Have you heard? June is Audiobook Month!
[pause for celebration]
There may be pool parties in July and Christmas in December, but to audiobook lovers like us, there’s no better month than June! To celebrate, we’ve decided to explore the different kinds of audiobook production and what makes each of those types so magical.
We’re also hosting not one but TWO amazing audiobook giveaways all month long. Follow this link to enter these sweepstakes and more!
While many listeners think of audiobooks as simply someone reading a book aloud, the reality is far more nuanced and exciting. From intimate duet narrations that bring romance to life to full-scale audio dramas that transport you into entirely new worlds, audiobook production can enhance the story and the listener’s reading experience in so many ways.
Audiobooks are more than just stories read out loud!
“Why does the format even matter?,” you may be thinking. An audiobook is JUST an audiobook… right?
Actually, the format of an audiobook is as important as choosing the right narrator(s) for the story! That’s because the way an audiobook is produced can completely transform the listener’s entire experience. How you connect with characters, absorb plot twists, and even understand themes all shift depending on how the story is told.
For example, a thriller narrated by a single skilled voice actor creates an entirely different experience than the same story told through multiple POVs (point of views) with different narrators. Meanwhile, productions enhanced with sound effects and music can make you feel like you’re living inside the story itself. Whether you’re a longtime audiobook enthusiast or curious about diving into the format, understanding the different production styles will help you choose your next listen and discover new ways stories can come alive!
Ready to try out a new audiobook format?
Below, we’ve listed out a few of the main audiobook production types you’ll encounter while shopping for your next listen. Read on for more insights into each format with matching recommendations to get you started.
🧍 Single Narration
The classic audiobook format, single narration relies on one skilled voice actor. This performer alone brings the entire story to life using their vocal range, character development, and masterful pacing. The best single narrators become chameleons, creating distinct voices for multiple characters while maintaining the story’s flow and emotional core.
Perfect Pick: Hands of Lyr demonstrates how one talented narrator can create a rich, immersive experience that rivals multi-narrator productions.
Hands of Lyr
Written by Andre Norton, narrated by Dani Cochrane
This first installment of The Five Senses sci-fi series takes us to a desolate land where a psychic girl and a young noble embark on a perilous quest to defeat an evil wizard.
Once the magnificent garden of the goddess Lyr, the land called the Ryrt lies blackened and desolate, destroyed by an ancient and cunning depravity. It is here that the beautiful child Alnosha came—to awaken, to learn… and to hone her astonishing ability to divine by touch.
Tropes & Themes: epic fantasy, powerful FMC, classic “dark against light” story
Check out more fantasy audiobook recs! >
🤝 Duet Narration
Duet narration features two narrators, typically alternating between different characters or perspectives within the same story. This style works especially well for romance novels where each narrator can embody one half of the romantic pairing, creating distinct voices and emotional tones that help listeners connect more deeply with both characters’ inner lives.
Perfect Pick: Meet Me at Midnight showcases how duet narration can bring romantic tension to life.
Meet Me at Midnight
Written by Max Monroe, narrated by C.J. Bloom & Alexander Cendese
How good are you at keeping a secret? Because I, Juniper Perry, have been keeping a big one.
I’ve spent what feels like an eternity keeping my crush on him a secret, but recently, I’ve found a way to have him and my anonymity too. A way to chat and flirt and get close to him.
Tropes & Themes: secret crush, best friend’s older brother, workplace romance, cinnamon roll MC, slow burn
Read our interview with the Max Monroe author team! >
🎠Full-Cast Narration
Full-cast productions employ multiple narrators and voice actors to create rich, layered storytelling experiences where each character gets their own distinctive voice. While sharing a studio space, the narrators’ combined performances add a layer of authenticity to the story being told with dynamic interactions and nuanced character development. This added level of “act and react” also gives a natural pacing to the dialogues and transitions, making it hard to put a full-cast audiobook down!Â
Perfect Pick: Of Monsters and Mainframes shows how full-cast narration can create even more tension and unease as each narrator plays off the suspense being built by the others in the studio.
Of Monsters and Mainframes
Written by Barbara Truelove, narrated by Charlie Albers, Eve Passeltiner, Emana Rachelle, Zura Johnson, Cary Hite, Gail Shalan, Chris Devon, Emana Rachelle, Charlie Albers, Eve Passeltiner, Zura Johnson, Cary Hite, Gail Shalan (phew, that’s a lot of people!)
Spaceships aren’t programmed to seek revenge—but for Dracula, Demeter will make an exception.
To save her passengers and keep from getting decommissioned, Demeter must join forces with a monstrous motley crew and face down the ultimate evil—Dracula.
The queer love child of pulp horror and ​classic ​sci-fi, Of Monsters and ​Mainframes ​is a dazzling, heartfelt odyssey that probes what it means to be one of society’s monsters—and explores the many types of friendship that make us human.
Tropes & Themes: classic retelling, space-opera/odyssey sci-fi, haunted house setting, setting is a POV character, ALL the monsters
Get more sci-fi thrills with these audiobook recs! >
🎬 Enhanced Audio Productions
Audiobooks that fall within this category give listeners a cinematic, immersive experience with sound effects, musical scores, and more. These range from radio drama adaptations that honor the golden age of broadcasting to the more modern-day GraphicAudio productions that create “movies in your mind” with elaborate soundscapes and live recordings. Both use sound design (and a whole lot of artistic collaboration) to transport listeners directly into the story’s world.
Perfect Pick: Honor Girl showcases how enhanced audio productions use music and atmospheric sound to create emotional connections that elevate this already emotional tale.
Honor Girl
Written by Maggie Thrash, narrated by an Ensemble Cast
Maggie has spent basically every summer of her fifteen-year-old life at the one-hundred-year-old Camp Bellflower for Girls, set deep in the heart of Appalachia.
She’s from Atlanta, she’s never kissed a guy, she’s into Backstreet Boys, and her long summer days are full of a pleasant, peaceful nothing-until one confounding moment. A split-second of innocent physical contact pulls Maggie into a gut-twisting love for an older, wiser, and, most surprising of all (at least to Maggie), female counselor named Erin. But Camp Bellflower is an impossible place for a girl to fall in love with another girl. When it seems as if Erin maybe feels the same way about Maggie, it’s too much for both Maggie and Camp Bellflower to handle-let alone understand.
Tropes & Themes: YA coming-of-age, LGBTQIA+, first love
Read what Buzzfeed had to say about the original graphic novel! >
🎙️ Audio Originals
Audio originals are stories created specifically for the audiobook format, taking full advantage of sound’s unique storytelling possibilities. These productions aren’t adaptations—they’re stories designed with an audio experience in mind to maximize the medium’s strengths. Often, the audiobook will also be the only format available, making it the only way you can experience the story for at least a few months!
Perfect Pick: The Gospel Grace of Women series represents this limited release audio experience, showcasing a suite of intimate stories told through audio only (for a while at least)!
The Gospel According to Sasha Renee
Written by Tracey Michae’l Lewis-Giggetts, narrated by Bahni Turpin
Feisty and stubborn Sasha Billingsly has never had it easy—until God delivers help in the form of a soulmate and unseen forces in the spirit realm.
Three generations of women. Three generations of trauma and pain. A three-generation journey to victory and joy.
The Gospel of Grace Women Trilogy is the compilation of three separate books: The Gospel According to Sasha Renee, Interruption: The Gospel According to Crystal Justine (releasing 06/17!), and The Next Thing is Joy: The Gospel According to Vivian Grace.
Tropes & Themes: Black-centered fiction, multi-generational story, Christian, family issues
See what people are saying about The Gospel of Grace Women Trilogy>
🎙️ Notable Narrators
Some audiobooks gain special power from who tells the story. Celebrity narrators bring star power, with the best celebrity voices offering genuine skill and fresh interpretative perspectives thanks to their experience on stage and/or the silver screen. Meanwhile, author-narrated audiobooks create the most direct connection between writer and reader, offering something magical—the chance to hear intended emphasis, emotional beats, and subtle nuances only the creator can provide. Both approaches create intimate, authentic listening experiences unlike any other!
Perfect Picks: I Curse You with Joy showcases how celebrity narrators can elevate audiobooks through their distinctive vocal presence. It also shows how author narration can offer added intimacy and insight to a story simply by hearing it from the storyteller themselves like our other suggestion below, Chief Rondo.
I Curse You with Joy
Written and narrated by Tiffany Haddish
Tiffany Haddish is back with her highly anticipated new essay collection, I Curse You With Joy!
I Curse You With Joy is Tiffany Haddish unfiltered. (We know what youre thinking… how much more unfiltered can she get?) These essays lay it all bare, bringing readers into Tiffanys inner circle where joy, honesty, humor, and heart are the order of the day.
Extra laughs exclusive to the audiobook edition: A Bonus Blooper Reel!
Tropes & Themes: nonfiction memoir, essay collection, bonus behind-the-scenes content
Check out our collection of Black Romance audiobooks in our other blog! >
Chief Rondo: Securing Justice for the Murder of George Floyd
Written and narrated by Medaria Arradondo (with Jennifer Amie)
From Minneapolis’ first Black police chief—who led through the reckoning in the wake of George Floyd’s murder—comes a landmark book on leadership, justice, and race.
Chief Rondo’s decisive and courageous actions led to one of the greatest social justice victories in our time: the State and Federal convictions of Derek Chauvin, Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng, and Tou Thao, who were responsible for George Floyd’s murder, challenging the “blue wall” that shielded police from accountability.
Tropes & Themes: nonfiction biography, social justice, law and due process
Check out our other memorable memoir audiobooks! >
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