The Best Holiday Audiobooks for Getting In The Festive Spirit


December 6, 2022
Get into the festive spirit this season with our selection of the best holiday books that have been transformed into magical audiobooks. Hit play on titles for all ages and tastes.

Are you feeling festive? As the holiday season approaches, there’s nothing better than enjoying a story that gets you in the mood for all the good times yet to come. We’ve compiled a list of the best holiday books for you to hit play on with the whole family.

Discover audiobooks to listen to with the family while putting up the Christmas tree and doing Christmas activities, or waiting for Santa Claus’s arrival on Christmas Eve. From classic Christmas stories to tales about holidays celebrated by cultures around the world, these titles are sure to get you in the festive spirit!

Classic & Contemporary Holiday Books

Product list
    • Written by: Charles Dickens
    • Narrated by: Tim Curry
    • Length: 3 hrs and 31 mins
    • Release date: 2010-12-01
    • Language: English
    • 5 out of 5 stars 546 ratings
    • No list of Christmas books would be complete without A Christmas Carol, one of the best and most beloved holiday books of all time, which tells a heartwarming tale of Ebenezer Scrooge’s awakening and redemption. Listening to Charles Dickens's timeless story offers an array of exciting possibilities—there are so many incredible narrators to choose from! Take your pick of actors and celebrity readers including Tim Curry, Hugh Grant, Patrick Stewart and Simon Prebble. If radio dramas are more your style, there are several dramatised versions to choose from as well. These audio versions range in length from 90 minutes to three hours, so curl up with the whole family and listen to this classic Christmas tale to get into the holiday spirit!
    • Written by: Bettye Collier-Thomas
    • Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
    • Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
    • Release date: 2018-10-09
    • Language: English
    • Not rated yet
    • A Treasury of African American Christmas Stories is a collection of Christmas stories, compiled and edited by historian Dr. Bettye Collier-Thomas. It contains writings from Black artists, activists, journalists and writers from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many of the entries first appeared in the African American newspapers that thrived after the Civil War. By turns heartfelt, funny, serious and whimsical, these stories celebrate the holiday traditions of Black Americans, as well as America’s rich Black literary history. This collection of short stories makes for a truly fascinating and engaging listen that explores the true meaning of Christmas to Black Americans.
    • A Novel
    • Written by: Francesca Hornak
    • Narrated by: Jilly Bond
    • Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
    • Release date: 2017-10-17
    • Language: English
    • 3 out of 5 stars 5 ratings
    • In this keenly observant and darkly funny holiday story from Francesca Hornak, one family tests the limits of their love when they're forced to quarantine together. When the elder Birch daughter, Olivia, returns home for the holidays after working abroad as a doctor in the middle of an epidemic, she's required to spend seven days in isolation—with her parents and younger sister, the frivolous Phoebe. Tempers are tested, secrets are revealed and long-buried tensions rise to the surface. Oh, and then an unexpected guest shows up. Hilarious and, at times, painfully relatable, Seven Days of Us is an altogether heartwarming holiday audiobook that just might ease tensions among family members who listen together.
    • Written by: J. R. R. Tolkien
    • Narrated by: Derek Jacobi, John Moffatt, Christian Rodska
    • Length: 2 hrs and 7 mins
    • Release date: 2005-10-04
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 41 ratings
    • When you think of the legendary fantasy writer J.R.R. Tolkien who brought us the world of The Lord of the Rings, Christmas stories don’t exactly spring to mind. But J.R.R. Tolkien's skill for voice and world-building extended far beyond his creation of Middle-earth. Each year, he replied to his children's letters to Father Christmas with whimsical missives. Collected here, these letters tell wonderful stories of Father Christmas's adventures on the North Pole and around the world. Warm and wonderfully narrated by Derek Jacobi with John Moffatt and Christian Rodska, Letters from Father Christmas makes for cozy fireside listening with the entire family.
    • A Novel
    • Written by: Samantha Silva
    • Narrated by: Euan Morton
    • Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
    • Release date: 2017-10-31
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 27 ratings
    • This charming and inventive reimagining of A Christmas Carol by Samantha Silva is full of humour, heart, Victorian holiday cheer and some endearing grumbling. Charles Dickens is not exactly feeling the holiday spirit. The critics are railing against him, and it seems like everyone he knows wants money that he doesn't have. When his publisher asks him to write a Christmas story, he flat-out refuses. But everything changes on a walk through London, where he meets the mysterious Eleanor Lovejoy—a woman who reminds him what Christmas is all about. Mr. Dickens and His Carol is undoubtedly one of the best books to hit play on at Christmas time, and it’s delightfully narrated by the British-accented Euan Morton.
    • Written by: Ana Gasteyer, Mona Mansour
    • Narrated by: Ana Gasteyer, Maya Rudolph, Patti LuPone, Rachel Dratch, Richard Kind, full cast
    • Length: 2 hrs and 28 mins
    • Release date: 2019-12-05
    • Language: English
    • 4 out of 5 stars 11 ratings
    • This Audible Original holiday comedy tells the story of Sugar and Booze, best friends since college. With time, the two women grow apart and have families, each caught up in their own busy lives. They remain in touch mostly through their annual holiday letters. But simmering tensions in their longstanding friendship finally bubble up one year at their annual holiday party. Filled with music and plenty of raucous humour, this full-cast production will make you rethink holiday cheer. Ana Gasteyer and Mona Mansour craft and perform this thrilling holiday comedy with help from a talented cast of narrators. If you’re looking for a laugh or to get into the holiday spirit, add this audiobook to your library.
    • Written by: John Seabrook
    • Narrated by: Erin Moon
    • Length: 1 hr and 14 mins
    • Release date: 2018-12-06
    • Language: English
    • 2.5 out of 5 stars 3 ratings
    • Ever wonder why the same seasonal songs get played year after year after year? So did reporter John Seabrook. In Jingle Bell Pop, he offers a fascinating look inside the holiday music machine that has become a big part of Western culture’s Christmas traditions. Drawing on interviews with songwriters, producers and singers, he sheds light on how holiday mega-hits are made, complete with secret recipes and rhyming, and why they stand the test of time. Listen in to this wholly unique audiobook to learn the stories behind your favourite yuletide earworms, and you'll soon find yourself humming those familiar tunes and getting into the Christmas spirit.

Holiday Romances

Product list
    • Written by: Liz Maverick
    • Narrated by: Eva Kaminsky, Jason Clarke
    • Series: Winter Nights, Book 1
    • Length: 2 hrs and 55 mins
    • Release date: 2020-11-24
    • Language: English
    • 4 out of 5 stars 60 ratings
    • This listen, written by Liz Maverick, offers a fresh holiday twist on the classic boy meets the wrong girl. At last year's Hanukkah party, Rachel met a dreamy man, the sweet and charming Oz. But then her more confident, glam and outgoing best friend swooped in, and Tamara and Oz have been dating ever since. Rachel does her best to hide her lingering feelings for Oz, but when he and Tamara finally break up—and he begs Rachel for help winning Tamara back before Hanukkah—well, Rachel can't keep up the charade. Eight Winter Nights makes for a heartwarming holiday listen that you won’t want to pause.
    • Written by: Roan Parrish
    • Narrated by: Chris Chambers
    • Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins
    • Release date: 2018-08-31
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 18 ratings
    • This magical holiday romance, written by Roan Parrish, is full of cozy treats, festive parties, and plenty of snowstorms. After losing his partner, job and home in one blow, Alex decides it's time to leave New York and return to his small Michigan hometown to realize his dream of opening a bakery. He's immediately intrigued by Corbin, the quiet man who spends his afternoons writing at the table by the window. As they get to know each other, Alex and Corbin realize that sometimes the best holiday gifts are the unexpected people who come into your life at just the right time.
    • A Foodie Holiday Novella
    • Written by: Adriana Herrera
    • Narrated by: Lacy Laurel
    • Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins
    • Release date: 2020-12-24
    • Language: English
    • 3 out of 5 stars 2 ratings
    • This holiday romance novella is full of mouthwatering descriptions of delicious baked goods—so don't listen when you’re hungry! Latinx bakers Kiskeya and Sully arrive in Scotland for reality TV's famed Holiday Baking Challenge with the same goal: to win. Assigned to work together despite their different baking styles, the two women are standoffish at first, but it's not long before sparks start to fly and things start to heat up, in and out of the kitchen. If you’re a fan of Hallmark holiday films, you’ll fall head over heels for Mangos and Mistletoe, written by Adriana Herrera and brought to audio by Lacy Laurel.
    • Written by: Jean Meltzer
    • Narrated by: Dara Rosenberg
    • Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
    • Release date: 2021-09-28
    • Language: English
    • 4 out of 5 stars 10 ratings
    • Rachel Rubenstein-Goldblatt has always kept one big secret from her Jewish family: she loves Christmas. She even has a career as a successful Christmas romance novelist. But then her publisher asks her to write a Hanukkah romance, and Rachel can't come up with a single idea. Hoping to find inspiration, she attends the annual Matzah Ball, a huge Jewish music celebration held on the last night of Hanukkah. She's surprised to meet her childhood rival Jacob there—and even more surprised that she's drawn to both him and the holiday she always thought she hated. This is a warmhearted holiday romance by Jean Meltzer about second chances and finding the courage to be yourself.
    • Written by: Sonya Lalli
    • Narrated by: Richa Moorjani
    • Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
    • Release date: 2021-10-05
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 7 ratings
    • 29-year-old Niki has always played it safe, working a dependable job and dating practical men—even if they don't exactly make her heart beat faster. But when she's abruptly laid off, she decides to throw caution to the wind and spontaneously flies to India for a friend's wedding. There, amidst the light-filled magic of Diwali, she meets a free-spirited musician with whom she shares an immediate connection. As the end of the holiday season approaches, and with a new job offer on the horizon, Niki faces a decision: Will she return to her predictable life or stay and take a chance on love? Holiday book lovers will get instantly gripped by Niki’s story in this heartwarming listen by Sonya Lalli.

Young Adult Holiday Books

Product list
    • Written by: Rachel Cohn, David Levithan
    • Narrated by: Ryan Gesell, Tara Sands
    • Series: Dash & Lily Series, Book 1
    • Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
    • Release date: 2010-11-16
    • Language: English
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars 13 ratings
    • Can't get enough of holiday movies set in New York City? Then, you'll love this audiobook about two teenagers and their unexpected romance. On December 21st, Lily leaves a notebook containing a series of fun challenges on a shelf in her favourite bookstore, hoping the right guy will find it. Dash, who hates Christmas and feels lonely during the holidays, picks up the notebook. What follows is a whirlwind romance full of adventures all over the city, as these two young strangers pass the notebook back and forth, sharing their dreams and wishes on its pages. What will happen on New Year’s Day when their game comes to a close, and Dash and Lily meet in real life? Narrated by Ryan Gesell and Tara Sands, Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares is the first book in a series by bestselling authors Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. It inspired the Netflix series, Dash & Lily.
    • Twelve Holiday Stories
    • Written by: Stephanie Perkins - editor
    • Narrated by: Various
    • Length: 12 hrs and 56 mins
    • Release date: 2014-10-14
    • Language: English
    • 4 out of 5 stars 6 ratings
    • Whatever your favourite holiday, this young adult anthology of holiday stories is sure to delight you. My True Love Gave Me features a rich diversity of tales centred on a holiday—Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas and the Solstice among them—from 12 young adult authors, including Rainbow Rowell, Jenny Han and Holly Black. Full of themes of family, love and friendship, these stories will get you in the festive spirit. Edited by Stephanie Perkins and read by various narrators, including Julia Whelan and Fiona Hardingham, this captivating collection of short stories will leave you with that warm and fuzzy feeling from the moment you hit play.

Holiday Books for the Whole Family

Product list
    • Written by: Ibi Zoboi
    • Narrated by: Ibi Zoboi, Robin Miles
    • Length: 24 mins
    • Release date: 2021-09-28
    • Language: English
    • 5 out of 5 stars 1 rating
    • Entertaining and educational in equal measure, this unique holiday listen uses the seven principles of Kwanzaa to explore African American history. In her debut book, award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Ibi Zoboi connects each principle to a different story, beginning in Africa, where people were taken from their homes and families. Narrated by the author and Robin Miles, this audiobook includes histories of enslaved people in the United States and explores the rich cultures, rituals and traditions that they built. A beautiful celebration of Black culture, social justice movements and the human capacity for resilience, The People Remember truly embodies the spirit of the Kwanzaa holiday.
    • Written by: Karen Chinn
    • Narrated by: Ming-Na Wen
    • Length: 10 mins
    • Release date: 2014-03-18
    • Language: English
    • Not rated yet
    • This enchanting children's book, transformed into a stunning audiobook, follows Sam, a boy who's trying to decide how to spend the “lucky money” he received for the Chinese New Year from his grandparents. Luckily, he meets a stranger who helps him make the right decision—and teaches him something about giving and generosity in the process. Karen Chinn’s heartwarming holiday story invites young listeners to experience an American urban Chinatown during the Chinese New Year festivities, which makes for an engaging and educational listening experience. Sam and the Lucky Money is a title you will want to add to your holiday listening list.