For many readers, audiobooks provide an immersive and accessible way to enjoy stories. They can bring an author’s words to life through engaging narration, atmospheric music, and even sound effects.
Voice casting choices can make or break a listener’s audiobook experience. Single-narrator books might require a person who not only fits the author’s voice but who can perfectly channel a variety of different characters. Other books benefit from having multiple narrators, such as epistolary novels and oral histories. Some particularly ambitious productions enlist a full cast with different actors playing each character, much like a radio play.
Here are eight audiobooks whose casting choices listeners couldn’t get enough of.
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Reid’s chronicles of the fictional 1970s rock band Daisy Jones & The Six work excellently as an audiobook. The band’s chaotic history unfolds through a series of intimate character testimonials, each voiced by a different actor. The reader becomes the interviewer, listening to each person tell their side of the story.
As Daisy, Jennifer Beals infuses wistful nostalgia and quiet vulnerability into the aging rockstar’s recollections of her childhood and career. Pablo Schreiber, Benjamin Bratt, and Judy Greer help round out the talented cast, along with fan-favorite narrator Julia Whelan.
The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells
Narrator Kevin R. Free perfectly captures the dry observations of Murderbot, the security droid protagonist of Martha Wells’ Murderbot Diaries. Free’s restrained performance helps emphasize the neurodivergent subtext of Murderbot’s character without being overly cold and unfriendly. His Murderbot is calm, rational, and exactly the droid you want on your team when a mission goes wrong.
The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
The new voiceover for Jenny Han’s popular romance trilogy is performed by Lola Tung, who plays Belly in the TV adaptation on Amazon Prime. Tung fully embraces her role, narrating her story like she’s recounting her romantic exploits to an old friend. Joining her for books two and three respectively are her co-stars, Gavin Casalegno as Jeremiah and Christopher Briney as Conrad. Fans of the show will appreciate this deeper look into the characters’ mindsets and complicated relationships.
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
Podcast fans will enjoy this “true”-crime trilogy, which combines third-person narrative with transcripted interviews, online articles, and voice logs. Bailey Carr narrates the adventures of amateur sleuth Pip with a strong sense of tension, dread, and earnest urgency. Other actors voice her interviewees, lending to the realism of Pip’s investigation. It’s as if the reader is solving the case right alongside her.
A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
Lemony Snicket’s classic children’s series walks a fine line between the sinister and the absurd. Tim Curry treads that line with ease, narrating the misfortunes of the orphaned Baudelaire siblings in a perfect sardonic deadpan. First-time listeners will be treated to a full-cast production of the series’ first book, The Bad Beginning. Snicket himself appears later in the series to warn readers away, but Curry’s captivating voiceover is impossible to resist.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
The chaos of Hitchhiker’s Guide demands a particularly charismatic narrator, and few choices could be more appropriate than Stephen Fry. Fry nails Adams’s wry humor, cheerily guiding listeners through the intergalactic adventures of Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect. Though Fry only narrates the series’ first book, Martin Freeman is a worthy successor who brings great energy to the characters’ dialogue. The sixth book, written by Eoin Colfer, is narrated by Simon Jones, who played Arthur in the original Hitchhiker’s Guide radio comedy.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
It’s clear from the opening of Project Hail Mary why audiobook fans love Ray Porter. He’s an exceptional voice for Ryland Grace, an astronaut attempting to piece together his memories after awakening from a prolonged sleep. Clever and plucky, Ryland is a force of personality on the page, and Porter’s delivery helps him shine.
1984 by George Orwell
Rather than a straight narration, this Audible original adapts Orwell’s dystopian classic into an audio drama featuring a star-studded cast. Joe White’s dramatization is intense and theatrical, anchored by Andrew Garfield’s phenomenal portrayal of paranoid government employee Winston Smith. Cynthia Erivo, Andrew Scott, and Tom Hardy also give memorable performances in this gripping production.
Whether you’re seeking company for your morning commute or a great bedtime story, you can’t go wrong with these casting choices.
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