We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl.
This week’s topic is Favorite Audiobook Narrators (or, if you don’t listen to audiobooks, name people—celebrities or otherwise—who might make you reconsider.)
I started listening to audiobooks several years ago but still don’t listen to that many. I admire people who can literally do a bunch of things (even if it’s cleaning/sorting) while listening to audiobooks because when I do that, I miss 90% of what I listen to, lol. I have a very distractible brain so when I listen to audiobooks I have to make sure that I’m doing nothing else.
The books I’ve most enjoyed have been full-cast but there are a few narrators I really enjoyed on their own. Not sure that I can make a full list but I’m going to also include a couple of narrators that I can’t wait to listen to!
Full Cast Audiobooks
Some of my favourite full-cast audiobooks. Sadie was my first-ever audiobook and I was shook by how quickly I devoured it (it is also short but amazing)! I’d definitely recommend all of these.
Andrew Kishino
Without a doubt, Kishino is one of my all-time favourite audiobook narrators. The way he captured the intensity, the characters, the emotion, THE EVERYTHING to bring my all-time favourite series to life? Immaculate! 😍 This series can admittedly feel a bit dense at times thanks to Lee’s incredible world-building and character depth/ development but Kishino’s narration makes this such a treat to follow! Couldn’t recommend them more!
Emily Woo Zeller
I’m really enjoying Woo Zeller’s narration and the way she also captures the emotion of the many characters in this series! It’s making the darkness bearable! 😂
Holter Graham
The way Graham personified all the characters was fantastic! These were my first non-full-cast audiobooks and I loved them!
Chris Lew Kum Hoi
Never heard of this voice actor before but I loved how he brought Babel and Robin’s character to life!
Zachary Webber
I adored this audiobook and it was one of my favourites from last year. It does have a full-cast but has two main voices. Zachary Webber has an awesome voice and captured the character so well!
Daveed Diggs
I really enjoyed this audiobook! Diggs did an amazing job capturing the vibes and bringing this story to life!
Elizabeth Acevedo
I loved listening to Acevedo narrate her own stories. She captures the moods, voices, and emotions so well!
January LaVoy
I actually started this audiobook two years ago and stopped because I loved the narration but I was trying to do something else at the same time
Lin-Manuel Miranda
There’s no hating on Lin-Manuel Miranda in this house! I’m looking forward to listening to these 🙂
Julia Whelan
I’ve heard that Julia Whalen is a great narrator and that this story is fantastic. I can’t wait to read it!
Who are your favourite audiobook narrators? What are your favourite audiobooks? Have you read any of these and did you enjoy them too or are they on your TBR?
dinipandareads 
So many good ones! I love Whelan. I also love LaVoy and Webber. And Gemina was a great full cast.
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I think Whelan was the most popular narrator in this week’s TTT! 😂 I’m sure I saw her name mentioned on almost every list, lol. I can’t wait to give her a listen!
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I agree. She was.
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You need to listen to Part of Your World on audio! Julia Whelan is one of the narrators but Zachary Webber voices the hero and he is fantastic!
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Omg, really!? TOGETHER? I NEED! Okay, thanks for the heads up! I’m definitely gonna get it now 😍
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Emily Woo Zeller and Elizabeth Acevedo are two of my favorites, too! And I’m also looking forward to listening to Lin Manuel Miranda narrate Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. Great list!
My TTT: https://bookwyrmknits.com/2023/04/25/top-ten-tuesday-favorite-audiobook-narrators/
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Thanks, Nicole! I hope we both enjoy his narration 😃
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Fingers crossed! 🙂
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I’m not super into audiobooks, but I made an exception for Daisy Jones and The Six. It was entirely worth it! I hope you enjoy these.
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Daisy Jones was incredible! 😍
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Yes! That full cast worked so well.
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I didn’t know there was an audiobook of Babel. Cool!
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.
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There is! It made the read so much easier for me to digest considering how dense it could be sometimes (at least for me). I really enjoyed it 😃
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Yes, the audiobook of The Deep was amazing. I keep hoping we’ll get a film about that story someday.
My post: https://lydiaschoch.com/top-ten-tuesday-audiobook-narrators-id-love-to-listen-to/
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Ooh, I think a film would be amazing 😍
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Wait, Lin-Manuel Miranda narrates Aristotle and Dante? I had no idea, but now I need to listen to it for sure!!
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Yes! He does! I started listening to it but then decided I needed to do it all in one sitting cos I kept getting interrupted and it was annoying 😂 He’s good!
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Many of these books are on my TBR, but I’ve never tried an audiobook because I feel like I won’t be able to focus. I’m a very visual person, and sometimes I forget about the music I’m listening to 😦
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It definitely takes a little getting used to with audiobooks but I actually find that for reads that are outside my norm or reads that I think might be too dense, audiobooks have helped me get through them 🙂 I totally get how it’d be tough as a visual person though!
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I thought Daveed Diggs was great on The Deep
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So good!
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Great post, I’m not a big audiobook reader either as I just can’t stay focused on the book but one I did love was the Andy Serkis narration of The Hobbit
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Ooh, Andy Serkis narrating The Hobbit sounds amazing! Maybe that would’ve made me love the book more 😂
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Whelan is amazing. I never realized how many books she had read to me. I am awful and do not make note of narrators I enjoy. My daughter loves full-cast recordings too and has listened to books solely because they were full cast. I know the Illuminae books have won awards.
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She was on *so* many lists today! I can’t wait to listen to her narrate her book but I also have a few others that she narrates that I can’t wait to try. I definitely picked up the audiobooks for the Illuminae Files and Aurora Cycle because I knew there were full-cast. So good 😍
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I listen to audiobooks while doing mindless tasks like loading/unloading the dishwasher. I’ve tried listening while cooking and have found that that only leads to disaster! Ha ha.
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
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Haha, I can imagine listening while cooking would lead to disaster 😂 But it’s amazing that you can do mindless tasks while listening to cos I’ve tried and… I miss so much of the book, lol.
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Full cast audiobooks are the best for sure. I can’t believe I forgot January LaVoy. I didn’t know that Lin Manuel Miranda narrated audiobooks. I will have to watch for them. Great choices, Dini.
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I don’t even remember how I stumbled across Miranda’s narration of these books but I’m so glad that I did. I really enjoy the way he speaks 😃 I also can’t wait to return to LaVoy’s narration of this book on my TBR. From the amount that I already listened to previously, I can already tell the narration will make me love this book more.
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I listened to The Ten Thousand Doors of January and loved it. I think I loved it more because of the narration. I am going to look for both of those MG books. Thanks Dini.
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I love full cast audiobooks for fiction! It makes it so much easier for me to follow along. When it comes to nonfiction, one narrator is totally fine for me since the world is “my world,” if that makes sense, so I already have an idea of the “rules,” so to speak.
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Full-cast FTW! 😍 I totally get what you mean for non-fiction narrators. I think I even prefer it if it’s narrated by the person who wrote the book (especially if it’s a memoir) but I’ve only listened to two or three NF audiobooks. I’ve definitely got a few more on my TBR, lol.
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The Daisy Jones & The Six audiobook was absolute perfection. I loved it so much! I’ve been wanting to read Nevernight but never considered listening to the audiobooks. Now that you’ve endorsed them, I’ll have to check and see if my library has access to them. 🙂
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Omg, it was so good! Have you watched the series? Part of me loved the audio narration so much that even picturing the characters as different actors/actresses makes me sad, lol 😂 And YES! I would definitely recommend listening to the audiobooks for Nevernight! I hope your library has them and that you enjoy them, Chris 😃
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I’m the same Dini – it takes so much concentration for me to get through an audiobook and I finally got through like 3 of them this year, I’ve surprised myself! lol…But these look like they would be great audiobooks – I’ll have to try them out, great list!
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I’m glad to know I’m not the only one cos I always see people doing so many things while listening to audiobooks and I’m always like how?! 🥲 I’m making my way through my first audiobook this year and loving it. Already got a few more lined up to be listened to ASAP and I can’t wait to give them a listen! 😍
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Whelan showed up on a lot of lists. She’s narrated several books by Taylor Jenkins Reid that I enjoyed. And Zachary Webber is one of my favorites. Love him. Full cast narration is always such a treat. I’m happy to see that being used more and more.
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She was on almost every list I saw 😂 I didn’t know she did SO many audiobooks. I’ve now got three books she’s narrated in my library and I can’t wait to listen to them. Same for Zachary Webber! I just learned Whelan and Webber narrate a book together (Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez) and I immediately scooped it up, lol
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I’ve only been listening to audiobooks for a couple of months and I’ve been trying to find audiobook recs ever since haha. I loved the audibook for Daisy Jones and definitely want to listen to Sadie (even though I own a physical copy …). How did you find the audibook for Babel? I’d considered picking it up via audio but the size of it and because I know it reads quite academic scared me haha.
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Sadie was SO good! It’s in like a podcast/radio show format and it just worked so freaking well! Definitely a great one to start with when I first dove into the world of audiobooks! 😂 I really enjoyed the audiobook for Babel—the story could be dense at times (and like you said, academic) but I think the narrator did a great job of capturing the characters, doing the pronunciations, and bringing the story to life ! There’s also a separate narrator for the footnotes (and they were good too but the main portion was narrated by this guy).
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Love a good full cast! Julie Whelan also did a fantastic job.
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Nothing beats a full cast, for me anyway! But I can’t wait to try Whelan cos she was on SO many lists today 😍
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I love January LaVoy, her narration was so fantastic on The Diviners series!
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2023/04/25/top-ten-tuesday-417/
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Ooh, The Diviners series is on my TBR (for one day, lol) but I’m excited to listen to her narrate 10k Doors of January! 😍
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I hope you enjoy it!
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Great list! I don’t typically listen to audio but I’ve heard so many rave reviews about the Illuminae Files audio!!
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It’s SO good, Leslie! I also don’t listen to a lot of audiobooks but that series was so so good 😍
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I was told the audiobook was the best way to consume Sadie, and I’m so glad I listened! I suggest it to people who enjoy listening to true crime podcasts.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
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YES! Sadie was so so good and I wish that every true crime was narrated in the same way 😂 I devoured that audiobook SO quickly!
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You included a couple from my list and one that I almost included (but I’d already used up 10). I, too, love when we get a full cast audiobook. One of my faves is the Illuminae Files.
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I was surprised to find that I could’ve added much more to this list because I really don’t listen to many audiobooks. There are tons that I can’t wait to give a listen to though! Illuminae Files is so so good 😍
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A full-cast narration does sound like it would create the most amazing audiobooks.
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Oh I love Elizabeth Avecedo- I don’t know whether it’s because it’s her own books or she’s just an awesome voice actress, but her audiobooks is always a 4+ stars for me!
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We’re the opposites! The only time I can do audiobooks is if I’m busy doing something else. 😃 It’s so funny how we’re all different kinds of listeners. It’s a great reminder. I didn’t enjoy listening to Daisy Jones—although I think it was the book more than the narrators. But it kind of reinforced my dislike of audiobooks and I haven’t really tried a fiction book since. Someday I’ll muster up the courage again. I did enjoy listening to Clap When You Land, but it felt more like poetry than a book to me. I bet I would enjoy The Poet X, as well. Happy reading, Dini!
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[…] #TopTenTuesday: Audiobook Narrators […]
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Full Cast Audiobooks are the best!! I loved Saide and Daisy Jones for that reason 🥰Haven’t listened to Babel yet, but I know that I want to read this in audiobook form for sure 😊
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