Friday List: Easy Listen Audiobooks

I’m relatively new to the world of audiobooks. Between household chores and meal prep and running, I have so many opportunities to listen to audiobooks, and I was determined to make them work for me. It took many false starts and failed attempts to figure out the formula of audiobook that clicks for me.

I struggle to listen to books that are very heavy or serious, or anything terribly detailed that requires me to pay close attention. But on the other hand, I often get annoyed by books that are too ‘fluffy.’

Here are a few of my favorite audiobooks that make for great easy listening—they don’t require you to pay oodles of attention, they’re entertaining, they’re well written and wonderfully narrated.

The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty // I just finished this audiobook earlier this week, so keep an eye out for a more thorough review in my end of the month reading review post. Between a mysterious story line, complicated relationships, and dark family secrets, it has everything I want from an audiobook.

Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling // If you’ve read and loved Harry Potter, you will love them on audio. (If you haven’t read and loved Harry Potter, you will love them on audio.) This series made me love audiobooks. The narration is perfection, and they are a joy to listen to.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor // Here’s a series I’m glad I didn’t hear any buzz about beforehand. I’m not sure I’d have read it if I’d known what it was about or what a cult following it has . . . but I’m so glad I gave it a go. Such a fantastic series, whether you read or listen (I’ve done both . . . multiple times).

Bossypants by Tina Fey // I tried to read Bossypants right when it came out, and couldn’t make it more than a few chapters in. But friend after friend after friend kept telling me I haaaad to read Bossypants, so I gave it a second chance, this time on audio. Hearing Tina Fey read it herself made all the difference—I loved it.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows // In my opinion, some books are markedly better either in print or on audio. This one? I don’t care whether you read or listen to it. I’ve done both, and it is perfectly charming and lovable either way.

I Am America by Stephen Colbert // I don’t think I ever watched The Colbert Report, so I’m not sure what motivated me to listen to this book. But who cares—it is flat-out hilarious, and I was sad to hear it end.