Kendra Winchester is a Contributing Editor for Book Riot where she writes about audiobooks and disability literature. She is also the Founder of Read Appalachia, which celebrates Appalachian literature and writing. Previously, Kendra co-founded and served as Executive Director for Reading Women, a podcast that gained an international following over its six-season run. In her off hours, you can find her writing on her Substack, Winchester Ave, and posting photos of her Corgis on Instagram and Twitter @kdwinchester.
Over the last decade or so, audiobooks have taken the bookish world by storm. According to an Audio Publishers Association Sales Survey, audiobook sales grew 13% in 2024. They also reported half of adults in the United States have listened to an audiobook at least sometime in their life. As an avid audiobook lover, I’ve loved seeing them grow more popular every year.
I incorporate listening many ways. I often find myself sitting in a cafe listening to the audiobook with the text in front of me. I follow along, underlining and annotating the print version. This is my favorite way to pore over an author’s work, as I simultaneously see what the prose looks like when in print and read aloud. Other times, I love to listen to an engrossing memoir while I do chores. All this summer, I’ve been doing a deep clean of my house while listening to a series of engrossing personal narratives.
Maybe you’re in the market for a biography of a famous American writer or perhaps you’ve had your eye on a memoir about a writer’s personal memoir. But whatever the case, here are some of the must-listen audiobooks of 2025.
The Dry Season: A Memoir of Pleasure in a Year Without Sex by Melissa Febos, Performed by the Author
If you take the titles of Melissa Febos’s latest memoir at face value, you might think this book is all about sex, or the lack thereof. But what Febos has achieved with The Dry Season is much more than that. After a bad breakup and series of relationships that went nowhere, Febos decides to take a step back and examines her relationship with sex. But as the months of her season of celibacy roll by, she finds herself having better friendships without worrying about the pressure for something more. Even more, with no one to impress or try to make happy other than herself, she starts making decisions that are about what she wants to do for possibly the first time in her life. Febos’s performance of The Dry Season highlights her vulnerability and gives listeners insight into her emotions as she describes her experiences. Her prose is stunning, even more so when read aloud.
Bibliophobia: A Memoir by Sarah Chihaya, Performed by Traci Kato-Kiriyama
Sarah Chihaya’s books saved her, and she is here with a book of her own that tells us exactly how her love of literature changed her life for the better. Chihaya has struggled with her mental health for as long as she can remember. She’s spent her life trying to do everything right—getting good grades, attending a great college, and landing the perfect job. But none of it makes her feel any better. After a mental health crisis, Chihaya revisits her favorite books and realizes the deep impact each one has made on who she is today. Traci Kato-Kiriyama performs the audiobook with a beautiful sense of emotion as Chihaya reveals some difficult parts of her life.
Audiobooks Promotions
Sign up for Audiobooks Promotions to receive special offers, new products, and interesting listens from the world of audiobooks!
Sucker Punch: Essays by Scaachi Koul, Performed by the Author
Several years ago, Scaachi Koul released an essay collection that largely dealt with her marriage to her husband. Now, Sucker Punch discusses their divorce. Koul has this brilliant way of using humor to capture the true devastation of the end of such an important relationship. Koul is incredibly honest about the thing she left out of her previous collection: the complex reality of loving someone you aren’t meant to be with, no matter how hard you try to make it work. Koul reads the audiobook edition of her essays, her performance highlighting her sharp-witted humor and emotional vulnerability.
Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People by Imani Perry, Performed by the Author
National Book Award winner Imani Perry is back, this time with a rumination on Black America’s connection to the color blue. From dyed indigo cloths in West Africa to blues music, Perry details a Black cultural history of the color blue. As she circles the topic again and again, Perry teaches listeners to view the color in new ways. Perry’s narration of the audiobook is stripped back, letting the text speak for itself. In a way, it feels as if you are sitting listening to one of the best lectures of your life.
Mark Twain by Ron Chernow, Performed by Jason Culp
Coming in at 44 ½ hours, Ron Chernow’s new biography of Mark Twain is quite the marathon. But if you’re a biography fan, trust me, it’s worth it. Chernow has this clever ability of understanding his subjects in intense detail. Somehow, he just understands how Mark Twain thinks. I imagine that narrating such a long audiobook is quite the challenge, but Culp’s performance is spot on, striking that balance of ensuring his narration is full of energy without over-performing.
Misbehaving at the Crossroads: Essays & Writings by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, Performed by Karen Chilton
Listening to Honorée Fanonne Jeffers’s words is a revelation. She writes about the public and private lives of Black women, people who stand at the intersection—or crossroads—of several identities. Each essay explores the multifaceted nature of Black women’s lived experiences in America throughout history and in our present times of political polarization and upheaval. Karen Chilton brings a clear, direct performance for the listener. Each essay shines. Her narration leads listeners through Jeffers’s ideas, perfectly capturing the emotional tone of each essay.
English (US) · 