We’ve talked about the worst books I read in 2022. And the books that disappointed me the most. But now, it’s finally time to start getting into the books I actually liked. Starting with my favorite audiobooks of 2022. This year, I didn’t read as many books as I usually do, so there was a smaller list to choose my favorites from. But when I looked back at all the books I read (or listened to) in 2022, there were a pretty clear list of ten audiobook winners.

For me, audiobooks get their own category because there are a few more things I look for in a book. I need to have great narration. Obviously, I need to like the story, the characters, the writing, etc. But when it comes to audiobooks, narration counts. A good narrator can make a mediocre book more entertaining. And a bad narrator can ruin a book. I have experienced both.

These are the audiobooks that had it all: great narration, great story/characters, and overall great production. A few of the books on this list even had special audio additions that made them even more interesting to listen to. I was surprised that there ended being an even split between fiction and nonfiction – I tend to listen to a lot of nonfiction. But overall, I’m very happy with this list. It was a nice reminder to see all the great books I listened to this year! (Note: these are books I read/listened to this year. They weren’t necessarily released in 2022.)

Here are the top ten audiobooks I listened to in 2022, starting with number ten and counting down to my favorite audiobook of the year:

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

Read by Ell Potter

At number ten… we have Hamnet, by Maggie O’Farrell. I loved this book so much. It’s about Shakespeare’s family, and makes it very clear that he’s a side character in their lives. In this book, he is always “the husband” or “the father”. He gets married and after they have kids, he basically abandons them to go be a playwright. I mean, we got some incredible works of art out of it, but I like that this story focuses on what got sacrificed.

This novel is slower paced, and really just about a family living in rural England in the sixteenth century. But I found it so hard to stop listening to. It was incredibly engaging, and just a great novel. I think this book would be one one of my favorites lists even if I hadn’t listened to the audiobook. The audiobook just made it more fun, and was nice entertainment once I had to start commuting to work again.

True Biz by Sara Novic

Read by Lisa Flanagan, Kaleo Griffith

This is the only book on this list I didn’t give a five-star rating (still a four-star read, but the ending bumped it down a bit for me). However, I felt I needed to add it to the list because I loved how sound effects were used in this book. Which is normally not my thing. I don’t love audiobooks that use a lot of music or sounds or even multiple narrators most of the time. This book is definitely an exception to that rule.

True Biz is about a school for the deaf and some drama – at both the student and the administration levels – that goes on there. I really enjoyed the story. And after I bought the audiobook I realized the irony of listening go this particular book. But I’m glad I did, because it was so well done. Sound effects were used to mimic the sound of cochlear implants, but also to illustrate when characters were speaking in ASL (American Sign Language). It was very cool, and I thought it was very well done and did not feel at all intrusive to my reading experience. If you want to read this book, I highly reccommend the audiobook.

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

Read by the author

Coming in at number nine, we have the book everyone and their mother read in 2022. As you will see from the rest of this list, I really enjoy listening to memoirs when they’re read by the author. Obviously I had to go that route with this book (and all the other memoirs I read this year). While I didn’t go into this as a big Jennette McCurdy fan – I knew whose was, but never watched her shows – I really enjoyed this book.

As someone who also grew up with a toxic mother, I thought it would be interesting to read about someone else’s experience. Jennette McCurdy’s experience was very different than my own, but it seems like we experienced a lot of the same emotions. One of the hardest parts of having an abusive mother – especially if the abuse isn’t physical, but emotional or psychological – is that society kind of forces you to hide it. There’s something wrong with you if you don’t idolize your mom. But a lot of the time, the child isn’t the problem.

This book made me laugh and cringe and tear up. And I really just felt it so strongly. I love listening to books like this on audio, because having the author read it and tell you their story is so much more impactful.

Mean Baby by Selma Blair

Read by the author

Another memoir read by the author. This one, I do think I enjoyed more as an audiobook than I would have if I’d just read the physical book. Selma Blair is a great actress, and definitely uses that talent to tell her story here. Like Selma, I have multiple sclerosis. And I’ve been following her story ever since she revealed her diagnosis. So I was very curious to read about her experiences in this book. And I will say, there were some parts that were not easy to read. Even some parts that made me want to yell at (past) her.

But ugh, this book was good. It was well-written and heartbreaking and full of such entertaining and heartwarming anecdotes. I realized while reading this that I haven’t actually seen many of Selma Blair’s movies beyond, of course, Legally Blonde and Cruel Intentions. But I have always liked her. Still, I didn’t really know much about her at all, including the fact that she was friends with Carrie Fisher. You can probably guess that was the most entertaining part of this book. Overall, though, I can’t think of a single thing I didn’t love about it. It’s a great book and an even better audiobook.

What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo

Read by the author

I promise we’re almost done with the memoir portion of this post, but I had to include this one. Not just because it’s a brilliant memoir about childhood trauma and CPTSD. But because the author decided to take an opportunity with the audiobook and do something I’d never encountered before and thought was incredibly brave. She shares actual recordings of her therapy sessions. I’m sure they’re transcribed the physical book, but I think listening to the interactions between Stephanie Foo and her therapist brought a whole different dimension to this experience. I really liked it.

Apart from that, though, I thought this was a great memoir. I also have CPTSD from childhood trauma, and this book definitely helped me understand that better and put my own experiences into perspective. While I loathe when people compare experiences or feelings, etc., I spent this whole book thinking “well, okay, my childhood wasn’t that bad.” I think it’s important to keep in mind people can and do get CPTSD from less than what Stephanie Foo went through. But it’s also very important to put a spotlight on the condition a lot of people have, and very few get help for.

Finding Me by Viola Davis

Read by the author

The final memoir on this list is one I almost didn’t get around to reading. But I had a huge nonfiction binge in November, and I am so glad I decided to through this one in. Because it was amazing. I’m going to be completely honest here: this might be my favorite of the memoirs I listened to just because of how much I adore Viola Davis. Still, I think this is a fantastic memoir. It’s very raw and honest and revealing, and (obviously) narrated by the queen herself.

I was definitely on a roll reading about trauma in November, but this book definitely stood out because it was such a different kind of trauma. It was also incredibly interesting and I very much enjoyed getting to know Viola Davis more. I was definitely a fan going into this book, but I admire her so much now after learning everything she overcame to get where she is today.

I forgot to mention she’s currently nominated for a Grammy for her narration of this audiobook. Which is incredible all by itself. But this is the last piece she needs for an EGOT, which is so amazing. I’m definitely rooting for her!

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

Read by Julia Whelan, Brian Nishil, Keisuke Hoashi, MacLeod Andrews, Jeanne Sakata, Greg Watanabe, Brianna Ishibashi, Joe Knezevich, Micky Shiloah, Stephanie Komure, Jason Culp

Clearly, 2022 was the year I have to eat my words about not liking full-cast audiobooks. Because three of my top four books have multiple narrators. So fine. I was wrong and I like full-cast audiobooks now. At least sometimes. This book is about a pandemic created after scientists accidentally released an ancient virus frozen in the Arctic Circle. It felt very Station Eleven, which I’m also a huge fan of. And I really, really loved it. It follows various semi-connected characters as the Arctic Plague impacts their lives in very different ways.

I seriously could not stop listening to this book. It was still commuting to work (I work mostly from home now) and driving was my primary listening time. But with this book, I was staying up late so I could listen to more. And I think it should be a selling point that I very rarely cry over books anymore, but this book had me doing more than just tearing up. Over a pig. It’s that good.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Read by Ray Porter

Back when I first started getting into audiobooks, one of the first ones I fell in love with was The Martian. And while I have listened to some really amazing audiobooks, none of them have felt quite the same. This one however, came very close to recreating the magic of The Martian. I absolutely loved it! Most of the books on this list were at least a little bit sad or tackled difficult subjects. This one, on the other hand was just fun. It was such an entertaining and exciting book, and listening to it was perfect.

One of the things that can go wrong with audiobooks is that the narrator’s voice doesn’t quite fit the story, making it more difficult to fully immerse yourself in it. This was absolutely not the case here. Ray Porter did an amazing job, and his voice felt so perfect for this story. I will definitely be checking out other audiobooks he narrates.

How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question by Michael Schur

Read by the author, with Kristen Bell, D’Arcy Carden, Ted Danson, William Jackson Harper, Manny Jacinto, Marc Evan Jackson, Jameela Jamil, Todd May

If you know me, you know I am a massive fan of The Good Place. So this book was kind of a must-read for me. I ordered the hardcover pretty much as soon as it was released. Naturally, it sat on my pile of unread books for months. Honestly, I’m kind of glad it did because by the time I got around to reading it, I’d learned that the audiobook had a full cast. And not just any cast – the cast of The Good Place took part in this recording, and it was brilliant. Seriously, so much fun.

But this is also a really great book. I have been interested in philosophy for a while, and Michael Schur does an incredible job making it easy to understand in this book. While I do not regret listening to the audiobook one bit, I am glad I have a physical copy because I want to go back through it and flag passages that stuck with me. I learned a lot while reading this, but also had a ton of fun doing it. Just a great audiobook experience.

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Read by Marin Ireland, Micheal Urie

This might be a little bit of a spoiler for my other favorites posts coming up, but I don’t even care. Because I need everyone to know about this book and how amazing it is. I love this book! It’s sort of like A Man Called Ove… if Ove was an octopus. We get the grumpy old man, but this one has eight arms and sneaks around the aquarium at night. Honestly, I would have been kind of upset if I read a book with a cranky old octopus and didn’t love it.

But I think what absolutely sold this book for me was the fact that Michael Urie voices Marcellus, the octopus. His voice just emphasizes the snark and slight disdain towards humans so well and it elevates this book to something truly incredible. Don’t get me wrong, the story is brilliant and I think I would have loved this anyway. But I am so, so happy I listened to this one as an audiobook. It’s perfect.

And that’s it for my audiobook favorites for this year! Did you listen to any audiobooks in 2022? What was your favorite?

Stay tuned for my favorite nonfiction books of the year, my favorite new releases, and my overall favorites of 2022!

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