Browse Great First Listens by Category
Featured in Fiction
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Lincoln in the Bardo
- A Novel
- Written by: George Saunders
- Narrated by: George Saunders, Nick Offerman, David Sedaris, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall202
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Performance175
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Story174
WINNER OF THE AUDIE AWARD FOR AUDIOBOOK OF THE YEAR #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE The “devastatingly moving” (People) first novel from the author of Tenth of December: a moving and original father-son story featuring none other than Abraham Lincoln, as well...
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fustrating
- By alex on 2017-10-22
This one is meant to be listened to
Lincoln in the Bardo is one of the most extraordinary books I have ever listened to - and make no mistake, this one is meant to be listened to. One hundred and sixty-six individual narrators (led by Nick Offerman, David Sedaris, and the author George Saunders) came together to voice this wildly surreal audiobook. And while that might sound like a production stunt, the breadth of voices was necessary to create the immersive cacophony effect (almost a Greek chorus of Americana) - because Saunders' first full-length novel, a hugely ambitious work that delivers the most humbling and accurate portrait of grief I've ever encountered, is entirely voiced by ghosts. The listener finds himself in the Georgetown Cemetery, where young Willie Lincoln has been laid to rest and his grieving father (the president) keeps returning in a state of stumbling and stricken shambles, to the shocked confusion of the self-unaware dead.
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The Handmaid's Tale
- Special Edition
- Written by: Margaret Atwood, Valerie Martin - essay
- Narrated by: Claire Danes, Ray Porter, Margaret Atwood, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall2,446
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Performance2,105
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Story2,104
After a violent coup in the United States overthrows the Constitution and ushers in a new government regime, the Republic of Gilead imposes subservient roles on all women. Offred, now a Handmaid tasked with the singular role of procreation in the childless household of the enigmatic Commander and his bitter wife, can remember a time when she lived with her husband and daughter and had a job, before she lost everything, even her own name.
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2x Speed
- By Tracey Lough on 2018-04-24
One of the most important books ever written
Finally got around to reading this book, which I know is a Canadian masterpiece. Given everything going on in my province (Ontario), country (Canada), and to our southern neighbours, it’s scary how it seems like this book could have been written last week (instead of thirty years ago). Super interesting that all the crazy things that happen in this book are taken from actual historical events (Salem witch trials, Nazi Germany etc.). Can’t wait to read the newly released sequel and the rest of Atwood’s books.
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Indian Horse
- A Novel
- Written by: Richard Wagamese
- Narrated by: Jason Ryll
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3,600
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Performance3,205
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Story3,205
Saul Indian Horse is in critical condition. Sitting feeble in an alcoholism treatment facility, he is told that sharing his story will help relieve his agony. Though skeptical, he embarks on a heartbreaking journey from the present - and into the woods of Northern Ontario, where his life began in a snowy Ojibway camp. The tale that follows is one of great pain and great determination from Richard Wagamese, an author who "never seems to waste a shot" ( New York Times).
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Heart wrenching and Humbling
- By Anonymous on 2018-11-11
Heart-wrenching and humbling
I love hockey. My family has been involved in hockey since I was born. Richard Wagamese highlights the horrendous acts committed at the residential schools, and the generational effect it still has while simultaneously making you long for the arena. You follow Saul through his journey with his birth family, to the school, and again with his adoptive family. Every step of the way giving you happiness, then a reminder that weighs at the back of his mind. I found myself pausing to cry about Saul’s experience, knowing that it was a fiction based on the true testimony of many; too many. A haunting reminder of our past, our traditions, and the culture we live and breathe.
The performance was remarkable, and easy to follow. A must-read (or listen) for all.
More Great First Listens: Fiction
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Anne of Green Gables
- Written by: Lucy Maud Montgomery
- Narrated by: Rachel McAdams
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall1,526
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Performance1,368
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Story1,363
With all of the pluck and charm of its eponymous young hero, Rachel McAdams (The Notebook, Spotlight, Midnight in Paris) delivers a spectacular reading of Montgomery's beloved bildungsroman. In moments both funny and bittersweet, McAdams' voice is imbued with the spark that has made Anne a much-loved symbol of individualism and cheer for over a century.
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I finally know what all the fuss is about!
- By Anonymous on 2017-09-29
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Station Eleven (Television Tie-In)
- A Novel
- Written by: Emily St. John Mandel
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall682
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Performance586
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Story588
NATIONAL BESTSELLER An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse—the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art...
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Zombies would have made this story MORE realistic.
- By Nicholas Martin on 2019-07-04
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The Underground Railroad (Oprah's Book Club)
- A Novel
- Written by: Colson Whitehead
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall204
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Performance175
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Story174
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER PULITZER PRIZE WINNER NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER "An American masterpiece" (NPR) that chronicles a young slave's adventures as she makes a desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum South. One of The New York Times’s 10 Best Books of the 21st Century...
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Moving.
- By Anne on 2019-10-20
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Dear Evelyn
- A Novel
- Written by: Kathy Page
- Narrated by: Gemma Dawson
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall70
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Performance61
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Story64
Born between the wars on a working-class London street, Harry Miles wins a scholarship and a chance to escape his station, but discovers instead that poetry is what offers him real direction. While searching for more of it he meets Evelyn Hill on the steps of Battersea Library. The two fall in love as the world prepares once again for war, but their capacity to care for each other over the ensuing decades becomes increasingly tested.
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A Story of Relationship
- By ANNE on 2019-07-04
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Anne of Green Gables
- Written by: Lucy Maud Montgomery
- Narrated by: Rachel McAdams
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall1,526
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Performance1,368
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Story1,363
With all of the pluck and charm of its eponymous young hero, Rachel McAdams (The Notebook, Spotlight, Midnight in Paris) delivers a spectacular reading of Montgomery's beloved bildungsroman. In moments both funny and bittersweet, McAdams' voice is imbued with the spark that has made Anne a much-loved symbol of individualism and cheer for over a century.
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I finally know what all the fuss is about!
- By Anonymous on 2017-09-29
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Station Eleven (Television Tie-In)
- A Novel
- Written by: Emily St. John Mandel
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall682
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Performance586
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Story588
NATIONAL BESTSELLER An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse—the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art...
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Zombies would have made this story MORE realistic.
- By Nicholas Martin on 2019-07-04
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The Underground Railroad (Oprah's Book Club)
- A Novel
- Written by: Colson Whitehead
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall204
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Performance175
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Story174
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER PULITZER PRIZE WINNER NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER "An American masterpiece" (NPR) that chronicles a young slave's adventures as she makes a desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum South. One of The New York Times’s 10 Best Books of the 21st Century...
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Moving.
- By Anne on 2019-10-20
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Dear Evelyn
- A Novel
- Written by: Kathy Page
- Narrated by: Gemma Dawson
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall70
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Performance61
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Story64
Born between the wars on a working-class London street, Harry Miles wins a scholarship and a chance to escape his station, but discovers instead that poetry is what offers him real direction. While searching for more of it he meets Evelyn Hill on the steps of Battersea Library. The two fall in love as the world prepares once again for war, but their capacity to care for each other over the ensuing decades becomes increasingly tested.
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A Story of Relationship
- By ANNE on 2019-07-04
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To Kill a Mockingbird
- Written by: Harper Lee
- Narrated by: Sissy Spacek
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall1,098
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Performance939
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Story933
READ BY SISSY SPACEK Voted America's Best-Loved Novel in PBS's The Great American Read "One of the most—if not the most—beloved of American novels." —The New Yorker Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork of honor and injustice in the deep South—and the heroism of one man in the...
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wonderful
- By Sally on 2019-01-14
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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
- Written by: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Nick Offerman
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall513
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Performance445
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Story445
A natural storyteller and raconteur in his own right - just listen to Paddle Your Own Canoe and Gumption - actor, comedian, carpenter, and all-around manly man Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation) brings his distinctive baritone and a fine-tuned comic versatility to Twain's writing. In a knockout performance, he doesn't so much as read Twain's words as he does rejoice in them, delighting in the hijinks of Tom - whom he lovingly refers to as a "great scam artist" and "true American hero".
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Excellent
- By James on 2018-01-23
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Daisy Jones & The Six
- A Novel
- Written by: Taylor Jenkins Reid
- Narrated by: Jennifer Beals, Benjamin Bratt, Judy Greer, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall2,900
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Performance2,534
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Story2,534
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A gripping novel about the whirlwind rise of an iconic 1970s rock group and their beautiful lead singer, revealing the mystery behind their infamous breakup—from the author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Malibu Rising, and Carrie Soto Is Back REESE’S BOOK...
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OMG
- By KR on 2019-03-10
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Jane Eyre
- Written by: Charlotte Brontë
- Narrated by: Thandiwe Newton
- Length: 19 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall858
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Performance776
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Story775
Following Jane from her childhood as an orphan in Northern England through her experience as a governess at Thornfield Hall, Charlotte Brontë's Gothic classic is an early exploration of women's independence in the mid-19th century and the pervasive societal challenges women had to endure. At Thornfield, Jane meets the complex and mysterious Mr. Rochester, with whom she shares a complicated relationship that ultimately forces her to reconcile the conflicting passions of romantic love and religious piety.
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A Love Like Never Before ....
- By Margaretha on 2019-04-17
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Anna Karenina
- Written by: Leo Tolstoy
- Narrated by: Maggie Gyllenhaal
- Length: 35 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall964
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Performance847
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Story842
Leo Tolstoy's classic story of doomed love is one of the most admired novels in world literature. Generations of readers have been enthralled by his magnificent heroine, the unhappily married Anna Karenina, and her tragic affair with dashing Count Vronsky.
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Thank you Maggie Gyllenhaal
- By Neil LaChapelle on 2019-06-18
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Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
- Reese's Book Club (A Novel)
- Written by: Gail Honeyman
- Narrated by: Cathleen McCarron
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3,292
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Performance2,917
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Story2,918
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND THE PERFECT HOLIDAY GIFT A Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick “Beautifully written and incredibly funny, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine is about the importance of friendship and human connection. I fell in love with Eleanor, an eccentric and regimented loner...
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I think we all know an Eleanor Oliphant
- By TMH on 2018-01-13
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Circe
- Written by: Madeline Miller
- Narrated by: Perdita Weeks
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall2,931
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Performance2,585
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Story2,576
This #1 New York Times bestseller brilliantly reimagines the life of Circe, formidable sorceress of The Odyssey, as she discovers her own power, forges her identity, and challenges the gods who seek to control her. "[A] bold and subversive retelling of the goddess's story." —The New York Times...
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Fascinating story, expertly read
- By libragal on 2018-06-20
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All the Light We Cannot See
- A Novel
- Written by: Anthony Doerr
- Narrated by: Zach Appelman
- Length: 16 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall988
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Performance825
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Story825
Winner of the Audie Award for Fiction *NOW A NETFLIX LIMITED SERIES—from producer and director Shawn Levy (Stranger Things) starring Mark Ruffalo, Hugh Laurie, and newcomer Aria Mia Loberti* Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist, the beloved instant New York Times...
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Best book, but narration brings it down a bit
- By Ben on 2018-01-31
