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While 2022 was a great year for audiobook lovers,  2023 promises to be even more impressive, packed with celeb-narrated memoirs, strong self-help, and action-packed thrillers. Whether you’re on the subway, a road trip, or working out, these books are sure to keep you entertained through all your travels and day-to-day activities. With genres ranging from romance to self-help to psychological thrillers, there’s something for everyone to enjoy in this list of the best audiobooks of 2023.

 

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins (1/3)

Emily and Chess are best friends, but in their thirties, they don’t get to connect as often as they’d like. When Chess suggests a girls trip to Italy, Emily jumps at the idea. Now a high-end holiday home, the Villa Aestas was once rented by rockstar Noel Gordon and some friends in 1974. A summer that ended in a brutal murder. As Emily digs into the villa’s complicated history, she starts to think there is something more sinister about that summer, and her discoveries are creating tension between her and Chess. Soon, dangerous betrayals and secrets emerge that will have you questioning if the villa will claim another victim.

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Fitter. Calmer. Stronger. by Ellie Goulding (1/3)

Pop sensation Ellie Goulding has inspired her fans for years with her love of health and wellness, and now she’s sharing all her favorite recipes, workouts, and holistic approaches to health and fitness in her new book, Fitter. Calmer. Stronger. Drawing from her experiences, Goulding goes beyond diets and exercise in a way that teaches us how to listen to our bodies, while sharing techniques and rituals to become a fitter, calmer, stronger YOU.

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Spare by Prince Harry (1/10)

Two young princes follow behind the coffin of their mother Diana, Princess of Wales. One of the most memorable yet harrowing images of the twentieth century that left the world wondering what would be next for the two young brothers. Now, Prince Harry the Duke of Sussex is a man, and he is finally ready to tell the story of his journey through self-examination, revelation, and hard-won wisdom since the passing of his mother, Princess Diana.

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Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo (1/10)

In this sequel to the bestselling The Ninth House, Galaxy “Alex” Stern is back in this Ivy League fantasy about wealth, power, murder and magic. Finding a gateway to the underworld and stealing a soul from hell may sound simple, but few survive the journey, which is why it is forbidden. Alex and Dawes are determined to rescue Darlington from purgatory, so they pull together a questionable group of allies and journey through intricate texts, strange artifacts, and dark university secrets. When faculty members start dying off, Alex knows it’s no coincidence.

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8 Rules of Love by Jay Shetty (1/31)

Love isn’t usually something we are taught through the lens of science or ancient wisdom, leaving us to attach our ideals of love to romance movies and pop culture. But now, Jay Shetty is teaching us how to love, and how to love correctly, through actionable steps and specific tools. With insight on how to define love, work as a team, and even maneuver a break-up, Shetty pulls knowledge from modern science and Vedic wisdom to teach us how to love our partners, and ourselves, a little better.

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Love, Pamela by Pamela Anderson (1/31)

Pamela Anderson’s blonde bombshell image was an iconic part of the 1990s as an emblem of Hollywood glamour and sexuality. But is this who Pamela really is, or is this Playboy cover girl an image created for her? Rising to fame at a time when paparazzi were determined to catch celebrities at their most vulnerable, Pamela lost hold of her own narrative. Now, having returned to the place where she grew up, Pamela reclaims herself as a confident, successful woman who is dedicated to her children, her causes, and a love of art and literature.

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Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes (2/7)

From the best-selling author of Me Before You, this hilarious and heartfelt story about putting yourself in someone else’s shoes will show you how one little thing can change everything. Nisha Cantor is determined to keep her glamorous life after her husband decides to cut her off, asking for a divorce. Left to cope, suddenly she doesn’t even have the shoes on her feet. Quite literally, because Sam Kemp has accidentally just stolen her gym bag. Worried about keeping her family afloat, Sam couldn’t care less about the gym bag. Until she tries on Nisha’s six-inch Christian Louboutin red crocodile heels, giving her the boost of confidence she needs to make a change.

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She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran (2/28)

When Jade Nguyen goes to Vietnam to visit her father who is fixing up an old French colonial house, her only goal is to survive the five weeks with Ba and get the college money he promised. But Jade soon finds out that the house has other plans, and even though Ba, nor her little sister, Lily, believes anything is wrong. However, at night, Jade wakes up paralyzed and a cryptic bride warns her: Don’t eat. The house will stop at nothing to destroy them, and in order to save them all, Jade must face the truth of who she is, and who she must become.

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What Happened to Ruthie Ramirez by Claire Jimenez (3/7)

For twelve years, the Ramirez women of Staten Island have dealt with the absence of middle-child, Ruthy, who disappeared at the age of thirteen without a trace, leaving the family scarred. When the oldest sister, Jessica, spots a woman on a raunchy reality show with a birthmark that she’d recognize anywhere, she calls youngest sister Nina right away asking: could it be? When Dolores, their mother, learns of their plan to find their long-lost sister, she insists on coming along, and bringing her best friend, Irene. The search for Ruthy becomes a family road trip that will finally force the Ramirez women to face their past and heal their future, whether it is with Ruthy or not.

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Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (4/4)

If all goes well, Loretta Thurwar will be freed from prison soon. Her lover and teammate, Hamara “Hurricane Staxxx” Stacker are the stars of the Chain-Gang All-Stars, where they compete in death matches in exchange for their freedom. When Thurwar shows defiance to the games, CAPE, or Criminal Action Penal Entertainment, the highly popular yet controversial program, will stop at nothing to keep the status quo. Chain-Gang All-Stars uses a kaleidoscope of characters to explore themes of systemic racism and mass incarceration in America by asking: What does freedom really mean in this country?

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Throwback by Maureen Goo (4/11)

Samantha Kang and her mother Priscilla don’t really get along. After a huge fight, Sam just wants to move forward, but instead, she is thrown way, way back—to the 90s, where she now is in high school with her 17-year-old mother. Now, Gen-Z Sam must navigate an analog world where everything feels different as she tries to fix things for her mom and go back to a time she understands, but in doing so, she’ll see a side of her mother she never has before, and begin to understand all she’s inherited as a first-generation Asian American.

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Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez (4/11)

Briana Ortiz may be a doctor, but her life is still flatlining. Her brother is running out of time for a new kidney, her divorce is almost final, and the promotion she wants is likely going to the new male doctor who she’s almost sure she hates. Until Dr. Jacob Maddox writes Briana a letter, proving that he isn’t a total pain in her ass; maybe just bad at first impressions. After sharing notes and lunch dates, Briana wonders how she’ll be able to resist the sexy new doctor, especially when he gifts her the best gift imaginable: a kidney for her brother. When Jacob has his own favor, how could she refuse?

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Happy Place by Emily Henry (4/25)

Since college, Harriet and Wyn have always been the perfect couple, going together like macaroni and cheese. Except now, they’ve broken up. And it’s been five months, and they haven’t told any of their friends. So when their friend group goes on their yearly trip to a cottage in Maine, the typically blissful week away is spent lying through their teeth. Naturally, they are forced to share a bedroom and deny how badly they still want each other. Will they be able to fake it in front of the people who know them best?

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Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune (5/2)

Fern Brookbanks can’t stop thinking about the handsome stranger that she spent an adventurous twenty-four hours with in her early twenties. They shared everything that day, but Will Baxter didn’t show up a year later like they had planned. Now Fern is thirty-two, and her life isn’t how she thought it’d be: back home to run her mother’s lakeside resort, where her ex-boyfriend is the manager, and Fern needs a lifeline. When it shows up in the form of Will, she isn’t sure she can trust him, especially because she knows he’s hiding something. Can Fern save Will the way he saved her almost ten years ago?

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Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley (5/2)

Perry Firekeeper-Birch was excited for summer until she got into a fender-bender (not her fault!) and had to spend her time working to pay back her Aunt Daunis. Thankfully, she and her twin sister Pauline and the other Team Misfit Toys salvage what they can of summer. But everything changes when Perry learns about the “Warrior Girl,” whose bones and knife are stored in the museum archives. Perry is determined to return Warrior Girl, and other ancestors to their tribe, despite the loopholes that the university has been jumping through to keep them, and as more women go missing, Perry and her friends will have to use all their skills and resources to make things right in their community.

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The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece by Tom Hanks (5/9)

From Academy Award-winning actor and best-selling author Tom Hanks, this novel begins in 1947. When a troubled soldier meets his younger nephew, he leaves an impression but then leaves for twenty-three years. When the two reconnect in 1970, the nephew is drawing underground comics and decides to feature his uncle as a war hero. Fast forward to the present day, and a successful director discovers the comic books and decides to turn them into a movie. Featuring three comic books written by Hanks himself, we get to meet the characters in the film, some more difficult than others, and the people who create the “major motion picture masterpiece.”

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The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren (5/16)

From the author of The Soulmate Equation, Felicity “Fizzy” Jones returns. When the beloved romance novelist is asked to give a speech, she suddenly feels like a fraud. She hasn’t been practicing the optimism that she preaches. She doesn’t even think she’s been in love. Maybe lust, but not all-encompassing love. Connor Prince is a father and a filmmaker, and he loves his job because he can be close to his daughter. When his job is on the line and he must make a reality TV series, he is out of his element, but when he meets Fizzy, he has an idea to film the queen of romance herself falling in love. Fizzy agrees, but only if the contestants are from a list of romantic archetypes. But maybe Fizzy’s happily-ever-after is behind the camera, instead.

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Quietly Hostile by Samantha Irby (5/16)

Finally, Samantha Irby has made it. Walking the red carpet with famous actresses, offers from Hollywood, all the glitz and glam one can imagine—but still, Samantha is just trying to keep her life together. Providing a true portrait of her life, Samantha tells stories about her own teeth poisoning her, therapy, diarrhea, Reiki, and crystals. An outrageously funny offering that once again shows how Irby has become the beloved writer that she is.

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Yellowface by R.F. Kuang (5/16)

June Hayward and Athena Liu are authors breaking into the publishing industry, and both graduated from Yale. But June couldn’t even get a paperback deal, and Athena is a literary darling, telling more than boring stories about white girls. When June witnesses a freak accident involving Athena, she steals her almost-finished manuscript, telling the story of Chinese laborers during WWI. June convinces herself that the story needs to be told, and edits the work as her own. Rebranding herself using an ambiguously ethnic author photo and the name Juniper Song, June finds herself very protective of her secret, convinced she deserves her stolen success.

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The Late Americans by Brandon Taylor (5/23)

In Iowa City, a circle of lovers and friends spends a year leaning on each other through a volatile year of self-discovery. At the center is Ivan, a dancer who dabbles in pornography but aspires to be a banker, Fatima, who has complicated relationships with her friends and mentor because of her fierce independence and work ethic, and Noah, who doesn’t seek out sex but still it approaches him “like an anxious dog in need of affection.” Preparing for a future that is uncertain, the group heads to a cabin to bid farewell to their former lives, a moment that leaves each of them forever changed.

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Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See (6/6)

In this story of women helping women, Tan Yunxian was born into an elite family, yet her life has been riddled by tragedy. Raised by her grandparents to be useful, Yunxian learns early on about Chinese medicine from her grandmother, one of the only female doctors in China. She learns about the Four Examinations and all about women’s illnesses, most relating to childbearing. Yunxian forms a fast friendship with midwife-in-training, Meiling, and they vow to be friends forever. When Yunxian enters an arranged marriage, she is forbidden to see Meiling, to help the women and girls in the household, or to leave the family compound, the Garden of Fragrant Delights. Yunxian must question what it takes for a woman to break free of the traditions that hold her back from healing and treating women from all walks of life.

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Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood (6/13)

By day, Elsie Hannaway is an adjunct professor hoping to make tenure. But on other days, to make ends meet, Elsie is a professional fake girlfriend. Jack Smith is a cold-hearted physicist who is the only one standing in the way of Elsie’s dream job. He’s also the annoyingly handsome older brother of her favorite client. Elsie is prepared for scholarly sabotage, but as she spends more time with Jack, is she ready to test her long-guarded theories on love?

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The Spectacular by Fiona Davis (6/13)

It’s 1956 in New York City, and nineteen-year-old Marion is thrilled to become one of the Rockettes, a glamorous dancing troupe that performs at Radio City Music Hall. But Marion soon finds out that the life of a dancer comes with many highs and even deeper lows. Then, the theater is bombed the by “Big Apple Bomber,” who the police have been trying to track down for years. With Marion’s urging, the police turn to psychological profiling. As she gets pulled deeper into the investigation, Marion realizes that she’ll have to stand out and take a terrifying risk that could jeopardize everything she’s worked for.

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The Only One Left by Riley Sager (6/20)

The Hope murders of 1929 had everyone assuming that seventeen-year-old Lenora Hope was responsible. Afterward, she never denied it, nor has she ever left the mansion where the massacre occurred. It is now 1983, and home-health caregiver Kit McDeere has arrived at Hope’s End to take care of Lenora, now confined to a wheelchair and only able to communicate through an old typewriter. One night, Lenora offers to tell her everything. As Lenora types her tale, Kit soon learns that there is a lot more to the story than people know. But as she learns more about the previous caretaker, she begins to wonder how much of Lenora’s story is true.

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The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei (7/18)

A ship carries eighty elite graduates on the eve of Earth’s environmental collapse. Set to give birth in deep space, they are humanity’s last hope. Halfway to a livable planet, a lethal bomb kills three crew members, knocking the ship off course. Chosen to represent Japan in the mission, Asuka, a half-Japanese American, already feels like an imposter. When the crew starts to suspect her and everyone begins turning on each other, Asuka is determined to find the culprit before they strike again.

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Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead (7/18)

It’s 1971. Crime is at an all-time high. NYPD and the Black Liberation Army are having a shooting war, trash is piling the streets, and the city is on the brink of bankruptcy. Ray Carney, ex-fence and current furniture store owner, says his days of moving stolen goods around the city are over. When Carney needs a favor, he reaches out to Munson, an old police contact. But when Munson has favors of his own, staying out of the game becomes complicated. Years later, Carney and his partner-in-crime, Pepper, are finding it hard to find a reliable crew for their assorted felonies. As the story spans years, we see the crooked duo battle violent corruption while showcasing a portrait of 1970s New York.

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The Forest Brims Over by Maru Ayase (7/25)

In her husband’s novels, Nowatari Rui has long been the subject: a pure woman who takes great pleasure in sex. Constantly stripped of her identity, being known solely by society as the woman from her husband’s novels, a decade’s worth of Nowatari’s frustrations come to an odd fruition when she eats a bowl of seeds, flowers, vines, and roots start forming on her body. But her husband doesn’t choose to help her—he chooses to trap her and use the unsettling experience as the subject of his new novel. However, Nowatari’s growth is rapid, and she soon becomes an entire forest, overtaking her terrarium and eventually, the city.

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Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo (8/1)

Flor has a gift: she can predict the day of anyone’s death. When she plans a living wake, her sisters Matilde, Pastora, and Camila question if she has seen her own death, or someone else’s—but Flor isn’t speaking up. Pastora, inspired by Flor’s wake, is inspired to solve her sibling’s problems. Matilde has secrets of her own, and she soon must confront the issues in her marriage. The next generation, cousins Yadi and Ona, have problems of their own. Yadi, reuniting with her formerly imprisoned first love, and Ona, married and trying to conceive. In the days leading up the wake, we journey through Santa Domingo and New York City, exploring the history of the Marte women.

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None of This is True by Lisa Jewell (8/8)

Alix Summers, a popular podcaster, is celebrating her forty-fifth birthday at a pub when she meets Josie Fair, who is also turning forty-five that day. The two bump into each other a few days later at Alix’s children’s school, and Josie is adamant that she’d be a great candidate for Alix’s podcast. Although Josie’s life seems chaotic, Alix is tempted to continue the podcast and soon finds out that Josie is hiding some dark secrets. When Josie suddenly disappears, Alix’s family is in danger, and she finds herself the subject of her own true-crime podcast.

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Learned by Heart by Emma Donoghue (8/29)

Based on the true story of Anne Lister and  Eliza Raine, two girls who fall deeply and secretly in love at boarding school in the 19th century. When Eliza is banished from India to live in England at the age of six, she meets the troublesome tomboy Anne at the Manor School for Young Ladies in York, and they form a love story for the ages. Based on Anne’s journal and years of research, Donoghue uses her fantastic storytelling to capture a story full of passion and heartbreak.

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