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Immersing you in other worlds, vividly imagined characters or incredible true stories, the best audiobooks have never been so popular. From A-list actors narrating romantic novels <\/a>to tell-all memoirs read by the writers themselves, the industry is booming. In the UK last year, bookworms spent a record \u00a3268m on audiobooks, according to the Publishers Association<\/a>.<\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to see the appeal. Unlike a book<\/a>, audiobooks can entertain you while you do other tasks. For many, audiobooks go hand in hand with chores like walking the dog, housework or skincare<\/a> routines. They occupy a side of the brain that\u2019s busy doing something else, bringing entertainment and education to almost any task.<\/p>\n The favourite fiction genres are crime, thriller<\/a> and fantasy<\/a>. Richard Osman<\/a>\u2019s latest cosy crime caper, We Solve Murders, is consistently in the audiobook charts, while Rebecca Yarros\u2019s Fourth Wing uses multiple actors to throw you right into its mythical land of dragons. <\/p>\n Non-fiction is one of the fastest-growing genres, with memoirs, self-help guides, history books and biographies all proving popular. Clips of Prince Harry<\/a> narrating his memoir Spare went viral, while Matthew Perry<\/a>\u2019s 2022 autobiography is a poignant listen after the actor\u2019s death. \u201cMiranda Hart<\/a>\u2019s I Haven\u2019t Been Entirely Honest With You has been a recent stand-out and works particularly well in audio,\u201d says Richard Lennon, Audio Publisher at Penguin Random House UK. \u201cThere\u2019s something about hearing it performed in her own voice that\u2019s really moving.\u201d <\/p>\n There are plenty of ways to read audiobooks, too. The prevailing app is Amazon Audible<\/a>, which has 800 thousand titles, and starts at \u00a35.99 per month. However, there are also single-purchase options from Apple Books <\/a>and Google Audiobooks<\/a>, as well as the audiobooks included in Spotify Premium<\/a>.<\/p>\n That\u2019s all well and good, but there are thousands of options out there. If you\u2019re looking to widen your listening or embrace the spoken word for the very first time, I\u2019ve rounded up the best audiobooks to download in 2025. I\u2019ve been an avid audiobook listener for years, so here\u2019s some book inspiration to get you started, from memoirs to fiction.<\/p>\n Why trust IndyBest reviews Senior shopping writer Daisy Lester<\/a> specialises in reviewing books. From the best books to pack for your summer holidays<\/a> to new releases and novellas<\/a>, she has her finger on the pulse when it comes to both debut authors and acclaimed writers. She knows what makes a gripping, moving or important story, whether it\u2019s a romantic comedy or historical drama. She loves books of every genre, from romance and satire to mystery and crime, so there will be a book for every taste in her roundups.<\/p>\n The best audiobooks for 2025 are: Best overall \u2013 Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: \u00a312.99 (or free with one credit), Audible.co.uk<\/a>Best memoir \u2013 Educated by Tara Westover: \u00a312.99 (or free with one credit), Audible.co.uk<\/a>Best romance \u2013 One Day by David Nicholls: \u00a320.99 (or free with one credit), Audible.co.uk<\/a>Best for kids \u2013 Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by JK Rowling: \u00a317.99 (or free with one credit), Audible.co.uk<\/a>Best new fiction \u2013 The Names by Florence Knapp: \u00a312.99 (or free with one credit), Audible.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for insider tips and product reviews from our shopping expertsSign up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13607,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[489,156,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-13606","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13606\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Some](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Ive-listened-to-hundreds-of-audiobooks-and-these-are-my-21-favourite-indybest.jpeg\")
Some of the books I listened to for this review (The Independent)<\/p>\n