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Best Audiobooks of 2021

The 110 audiobooks our editors picked as a monthly top ten in 2021, in the order they ranked them. For this month's ten, see the top 10 right now.

Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sep  Oct  Nov  Dec

January 2021

Burnt Sugar: The Booker Prize-shortlisted novel

Avni Doshi (Author), Vineeta Rishi (Narrator)

Audiobook · 7 hrs 29 mins

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Get Out of Your Head: Stopping the Spiral of Toxic Thoughts

Jennie Allen (Author), Jennie Allen (Narrator)

Audiobook · 5 hrs 29 mins

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A Time to Lie

Simon Berthon (Author), John Hopkins (Narrator)

Audiobook · 10 hrs 8 mins

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The Harpy

Megan Hunter (Author), Clare Corbett (Narrator)

Audiobook · 4 hrs 20 mins

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February 2021

Girl A

Abigail Dean (Author), Holliday Grainger (Narrator)

Audiobook · 11 hrs 12 mins

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We Are All Birds of Uganda

Hafsa Zayyan (Author), Sagar Arya, Taheen Modak (Narrator)

Audiobook · 11 hrs 34 mins

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Luster

Raven Leilani (Author), Ariel Blake (Narrator)

Audiobook · 6 hrs 39 mins

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Bossman

Vi Keeland (Author), Joe Arden, Maxine Mitchell (Narrator)

Audiobook · 9 hrs 31 mins

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March 2021

The Dog Share

Fiona Gibson (Author), Cathleen Mccarron, Robin Laing (Narrator)

Audiobook · 10 hrs 54 mins

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The Mermaid of Black Conch

Monique Roffey (Author), Ben Onwukwe, Vivienne Acheampong (Narrator)

Audiobook · 7 hrs 37 mins

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Firefly Lane: A Novel

Kristin Hannah (Author), Susan Ericksen (Narrator)

Audiobook · 17 hrs 58 mins

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Jews Don’t Count

David Baddiel (Author), David Baddiel (Narrator)

Audiobook · 2 hrs 48 mins

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The Betrayals

Bridget Collins (Author), Sam Woolf, Sarah Ovens (Narrator)

Audiobook · 15 hrs 14 mins

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Clap When You Land

Elizabeth Acevedo (Author), Elizabeth Acevedo, Melania-Luisa Marte (Narrator)

Audiobook · 5 hrs 32 mins

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April 2021

Unsettled Ground: Winner of the Costa Novel Award 2021

Claire Fuller (Author), Rachel Bavidge (Narrator)

Audiobook · 9 hrs 29 mins

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King of Rabbits

Karla Neblett (Author), Amaka Okafor, Theo Solomon (Narrator)

Audiobook · 8 hrs 40 mins

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Find You First

Linwood Barclay (Author), George Newbern (Narrator)

Audiobook · 11 hrs 19 mins

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The World at My Feet

Catherine Isaac, Rose Akroyd (Author), Kristin Atherton (Narrator)

Audiobook · 12 hrs 47 mins

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A Touch of Ruin

Scarlett St. Clair (Author), Meg Sylvan (Narrator)

Audiobook · 12 hrs 32 mins

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May 2021

The Therapist

B.A. Paris (Author), Olivia Dowd, Thomas Judd (Narrator)

Audiobook · 10 hrs 2 mins

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The Dream Weavers

Barbara Erskine (Author), Jilly Bond (Narrator)

Audiobook · 18 hrs 22 mins

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Dreamland: An Evening Standard 'Best New Book' of 2021

Rosa Rankin-Gee (Author), Kristin Atherton (Narrator)

Audiobook · 13 hrs 8 mins

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The Wolf Den

Elodie Harper (Author), Antonia Beamish (Narrator)

Audiobook · 12 hrs 31 mins

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The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse

Charlie Mackesy (Author), Charlie Mackesy (Narrator)

Audiobook · 58 mins

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One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time

Craig Brown (Author), Kate Robbins, Mark Mcgann (Narrator)

Audiobook · 20 hrs 21 mins

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Outlander 'International Edition'

Diana Gabaldon (Author), Davina Porter (Narrator)

Audiobook · 32 hrs 38 mins

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June 2021

The Final Twist

Jeffery Deaver (Author), Kaleo Griffith (Narrator)

Audiobook · 11 hrs 6 mins

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Soundtracks: The Surprising Solution to Overthinking

Jon Acuff (Author), Jon Acuff (Narrator)

Audiobook · 5 hrs 34 mins

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Left You Dead: A Realistically Creepy Crime Thriller

Peter James (Author), Daniel Weyman (Narrator)

Audiobook · 12 hrs 58 mins

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The Wife Who Got a Life

Tracy Bloom (Author), Fiona Boylan (Narrator)

Audiobook · 8 hrs 7 mins

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Covet

Tracy Wolff (Author), Heather Costa, Tim Paige (Narrator)

Audiobook · 21 hrs 39 mins

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July 2021

Little Secrets

Jennifer Hillier (Author), Kirsten Potter (Narrator)

Audiobook · 10 hrs 34 mins

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Shelter in Place

Nora Roberts (Author), January LaVoy (Narrator)

Audiobook · 15 hrs

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People Like Us

Louise Fein (Author), Holli Dempsey (Narrator)

Audiobook · 15 hrs 52 mins

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The Secret Keeper of Jaipur

Alka Joshi (Author), Ariyan Kassam, Deepa Samuel, Sneha Mathan (Narrator)

Audiobook · 11 hrs 8 mins

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False Witness

Karin Slaughter (Author), Kathleen Early (Narrator)

Audiobook · 18 hrs 39 mins

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August 2021

Relentless: Secrets of the Sporting Elite

Alistair Brownlee (Author), Alistair Brownlee (Narrator)

Audiobook · 8 hrs 56 mins

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Yours Cheerfully

AJ Pearce (Author), Anna Popplewell (Narrator)

Audiobook · 10 hrs 55 mins

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Nine Lives

Danielle Steel (Author), Alexander Cendese (Narrator)

Audiobook · 6 hrs 32 mins

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September 2021

The Silence of Scheherazade

Defne Suman (Author), Lara Sawalha (Narrator)

Audiobook · 14 hrs 59 mins

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Think Big: Take Small Steps and Build the Future You Want

Grace Lordan (Author), Grace Lordan (Narrator)

Audiobook · 7 hrs 35 mins

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Appetite: A Memoir in Recipes of Family and Food

Ed Balls (Author), Ed Balls (Narrator)

Audiobook · 6 hrs 13 mins

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Such a Quiet Place

Megan Miranda (Author), Laurel Lefkow (Narrator)

Audiobook · 8 hrs 39 mins

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1979

Val McDermid (Author), Katie Leung (Narrator)

Audiobook · 11 hrs 6 mins

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The Reckoning: America’s Trauma and Finding a Way to Heal

Mary L. Trump (Author), Mary L. Trump (Narrator)

Audiobook · 5 hrs 30 mins

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Gene Keys: Embracing Your Higher Purpose

Richard Rudd (Author), Jennifer M. Dixon (Narrator)

Audiobook · 9 hrs 31 mins

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What We Find

Robyn Carr (Author), Therese Plummer (Narrator)

Audiobook · 10 hrs

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October 2021

freckles

Cecelia Ahern (Author), Amy Mcallister (Narrator)

Audiobook · 10 hrs 2 mins

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[Spanish] - Piranesi

Susanna Clarke (Author), íñigo álvarez De Lara (Narrator)

Audiobook · 7 hrs 29 mins

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168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think

Laura Vanderkam (Author), Elizabeth London (Narrator)

Audiobook · 7 hrs 50 mins

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The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music

Dave Grohl (Author), Dave Grohl (Narrator)

Audiobook · 10 hrs 35 mins

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Bad Boss

Stella Rhys (Author), Cassandra Myles, John Masterson (Narrator)

Audiobook · 8 hrs 44 mins

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November 2021

The Man Who Died Twice: (The Thursday Murder Club 2)

Richard Osman (Author), Lesley Manville (Narrator)

Audiobook · 12 hrs 31 mins

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The Betrayals

Bridget Collins (Author), Sam Woolf, Sarah Ovens (Narrator)

Audiobook · 15 hrs 14 mins

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A Touch of Darkness

Scarlett St. Clair (Author), Meg Sylvan (Narrator)

Audiobook · 11 hrs 6 mins

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Silverview: The Sunday Times Bestseller

John Le Carré (Author), Toby Jones (Narrator)

Audiobook · 6 hrs 29 mins

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Flora's Travelling Christmas Shop

Rebecca Raisin (Author), Katy Sobey (Narrator)

Audiobook · 7 hrs 55 mins

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The Facilitator, Part 2

Tracie Podger (Author), India Rose (Narrator)

Audiobook · 8 hrs 22 mins

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December 2021

The Promise: WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE

Damon Galgut (Author), Peter Noble (Narrator)

Audiobook · 10 hrs 12 mins

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The Christmas Escape

Sarah Morgan (Author), Rose Robinson (Narrator)

Audiobook · 10 hrs 56 mins

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Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain

Sathnam Sanghera (Author), Homer Todiwala (Narrator)

Audiobook · 10 hrs 16 mins

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As Good As Dead

Holly Jackson (Author), Clare Corbett, Jot Davies, Kristin Atherton, Maryam Grace (Narrator)

Audiobook · 16 hrs 55 mins

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How to Kill Your Family

Bella Mackie (Author), Charly Clive, Paul Panting (Narrator)

Audiobook · 10 hrs 49 mins

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Will: The Sunday Times Bestselling Autobiography

Mark Manson, Will Smith (Author), Will Smith (Narrator)

Audiobook · 16 hrs 16 mins

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Touch of Regret

Autumn Reed (Author), Hayden Bishop (Narrator)

Audiobook · 7 hrs 54 mins

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