Better as an audiobook

On our checks, a book is better as an audiobook when it has one story moving forward, one narrator reading it, an author reading their own life story, a recording that adds something beyond a straight reading, or narration that critics or awards single out. The more of those that apply, with nothing in print pointing the other way, the higher the score.

Clear cut is 95% and above, clear is 80% to 94%, leaning is 65% to 79% and close call is 50% to 64%. A close call means there was a real case for print too, and the verdict page says what would change the verdict.

Forty-three books score 100%, with nothing confirmed pointing to print. Daisy Jones & The Six is listed first: it is written as an oral history, and the recording gives every band member their own actor, so the interview format works naturally on audio. The Housemaid Is Watching and Sunrise on the Reaping follow.

No. A full cast counts for one check, and other checks can outweigh it. Atmosphere, Gone Girl and Dune have full-cast recordings and sit at 66% to 70%, leaning rather than clear, because jumps in time, or dense prose with maps and appendices in print, count against them. A Game of Thrones, with eight viewpoints read by one narrator, is a Read verdict at 55%.

The highest-production edition on either Audible store, UK or US; if two are equal, the newer one. Every page shows both regions’ editions side by side and names the one scored.