19 Favorite AUDIOBOOKS of 2025 from the Everyday Reading Community

This post is sponsored by Audible

Last year, I asked what the very best audiobook you listened to in 2024 was (that list here if you missed it!) and it was so popular and fun that I did it again this year!

Lots of these I’ve read and loved and some of them are brand new to me – you better believe I added several of these to my TBR SO fast!

And right now, Audible has brought back their 3 months for 99 cents a month deal (it’s only available for a few days!) so if you haven’t grabbed it yet, now is the time – they have the BEST selection of audiobooks on the planet and we use Audible literally every day at our house!

And now, onto the 19 most popular audiobooks from 2025!

#1 – The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
I am not normally drawn to epistolary novels (books written in letters) and after reading this one, my opinion didn’t change. But don’t let that stop you from listening because obviously this one is getting a lot of buzz and others LOVED it! Sybil Van Antwerp, writes letters every day – to friends, authors, even people who’ve hurt her – as a way to make sense of life. But when someone from her past reaches out, she’s forced to face painful memories and finally send the one letter she’s kept to herself for years.

#2 – Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
I’m a HUGE fan of Taylor Jenkins Reid, but I surprisingly haven’t read this new one of hers! It takes place in the 1980s during the time of the space shuttle launches – it sounds intriguing and I can see why so many of you also loved it!

#3 – The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower
If you’ve been around for awhile, you know I love this series! I had read the entire series twice before these came out on audio and I was so excited to try out the audio version – wait until you hear all the voices the narrator does! And if you struggled getting into the physical books, I’m telling you the audiobook really helps.

#4 – The Favorites by Layne Fargo
Whoa I loved this book! Similar vibes as Daisy Jones and the Six with a dash of Wuthering Heights. Katerina Shaw and Heath Rocha met when they were young and become very close. Both grew up in dysfunctional families and find a safe space with each other, eventually teaming up as ice dance partners and setting their sights on Olympic gold. But you better believe there will be A LOT of drama along the way! It’s told as a documentary which is SO fun! There is some language and spice but I loved this gripping audiobook!  

#5 – Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson
This was our audiobook pick for our family trip and it was a huge hit! I picked the full cast version, which was a great call – there are so many different voices and original music and sound effects and it just made for a stunning listen that we were all very into from the first few minutes. Tress has lived a quiet life until her beloved friend (and . .. .maybe more than friend?) is taken away on a voyage by his father and disaster strikes. Now Tress is ready to leave everything she’s ever known behind to stow away on a ship and sail across the mysterious seas where even a single drop of water can spell death for everyone aboard.

#6 – Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
I received SO many messages from people throughout the year with mixed reviews good and bad. But I am happy to hear that it was a hit for most of you! This is a story of a dad and his three kids who live on a tiny island protecting seeds off the coast of Australia. The water is rising, which means they have to leave soon. But when a mysterious, half-dead woman washes ashore, lots of secrets between the father and the new woman come into play.

#7 – Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Guide to Murders by Jesse Q. Sutanto 
Vera owns a tea shop in San Francisco’s Chinatown. There is nothing she loves more than tea…but after she finds a dead body in her tea shop and steals a piece of evidence, she thinks she can use her detective skills to solve the murder. After buttering up suspects with tea and home-cooked meals, will Vera find out what secrets they are hiding and pin the murderer once and for all?

#8 – My Friends by Fredrik Backman
Another new release that I haven’t read yet, this one was super buzzy and all over tons of bestseller, award, and book club lists! After losing her best friend and aging out of foster care, 18-year-old Louisa is out on her own – until a random encounter with a famous artist leaves her in charge of his most famous painting. She and one of his old friends hit the road to the seaside town where it all started, uncovering the friendship and summer that inspired it all.

#9 – The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
If it’s narrated by Julia Whelan, I am 100% hooked! Set during the Great Depression, it follows Elsa as drought and dust devastate her farm and force her to choose between the chance at a better life and the people she loves. So emotional and incredibly moving. (Full review here.)

#10 – Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
This one was totally off my radar! Sci-fi/fantasy isn’t always my go-to for audiobooks, but I was shocked by how many of you named this your top audiobook of 2025. Earth turns into a giant, televised dungeon crawl where Carl (plus his ex’s very opinionated, now-talking cat) has to fight monsters, beat the clock, and win over an alien audience to survive, which is perfect if you love video-game vibes and nonstop action.

#11 – The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
I cannot tell you how long I waited in the hold lines for this book when it came out. And when I finally finished it, it was well worth all the hold lines. (This is the book that shot her to stardom). In WWII France, two sisters face frightening situations that tests their relationship, strength, and sense of right and wrong. It is a true tale of bravery. I listened to The Nightingale audiobook and it is fantastically done. And if you’ve read it and want more, here are some other titles you might want to try out!

#12 – Wedding People by Alison Espach
This was one of my Book of the Month books and I was sucked immediately in. It’s the story of a woman who arrives at a fancy hotel as the only occupant who is not there for a wedding. She quickly clicks with the bride and they start sharing their stories with each other which is a surprise to both of them. This one has trigger-warnings galore but it worked for me.

#13 – The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett
A down-on-his-luck lottery winner suddenly becomes guardian to two orphaned kids and sets off on a chaotic road trip across America with his own adult daughter (and a cat who predicts death) on the way to visit his high school crush. I’ve heard this one is full of absurd adventures and evokes all the emotions! It’s hilarious, heartwarming, and also heartbreaking.

#14 – Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten
I love a memoir read by the author and Ina Garten is just such a delight to listen to and a wonderful storyteller. I blew through this on a plane flight and it made the hours fly by. I love hearing how many of you loved this one this last year too!

#15 – Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
This bestselling historical fiction gives more insight into the life, marriage, and loss of a child that Shakespeare went through before writing one of his most well-known plays Hamlet. I’ve been hearing about this book since it came out and I’m dying to read it!

#17 – The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown
Fantasy isn’t typically my genre of choice, but this one sounds like something I could possibly pick up. When a mysterious customer leaves Cassie a strange book that can open doors to anywhere in the world, her quiet bookseller life turns into a whirlwind of travel, secrets, and very real danger.

#18 – The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
This book is almost a decade old and is still making best book lists and for good reason. When I read it seven years ago I blew through 400 pages in three days. It’s the story of a teenage girl who moves to Alaska with her mom and her recently-released POW dad who fought in Vietnam and is convinced that Alaska will give him the new start he needs. Spanning more than a decade of Leni’s life, she gets a front row seat to her father’s inability to handle the darkness that falls over Alaska and the darkness that he’s fighting within himself. I couldn’t put this one down. Be warned that you’ll want your tissues you for this one.

#19 – Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
This audible original is a must to add to your list. You might have seen Trevor Noah on The Daily Show, but his life began as a crime. He was the son of a multiracial marriage which during South Africa apartheid was illegal. This witty and honest memoir is the perfect book to add to any book club and it’s one of those books that everyone mentions when they talk about books that are made 100x better by the audio version (naturally, it’s read by the author). 

And if you’d like a printable copy of this list that you can take to your library or screenshot on your phone for easy access, just pop in your email address below and it’ll come right to your inbox!