Season 2, Episode 29: The Golden Earbud Awards :: Our Choices for the Best Audiobooks

Kaytee and Mindy are ready for a Currently Reading first: award season!

You’ll hear a “bookish moment of the week” from each host: a buddy read with a daughter and thrifting for books

Next, we discuss our current reads for the week. This week’s books are full of big sighs in ways both good and bad, and sweet stories that will stick with you.

For our deep dive this week, we are giving out our first Golden Earbud Awards. During award season, we’re evaluating red carpet looks and the best stories to consume on audio and you won’t want to miss our categories!

Finally, this week, we are Pressing Books into Your Hands: we’ve got a book that’s perfect for anyone who works with or love a young adult, and a memoir that is unforgettable.

As per usual, time-stamped show notes are below with references to every book and resource we mentioned in this episode. If you’d like to listen first and not spoil the surprise, don’t scroll down! 

*Please note that all book titles linked above are Amazon affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. Thanks for your support!*  

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Bookish Moments:

1:50 - Book of the Month

1:53 - The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

Current Reads:

4:40 - Love from A to Z by SK Ali

7:03 - The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali

7:15 - To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han

7:46 - Love, Hate & Other Filters by Samira Ahmed

8:26 - Patreon (We do Patron buddy reads)

8:40 - Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain

11:52 - Black Enough by Ibi Zoboi

15:16 - Dataclysm by Christian Rudder

15:22 - Episode 19 of Season 1 with Scott Monday

20:04 - Lost for Words by Stephanie Butland

21:13 - Patreon (Patrons get bonus episodes)

20:32 - Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

20:33 - The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman

20:39 - Dante and Aristotle Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

25:55 - The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni

Deep Dive - Golden Earbud Awards:

Narrators are all linked to the audiobook. New members to Audible get a free audiobook on us!

If It Weren’t Audio, I Would Have Skipped It:

30:47 - Shogun by James Clavell (narrated by Ralph Lister)

30:49 - The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russel (narrated by David Colacci)

30:53 - Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (narrated by Lee Horsley)

31:03 - 11/22/63 by Stephen King (narrated by Craig Wasson)

Required to Listen:

32:47 - Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (narrated by Jennifer Beals, Benjamin Bratt, and a full cast)

32:50 - Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds (narrated by the author)

32:53 - The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (narrated by Frazer Douglas)

33:01 - Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (narrated by the author)

Best Series on Audio:

34:13 - Harry Potter by JK Rowling (narrated by Jim Dale)

34:15 - The Passage by Justin Cronin (narrated by Scott Brick, Adenrele Ojo and Abby Craden)

34:19 - The Selection by Kiera Cass (narrated by Amy Rubinate)

34:24 - The Three Pines Series (staring with Still Life) by Louise Penny (narrated by Ralph Cosham [books 1-10] and Robert Bathurst [books 11+])

For Adult Ears Only:

36:29 - The Hating Game by Sally Thorne (narrated by Katie Schorr)

36:31 - A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole (narrated by Karen Chilton)

36:34 - The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang (narrated by Carly Robbins)

36:47 - Come as You Are by Emily Nagoski (narrated by the author)

Who Knew?

38:41 - A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain (narrated by Nick Offerman)

38:48 - Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery (narrated by Rachel McAdams)

38:54 - The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (narrated by Jake Gyllenhaal)

39:05 - A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (narrated by Tim Curry)

Best True Story

40:07 - Come as You Are by Emily Nagoski (narrated by the author)

40:11 - The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton (narrated by Bryan Stevenson)

40:14 - White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo (narrated by Amy Landon)

40:24 - I Miss You When I Blink by Mary Laura Philpott (narrated by the author)

Best Read by the Author:

41:33 - Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe (narrated by the author)

41:45 - Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (narrated by the author)

41:48 - Becoming by Michelle Obama (narrated by the author)

42:38 - Food: A Love Story by Jim Gaffigan (narrated by the author)

Best Narrator:

44:36 - Guy Lockard

44:37 - Julia Whelan

44:39 - Jim Dale

44:55 - Bahni Turpin

Best Full Cast:

46:23 - Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders (narrated by Nick Offerman, David Sedaris, Lena Dunham and a full cast)

46:26 - As You Wish by Carey Elwes (narrated by Carey Elwes and cast)

46:30 - Emma by Jane Austen (narrated by Emma Thompson & cast)

46:51 - Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (narrated by Jennifer Beals, Benjamin Bratt & a full cast)

Best Overall:

48:02 - Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds (narrated by the author)

48:08 - Beartown by Fredrik Backman (narrated by Marin Ireland)

48:13 - 11/22/63 by Stephen King (narrated by Craig Wasson)

48:29 - A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (narrated by J.K. Simmons)

Books We Want to Press Into Your Hands:

50:19 - Doing Life with Your Adult Children by Jim Burns

53:13 - Becoming by Michelle Obama (narrated by the author)