Congratulations to the winners of the 2020 Audie Awards!

The Audie Awards recognize outstanding achievements by the authors, narrators, and producers of the most talked-about audiobooks in the industry. See below for this year’s winners and finalists.

Audiobook of the Year

The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of September 11, 2001 by Garrett M. Graff, narrated by a full 45-person cast

At once a powerful tribute to the courage of everyday Americans and an essential addition to the literature of 9/11, The Only Plane in the Sky weaves together the unforgettable personal experiences of the men and women who found themselves caught at the center of an unprecedented human drama. The result is a unique, profound, and searing exploration of humanity on a day that changed the course of history, and all of our lives.

Read more and sample the audio →

Finalists

★ Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes by Tony Kushner, narrated by Bobby Cannavale, Nathan Lane, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Susan Brown, James Mcardle, Andrew Garfield, Denise Gough, Beth Malone, Lee Pace, and Edie Falco

★ Becoming by Michelle Obama, narrated by Michelle Obama

★ Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White, narrated by Meryl Streep, Robin Miles, Kirby Heyborne, Cassandra Campbell, Kimberly Farr, Lincoln Hoppe, Mark Deakins, Tavia Gilbert, Danny Campbell, Emily Rankin, January Lavoy, and Macleod Andrews

★ The Dutch House by Ann Patchett, narrated by Tom Hanks

★ The Testaments by Margaret Atwood, narrated by Margaret Atwood, Derek Jacobi, Tantoo Cardinal, Mae Whitman, Ann Dowd, and Bryce Dallas Howard

Autobiography / Memoir

Becoming by Michelle Obama, narrated by Michelle Obama

In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms.

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Finalists

★ From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home by Tembi Locke, narrated by Tembi Locke

★ Me: Elton John Official Autobiography by Elton John, narrated by Taron Egerton and Elton John

★ MotherStruck! by Staceyann Chin, narrated by Staceyann Chin

★ Too Much Is Not Enough: A Memoir of Fumbling Toward Adulthood by Andrew Rannells, narrated by Andrew Rannells

Best Female Narrator

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson, narrated by Marin Ireland

Lillian and Madison were inseparable friends at their elite boarding school—until Lillian had to leave unexpectedly in the wake of a scandal. Years later, Lillian gets a letter from Madison asking her to be the caretaker of her stepkids, who are moving in with her family. The catch? The twins spontaneously combust when they get agitated. Thinking of her dead-end life at home, Lillian figures she has nothing to lose. Over the course of one humid, demanding summer, Lillian begins to learn that she needs these strange children as much as they need her—urgently and fiercely. Couldn’t this be the start of the amazing life she’d always hoped for?

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Finalists

★ All the Lost Things by Michelle Sacks, narrated by Cassandra Morris

★ The Boy by Tami Hoag, narrated by Hillary Huber

★ Prime Suspect by Lynda La Plante, narrated by Rachel Atkins

★ The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow, narrated by January Lavoy

Best Male Narrator

Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny, narrated by Robert Bathurst

When a peculiar letter arrives inviting Armand Gamache to an abandoned farmhouse, the former head of the Sûreté du Québec discovers that a complete stranger has named him one of the executors of her will. Still on suspension, and frankly curious, Gamache accepts and soon learns that the other two executors are Myrna Landers, the bookseller from Three Pines, and a young builder, neither of whom had met the elderly woman.

When a body is found, the terms of the bizarre suddenly seem less peculiar and far more menacing.

Meanwhile, Gamache is attempting to rectify the events that led to his suspension. As his measures become increasingly audacious and desperate, Armand Gamache begins to see his own blind spots. And the terrible things hiding there.

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Finalists

★ The Dutch House by Ann Patchett, narrated by Tom Hanks

★ Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer, narrated by Robert Petkoff

★ The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead, narrated by JD Jackson and Colson Whitehead

★ Watership Down by Richard Adams, narrated by Peter Capaldi

Multi-Voiced Narration

The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of September 11, 2001 by Garrett M. Graff, narrated by a full 45-person cast

At once a powerful tribute to the courage of everyday Americans and an essential addition to the literature of 9/11, The Only Plane in the Sky weaves together the unforgettable personal experiences of the men and women who found themselves caught at the center of an unprecedented human drama. The result is a unique, profound, and searing exploration of humanity on a day that changed the course of history, and all of our lives.

Read more and sample the audio →

Finalists

★ 200 Women: Who Will Change The Way You See The World by Geoff Blackwell, Ruth Hobday, Kieran Scott, narrated by a full cast

★ Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, narrated by Jennifer Beals, Benjamin Bratt, Judy Greer, Pablo Schreiber, and a full cast

★ Dooku: Jedi Lost (Star Wars) by Cavan Scott, narrated by Orlagh Cassidy, Euan Morton, Marc Thompson, Pete Bradbury, Jonathan Davis, Neil Hellegers, Sean Kenin, January LaVoy, Saskia Maarleveld, Carol Monda, Robert Petkoff, and Rebecca Soler

★ Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka, narrated by Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Jeanne Birdsall, Richard Ferrone, Jenna Lamia, and a full cast

Narration by the Author or Authors

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo, narrated by Elizabeth Acevedo

Ever since she got pregnant freshman year, Emoni Santiago’s life has been about making the tough decisions—doing what has to be done for her daughter and her abuela. The one place she can let all that go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical to everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness.

Even though she dreams of working as a chef after she graduates, Emoni knows that it’s not worth her time to pursue the impossible. Yet despite the rules she thinks she has to play by, once Emoni starts cooking, her only choice is to let her talent break free.

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Finalists

★ Becoming by Michelle Obama, narrated by Michelle Obama

★ Inside Out by Demi Moore, narrated by Demi Moore

★ Madame Badobedah by Sophie Dahl, narrated by Sophie Dahl

★ Shortest Way Home: One Mayor’s Challenge and a Model for America’s Future by Pete Buttigieg, narrated by Pete Buttigieg

★ Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For by Susan Rice, narrated by Susan Rice

Fiction

City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert, narrated by Blair Brown

In 1940, nineteen-year-old Vivian Morris has just been kicked out of Vassar College, owing to her lackluster freshman-year performance. Her affluent parents send her to Manhattan to live with her Aunt Peg, who owns a flamboyant, crumbling midtown theater called the Lily Playhouse. There Vivian is introduced to an entire cosmos of unconventional and charismatic characters, from the fun-chasing showgirls to a sexy male actor, a grand-dame actress, a lady-killer writer, and no-nonsense stage manager. But when Vivian makes a personal mistake that results in professional scandal, it turns her new world upside down in ways that it will take her years to fully understand.

Now eighty-nine years old and telling her story at last, Vivian recalls how the events of those years altered the course of her life—and the gusto and autonomy with which she approached it.

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Finalists

★ The Age of Light by Whitney Scharer, narrated by Therese Plummer

★ Cilka’s Journey by Heather Morris, narrated by Louise Brealey

★ Colombiano by Rusty Young, narrated by Rusty Young and Brian J. Ramos

★ The House We Grew Up In by Lisa Jewell, narrated by Karina Fernandez

Non-Fiction

Grace Will Lead Us Home: The Charleston Church Massacre and the Hard, Inspiring Journey to Forgiveness by Jennifer Berry Hawes, narrated by Karen Chilton, Jennifer Berry Hawes

On June 17, 2015, twelve members of the historically black Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina welcomed a young white man to their evening Bible study. He arrived with a pistol, 88 bullets, and hopes of starting a race war. Dylann Roof’s massacre of nine innocents during their closing prayer horrified the nation. Two days later, some relatives of the dead stood at Roof’s hearing and said, “I forgive you.” That grace offered the country a hopeful ending to an awful story. But for the survivors and victims’ families, the journey had just begun.

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Finalists

★ Mama’s Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us About Ourselves by Frans de Waal, narrated by L.J. Ganser

★ The Perfect Predator: A Scientist’s Race to Save Her Husband from a Deadly Superbug: A Memoir by Steffanie Strathdee and Thomas Patterson, narrated by Christine Lakin and Dan Woren

★ Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don’t Know by Malcolm Gladwell, narrated by Malcolm Gladwell

★ We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast by Jonathan Safran Foer, narrated by Jonathan Safran Foer

Thriller / Suspense

The Institute by Stephen King, narrated by Santino Fontana

In the middle of the night, in a house on a quiet street in suburban Minneapolis, intruders silently murder Luke Ellis’s parents and load him into a black SUV. The operation takes less than two minutes. Luke will wake up at The Institute, in a room that looks just like his own, except there’s no window. And outside his door are other doors, behind which are other kids with special talents—telekinesis and telepathy—who got to this place the same way Luke did: Kalisha, Nick, George, Iris, and ten-year-old Avery Dixon. They are all in Front Half. Others, Luke learns, graduated to Back Half, “like the roach motel,” Kalisha says. “You check in, but you don’t check out.”

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Finalists

★ Blood in the Water by Jack Flynn, narrated by Dion Graham

★ Freefall by Jessica Barry, narrated by Hillary Huber, Karissa Vacker, and MacLeod Andrews

★ Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman, narrated by Susan Bennett

★ Winter Dark by Alex Callister, narrated by Ell Potter

Mystery

The Chestnut Man by Soren Sveistrup, narrated by Peter Noble

A psychopath is terrorizing Copenhagen. His calling card is a “chestnut man”—a handmade doll made of matchsticks and two chestnuts—which he leaves at each bloody crime scene. To save innocent lives, a pair of detectives must put aside their differences to piece together the Chestnut Man’s gruesome clues. Because it’s clear that the madman is on a mission that is far from over. And no one is safe.

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Finalists

★ Along Came a Spider (25 anniversary edition) by James Patterson, narrated by Taye Diggs

★ The Boy by Tami Hoag, narrated by Hillary Huber

★ The Lost Man by Jane Harper, narrated by Stephen Shanahan

★ The New Iberia Blues by James Lee Burke, narrated by Will Patton

Fantasy

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow, narrated by January Lavoy

In a sprawling mansion filled with peculiar treasures, January Scaller is a curiosity herself. As the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, she feels little different from the artifacts that decorate the halls: carefully maintained, largely ignored, and utterly out of place.

Then she finds a strange book. A book that carries the scent of other worlds, and tells a tale of secret doors, of love, adventure, and danger. Each page turn reveals impossible truths about the world and January discovers a story increasingly entwined with her own.

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Finalists

★ Beasts of the Frozen Sun by Jill Criswell, narrated by Tim Campbell and Alana Kerr Collins

★ Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James, narrated by Dion Graham

★ Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, narrated by Michael David Axtell and Lauren Fortgang

★ Time’s Children by D.B. Jackson, narrated by Helen Keeley

Business / Personal Development

So You Want to Start a Podcast: Finding Your Voice, Telling Your Story, and Building a Community that Will Listen by Kristen Meinzer, narrated by Kristen Meinzer

A comprehensive step-by-step guide to creating a hit show, So You Want to Start a Podcast covers everything from hosting and guest booking to editing and marketing—while offering plenty of encouragement and insider stories along the way. With this motivational how-to guide—the only one on the subject available—you’ll find the direction you need to produce an entertaining and informative podcast and promote it to the right audience. So You Want to Start a Podcast gives you the tools you need to start a podcast—and the insight to keep it thriving.

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Finalists

★ The Barefoot Spirit by Michael Houlihan, Bonnie Harvey, Rick Kushman, narrated by Ed Asner, Alamada Karatihy, Gigi Perreau

★ Calm the F*ck Down by Sarah Knight, narrated by Sarah Knight

★ Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader’s Guide to the Real World by Ashley Goodall and Marcus Buckingham, narrated by Ashley Goodall and Marcus Buckingham

★ Wolfpack by Abby Wambach, narrated by Abby Wambach

History / Biography

American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race by Douglas Brinkley, narrated by Stephen Graybill

On May 25, 1961, JFK made an astonishing announcement: his goal of putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade. In this engrossing, fast-paced epic, Douglas Brinkley returns to the 1960s to recreate one of the most exciting and ambitious achievements in the history of humankind. American Moonshot brings together the extraordinary political, cultural, and scientific factors that fueled the birth and development of NASA and the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo projects, which shot the United States to victory in the space race against the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War.

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Finalists

★ The First Conspiracy by Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch, narrated by Scott Brick

★ Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep, narrated by Hillary Huber

★ The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth by Josh Levin, narrated by January Lavoy

★ Theodore Roosevelt for the Defense: The Courtroom Battles to Save His Legacy by Dan Abrams and David Fisher, narrated by Roger Wayne and Dan Abrams

Romance

Devil’s Daughter by Lisa Kleypas, narrated by Mary Jane Wells

Although beautiful young widow Phoebe, Lady Clare, has never met West Ravenel, she knows one thing for certain: he’s a mean, rotten bully. Back in boarding school, he made her late husband’s life a misery, and she’ll never forgive him for it. But when Phoebe attends a family wedding, she encounters a dashing and impossibly charming stranger who sends a fire-and-ice jolt of attraction through her. And then he introduces himself…as none other than West Ravenel.

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Finalists

★ The Bride Test by Helen Hoang, narrated by Emily Woo Zeller

★ The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez, narrated by Teddy Hamilton and Erin Mallon

★ Gimme Some Sugar by Molly Harper, narrated by Amanda Ronconi

★ Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, narrated by Ramon de Ocampo

Literary Fiction & Classics

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates, narrated by Joe Morton

Young Hiram Walker was born into bondage. When his mother was sold away, Hiram was robbed of all memory of her—but was gifted with a mysterious power. Years later, when Hiram almost drowns in a river, that same power saves his life. This brush with death births an urgency in Hiram and a daring scheme: to escape from the only home he’s ever known.

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Finalists

★ Milkman by Anna Burns, narrated by Brid Brennan

★ Mythos by Stephen Fry, narrated by Stephen Fry

★ The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo, narrated by Yangsze Choo

★ Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson, narrated by Jacqueline Woodson, with Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Peter Francis James, Shayna Small, and Bahni Turpin

Faith-Based Fiction & Non-Fiction

How the Light Gets In by Jolina Petersheim, narrated by Tavia Gilbert

When Ruth Neufeld’s husband and father-in-law are killed working for a relief organization overseas, she travels to Wisconsin with her young daughters and mother-in-law Mabel to bury her husband. She hopes the Mennonite community will be a quiet place to grieve and piece together next steps. Ruth finds solace in the beauty of the land and healing through hard work and a budding new love with her husband’s cousin, Elam.

But an unexpected twist threatens to unseat the happy ending Ruth is about to write for herself. On the precipice of a fresh start and a new marriage, Ruth must make an impossible decision: which path to choose if her husband isn’t dead after all.

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Finalists

★ Breathe Again by Niki Hardy, narrated by Niki Hardy

★ Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind by Annaka Harris, narrated by Annaka Harris

★ Dare to See: Discovering God in the Everyday by Katie Brown, narrated by Katie Brown

★ Jezebel: The Prequel by Jacquelin Thomas, narrated by Janina Edwards

Middle Grade

Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White, narrated by Meryl Streep, Robin Miles, Kirby Heyborne, Cassandra Campbell, Kimberly Farr, Lincoln Hoppe, Mark Deakins, Tavia Gilbert, Danny Campbell, Emily Rankin, January Lavoy, and Macleod Andrews

Some Pig. Humble. Radiant. These are the words in Charlotte’s Web, high up in Zuckerman’s barn. Charlotte’s spider web tells of her feelings for a little pig named Wilbur, who simply wants a friend. They also express the love of a girl named Fern, who saved Wilbur’s life when he was born the runt of his litter.

E. B. White’s Newbery Honor Book is a tender novel of friendship, love, life, and death that will continue to be enjoyed by generations to come.

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Finalists

★ New Kid by Jerry Craft, narrated by Jesus Del Orden, Nile Bullock, Robin Miles, Guy Lockard, Peyton Lusk, Rebecca Soler, Dan Bittner, Phoebe Strole, Marc Thompson, Miles Harvey, and Ron Butler

★ Our Castle by the Sea by Lucy Strange, narrated by Lucy Strange

★ Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson, narrated by Almarie Guerra and a full cast

★ The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart, narrated by Khristine Hvam

Short Stories / Collections

Full Throttle by Joe Hill, narrated by Stephen Lang, George Guidall, Neil Gaiman, Kate Mulgrew, Joe Hill, Zachary Quinto, Wil Wheaton, Nate Corddry, Ashleigh Cummings, Laysla De Oliveira, Connor Jessup

In this masterful collection of short fiction, Joe Hill dissects timeless human struggles in 13 relentless tales of supernatural suspense, including “In The Tall Grass”, one of two stories cowritten with Stephen King. Featuring two previously unpublished stories and a brace of shocking chillers, Full Throttle is a darkly imagined odyssey through the complexities of the human psyche. Hypnotic and disquieting, it mines our tormented secrets, hidden vulnerabilities, and basest fears and demonstrates this exceptional talent at his very best.

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Finalists

★ Evidence of the Affair by Taylor Jenkins Reid, narrated by Julia Whelan, George Newbern, James Daniels, and Dara Rosenberg

★ Forward by Veronica Roth, Blake Crouch, N.K. Jemisin, Amor Towles, Paul Tremblay, and Andy Weir, narrated by Evan Rachel Wood, Rosa Salazar, Jason Isaacs, David Harbour, Steven Strait, and Janina Gavankar

★ I’m Telling the Truth But I’m Lying by Bassey Ikpi, narrated by Bassey Ikpi

★ Kabu Kabu by Nnedi Okorafor and Whoopi Goldberg (foreword), narrated by Yetide Badaki

Audio Drama

Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes by Tony Kushner, narrated by Bobby Cannavale, Nathan Lane, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Susan Brown, James Mcardle, Andrew Garfield, Denise Gough, Beth Malone, Lee Pace, and Edie Falco

In this production, adapted especially for the listening experience, Andrew Garfield, Nathan Lane, and the entire cast recreate their acclaimed performances from the 2018 Tony Award-winning National Theatre revival of Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. With narration by Bobby Cannavale and Edie Falco, and a musical score by Adrian Sutton, this audiobook is a compelling and immersive theatrical listening experience.

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Finalists

★ The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey by James Lecesne, narrated by James Lecesne

★ Birthday Suit by Lauren Blakely, narrated by Andi Arndt, Sebastian York, January LaVoy, Julia Whelan, R.C. Bray, Shane East, Joe Arden, Erin Mallon, Dion Graham, Savannah Peachwood, Jason Clarke, and Robin Miles

★ Have a Nice Day by Billy Crystal and Quinton Peeples, narrated by by Justin Bartha, Annette Bening, Dick Cavett, Auli’l Cravalho, Billy Crystal, Rachel Dratch, Darrell Hammond, Christopher Jackson, Kevin Kline, Robin Thede

★ Puss in Boots by Neil Fishman, Harvey Edelman, and Khristine Hvam, performed by Jim Dale, Mark Aldrich, Barret Leddy, Nick Sullivan, Brian Holden, Al Fallick, Lisa Livesay, Meredith Inglesby, Lynn Norris, John E. Brady, and Johnny Heller

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