If you were lucky enough to be read to as a child, you’ll know there’s nothing quite as soothing as being told a story. Audiobooks – particularly those that can be directly downloaded from the internet onto a computer, tablet or phone – have never been so popular, and you might be surprised at the variety on offer.
From celebrities reading their autobiographies, to best-selling novels and even self-help titles, there’s a huge range of books available. Here’s a selection of the Yours team favourites.
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Best fiction audiobooks
Best fiction audiobooks
1. Sweet Sorrow by David Nicholls
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Rory Kinnear brings to life the story of Charlie Lewis who learns more on a life-changing summer than he ever did at school.
2. The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
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An epic saga of a brother and sister over five decades, made even more absorbing by its brilliant narrator Tom Hanks.
3. The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel
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Hilary Mantel's latest read got rave reviews when it came out in print but hearing it from actor Ben Miles makes it even more gripping.
4. Oh Dear Silvia by Dawn French
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Read by Dawn herself, plus actors, this story unpicks the many different sides of Silvia Shute, who is currently in a coma. Visitors to her hospital bed begin to unravel the terrible secret she's always managed to keep hidden.
Best classic audiobooks
Best classic audiobooks
1. 1984 by George Orwell
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Simon Prebble narrates Orwell's popular dystopian novel, depicting a totalitarian world dominated by Big Brother and its vast network of agents, including the Thought Police.
2. Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights
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Listen to the tale of the passionate, yet thwarted, love between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw and how it affects the cast of characters around them. Narrated by Downton Abbey's Joanne Froggatt.
3. Bram Stoker’s Dracula
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Listen to one of the greatest horror stories of all time: Bram Stoker's Dracula. A classic gothic vampire story narrated by Alan Cumming, Tim Curry and others.
Stephen Fry audiobooks
Stephen Fry audiobooks
1. Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes: The Definitive Collection
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The collection, which lasts almost 72 hours, features four novels and five collections of short stories – along with a set of brand new introductions that Stephen personally recorded – being a huge self-confessed Holmes fan himself.
2. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
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Stephen Fry's dulcet tones make this magical story of wizardry a delight from beginning to end. If you missed out on the Harry Potter hype, it might be time to give it a whirl – your grandchildren will be thrilled!
BBC audiobooks
Head over to BBC Sounds website (or download the app) and listen to bookshelf bucket-list classics, read by entertaining voices – all for free:
• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
• Frankenstein
• Wuthering Heights
• Pride and Prejudice
• War of the Worlds
• Jane Eyre
How to listen to audiobooks
Audible: monthly audiobooks
With its giant library of more than 200,000 unique titles, Audible is undoubtedly the most popular place to find audiobooks. You can start a free 30-day trial and if you don’t cancel your subscription, you’ll pay a monthly fee of £7.99. This provides you with a single credit to obtain any audiobook every month, regardless of its price. Through this platform, you’ll also gain access to hundreds of Audible Original titles that you can’t be found through any other service.
How to listen: Audible books work on more-or-less any device – phone, tablet or laptop – including those running on iOS, OS X, Android, Windows, and Amazon Alexa.
Rakuten Kobo works almost exactly the same as Audible, offering a free trail and monthly credits to use against future purchases at a slightly cheaper rate of £6.99.
Google Play Books: pay as you go audiobooks
Google sells audiobooks individually with a straightforward one-off payment transaction, often at very affordable – and promotional – prices. This makes Google is a particularly good option if you’re unlikely to listen to more than a dozen books a year.
How to listen: The best way to listen to a Google audiobook is through Google Home or on any device that supports the Google Assistant tool. That’s because Google Audiobooks works with a variety of voice commands which allow you to jump chapters, pause audio and adjust playback speed without pressing a button.
Librivox: free audiobooks
If you’re watching the pennies and don’t want a monthly audiobook subscription, LibriVox could be a great choice for you. Unlike other services, you can find completely free audiobooks to download and listen to via this platform. It works by only offering public domain titles, which are typically based on novels or non-fiction works written decades ago. Some of its titles are often read and recorded by volunteers who make community submissions from anywhere in the world. You’ll also hear plenty read out by celebrities or authors too. Although it offers a smaller selection than its competitors, Librivox is an ideal place to listen to classic works.
How to listen: You can download MP3s or stream recordings in your browser. If listening via a smartphone, you can download the LibriVox Audio Books.
Prefer getting stuck into a physical book? Check out our pick of the best book holder stands to help you get comfy while you read.
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