Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

I never used to like audibooks. In fact, about three years ago I generally didn’t bother with them all that much. But, after I discovered that they were incredibly useful for whenever I had something else that needed to get done, be it the laundry or taking a shower. I’ve found that they increase my ability to finish books and make me feel less like I am wasting a massive amount of my time whenever I have a chore to do. Even walking to work is much better on account of having access to audiobooks.

10. To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Cristo

I’m actually currently listening to Jacob York and Stephanie Willis alternate the narration for To Kill a Kingdom and I have to say that I genuinely prefer when there are two narrators for the two main characters’ points of views. It’s one of those things where I cannot help feeling that all audiobooks should be done this way. Whenever the narration of the novel changes from a female perspective to a male one, the audibook narrator should change as well. The books are simply far more enjoyable that way.

9. Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

I’ve only heard Cassandra Morris narrate a novel once and that novel was Tiger Lily. This was back when I had to bike to work and the twenty minute ride was so dull that I just needed something to listen to. And so I went through a rather large number of audiobooks that summer of which Tiger Lily was one of the better ones. It was such an interesting story and Morris brought it to life so well. I can still remember where I was when I was listening to certain parts of the books, which is such a fascinating feeling to have. 

8. The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Justine Eyre narrates Marie Rutkoski’s The Winner’s Curse as well as the sequels and while I do prefer reading the physical copy of the books that I own, I must say that listening to an audiobook offers me a lot more opportunity to reacquaint myself with some of the more wonderful novels that I love so much. I really enjoyed listening to Justine Eyre–what a name!–as she brought Kestrel and Arin to life. And I think that if you love these books, you’ll appreciate the audiobooks as well.

7. Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

I just really love Passenger and the subsequent sequel Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken and so it’s really not much of a surprise that I took the time to reread the books by listening to the audiobooks, narrated by Saskia Maarleveld. The entire story is lovely and Maarleveld does an amazing job bringing it to life. She manages to capture the voices of the characters marvelously and I can definitely say that I’ll be listening to this audiobook again in the future.

6. Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman

I was incredibly impressed with Piper Kerman’s book, Orange is the New Black, in fact infinitely more impressed than I ever was by the show. There are a lot of dramatic liberties that the show takes with Kerman’s story that I never cared for and, if truth be told, I was not a fan at all of the of the actress who played her. Cassandra Campbell, the audiobook narrator for this very educational book, does a marvelous job of capturing the voicie of Piper Kerman as she tells her story.

5. Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

Julia Whelan did a pretty amazing job narrating Tara Westover’s memoir. In fact, she was so pleasant to listen to that I found myself listening more often than I typically do with audiobooks. The book itself is inspiring in some ways and terrifying in others, but Whelan really managed to make you feel a part of Westover’s story, connected in a way that you almost wish you weren’t. And I can say, unquestionably, that I’m glad I listened to this one.

4. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin

Honestly, I just think it’s really cool that Rosamund Pike, the woman who played Jane in the 2005 film, also narrated the novel. I’m actually currently listening to it right now just on a reread whim and she’s definitely got a lovely voice. She’s a pretty phenomenal actress and to have the ability to listen to her narrate a novel that one of her movies was based on is pretty brilliant. And that’s honestly all there is to it.

3. Leviathan Series by Scott Westerfeld

I had a lot of fun listening to Alan Cumming narrate the Leviathan series. This is one of my all time favorite book series’ and so Alan had lot to live up to. He did a fantastic job, especially in that he captured the accents of the characters as well. More often than not you end up with novels where characters have the voices of their narrators through and through, but every once in a while you find an author who has a brilliant knack for switching the accent of his voice to really make you feel as though you are listening to the characters speak. And I adored that about his narration.

2. Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

This is one of the first audiobooks that I just utterly fell in love with. And considering all the asides that Kristoff put into his novel, I think the narrator Holter Graham had his work cut out for him. But he did such an amazing job reading this novel that to this day I’m still blown away by it. I don’t believe Nevernight is an easy book to be the audiobook narrator for by any means. Considering the nature of the novel and the brilliance with which it was written, the narrator really needed to be able to capture that feeling and the voices of the characters themselves. Well, Holter Graham is amazing. And, honestly, the only reason he’s not number one on this list is because I have a bit of a bias for The Lunar Chronicles. If you have not listened to the Nevernight audiobook, I would highly suggest that you drop everything you’re doing right now–immediately stop reading this post–and go listen to it.

1. The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

It should really come as no surprise that this series is number one on this list after how much I’ve raved about Meyer’s novels. Of all the audiobooks that I’ve listened to over the years, this series ranks number one for the books that I’ve listened to the most. As they are narrated by Rebecca Soler, I have become somewhat attached to her style of reading and though I am not majorly in love with her rendition of my love, Carswell Thorne (I suppose in this case I’m just excessively picky), I am definitely fond of these audiobooks.

If you’ve listened to any amazing YA audiobooks recently, especially if they have two narrators, please let me know in the comments because I’d love to check them out!

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