Amy's Favorite Audiobook Narrations of 2022

In 2022, I listened to 51 of audiobooks. I sometimes get asked when I have time to listen to so many. Most of my audiobook time is during my near-daily walks. I walk about 1000 miles each year.

I’ve already posted my Favorite Books of 2022 which included my FAVORITE AUDIOBOOK NARRATION OF 2022, Julian Elfer’s narration of Ink and Bone (4 stars) by Rachel Caine (young adult/fantasy). Elfer was simply fantastic! He had a large vocal repertoire including multiple accents, stupendous vocal acting, and he made the novel that much more enjoyable from his delivery. He was entertaining and did a fabulous job voicing many different characters.

There were a few other audiobooks which received A+ audiobook ratings from me in 2022. These are novels which weren’t necessarily my favorites but the audiobook narration and production were so great they deserve a mention to applaud the narrators. I’d love to hear more audiobooks from these people!

To get an A+ from me, audiobook narrators have to be excellent voice actors, have a large repertoire of voices, and have no big sound production issues. I’m listing these audiobooks in the order in which I liked the novels. (I’ve included the rating I gave to the novel too.) To read my full review of the books below, click on the book titles.

Evanna Lynch, Heather Long, Kathryn Drysdale, and Luke Thompson narrating The No-Show (4-1/2 stars) by Beth O'Leary (contemporary fiction). There were four narrators, each of whom voiced one of the main characters. Each of the narrators were terrific voice actors and had great vocal repertoires. Each was perfect for their role. I really enjoyed listening to them tell me the story. I also must shout out to the production team on the tinny quality of the voices on the other end of phone calls! Perfect! I don’t believe I’ve ever given an ensemble cast an A+ before. Well done! 

Julia Whelan narrating The Latecomer (4 stars) by Jean Hanff Korelitz (fiction). Whelan is always a superb voice actor. When voicing specific characters she has a huge vocal repertoire, even men’s voices. But due to her snarky-sounding "narrator voice" I usually withhold the “+” from her rating. For this snarky novel, however, A+ is well deserved! She was perfectly cast for this one.

 

Amara Jasper narrating Nettle and Bone (3-1/2 stars) by T. Kingfisher (fantasy/young adult). Jasper was amazing! She has a wide repertoire of voices including male voices and many accents! I was extremely impressed. In fact, I’m quite sure she aided my enjoyment of this novel. 

Julian Elfer in Paper and Fire (3-1/2 stars) by Rachel Caine (young adult/fantasy).  Again, Elfer was entertaining and did a fabulous job in this sequel to Ink and Bone listed above.

 

 

HONORABLE MENTION
(This is where I applaud individual A+ narrators in multi-narrator audiobooks where not all of the narrators earned an A+).

Zachary Webber in November 9 (4-1/2 stars) by Colleen Hoover (romance). Webber is awesome. He is so great at voice acting and was the perfect fit for Ben’s personality.  

Edoardo Ballerini in The Lincoln Highway (4-1/2 stars) by Amor Towles (historical fiction/adventure). Ballerini is always wonderful.  He gave most of the many characters their own voice and did an outstanding job with voice acting as usual. 

Louise Brealey in The Maidens (3 stars) by Alex Michaelides (mystery). Brealey did a great job with several different voices and accents and super voice acting.