Listen100% confidence
Communion
J. D. Vance
The author narrates a single first-person account told in order. Nothing confirmed points to print.
- Audiobook
- 7h 50m
- Narrated by
- J. D. Vance
- 304 pages
Genre
Non-fiction & memoir: read or listen?
Memoirs read by the people who lived them, and non-fiction you may want in print.
The twelve, at a glance
1 Read10 Listen1 Either
Listen100% confidence
Letters to Our Sons
Stephen Graham and Orly Klein
A full cast of actors and letter writers reading their own letters, with nothing confirmed pointing to print.
- Audiobook
- 9h 17m
- Narrated by
- Stephen Graham, Orly Klein
- 368 pages
Listen77% confidence
Protocols
Andrew D. Huberman
One author voice and a 688-page book pull towards listening; about 1,100 endnotes in print (per one review) pull towards reading.
- Audiobook
- 18h 5m
- Narrated by
- Andrew D. Huberman
- 688 pages
Listen77% confidence
Sapiens
Yuval Noah Harari
One narrator, one argument in time order and a long book point to audio, but the timeline, maps, photographs and diagrams are only in print.
- Audiobook
- 15h 18m
- Narrated by
- Derek Perkins
- 528 pages
Read73% confidence
Biological War
Annie Jacobsen
Three or more strands of story for one narrator point to reading, and a print edition over 400 pages points to audio.
- Audiobook
- 11h 13m
- Narrated by
- Annie Jacobsen
- 432 pages
Listen70% confidence
Atomic Habits
James Clear
One author’s voice and one narrator point to audio, but the notes, index and appendices are only in print.
- Audiobook
- 5h 35m
- Narrated by
- James Clear
- 320 pages
Listen65% confidence
Swan Song
Charles Spencer
The author reads his own memoir, which points to audio, but the story moves between the funeral week and earlier years.
- Audiobook
- 9h 47m
- Narrated by
- Charles Spencer
- 384 pages
Listen65% confidence
Strangers
Belle Burden
The author reads her own account, which points to audio, but the book opens near the end and then goes back in time.
- Audiobook
- 7h 4m
- Narrated by
- Belle Burden
- 256 pages
Listen65% confidence
Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I've Cried About
Isabel Klee
The author reads her own memoir, which points to audio, but the timeline moves back and forth under season and year headings.
- Audiobook
- 8h 7m
- Narrated by
- Isabel Klee
- 288 pages
Listen65% confidence
The Man Who Invented Christmas
Les Standiford
One storyteller and one narrator, with too little confirmed for a stronger verdict.
- Audiobook
- 5h 50m
- Narrated by
- Jonathan Davis
- Editions listed at 241 to 352 pages
Listen59% confidence
Say Nothing
Patrick Radden Keefe
One narrator, praised narration and a long book favour audio; a story that moves back and forth in time and about 71 pages of endnotes favour print.
- Audiobook
- 14h 40m
- Narrated by
- Matthew Blaney
- 528 pages
Either50% confidence
Regime Change
Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan
At 496 pages the book is long, which favours audio. The index and the notes at the back favour print. Nothing else could be confirmed on either side.
- Audiobook
- 17h 6m
- Narrated by
- Robert Petkoff
- 496 pages
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About this shelf
Memoir is the only genre with a check of its own: a memoir read by the person who lived it automatically counts towards listening. Charles Spencer’s Swan Song, Belle Burden’s Strangers and J. D. Vance’s Communion all meet that check, Communion at 100% and the other two at a leaning 65%. Narrative history and popular science fall under the ordinary rules, and Sapiens is a listen as a leaning verdict (77%) and Say Nothing a listen as a close call (59%).
Non-fiction is better read when the notes and reference material matter. On this shelf only Biological War is a Read verdict (read, 73%), because it has several strands of story for one narrator to read. Protocols, a reference book with about 1,100 endnotes in print (per one review), is still a listen at 77%, and Regime Change, a 496-page book with an index and notes at the back, comes out as either works (50%). Each verdict says whether a PDF of the figures is included with the audiobook, because often it is not.
Questions about non-fiction audiobooks
Is a memoir always better on audio?
Not always, but an author reading their own life story meets one of the 13 checks on its own, and most memoirs also tell one story from one point of view. A memoir with photographs, documents or a complicated timeline can still be better read.
Does an author reading their own non-fiction count?
Only for memoir and personal story. An author reading their own history or science book is judged on the performance like any narrator, under the check for award-winning or praised narration. Patrick Radden Keefe does not read Say Nothing, and Yuval Noah Harari does not read Sapiens, so neither question arises there.
Which non-fiction audiobooks score highest?
Communion (100%) and Letters to Our Sons (100%), then Protocols and Sapiens (both 77%). Communion is read by its author, and Letters to Our Sons has a full cast of actors and letter writers reading their own letters.
Is Protocols better read or listened to?
Listen on Audible, on our checks (77%, leaning). One author voice and a 688-page book pull towards listening, and about 1,100 endnotes in print (per one review) pull towards reading. It is a reference book, with tables, protocols to follow and sections to return to, so Kindle is still where you can search it. Andrew Huberman reads it himself.
Are the photographs and notes in the audiobook?
Usually not. Say Nothing’s 71 pages of endnotes, index and photographs are print only, and no audiobook listing mentions a PDF. Each verdict page says what the recording includes and what is only in print.
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