I'm linking up with
That Artsy Reader Girl for another Top Ten Tuesday.
This week we're sharing some of our favorite audiobook narrators! I am a big audiobook listener, so I know that narrators can make or break the book. These ten are some of the best I've experienced.
1. Cassandra Campbell
Campbell narrated two heartwarming reads I enjoyed,
The Art of Hearing Heartbeats and
The School of Essential Ingredients, as well as one of my favorite nonfiction books,
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
2. Rachel Dulude
Dulude did a stellar job narrating all four books in Becky Chambers'
Wayfarer series; I was very glad after listening to the first one to discover that she narrated the following books as well!
3. Hugh Fraser
As many of you know, I've been working my way through
Agatha Christie's complete works, and my absolute favorite way to experience these books is via the audiobooks narrated by Hugh Fraser. Most of the ones with female protagonists are narrated by Emilia Fox — who's also excellent — but Fraser reads the largest number, and his voice is part of what makes these books a comfort read for me. (Also it's fun to watch him play Captain Hastings in the old
Poirot series!)
4. Dion Graham
Graham's name has now shown up on several excellent YA listens, including
Concrete Rose and
Dear Martin, and I also enjoyed his narration of one character's chapters in the full-cast
Lovely War audiobook.
5. Martin Jarvis
Jarvis' narration of
David Copperfield blew me away; he managed to create distinct voices for at least 30 different recurring characters in this lengthy story. I also got to experience his excellent narration of the books
Family Matters and
Metamorphosis.
6. Katherine Kellgren
Kellgren's narration of the first five books of
the Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series is likely one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much; she manages the perfect balance of sincere and wry that these books require. I was devastated to learn that cancer took her before she could narrate the sixth and final book of the series, as the replacement narrator did her best but couldn't fill Kellgren's shoes.
7. Robin Miles
I greatly enjoyed Miles' narration of
the Binti series, as she brought to life the books' first-person Himba narrator, and she also did a great job narrating the audiobook of
Hidden Figures.
8. Will Patton
Whenever I recommend someone read
the Raven Cycle series (and the subsequent
Dreamer trilogy), I tell them they have to listen to the audiobook to get the full effect of Will Patton's narration. I'm glad he returned to narrate the Dreamer trilogy, as it wouldn't have been the same without his voice. It was also fun to hear him pop up to narrate part of the multi-narrator audiobook of
Killers of the Flower Moon.
9. Bahni Turpin
Turpin is a powerhouse audiobook narrator whom frequent audiobook listeners have probably heard at least once. When her name's on the audiobook, you know it will be excellent. Some of the titles I've heard her narrate are
Everything, Everything,
So You Want to Talk About Race, and
The Hate U Give, and she also narrates part of
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
10. Julia Whelan
Whelan, like Turpin, is a name that pops up everywhere in the audiobook world. Some of the books I've listened to her read are
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue,
The Last Time We Say Goodbye, and
Educated.
Who are some of your favorite narrators?
Looking back:
One year ago I was reading:
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder,
Not Your Backup, and
Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World
Five years ago I was reading:
Magician's Gambit and
America's Public Schools
Ten years ago I was reading:
American Voices of World War I,
Quiet, and
Basic Black
