The 20 Best Audiobooks Read by Author

Enjoy the best audiobooks read by author where the words on the page come alive where the author’s work and personality shine in their own voice.

Since this is my very first audiobook list, I wanted to make one thing crystal clear. Audiobooks count as reading. Anyone who says different is just being elitist. While there are benefits to visually reading a book that audiobooks do not have (spelling being the most obvious), there are also benefits to listening to an audiobook that physical books do not have (pronunciation being the most obvious).

Audiobooks are an amazing way to make reading accessible to those with visual impairments. Yet a brilliant side effect is now reading is also more accessible to people who don’t have time or patience to sit and read a physical book. I can know read a book while I do the dishes, while I workout, while I commute. 

In a world where every other title seems to be books narrated by Julia Whelan (who is a fantastic narrator!), I thought it would be fun to showcase a list of the best audiobooks read by author. 

With audiobooks read by author, you feel like the author is reading just to you. You can get a feel for their personality from their voice and inflection. Their accent, their humor, their cadence brings the narration to life in a unique way.

Just because a person can write an excellent book does not mean they are an excellent narrator. Yet, I thought it would be fun to highlight authors who can do both. From celebrity memoir audiobooks read by author to the rare fiction audiboook narrated by author, here are some great audiobook choices for you to pick up this year.

Telling of his formative years in South Africa during the last days of apartheid, Noah explains he was quite literally born a crime – born to a white father and Black mother in a country with strict race rules. Noah spent his early years hidden away from the government until the fall of apartheid let him live in the open as a mixed race child in a still very black and white world. Noah describes his restless youth and his mother’s determination to help him escape a cycle of poverty, violence and abuse. In addition to being a fascinating slice of history with witty narration, Born a Crime is considered the absolute best audiobook read by author for Noah’s astounding ability to change accents and mimic the variety of voices in his life.

Publication Date: 15 November 2016
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Both vulnerable and hilarious, Jennette McCurdy’s tell-all memoir sends a poignant message about the dangers of child acting and life with a narcissistic mother. McCurdy brilliantly embraces her inner child by describing how desperately she wanted to please her mom by acting, even if it led to an eating disorder and a chaotic relationship with her family that she didn’t fully understand until attending therapy after her mother’s death. McCurdy perfectly vocalizes the childlike desire to please your mother, assuming that your mom must only want what’s best for you. From being forced to fulfill her mother’s dream of acting to being taught anorexia, McCurdy gives an in-depth look at abuse by a narcissistic codependent mother and the mental and physical effects that had on her life.

Publication Date: 9 August 2022
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Academy Award-winning actor Matthew McConaughey offers a memoir on his approach to getting the most satisfaction out of life. McConaughey poured over decades of his diaries to share the highs and lows of his life and the funny stories that shaped him along the way. McConaughey is an interesting character who knows exactly how to tell a story in his slight Texas drawl that brings depth to the text.

Publication Date: 20 October 2020
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Comedian and actress Amy Poehler entertains with a book that is a mix of memoir and inspirational self-help. Poehler brings her characteristic charm while talking about her life and career (Comedy Central, Saturday Night Live, Parks and Recreation, movies and award hosting). With candid looks at motherhood, friendship and special guest appearances from friends and colleagues, Yes Please is one of the most captivating audiobooks read by author you’ll find.

Publication Date: 28 October 2014
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One of the highest-selling books of recent years, Michelle Obama’s memoir is easily one of the best autobiography audiobooks read by author. Detailing her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her success as a working mother and her years in the White House, Michelle Obama shows how her past has shaped her into who she has become today. A poignant memoir of a woman trying to do her best for her family while balancing the greater good of having a husband in politics, Obama’s story is a remarkable tale no matter what your political affiliation.

Publication Date: 13 November 2018
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One of the most powerful memoirs of recent years, Jeannette Walls recounts the story of her tumultuous childhood. She opens the book with the account of how at 3 years old, she ends up hospitalized with severe burns after pouring scalding water on herself when cooking hot dogs for lunch. You meet her charming father Rex, equal measures brilliant and paranoid; her mother Rose, selfish and depressed; and her three siblings, trying their best just to survive. To quote my husband, “Sometimes someone’s train wreck of a life is fascinating.”

Publication Date: March 2005
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Amy Griffin has always been a runner: as a child in Texas, as an athlete at the University of Virginia, and throughout her years of career and motherhood in New York. But her picture-perfect habit hid a darker secret – Amy has always been running from her childhood trauma that she has been hiding even from herself. Griffin’s heartbreaking memoir recounts her journey using psychedelic therapy to recover repressed memories and the limits of the justice system. Griffin also ponders the way women are trained to maintain appearances instead of trusting themselves.

Publication Date: 11 March 2025
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Poet Maggie Smith never imagined that her career success would lead to the deterioration of her marriage. In her lyrical memoir, Smith tells her tale of heartbreak and rebuilding as she is determined to become a fierce mother even as she finds herself. More than just her story, You Could Make This Place Beautiful contemplates modern womanhood, traditional gender roles, patriarchy’s role in society, and the challenges facing women today. Maggie Smith perfect narrates her divorce memoir whose poetic structure and ability to beautifully turn a phrase makes you feel so many of her lines.

Publication Date: 11 April 2023
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When he was nine years old, Stefan Merrill Block’s mother pulled him from school fearing it was stifling his creativity. With homeschooling having just become legal in Texas, she taught Stefan in their living room with formal math lessons and random unhinged projects. After five years, Stefan begged to go back to public school where he was in for a rude awakening as a freshman. Block’s memoir is heartbreaking and shocking as his mother neglects his education and stifles his interactions with his peers. Block’s struggles to reintegrate in high school and the lasting repercussions of his homeschooling years warn of the dangers of unregulated homeschooling for those who use it to hide their neglect and abuse from public view.

Publication Date: 6 January 2026
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Shari Franke is the oldest child of Ruby Franke, a temperamental mother fickle with her love and affection. After her sixth child, Ruby embraced the influencer lifestyle and created the YouTube channel 8Passengers. Growing up with her childhood mined for content, Shari struggled under a mother wanting to use her more than love her. Just as Shari leaves for college, Ruby falls under the thrall of life coach Jodi Hildebrandt and the two go on to commit heinous acts of child abuse all while Shari pleaded with family services to intercede.

Publication Date: 7 January 2025
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Once romanticized as the disease of poets, tuberculosis still rages in the world today, mostly in poverty-stricken populations. In 2019, bestselling author John Green struck up a friendship with Henry Reider, a tuberculosis patient in Sierra Leone. Since then, Green has become a major advocate for spreading awareness of this curable, preventable disease that still kills over a million people every year. One of the best nonfiction audiobooks read by author, Everything Is Tuberculosis captures Green’s fascination with the topic, pulling you in and leaving you riveted as well.

Publication Date: 18 March 2025
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Sharon McMahon shares twelve stories of everyday Americans who are unknown heroes displaying the courage that makes America great. From a telephone operator to a schoolteacher to a formerly enslaved person, McMahon details the lives and accomplishments of unsung American heroes in her signature style of storytelling. If you enjoy outraged commentary and snarky narration, The Small and the Mighty might be the perfect history audiobook read by author.

Publication Date: 24 September 2024
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In the years leading up to the second world war, a group of military strategists, nicknamed “The Bomber Mafia,” wondered if precision bombing of strategic targets could make war less lethal. Gladwell ponders how technology and the best intentions collide in the heat of war while examining the firebombing of Tokyo. Weaving together stories of a Dutch genius, pyromaniacal chemists, and two competing generals, Gladwell makes you consider the incalculable costs of war. The Bomber Mafia was created as an audiobook, including audio in as many quoted sources as possible. As always, Gladwell is a stunningly good writer, making you rethink everything you thought you knew and pointing out things you never even considered.

Publication Date: 27 April 2021
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In 1986, a massive fire raced through the Los Angeles Public Library Central Branch, raging for over seven hours and destroying hundreds of thousands of books. Susan Orlean weaves together the tale of the library fire, the history of the Los Angeles Public Library, and the behind-the-scenes look at the current library to show the importance of libraries to humanity. If you enjoy bloodless true crime stories, The Library Book would be an excellent audiobook narrated by author for you to enjoy.

Publication Date: 16 October 2018
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In 2014, retired Navy Admiral William H. McRaven gave a commencement address at the University of Texas at Austin listing ten lessons he learned as a Navy SEAL that helped him overcome challenges. Now expanded into a small book, McRaven gives timeless advice to inspire readers even during their darkest moments. Coming in at under 2 hours, the audiobook narrated by the author felt more like a long podcast than a book and is definitely worth a read. 

Publication Date: 4 April 2017
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The unforgettable story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy Afghan boy and the son of his father’s servant, it beautifully describes love, friendship, betrayal, and redemption. Be warned that the novel is violent and graphic at times, so understand that while moving, the story is dark and disturbing. It’s that contrast between the worst of human nature and the best that truly brings out a remarkable tale that will stay with you for a long time.

Publication Date: 29 May 2003
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Gay Uncle Patrick, lovingly referred to as GUP, has always enjoyed spending time with his niece and nephew. When his brother goes through a health crisis, the once-famous sitcom star finds himself their primary guardian. All at once, Patrick learns the weight of parenting children, even if just temporarily, in this heartwarming choice perfect for those looking for uplifting summer reads. Fiction audiobooks read by author are rare so this light-hearted novel is a fun find.

Publication Date: 25 May 2021
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A man returns home for a funeral and reflects upon his childhood forty years ago. A visit to the house at the end of the lane brings back a flood of memories that are hard to believe are true. When he was seven, he meets a girl named Lettie Hempstock who knows just what to do when strange things begin happening.

Publication Date: 18 June 2013
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In the modern classic that cemented dark academia as a genre, Donna Tartt’s debut novel is a modern Greek tragedy that details the moral fall of a group of students at a private Vermont college. Classics professor Morrow only admits a handful of select students to study Ancient Greek. After determinedly breaking into this close-knit group, Richard Papen is surprised to find a world of highly flawed characters losing their grasp on morality. Secrets, lies, betrayal, and eventually murder become justifiable actions as they fall further and further in their descent into evil.

Publication Date: September 1992
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From the moment Lucy and Gabe met as seniors at Columbia University, their meeting seemed fated. When he accepts a job in the Middle East and she stays in New York, there life takes them in unexpected directions. As Lucy has a crucial decision to make, she looks back and her past to help her decide where her life should head next.

Publication Date: 9 May 2017
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How Do You Feel About Audiobooks Read by Author?

What do you think? Do you care if audiobooks are narrated by the author? What audiobooks read by author have I forgotten? As always, let me know in the comments!

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