Ranker BooksList RulesVote up the authors who are the best narrators for their books.
In this fast-paced world we live in, it seems not everyone has time to actually sit down and read a book. Though audiobooks were once viewed as little more than multi-part cassettes filled with motivational wisdom, in the last decade or so they've enjoyed a renaissance. Along with an increase in audiobooks is an increase in authors who narrate their own books. As there's often no one better to capture the tone of a book than the person who wrote it, finding the best audiobooks can come down to finding an one that's read by the author themselves. From fiction to memoir, Stephen King to Elizabeth Gilbert, you can listen to an author read their book to you.
These days a great audiobook can be a form of entertainment all on its own, as the best stories come to life complete with emotion and a vibrancy that can be missed in the written word. In many cases, audiobooks have even eclipsed their written counterparts, partially because they bring stories to life in a new way and partially because it's so easy now to carry a whole audio library around with you. The best audiobooks narrated by the author are filled with passion and enthusiasm, and you can be sure you're hearing the book the way it was meant to be heard. With every pause, emphasis, or breath, the author-narrated audiobooks on this list are captivating and authentic from start to finish. Try Audible and get two free audiobooks - allowing you to easily indulge in the voice of your favorite author-narrator.
It's time to put away your paperback, stop licking your thumb, or worrying about papercuts - pop in your headphones, and vote up the authors who've done the best narrating their books.
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215Maya Angelou
Dec. at 86 (1928-2014)Birthplace: St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America
Books Narrated:
Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now, And Still I Rise: A Selection of Poems Read by the Author, A Song Flung Up To Heaven, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Hallelujah! the Welcome Table: A Lifetime of Memories, Celebrations: Rituals of Peace and Prayer, Letter to My Daughter, Mom & Me & Mom
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216Toni Morrison
Age: 89Birthplace: Lorain, Ohio, United States of America
Books Narrated: Song of Solomon, Beloved, The Bluest Eye, Sula, A Mercy, Who's Got Game?, Jazz, God Help the Child, Paradise, Home, Love
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218David Sedaris
Age: 63Birthplace: Binghamton, New York, United States of America
Books Narrated: Me Talk Pretty One Day, Calypso, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, Theft by Finding, Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, Naked, Holidays on Ice, Barrel Fever and Other Stories, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk, David Sedaris Live at Carnegie Hall, David Sedaris: Live for Your Listening Pleasure
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166Amy Poehler
Age: 49Birthplace: Newton, Massachusetts, United States of America
Books Narrated: Yes Please
Amy Meredith Poehler (; born September 16, 1971) is an American actress, comedian, director,... more5
134Logic
Age: 30Birthplace: Gaithersburg, Maryland
Books Narrated: Supermarket
Sir Robert Bryson Hall II (born January 22, 1990), known by his stage name Logic, is an... more6
139Barack Obama
Age: 59Birthplace: Area code 808, Honolulu County, Hawaiian Islands, United States of America, United States
Books Narrated: The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, Dreams from My Father
Barack Hussein Obama born August 4, 1961is an American attorney and politician who served as... more7
82Neil Gaiman
Age: 59Birthplace: Eurasia, United Kingdom, Portchester
Books Narrated: Norse Mythology, Neverwhere, The Graveyard Book, Stardust, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Coraline, Smoke and Mirrors, Fragile Things, Trigger Warning, The View from the Cheap Seats, Fortunately, the Milk, M is for Magic, Odd and the Frost Giants, A Study in Emerald, American Gods, The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains, Art Matters, Instructions, The Monarch of the Glen
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95Stephen King
Age: 73Birthplace: Eastern United States, Northern New England, New England, United States of America, Cumberland County
Books Narrated: Salem's Lot, On Writing, Needful Things, Skeleton Crew, The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, Elevation, The Wind Through The Keyhole, Bag of Bones, Desperation
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84Barbara Kingsolver
Age: 65Birthplace: Annapolis, Maryland
Books Narrated: Unsheltered, Flight Behavior, The Lacuna, Small Wonder: Essays, Prodigal Summer
Barbara Kingsolver (born April 8, 1955) is an American novelist, essayist and poet. She was... more10
84Khaled Hosseini
Age: 55Birthplace: Kabul, Afghanistan
Books Narrated: The Kite Runner, And the Mountains Echoed
Khaled Hosseini (Persian: خالد حسینی [ˈxɒled hoˈsejni]; ; born March 4, 1965) is an... more11
11Carrie Fisher
Age: 63Birthplace: Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, California, United States of America
Carrie Frances Fisher (October 21, 1956 – December 27, 2016) was an American actress, writer,... more12
51Douglas Adams
Dec. at 49 (1952-2001)Birthplace: Cambridge, United Kingdom
Books Narrated: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, Life, the Universe and Everything, Mostly Harmless, Dirk Gently, Restaurant at the End of the Universe, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 6: Hexagonal Phase
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Books narrated: All Our Wrong Todays
Elan Mastai is a screenwriter....14
51Elizabeth Gilbert
Age: 51Birthplace: Waterbury, Connecticut
Books Narrated: Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear
Elizabeth M. Gilbert (born July 18, 1969) is an American author. She is best known for her... more15
52Jacqueline Woodson
Age: 57Birthplace: Columbus, Ohio
Books Narrated: Brown Girl Dreaming, Harbor Me, If You Come Softly, The Day You Begin, Show Way, Visiting Day
Jacqueline Woodson (born February 12, 1963) is an American writer of books for children and... more16
10Lauren Graham
Age: 53Birthplace: Honolulu, Hawaii, United States of America
Lauren Helen Graham (born March 16, 1967) is an American actress and author. She is best known... more17
10Mindy Kaling
Age: 36Birthplace: Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Vera Mindy Chokalingam (born June 24, 1979), known professionally as Mindy Kaling, is an... more18
10Nick Offerman
Age: 45Birthplace: Joliet, Illinois, United States of America
Nicholas Offerman (born June 26, 1970) is an American actor, writer, comedian, and carpenter... more19
52Ray Bradbury
Dec. at 92 (1920-2012)Birthplace: Waukegan, Illinois, United States of America
Books Narrated: Farenheight 451, Ray Bradbury Himself Reads 19 Complete Stories: The Grand Master of Inner Space and Outer Space
Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920 – June 5, 2012) was an American author and... more20
55Rob Lowe
Age: 56Birthplace: Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America
Books Narrated: Stories I Only Tell My Friends, Love Life
Robert Hepler Lowe (born March 17, 1964) is an American actor, producer, and director. He is... more21
55Thomas Harris
Age: 80Birthplace: Jackson, Tennessee
Books Narrated: Cari Mora
William Thomas Harris III (born September 22, 1940) is an American writer, best known for a... more22
10Tina Fey
Age: 50Birthplace: Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, United States of America
Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey (born May 18, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer,... more23
22Lauren Groff
Age: 42Birthplace: Cooperstown, New York
Books Narrated: Florida
Lauren Groff (born July 23, 1978) is an American novelist and short story writer. She has... more24
52Lisa Genova
Age: 50Books Narrated: Still Alice
Lisa Genova is an American neuroscientist and author. She self-published her debut novel Still... more25
55Rachel Kushner
Age: 52Birthplace: Eugene, Oregon
Books Narrated: The Mars Room
Rachel Kushner (born 1968) is an American writer, known for her novels Telex from Cuba (2008),... more
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