Our favorite audiobook narrators of 2025 (plus 2 rising stars!)

I’m going to start off by admitting something controversial: If you’d asked me just last year, I would have said I wasn’t a fan of audiobooks. I’ve always had a hard time fully processing and absorbing a story while only listening, and I’m also incredibly picky when it comes to narrators. I’m sure we can all agree that a narrator can make or break an audiobook experience, so 9 times out of 10, I’d rather read the ebook.

But I’m a busy adult living in a chaotic world, and last year I realized with quite a bit of dismay that I wasn’t prioritizing reading anymore. So I decided to give audiobooks a real chance, and in the past year I’ve found a lot to love.

Because, as I’m sure we can all agree, a narrator can make or break an audiobook—but a truly skilled narrator can elevate the reading experience to an entirely new level.

Below you’ll find six award-winning narrators as well as two newer voices to watch, all with must-listen audiobooks on Libby that released in 2025.

1. Marin Ireland

A 2023 AudioFile Golden Voice Narrator and multi-award winner, Marin Ireland is the powerhouse narrator behind some of your favorite bestsellers, including Shelby Van Pelt’s Remarkably Bright Creatures and Alice Hoffman’s The Rules of Magic. Ireland is considered one of the best in the business currently, which is immediately apparent when you look at the sheer number of audiobooks she released this year alone. You can’t go wrong with any title from her extensive catalog, but my must-listens from 2025 are listed below.

• The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
• My Friends by Fredrik Backman
• King Sorrow by Joe Hill (full cast)

2. January LaVoy

Multi-audie award winning actress and narrator—and another AudioFile Golden Voice— January LaVoy also had quite a few titles release this year, including an AudioFile Earphones Award title by Libba Bray. If you’re a fan of Nora Roberts, James Patterson, Mary Higgins Clark, or Karen Kingsbury, you’ve probably heard LaVoy’s voice.

• The Scammer by Tiffany D. Jackson
• She Didn’t See It Coming by Shari Lapena
• Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson

3. Vikas Adam

A 2025 Golden Voice Narrator, called one of the most dynamic audiobook narrators working today by AudioFile, Vikas Adam has narrated nearly 600 titles spanning audiences and genres, including A Burning by Megha Majumdar and Unplugged by Gordon Korman.

• Nobody’s Fool by Harlan Coben
• Illusions of Fire by Nisha Sharma
• Thief of Night by Holly Black

4. Michael Crouch

Yet another powerhouse for our list, named a Golden Voice Narrator in 2021, Michael Crouch has contributed his vocal talents to over 300 audiobooks including I Was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson, and Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah. Crouch also has the distinct honor of having narrated my favorite audiobook of 2025, Hazelthorn by CG Drews.

• Buckeye by Patrick Ryan
• When Devils Sing by Xan Kaur
• Exquisite Things by Abdi Nazemian

5. Frankie Corzo

The voice behind Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic, Frankie Corzo is a multi-award winning actress and narrator who gravitates toward titles featuring Latine characters. I'd highly recommend checking out The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera and Across So Many Seas by Ruth Behar from her back catalog.

• An Encantadora’s Guide to Monstros and Magic by Sarah J. Mendonca
• Mayra by Nicky Gonzalez
• Bochica by Carolina Flórez-Cerchiaro

6. Traci Kato-Kiriyama

A self-identified transdisciplinary artist, Traci Kato-Kiriyama has been recognized by AudioFile for numerous works including The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa and Temple Alley Summer by Sachiko Kashiwaba. Their audiobook catalog isn’t nearly as extensive as the artists listed above, but Kato-Kiriyama did narrate what many are calling one of the best audiobooks of 2025.

• Audition by Katie Kitamura

Two newer voices to watch:

Nhi Do

Actor and producer Nhi Do made her debut in audiobooks this year with Trang Thanh Tran’s sophomore young adult novel They Bloom at Night. Regular blog readers may remember that I shared this title in October, where I highly recommended the audio specifically. Do perfectly captures not only the main character but the story’s overall tension, and I can’t wait to see what she comes out with next.

Gem Carmella

Actor and comedian Gem Carmella provided both spoken and sung vocals for Amal El-Mohtar’s sophomore novel released this year, The River Has Roots. From what I could find, this is only the second audiobook she’s ever done, and it’s yet another many are considering a best of the year.

*Title availability may vary.

🎧 Want more audiobook recommendations? Browse the new 'Audiobook’ section on Libby Life! And don’t forget to sign up for a weekly email with even more recs to listen to free (thanks to your library).

RELATED READ: The best voices in audiobooks: 6 narrators you have to hear