Audiobooks Like Angela's Ashes

Frank McCourt narrates his own memoir with a lilting Irish musicality that transforms the poverty and grief into something that keeps catching you off guard with dark humor — the voice carries the boy's perspective even from the adult's distance, and across 15 hours the cumulative effect is unlike any other memoir listen. All ten recommendations match that runtime, every pick is highly-rated, and the list draws from the memoir tradition's most candid voices — writers who narrate their own work with the same sense that the telling itself is survival.

10 audiobooks for fans of Angela's Ashes

  1. 1
    Educated cover

    Educated

    by Tara Westover

    Narrated by Julia Whelan

    ★ 4.84 ABR Score (2.0M ratings)
    ★ 4.46 Goodreads (1.9M) ★ 4.78 Audible (128.2K)
    12h 10m listening time • Released 2018

    Julia Whelan's narration transforms this memoir into something almost unbearable to pause—her voice carries you through Westover's harrowing escape with such intimacy that you feel the weight of every decision she made to survive and think for herself.

    Listen Free on Audible
  2. 2
    Shoe Dog cover

    Shoe Dog

    by Phil Knight

    Narrated by Norbert Leo Butz

    ★ 4.83 ABR Score (428.2K ratings)
    ★ 4.46 Goodreads (374.7K) ★ 4.86 Audible (53.5K)
    13h 21m listening time • Released 2016
    Listen Free on Audible
  3. 3
    Know My Name cover

    Know My Name

    by Chanel Miller

    Narrated by Chanel Miller

    ★ 4.81 ABR Score (271.9K ratings)
    ★ 4.68 Goodreads (262.6K) ★ 4.82 Audible (9.3K)
    15h 24m listening time • Released 2019
    Listen Free on Audible
  4. 4
    The Choice: Embrace the Possible cover

    The Choice: Embrace the Possible

    by Edith Eger, Edith Eva Eger

    Narrated by Tovah Feldshuh

    ★ 4.79 ABR Score (138.9K ratings)
    ★ 4.57 Goodreads (132.9K) ★ 4.91 Audible (6.0K)
    12h 26m listening time • Released 2017
    Listen Free on Audible
  5. 5
    The Autobiography of Malcolm X cover

    The Autobiography of Malcolm X

    by Malcolm X, Alex Haley

    Narrated by Laurence Fishburne

    ★ 4.76 ABR Score (307.2K ratings)
    ★ 4.37 Goodreads (293.7K) ★ 4.9 Audible (13.5K)
    16h 52m listening time • Released 2020
    Listen Free on Audible
  6. 6
    Unbroken cover

    Unbroken

    by Laura Hillenbrand

    Narrated by Edward Herrmann

    ★ 4.75 ABR Score (1.1M ratings)
    ★ 4.39 Goodreads (1.0M) ★ 4.78 Audible (51.5K)
    13h 56m listening time • Released 2010
    Listen Free on Audible
  7. 7
    Nobody's Girl cover

    Nobody's Girl

    by Virginia Roberts Giuffre

    Narrated by Thérèse Plummer, Gabra Zackman

    ★ 4.73 ABR Score (78.2K ratings)
    ★ 4.55 Goodreads (70.8K) ★ 4.85 Audible (7.4K)
    13h 39m listening time • Released 2025

    The dual narration cuts between Giuffre's voice and Plummer's, creating an intimate testament that demands to be heard rather than read—a survivor's reckoning told with devastating clarity.

    Listen Free on Audible
  8. 8
    Open cover

    Open

    by Andre Agassi, J.R. Moehringer

    Narrated by Erik Davies

    ★ 4.55 ABR Score (157.5K ratings)
    ★ 4.32 Goodreads (149.2K) ★ 4.74 Audible (8.3K)
    18h 4m listening time • Released 2009
    Listen Free on Audible
  9. 9
    The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz cover

    The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz

    by Erik Larson

    Narrated by John Lee, Erik Larson

    ★ 4.49 ABR Score (151.6K ratings)
    ★ 4.3 Goodreads (139.3K) ★ 4.66 Audible (12.3K)
    17h 49m listening time • Released 2020
    Listen Free on Audible
  10. 10
    Will cover

    Will

    by Will Smith, Mark Manson

    Narrated by Will Smith

    ★ 4.70 ABR Score (134.8K ratings)
    ★ 4.24 Goodreads (75.6K) ★ 4.87 Audible (59.1K)
    16h 16m listening time • Released 2021
    Listen Free on Audible

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How We Rank Audiobooks

Rankings are driven by listener ratings and review counts from Audible and Goodreads. Books with high ratings across a large number of listeners rank higher — a 4.5 with 50,000 ratings says more than a 4.8 with 200.

Unlike most book lists, we weight audiobook-specific factors: narrator performance, production quality, and how well a story translates to audio. A great book with a poor narration isn't a great audiobook.

We don't accept paid placements or prioritize new releases. These rankings reflect what listeners actually enjoy, not what's being promoted.

Rankings update periodically as new ratings come in and new titles are added to the collection.

Read our full ranking methodology →