Night of Miracles
Tom Lake read by Meryl Streep is masterful.
Barbara Kingsolver is my favorite author reader, especially for Unsheltered and Prodigal Summer. Her voice drips with kindness and compassion, and I’ve listened to both of those books a few times. Through her voice, her characters spring to life, and I’ve grown to love them like old friends (especially the women).
I loved Covenant of Water narrated by the author. So talented. What a beautiful book that I know I’ll read more than once.
I also love this diverse list and that Legends and Lattes, an adorable book, stands with Covenant of Water. So wonderful to see this interesting, diverse list. Thank you for it.
I have often wondered why audiobooks are so much longer to listen to than the time it would take to read. Sometimes I look at the Howlongtoread website and there is quite a difference. Anne maybe a good topic for a Patreon bonus.
My theory is that audiobook narrators have to read every single word, and read them at a reasonable pace, with pauses and whatnot. But when we read text to ourselves, often our brains skip over portions of words, plus sometimes we skim portions (either deliberately or just as a function of how our brains work).
I loved The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell written and read by Robert Dugoni. I had listened to his books in the Tracy Crosswhite series (not narrated by the author), which just get better and better, and decided to try this stand-alone. I paid absolutely no attention to who was narrating. I got toward the end of the book and thought to myself, “This narrator is SO good! It’s like he knows each and every character intimately!” HAHA!! Only then did I look and discover that it was the author.
I’m listening to that one right now. Really like it.
Jack Gantos is another author whose sublime readings of his own books enhance the experience. He is known as a Newbery award children’s book author but his stories are ageless. The Joey Pigza stories are his most well-known books but his memoir, Hole in my Life, which he also narrates, is poignant, cautionary and uplifting for YA and all audiences. His early “Jack” book series is not available in audio but I “hear” his voice when I read them. Happily, his most recent “Norvelt” books ARE read by him. I heartily recommend them. I can only handle some of his hilarious, mindboggling stories in his voice.
Just finished listening to Charlotte Illes is Not a Detective, written (and read) by Katie Siegel. This is a fantastic cozy (but ever-so-slightly edgy) mystery. I loved hearing the different characters and knowing that I was hearing them exactly as the author envisioned and wrote them. I’d strongly recommend this book/series (book #2 is coming out this summer) for anyone who enjoyed The Spellman Files series; they have a very similar feeling.
Completely agree about The Covenant of Water. I listened to the audiobook- all 31 hours of it! I also recently purchased the print version as I want to read it again.
I loved Fight Night by Miriam Toews as a read. As a listen it is even better. Miriam reads the Grandmother, and her daughter reads the Granddaughter. The subtleties of familial relationship abound.
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
Listening to Stephen Fry read his Greek myth interpretations (Mythos, Heroes, and Troy) is a real treat. His narration is foundational in my love for these books.
Fight Night by Miriam Toews was excellent on audio. She reads most of it and her daughter narrates a few sections as well!
I love to listen to anything by Catherine Steadman.
Terry Fallis podcast his first several books including his Stephen Leacock Medal-winning (originally self-published) first novel The Best Laid Plans. You can find them on his website and Apple podcast app (maybe others) and it‘a a fun Canadian behind the scenes on Parliament Hill. Up and Doen is a favourite about a 70+ year-old woman that wins a citizen astronaut competition put on by CSA/NASA.
Richard Armitage reading his novel Geneva. I felt caressed by that deep English accent!
Cutting for Stone was another book that I loved, also narrated by the author.
Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver, read by the author. 5 Star!!! Also, I’m thinking of Jeannette Walls, who has such a distinctive voice, and reads everything she writes, including fiction.
I love that Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds is on this list! I LOVE this book. I was first introduced to it as an audiobook. I then purchased books to teach to my high school students and the way it is written is equally amazing!
Joshilyn Jackson is my favorite author/narrator. I love Elizabeth Beth and Fannie Flagg’s narration as well.
Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver! How could anyone be so talented!!