Back in October, Spotify announced that it was going to offer 15 hours of audiobooks a month for premium subscribers. At first, some publishers were worried that it would undercut the profits of the medium, but just a few months later and it looks like Spotify is at the forefront of the explosive growth being experienced by audiobooks. With that in mind, we’re going to rank the top 11 audiobooks currently available on Spotify.
The audiobook market has been steadily growing, and the fourth quarter of 2023 saw a 14% jump from last year. That’s without Spotify, by the way. Add in that variable and the number jumps to 28%, massive growth indicating more and more people are listening to their books rather than reading them.
Spotify has more than 200,000 books to choose from and listeners have absorbed more than 90,000 individual ones. Spotify, with its 226 million listeners, has been struggling to make a profit with music, so it’s been pushing audiobooks hard. The company convinced all five of America’s biggest publishers to use the platform, and struck deals with many smaller ones as well. Whether this alters the book landscape the way it did with music remains to be seen.
Without further ado, here are eleven of the best audiobooks available to stream right now.
I’m Glad My Mom Died —Jennette McCurdy
This bestseller came out in 2022 and made a big splash with its honest writing and candid descriptions of being a child star. It has even more resonance lately with all the eyes on Nickelodeon’s behavior with children in the documentary Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV. From addiction to abusive parenting to eating disorders, McCurdy covers it all with courage and humor, and narrates it, too.
A Court of Thorns and Roses — Sarah J. Maas
It’s hard to describe the absolute popularity of these series if you haven’t had the pleasure of experiencing them yourself, but A Court of Thorns and Roses is a great place to start. The easiest way to describe it is as a total retelling of the Beauty and the Beast story, but even that doesn’t begin to describe the absolute majesty of it. These books are stupid popular for a reason. Just be warned, once you’re hooked, they’re hard to step away from.
The Mountain is You — Brianna Wiest
There are a lot of self-help books out there, but The Mountain is You is definitely having a moment. It deals with one of the most common maladies we face as humans: Self-sabotage. Author Wiest teaches you to recognize negative thoughts and patterns as they happen, and learn to deal with them so you can experience true growth.
Kitchen Confidential — Anthony Bourdain
Made even more poignant because the book’s brilliant author is no longer with us, Kitchen Confidential is the tell-all that got Anthony Bourdain on the map. Part memoir and part instruction manual, it’s both a deep dive into the culinary industry as well as into the mind of a man who could somehow make cuisine feel both magical, and approachable.
Empire of the Summer Moon – S.C. Gwynne
This Pulitzer Prize-winning book tells the story of the forty-year war between the white settlers of the West and the Comanche Nation, who were viciously murdered and removed from their own land. It’s a fascinating tale of war, expansion, and how America ended up becoming the nation it is today. A must read for history buffs and fans of the old West.
All the Light We Cannot See — Anthony Doerr
A beautiful, heartbreaking tale of two lives caught up in the furor of the Second World War. One is a brilliant German orphan boy who can fix radios seemingly by osmosis, and the other is a young blind girl stuck in a coastal French town under attack by the Allies. It spans generations and reads like warm butter. It hits every human emotion and it’s by far one of the best novels ever written. Don’t believe us? Well, it also won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. An absolute masterpiece.
Shōgun, Parts One and Two
Shogun is currently experiencing a renaissance. It’s an epic novel by James Clavell about pre-industry feudal Japan and Spotify has it available in two parts. If the name sounds familiar, that’s because it’s currently airing on FX/Hulu, and even better it’s getting incredible reviews. It’s a great time to catch up on the source material, which was originally released in 1975 and has sold more than 15 million copies to date.
The Three-Body Problem — Cixin Liu
Not many book series have made the type of impact that The Three-Body Problem has made. The first book in a trilogy called Remembrance of Earth’s Past, it was the first book from an Asian author to win the prestigious Hugo Award. It’s also the subject of a buzzy Netflix show and there are plans for movies and more. Time to jump on the bandwagon already.
None of This is True — Lisa Jewell
British author Lisa Jewell is no stranger to the fiction section, and this latest turn is no different. If you’re in the mood for a thriller, look no further than the story of None of This is True. It’s a dark tale that gets darker with each twist of plot and like many other Jewell books, it’s hard to put down — oops, or in the case of this recording, “stop listening.” Treat yourself to a master of the genre who’s still on top of her game.
The Hobbit — J.R.R. Tolkien
The Hobbit. What else really needs to be said? Whether you’re getting into it for the first time or returning to it after reading it eons ago, this book is like a warm hug from a long-lost friend. It has everything you would want from a fantasy novel and a whole lot you didn’t even know you wanted. Classics are classics for a reason, and this is one of the best. There’s a reason it’s one of the best selling novels of all time.
The Woman in Me — Britney Spears
When Britney Spears released The Woman in Me in 2023, it caused such a stir that it completely changed the public’s perception of the pop princess. It’s a monster bestseller, with over two million sold since its release, but it’s also surprisingly well-written and very candid. It also seemed to damage Justin Timberlake, who seemed untouchable from a PR standpoint, and it shed more light on Britney’s tumultuous 2000s period. After all these years, we finally have the full story from the person at the center of it all.
