Audiobooks for long drives
“Need an audiobook for a long drive. What do you have?”
27 answers from 23 people · Updated Oct 12, 2026
Audiobook “Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup”
This one honestly reads like a thriller, but it’s nonfiction. Perfect road trip material. Even my anti-audiobook husband was into it. It’s about the Elizabeth Holmes / Theranos scandal.
1
This is hands-down the best audiobook I’ve ever listened to. The narrator is 10/10.
3
the stories, the accent, its absolutely incredible. almost 10 years old now and its still the first audiobook that comes to mind—and i read (listen) to a loooooot of audiobooks.
53
This audiobook is a commitment and graduate level listening material. Tackling the brogue alone will make the plaque fall away from your brain. But you’ll stay for the riveting story. Great for a long drive.
8
Nofx hepatitis bathtub audiobook
Jaw droppingly entertaining. Perfect for a long car ride in a large group
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett on audiobook
So cozy, read by Meryl Streep, a Fall dream from the library
David Pittu’s reading of The Goldfinch
I read Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch when it came out over a decade ago, but on the recommendation of my audiophile friend Genevieve I’m now listening to the audiobook, and it is truly outstanding. David Pittu is masterful and yet somehow understated in his various voices; I forgot how it unfolds like a thriller. Perfect long-haul audiobook experience pour moi.
101
Lincoln in the Bardo with Nick Offerman, David Sedaris, et al
This book has a large, talented cast, many of whom are comedians. The readers bring all sorts of performance decisions to the jokes (and the terror, and the sorrow, and the rest of it) and it feels like another dimension is added to the work. Saunders is often so dark, and this book is dark, but the voices help the listener understand light shining through it.
141
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Audiobook
Narrated by Stephen Fry! Witty, ridiculous and quick. Hadn't read it since I was a teenager, and it def holds up!
1
Andy Serkis reading the Lord of the Rings
I have tried and failed to read LotR so many times but this is a fully pleasurable experience. Obviously Andy Serkis does an amazing job. And there is so much singing!
2
The Most Fun We Ever Had (Claire Lombardo)
Just finished this title yesterday and loved. A reflection on parenthood, marriage, sisterhood, loss. 21 hours on audiobook. It's a commitment but well worth it!
The Ramona Quimby Audiobook collection
Have kids? They’ll love it. Don’t have kids? Doesn’t matter, you’ll love it. Stockard Channing’s narration is perfection and Beverly Cleary never misses.
31
This version performed by a full cast! Got me from SF to Seattle and back
This is perfectly narrated by Tom Hanks. Some friends and I picked this book for a little lockdown zoom book club, and it was wild how the group was split right down the middle—those who read the printed book thought it was too bleak, those who listened to the audiobook thought it was perfect.
1
Anna Karenina, narrated by Maggie Gyllenhaal (2016)
CO-SIGN THIS IS SUCH A GOOD LISTENING EXPERIENCE AND MADE A DAUNTINGLY LONG BOOK GENUINELY SO CRUSHABLE!
103
i’ve been listening to this series throughout work. genuinely amazing voice acting — brings a new element of storytelling into the medium.
3
all Patrick Radden Keefe all the time
This is the best audiobook I’ve ever listened to. My best friend Sienna put me on. It’s funny, heartbreaking, riveting, so beautifully written and fun to listen to. And the narration is perfection. Everyone who I’ve told to listen is also obsessed.
4
The Woman in Me (audiobook version)
Do you think you’re above celebrity memoirs? Oscar-nominated icon Michelle Williams sure doesn’t. Her narration is Oscar-winning in my heart.
25
Heartburn, narrated by Meryl Streep
Two for the price of one: Heartburn narrated by Meryl Streep, and I Feel Bad About My Neck narrated by Nora Ephron herself. The standard to which all audiobook experiences should be held! Transcendent. Inhaled both, pure delight, prepare to absolutely cackle.
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain audiobook
George's writing is a joy in any format, and he always gets great actors for his audiobooks. But this one is something special: Rainn Wilson reading Gogol's "The Nose," Glenn Close reading Chekhov's "The Darling," and then George himself coming in to talk about why each story works. It felt like sitting in on the best class I never took.
12
For this wonderfully lyrical medieval novel — think sapphic Ken Follett — Bridgerton’s Adjoa Andoh takes on a voice actor’s greatest challenge: bringing each member of a huge cast of similar characters to unique, individual life. In this case, they are nuns — a whole convent of them — and their story spans a lifetime. Andoh masterfully maintains a distinct, memorable voice for each woman, even as they audibly age from teenage novices to ancient sisters. In the fiercely independent prioress Marie, we hear echoes of Lady Danbury — sharp-witted and sensual beneath her impeccable propriety. Audie nominee and winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.
4
Broken Horses (Brandi Carlile)
The audiobook version is interspersed with her song recordings- her own and her covers of Leonard, Dolly Parton and more.
Don’t read these books. Listen to them.
12 recs
I am a bookstore owner. My income depends on selling physical books to people. And yet there are some books that I demand people listen to instead of physically read. Why? Some stories are better as poems, some as plays, some as films, some as novels, some as dance. And some books are better when someone is reading them to you, when the narrative voice in your head isn’t your own. And yes, to settle the argument: audiobooks count as reading. If you think otherwise, you’ve never loved a reader who has ADHD.
10 recs
I used to be a voice actor. Now I’m just a snob about it. This is a collection of audiobook performances that blew me away.
9 recs
We started listening to audiobooks and podcasts in the car when my kids were six and three, five years later, we’re still obsessed. Here’s some especially mutually enjoyable options. #family #roadtrip
