The editors of AudioFile Magazine have released their selections for Best Audiobooks of 2017. AudioFile is a publication that reviews and recommends audiobooks, taking into account all the things that make an audiobook enjoyable: a great story, of course, but also the skillful pacing, structure, and narration that make them worth listening to.  (Full disclosure: I am a reviewer for AudioFile, mainly for romance books, and I have received free audiobooks from them to provide honest reviews). I have perused the dozens of audiobooks selected as “best”, and winnowed them down to three favorites in six categories, click on the titles to read more about each one. Consider this a jumping off point, audiophiles!

GENERAL FICTION

• Beartown by Frederik Backman, read by Marin Ireland.
• Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward, read by Kelvin Harrison, Jr., Rutina Wesley, Chris Chalk.
• Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders, read by Nick Offerman, David Sedaris and George Saunders, with a full cast that includes Carrie Brownstein, Don Cheadle, Kat Dennings, Lena Dunham, Bill Hader, Miranda July, Mary Karr, Keegan-Michael Key, Julianne Moore, Megan Mullally, Mike O’Brien, Susan Sarandon, Ben Stiller, Jeffrey Tambor, Jeff Tweedy, Bradley Whitford, Patrick Wilson, and Rainn Wilson.

MYSTERY & SUSPENSE

• Glass Houses by Louise Penny, read by Robert Bathurst.
• Don’t Let Go by Harlan Coben, read by Steven Weber
  
• The Thirst by Jo Nesbø , read by John Lee
  

SCI-FI, FANTASY, HORROR

• Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman, read by the author.
• The Bear and the Nightingale  by Katherine Arden, read by Kathleen Gati.
  
• Strange Weather : four short novels  by Joe Hill, read by Joe Hill, Wil Wheaton, Kate Mulgrew, Stephen Lang, Dennis Boutsikaris.
  

ROMANCE

• Beauty Like the Night by Joanna Bourne, read by Kirsten Potter.
  
•  If Not For You by Debbie Macomber, read by Khristine Hvam.
• Come Sundown by Nora Roberts, read by Elisabeth Rodgers.

YA FICTION

• Turtles All the Way Down by John Green, read by Kate Rudd
  
• Solo by  Kwame Alexander, read by the author with Randy Preston.
  
• The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman, read by Michael Sheen.
  

MEMOIR

• Vacationland : true stories from painful beaches by John Hodgman, read by the author.
  
• Theft by Finding : diaries (1977-2002) by David Sedaris, read by the author.
  
• What Happened by Hillary Rodham Clinton, read by the author.