Somewhere, someone is already asking: Wait a minute, do audiobooks even count as reading?<\/p>\n
So let\u2019s get that out of the way. Yes, they do. There are many ways to read or enjoy a text, and an audiobook is one of them.<\/p>\n
Would a sleepy child at bedtime scold you by saying, \u201cThanks, but doing all those voices in \u2018Goodnight, Moon\u2019 doesn\u2019t count as reading.\u201d Or on a romantic picnic, would your dearest declare, \u201cIf you\u2019d read those poems quietly to yourself instead of sharing the verses with me, it would have counted as reading.\u201d<\/p>\n
Listening to an audiobook can overcome the digital distractions of the 21st century that derail your attention by acting a bit like a PeopleMover at the airport; maybe most of us can get across the terminal without it, but a little free momentum can help get you there faster (and keep you from exiting the duty-free store with a 2-gallon bottle of Scotch and\/or perfume).<\/p>\n
Sign up for our free newsletter about books, authors, reading and more<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n For big books \u2013 and fall 2026 is bursting with big ones \u2013 an audiobook is especially helpful, transporting you through the story without causing your arms to buckle as you benchpress a 999-page tome. And a good narrator can make even the largest cast of characters individually memorable.<\/p>\n So let\u2019s take a look at a wide range of just-released audiobooks available in fall 2026, and you\u2019re almost certain to find some that suit your tastes. If you don\u2019t, you can always revisit a classic like Juliet Stevenson reading George Eliot\u2019s \u201cMiddlemarch,\u201d Simon Prebble conjuring up an array of characters in Susanna Clarke\u2019s \u201cJonathan Strange & Mr Norrell,\u201d or Ross Gay narrating his joy-affirming \u201cThe Book of Delights.\u201d (And note that not every narrator is listed below this time because there are so many titles and some productions have multiple narrators, but please know we typically include them because we know how essential they are to making an audiobook succeed.)<\/p>\n And finally, get your audiobooks wherever it makes sense to you: On the free Libby or Hoopla Digital apps that work through local libraries. Or purchase your audiobooks through Libro.fm, Google Play, Chirp or Audible. Or just eavesdrop the next time you see me on a picnic loudly declaiming poetry.<\/p>\n Audiobook narrator Simon Vance has told a thousand stories. This is his.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Biography and memoir<\/p>\n What\u2019s more fun than a celebrity memoir? Having the celebrity read the book aloud with a little added flair (think of Barbra Streisand\u2019s asides in her nearly 50-hour \u201cMy Name Is Barbra\u201d or Bruce Springsteen\u2019s exuberant vocalizing in \u201cBorn to Run,\u201d for example). This fall we\u2019ve got some terrific examples coming: A memoir co-written (with Tracey Michae\u2019l Lewis-Giggetts) and narrated by the iconic star of \u201cRoots,\u201d \u201cStar Trek: The Next Generation\u201d and \u201cReading Rainbow,\u201d LeVar Burton<\/a>, \u201cTake My Word for It: A Memoir\u201d; the Michael Douglas tell-all (and then some) \u201cOne Helluva Ride\u201d; and Dustin Hoffman\u2019s \u201cLook at Me,\u201d which we can\u2019t wait to listen to (and can\u2019t help imagining the recording session as if it were the tomato scene<\/a> from \u201cTootsie\u201d).<\/p>\n More: \u201cWe Thought They\u2019d Never Leave: Musings on Food and Family\u201d by Tony Shalhoub, with Josie Adams; \u201cNever Say Die: A Memoir\u201d by Ke Huy Quan; \u201cDaphne & Me\u201d by Jane Leeves; \u201cIs It Too Late to Make a Run for It?\u201d by Judi Dench and Brendan O\u2019Hea; \u201cThe Gospel According to DMX\u201d by DMX; \u201cNobody Broke Your Heart: An Intimate Biography of Elliott Smith\u201d<\/a> by Jamie Fisher.<\/p>\n Looking for something without a celebrity attached? Consider \u201cBetween the River and the Railroad Tracks: A Memoir\u201d by Nicole R. Fleetwood;\u00a0\u201cAnd If I Die Before I Wake: A Memoir\u201d by George M. Johnson; \u201cThe Blue Hours: My Summers and Winter in Antarctica\u201d by Stephanie Krzywonos; \u201cThe Bookshop Woman: My Year Transforming Lives\u2014One Book at a Time\u201d by Nanako Hanada, trans. by Cat Anderson; \u201cDeath of an Ordinary Man\u201d by Sarah Perry; and \u201cSecrets: A Reporter\u2019s Memoir\u201d by Bob Woodward.<\/p>\n The Book Pages: Making audiobooks with Henry Winkler and John Stamos<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Award winners and nominees<\/p>\n Fall is easily one of our top four seasons. Sure, it\u2019s got all your cozy requirements covered \u2013 coats and sweaters, blankets and slippers, soups and cocoa, to name just a few \u2013 but it\u2019s also the heart of awards season for books. And if you\u2019re only looking at the winners, you\u2019re missing some great longlists, too.<\/p>\n Some of the nominated (and winning) titles you can plug into include \u201cKin\u201d by Tayari Jones<\/a>; \u201cThe Disappearers\u201d by Marlon James<\/a>; \u201cMay We Feed the King\u201d by Rebecca Perry; \u201cJohn of John\u201d by Douglas Stuart<\/a>; \u201cThe Things We Never Say\u201d by Elizabeth Strout; \u201cThe Palm House\u201d by Gwendoline Riley; \u201cBlack Bag\u201d by Luke Kennard; \u201cSwitzy\u201d by Emma Cline; \u201cHolloway\u201d by Elana K. Arnold; \u201cWhen Tomorrow Burns\u201d by Tae Keller; \u201cThat Which Feeds Us: A Hawaiian Gothic\u201d by Keala Kendall; \u201cThe Fight of Our Lives: AIDS in America\u201d by David Levithan and Gabriel Duckels; \u201cShook\u201d by Julian Randall; \u201cParadiso 17\u2033 by Hannah Lillith Assadi\u2019a; \u201cRed Ants\u201d by Kimberly Blaeser; \u201cD\u00e8y\u201d by Edwidge Danticat; \u201cPretend You\u2019re Dead and I Carry You\u201d by Juli\u00e1n Delgado Lopera; \u201cPython\u2019s Kiss\u201d by Louise Erdrich<\/a>; \u201cBeginning Middle End\u201d by Valeria Luiselli; \u201cThe Renovation\u201d by Kenan Orhan.<\/p>\n Nonfiction<\/p>\n There are plenty of great books coming out this fall to inform, enlighten or engage us on the big questions of time \u2026 or just distract us from everything for a little bit: \u201cThe Telephone: A New History\u201d by James Gleick; \u201cThe Havana Syndrome\u201d by Michael Rey and Oriana Zill de Granados; \u201cMurder in Paris \u201968\u201d by Edward Chisholm; \u201cBlockers: Rebels in the Deep State\u201d by Michael Lewis; \u201cUnreliable Boyfriend: An Insider\u2019s View of Dealing with a Chaotic Superpower, Plutocrats, and Other Complicated People\u201d by Chrystia Freeland; \u201cSerling: A Journey into the Twilight Zone with TV\u2019s First Visionary\u201d by Alan Sepinwall; \u201cRedwood: The Untold Story of the Cold War\u2019s Most Extraordinary Spy\u201d by Ben Macintyre; \u201cThe Rush: California Gold, the Civil War, and the Making of the Modern World\u201d by Nathaniel Philbrick.<\/a><\/p>\n The Book Pages: The story of an audiobook narrator<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Cheat, prey, love: Crime, sci-fi and romance<\/p>\n Everyone knows that genre books have some of the most fervent readers and fans. So how about one of these: \u201cOther Worlds Than These\u201d by Stephen King and Peter Straub (and narrated by Patton Oswalt); \u201cThreshing Day\u201d by Rebecca Yarros (with a full cast); the \u201cDungeon Crawler Carl\u201d series by Matt Dinniman<\/a>; \u201cThe Thrice-Bound Fool\u201d by Christopher Buehlman<\/a>; \u201cEmpire of Storms\u201d by Sarah J. Maas; \u201cThe Sixth Faction\u201d by Veronica Roth; \u201cLife Out of Order\u201d by Audrey Niffenegger; \u201cAlma Vampires\u201d by Elena Armas; \u201cBroken Rival\u201d by Tessa Bailey; \u201cA Married Little Christmas\u201d by Abby Jimenez; and \u201cCold Sunset\u201d by William Boyd.<\/p>\n Bestsellers, adaptations and more\u00a0big books<\/p>\n You know that book everyone has been talking about? For some readers, that\u2019s all they need to go jumping into the zeitgeist, but you can always sample the big new book on audio, such as Kathryn Stockett\u2019s \u201cThe Calamity Club\u201d; Elizabeth Kostova\u2019s \u201cMystery Play\u201d;\u00a0Min Jin Lee\u2019s \u201cAmerican Hagwon\u201d<\/a>; China Mi\u00e9ville\u2019s \u201cThe Rouse\u201d; Caro Claire Burke\u2019s \u201cYesteryear\u201d;\u00a0\u201cExit Party\u201d by Emily St. John Mandel<\/a> or \u201cWhistler\u201d by Ann Patchett.<\/a><\/p>\n Want more? Of course you do, and there are plenty of new titles coming as well as so many already out to discover. We\u2019ll be back with more book, bestseller and audiobook coverage, so get the free Book Pages newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n