5 listens with Emily Henry

This had to be my top pick. Julia is one of my all-time favorite narrators, and her novel about two audiobook narrators trying to run from their pasts (and falling in love while failing to do so) is brilliant. The fantastically meta premise and Julia’s perfect execution combine to make this an irresistible listen.

There’s no better way to experience Taylor Jenkins Reid’s epic seventies rock ‘n’ roll “oral history” than via its beautifully acted audiobook, which features 20-plus voice actors, including the phenomenal Judy Greer, the supremely talented actor/writer Robinne Lee (The Idea of You), and—of course—Julia Whelan. This is one of the most ambitious audiobooks and I loved every second of it.

Kennedy Ryan’s sweeping Hollywood love story is gorgeous. Its audio is downright electrifying. A famous director and a Broadway actress find a rapturous once-in-a-lifetime love while filming a biopic about Dessi Blue, a talented singer during the Harlem Renaissance, whose story—until now—has been all but lost to history. Eboni Flower, Jakobi Diem, and Nicole Small bring these characters’ voices to life so vividly that it’s easy to forget they’re not real people.

Bernadette Dunne’s narration is perfectly paired with Shirley Jackson’s signature sense of building dread and foreboding, while also capturing her wicked flashes of dark humor. The resulting effect is that of a disorienting, claustrophobic, kaleidoscope of a listen. This is the ideal way to experience Jackson’s gothic thriller.

I don’t often tend to gravitate toward celebrity memoirs, but the exception is always comedy writers. I’m a huge fan of Kaling’s work in television. I think she can make almost anything funny, and so much of that is in her delivery, as well as her writing. Hearing her tell her own story is an absolute delight.