2021: The Best and Worst Audiobook Narrations I Heard
As you’ve guessed by the title of this website, audiobooks are my go-to format for reading. In 2021, 77 percent of my 82 books attempted were audiobooks, so I experienced the good, the bad and the mediocre of audiobook narration and production.
So, what do I think makes for a good narration? There’s no set formula, but there are certainly elements that allow for a richer experience, including multiple narrators when the story has several characters; a narrator that matches the emotion of the story and doesn’t phone it in; and a solid production.
Taking those elements into account, here are the 10 best — and five worst — audiobook narrations I heard in 2021.
Overall Best Narration: Ray Porter in Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Porter does an award worthy job of embodying every single character and giving voice to languages known and unknown. While the story sometimes dragged due to dense scientific background, Porter never faltered in delivering the right emotion at the right time. This narration is the textbook example of how a single narrator can immerse you in a story and keep you there. As Rocky would say, Porter is simply “amaze!”
Dates read: November 21 – 25, 2021
BEST: Barack Obama in A Promised Land by Barack Obama
Yes, this 30-hour audiobook doesn’t even make it all the way through his first term as president of the United States, but Obama’s dynamic personality keeps you engaged. From dropping f-bombs to throwing zingers at rivals and discussing his love for country and family, you can still hear the pride he took in every facet of his service to others. With the author behind the microphone, sign me up for part two.
Dates read: December 26, 2020 – January 5, 2021
BEST: Trevor Noah in Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
In the fantastically self-narrated audiobook, Noah seamlessly shifts between humorous coming-of-age stories and the somber realities of apartheid and post-apartheid politics — sometimes in a matter of paragraphs. As an author he never quite found the balance between comic relief and darker memories, but the charisma and enthusiasm shown in his narration more than makes up for it.
Dates read: January 9 – 15, 2021
BEST: Channie Waites in Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark
This genre-defying horror fantasy is not to everyone’s taste, but I was equally charmed by Clark’s creativity and Waites narration. Her delivery matches the cadence and realities of the Jim Crow era South and infuses the perfect amount of emotion into Maryse, our fearless lead, and evil into Butcher Clyde, a truly terrifying villain. I would gladly listen to any book she narrates.
Dates read: January 20 – 23, 2021
BEST: Marin Ireland in Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson
This book languished on my TBR list for two years because I thought it sounded stupid, so I didn’t have high expectations. But I was hooked almost immediately, in large part because of the phenomenal narration by Ireland that was chock full of charm and sarcasm and had me laughing out loud regularly. Her work elevated Wilson’s snappy dialogue and quick pacing, which made a mediocre and kooky novel about 100 times better.
Dates read: March 3 – 7, 2021
WORST: Christie Tate in Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life by Christie Tate
The premise is akin to rubbernecking past an automobile accident. And, there’s plenty of emblematic (and real) blood here, as Tate recounts decades of mental health challenges. The story itself is too long and seems without purpose at various points. Listening to her talk about her life was like being on the longest and worst date of your life.
Dates read: March 8 – 14, 2021
BEST: Joel de la Fuente in Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
Yu’s layered, original and surreal examination of selling out, pushing forward and dreaming bigger than your circumstances allow wasn’t the easiest story to follow in audio format. However, de la Fuente, an actor for more than 20 years but with only a few starring roles, completely sold the story, possibly because it’s not too dissimilar from his own.
Dates read: April 17 – 18, 2021
WORST: Allison Hiroto in Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
Thankfully there’s no kitschy — or in this case stereotypical — characterizations to Hiroto’s narration; it simply is not good. Her delivery is a singsong of rising and falling inflection that puts a sheen of saccharine over some of the most depressing sections of the novel. Rarely does an audiobook narration detract from the story, but that’s the case here. Still, I was fully immersed in the world Lee created and that’s a testament to her storytelling.
Dates read: August 25 – September 6, 2021
BEST: The 45-person cast in The Only Plane in the Sky: The Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett M. Graff
Through the different stories — of survivors, politicians, journalists, first responders and Americans both around impacted areas and those not — our narrators bring a humanity to the day that we’ve lost with time. A few people read their own stories, but the majority are narrated by an assortment of voice professionals. Even though you know you’re not listening to well-known figures — like Katie Couric, Laura Bush and Rudy Giuliani, who all have memories shared — each person that narrates does so with respect and somber clarity.
Dates read: September 7 – 13, 2021
WORST: Matt Haig in The Comfort Book by Matt Haig
Even though he was responsible for one of my favorite reads of 2020, Haig completely misses the mark here in both text and narration. While trying to comfort the readers by sharing things that make him happy, he mostly succeeded in boring me into a slumber. A professional voice actor likely could’ve punched up the energy.
Dates read: September 13 – 15, 2021
WORST: Jeremy Atherton Lin in Gay Bar: Why We Went Out by Jeremy Atherton Lin
Full disclosure: this was my least favorite read of 2021. I found it unfocused and boring — all within the first 100-pages — and gave up before reaching the end. Lin comes across as a pretentious prick, both in text and narration, and essentially shames any queer person that doesn’t live for anonymous sex.
Dates read: September 19 – 20, 2021
BEST & WORST: Jonathan Davis in The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
This entry comes with a big caveat: I did not finish this book and it has a horrible audiobook production. There is a piano sonata that randomly starts to play (usually when something romantic is occurring) and it was so damn distracting. Whoever thought that was a good idea, should never produce another audiobook.
Still, Davis’ narration overcame both challenges. He should’ve been paid double for the effort put into selling a boring and confusing narrative. Infusing each character with a unique voice and even incorporating some of the vocal ticks that Zafón notes in the text, Davis was the sole bright spot in a disappointing and overhyped story.
Dates read: September 24 – October 7, 2021
BEST: Santino Fontana, Shelby Young, Marin Ireland, JD Jackson, Dan Bittner, Vikas Adam, Gabra Zackman, Fred Berman, Darrell Dennis, Oliver Wyman, Jonathan Davis, Hillary Huber, Lisa Flanagan, Sharahn LaRue in The Anatomy of Desire by L.R. Dorn
Told in podcast structure, with each chapter being a new episode in the trial of Cleo Ray, you become fully immersed in a story that for all intents and purposes felt like an eight-hour, “ripped from the headlines” crime procedural. Stellar production and the tense showdown between Cleo (Shelby Young, in her audiobook debut) and Owen Mason (JD Jackson), the district attorney, make this a cut-above. Fun fact: this title gives Marin Ireland and Jonathan Davis the distinction of having two narrations on the “best of” list.
Dates read: October 12 – 15, 2021
BEST: Lin Manuel Miranda in Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Miranda narrowly missed the cut for best narration in 2020, but he rightfully earns a place on the list this year for his second go-around in the world of Aristotle and Dante. Adults narrating the lives of teenagers can sometimes feel inauthentic, but you can’t help but feel the kinship Miranda has for Sáenz’s lead characters and their parents. The sequel is a more emotionally taxing book than the first novel, and Miranda helps you feel every heartache.
Dates read: November 3 – 7, 2021
WORST: Julia Whelan in The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab and Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
I have a lot of respect for Whelan, and she continually does solid work, but after finishing three of her narrations in close succession, one thing became clear — she voices her male leads the same way. When listening to how she approached Jay in “Malibu Rising,” I was distracted by how similar he was to Jack in “The Four Winds” and Luc in “Addie LaRue.” She’s not someone I’m ready to write-off, but as one of the most prolific narrators working today, I hope she expands her vocal repertoire a bit in 2022.
Explore more of my 2021 reading and listening:
