2019 Audie Award Finalists Announced

The Audio Publisher’s Association has announced the nominees for the 2019 Audie Awards, honoring excellence in audiobooks and spoken entertainment. Winners will be announced at the Audies Gala at Guastavino’s in New York City on March 4, and hosted by Queer Eye fashion expert and upcoming author and audiobook narrator, Tan France.

Congratulations to the distinguished nominees! Below is a complete list of finalists, linked to their Booklist reviews when available.

Audiobook of the Year

An American Marriage, by Tayari Jones, narrated by Eisa Davis and Sean Crisden

 Beastie Boys Book, by Michael Diamond and Adam Horovitz, narrated by the authors and a full cast

Calypso, written and narrated by David Sedaris

 Children of Blood and Bone, by Tomi Adeyemi, narrated by Bahni Turpin

 The Good Neighbor, by Maxwell King, narrated by LeVar Burton

 I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, by Michelle McNamara, narrated by Gabra Zackman, Gillian Flynn, and Patton Oswalt

Audio Drama

Alien: Sea of Sorrows, by James A. Moore, adapted by Dirk Maggs, narrated by John Chancer, Stockard Channing, Tony Gardner, Lorelei King, Laurel Lefkow, and a full cast

 Disgraced, by Ayad Akhtar, narrated by Geoffrey Arend, Behzad Dabu, Hari Dhillon, Sameerah Luqmaan-Harris, and Emily Swallow

Emma, by Jane Austen, adapted by Anna Lea, narrated by Emma Thompson, Isabella Inchbald, Joanne Froggatt, Joseph Millson, Morgana Robinson, and a full cast

Girls & Boys, by Dennis Kelly, narrated by Carey Mulligan

The Martian Invasion of Earth, by HG Wells, dramatized by Nicholas Briggs, narrated by Richard Armitage and Lucy Briggs-Owen

Steal the Stars, by Mac Rogers, narrated by a full cast

Autobiography / Memoir

 Educated, by Tara Westover, narrated by Julia Whelan

Failing Up: How to Take Risks, Aim Higher, and Never Stop Learning, written and narrated by Leslie Odom, Jr.

In Pieces, written and narrated by Sally Field

Letter to Louis, by Alison White, narrated by Eve Webster

Small Fry, by Lisa-Brennan Jobs, narrated by Eileen Stevens

Best Female Narrator

 Barracoon, by Zora Neale Hurston, narrated by Robin Miles

 Educated, by Tara Westover, narrated by Julia Whelan

Girls & Boys, by Dennis Kelly, narrated by Carey Mulligan

The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock, by Imogen Hermes Gowar, narrated by Juliet Stevenson

 Transcription, by Kate Atkinson, narrated by Fenella Woolgar

Best Male Narrator

The Devil’s Half Mile, by Paddy Hirsch, narrated by Euan Morton

Harry Clarke, by David Cale, narrated by Billy Crudup

 Pet Sematary, by Stephen King, narrated by Michael C. Hall

Stuff and Nonsense: Threadbare, Book 1, by Andrew Seiple, narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds

Watchers, by Dean Koontz, narrated by Edoardo Ballerini

Business / Personal Development

Courage to Be Disliked, by Ichiro Kishimi & Fumitake Koga, narrated by Noah Galvin, Graeme Malcolm, and January LaVoy

The Dichotomy of Leadership, written and narrated by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin

Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st Century Economist, written and narrated by Kate Raworth

The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, by Margareta Magnusson, narrated by Juliet Stevenson

How to Be Heard, written and narrated by Julian Treasure

The Opposite of Hate, written and narrated by Sally Kohn

Faith-Based Fiction and Nonfiction

The Christmas Star, written and narrated by Donna VanLiere

Goliath Code, by Suzanne Leonhard, narrated by Gabrielle de Cuir

The Man on the Mountaintop, by Susan Trott, adapted by Libby Spurrier, narrated by Stanley Tucci, Toby Jones, Clare Corbett, Rachel Atkins, Jeff Harding, David Thorpe, and a full cast

Pull it Off, written and narrated by Julianna Zobrist

The Rogue: Planets Shaken, Book 1, by Lee W. Brainard, narrated by Therese Plummer

Fantasy

European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman, by Theodora Goss, narrated by Kate Reading

Jade City, by Fonda Lee, narrated by Andrew Kishino

Kill the Farm Boy, by Kevin Hearne and Delilah S. Dawson, narrated by Luke Daniels

Second Hand Curses, by Drew Hayes, narrated by Scott Aiello, Marc Vietor, and Tavia Gilbert

Spinning Silver, by Naomi Novik

Fiction

 An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, by Hank Green, narrated by Kristen Sieh and Hank Green

The Clockmaker’s Daughter, by Kate Morton, narrated by Joanne Froggatt

The Great Alone, by Kristin Hannah, narrated by Julia Whelan

Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, narrated by Vikas Adam

Sanctuary, by Judy Nunn, narrated by John Derum

The Tattooist of Auschwitz, by Heather Morris, narrated by Richard Armitage

History / Biography

Darkest Hour, by Anthony McCarten, narrated by John Lee

 The Good Neighbor, by Maxwell King, narrated by LeVar Burton

Indianapolis, by Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic, narrated by John Bedford Lloyd

Robin, by Dave Itzkoff, narrated by Fred Berman and Dave Itzkoff

We Were Soldiers Once… and Young, by Harold G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway, narrated by Jonathan Davis

Humor

Calypso, written and narrated by David Sedaris

Everything’s Trash, But It’s Okay, written and narrated by Phoebe Robinson

 The Greatest Love Story Ever Told, written and narrated by Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally

How Not to Get Shot, written and narrated by D.L. Hughley

 Noir, by Christopher Moore, narrated by Johnny Heller

Literary Fiction and Classics

Bleak House, by Charles Dickens, narrated by Miriam Margolyes

Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Housegirl, by Michael Donkor, narrated by Adjoa Andoh

Miguel Street, by V.S. Naipaul, narrated by Ron Butler

Musashi, by Eiji Yoshikawa, narrated by Brian Nishii

Split Tooth, written and narrated by Tanya Tagaq

Middle Grade

Finding Langston, by Lesa Cline-Ransome, narrated by Dion Graham

Grenade, by Alan Gratz, narrated by Todd Haberkorn and Andrew Eiden

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: Book VI, by Maryrose Wood, narrated by Fiona Hardingham

 Louisiana’s Way Home, by Kate DiCamillo, narrated by Cassandra Morris

The Secret of Nightingale Wood, written and narrated by Lucy Strange

Sunny, by Jason Reynolds, narrated by Guy Lockard

Multi-Voiced Performance

An American Marriage, by Tayari Jones, narrated by Eisa Davis and Sean Crisden

Any Man, by Amber Tamblyn, narrated by Glenn Davis, Ben Foster, Marc Maron, Jason Ritter, John Roberts, Russ Tamblyn, Amber Tamblyn, January LaVoy, Phoebe Strole, Robin Miles, Thérèse Plummer, Dan Bittner, James Fouhey, and Michael Crouch

Dreamland Burning, by Jennifer Latham, narrated by Pyeng Threadgill and Luke Slattery

Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales, by Hans Christian Andersen, narrated by F. Murray Abraham and an ensemble cast

 Sadie, by Courtney Summers, narrated by Dan Bittner, Rebecca Soler, Gabra Zackman, and Fred Berman

There There, by Tommy Orange, narrated by Darrell Dennis, Shaun Taylor-Corbett, Alma Cuervo, and Kyla Garcia

Mystery

Lethal White, by Robert Galbraith, narrated by Robert Glenister

The Mystery of Three Quarters, by Sophie Hannah, narrated by Julian Rhind-Tutt

 The Punishment She Deserves, by Elizabeth George, narrated by Simon Vance

The Tuscan Child, by Rhys Bowen, narrated by Jonathan Keeble and Katy Sobey

Wild Fire, by Ann Cleeves, narrated by Kenny Blyth

Narration by the Author or Authors

How Not to Get Shot, written and narrated by D.L. Hughley

In Pieces, written and narrated by Sally Field

My Pride, written and narrated by Alton White

 The Poet X, written and narrated by Elizabeth Acevedo

Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose, written and narrated by Joe Biden

The Secret of Nightingale Wood, written and narrated by Lucy Strange

Nonfiction

The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist, by Radley Balko and Tucker Carrington, narrated by Robert FassAudio

Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America, written and narrated by Beth Macy

Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter, by Ben Goldfarb, narrated by Will Damron

Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth, written and narrated by Sarah Smarsh

The Perfectionists, written and narrated by Simon Winchester

Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? by Martin Luther King, Jr., narrated by J.D. Jackson

Original Work

Fandango at the Wall, written and narrated by Kabir Sehgal

Loki Ragnarok, written and narrated by Mark Binder

Magus Elgar, by Kennedy Phillips, narrated by Ricardo Cabral, William Violenus, Christopher Moore, Sandra Espinoza, Randy Nazarian, David Autovino, Kellen Goff, Brian Stivale, Kalinda Gray, Mandanna Wright, Kennedy Phillips, and Andrew Cornell

The Old Cart Wrangler’s Saga, by Brian Price, narrated by David Ossman

Spin, by Harvey Edelman and Neil Fishman, adapted for audio by David B. Coe, narrated by Jim Dale, Barrett Leddy, Lisa Livesay, Nicola Barber, Khristine Hvam, Nick Sullivan, John Brady, and Johnny Heller

Splat! A Quirky Cat Audio Book, by Adele Park, narrated by Eric Comeau, Luke Randall, Jove Trip-Thompson, Kent Hayes, Sherri Aldred, Garry Morris, Allie Boman, Adele Park, and Cindy Clemens

Romance

Hello Stranger, by Lisa Kleypas, narrated by Mary Jane Wells

His Viking Bride, by Olivia Norem, narrated by Greg Patmore

Possession, by Jessica Hawkins, narrated by Christian Fox

Shadow and Ice, by Gena Showalter, narrated by Melissa Moran and Leo Barnabas

Wanderlust, by Lauren Blakely, narrated by Richard Armitage and Grace Grant

The Wedding Date, by Jasmine Guillory, narrated by Janina Edwards

Science Fiction

Artemis, by Andy Weir, narrated by Rosario Dawson

Black Star Renegades, by Michael Moreci, narrated by Dan Bittner

Head On, by John Scalzi, narrated by Wil Wheaton

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Hexagonal Phase, by Eoin Colfer and Douglas Adams, narrated by John Lloyd, Simon Jones, Geoff McGivern, Mark Wing-Davey, Sandra Dickinson, Susan Sheridan, Samantha Béart, Toby Longworth, Andy Secombe, Mitch Benn, Jane Horrocks, Ed Byrne, Jon Culshaw, Jim Broadbent, Professor Stephen Hawking, Lenny Henry, Tom Alexander, Philip Pope, Theo Maggs, Phillipe Bosher, and John Marsh

Planetside, by Michael Mammay, narrated by R. C. Bray

Short Stories / Collections

Eveningland: Stories, by Michael Knight, narrated by Scott Sowers

The Flame, by Leonard Cohen, narrated by Margaret Atwood, Seth Rogen, Michael Shannon, Will Patton, Rodney Crowell, John Doe, Jim Fletcher, Ari Fliakos, Maggie Hoffman, Ross Marquand, and Neela Vaswani

The Grass Harp, by Truman Capote, narrated by Cody Roberts, published by Tantor Audio

Heads of the Colored People, by Nafissa Thompson-Spires, narrated by Adenrele Ojo

You Think It, I’ll Say It, by Curtis Sittenfeld, narrated by Emily Rankin and Mark Deakins

Thriller / Suspense

Crimson Lake, by Candice Fox, narrated by Euan Morton

 The Death of Mrs. Westaway, by Ruth Ware, narrated by Imogen Church

Macbeth, by Jo Nesbo, narrated by Euan Morton

The Outsider, by Stephen King, narrated by Will Patton

The Terminal List, by Jack Carr, narrated by Ray Porter

Their Lost Daughters, by Joy Ellis, narrated by Richard Armitage

Young Adult

 Children of Blood and Bone, by Tomi Adeyemi, narrated by Bahni Turpin

Far from the Tree, by Robin Benway, narrated by Julia Whelan

The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy, by Mackenzi Lee, narrated by Moira Quirk

 The Poet X, written and narrated by Elizabeth Acevedo

 Sadie, by Courtney Summers, narrated by Dan Bittner, Rebecca Soler, Gabra Zackman, and Fred Berman

The Stars at Oktober Bend, by Glenda Millard, narrated by Candice Moll and Ron Butler

Young Listeners

 Before She Was Harriet, by Lesa Cline-Ransome, narrated by SiSi Aisha Johnson, January LaVoy, Lisa Renee Pitts, and Bahni Turpin

 Dreamers, by Yuyi Morales, narrated by Adriana Sananes

Esquivel!: Space-Age Sound Artist, by Susan Wood, narrated by Brian Amador

Her Right Foot, by Dave Eggars, narrated by Dion Graham

We Found a Hat, by Jon Klassen, narrated by Johnny Heller and Christopher Curry