10 audiobooks for fans of The Bell Jar
- 1
The Correspondent
by Virginia Evans
Narrated by Maggi-Meg Reed, Jane Oppenheimer, Carly Robins, Jeff Ebner, David Pittu, Chris Andrew Ciulla, Mark Bramhall, Petrea Burchard, Robert Petkoff, Kimberly Farr, Cerris Morgan-Moyer, Peter Ganim, Jade Wheeler, Various
★ 4.81 BLT Score (383.3K ratings)★ 4.53 Goodreads (364.9K) ★ 4.8 Audible (18.3K)More about this pick
A sprawling ensemble cast brings luminous depth to this meditation on lifelong correspondence—each narrator inhabits their character so fully you'll forget you're listening to a performance, not overhearing actual lives unfolding.
- 2
James
by Percival Everett
Narrated by Dominic Hoffman
★ 4.76 BLT Score (552.1K ratings)★ 4.42 Goodreads (533.5K) ★ 4.77 Audible (18.6K)More about this pick
Dominic Hoffman's narration brings Jim's voice to life with such moral clarity and wit that you'll hear why Everett's reimagining won the Pulitzer—it's the definitive audiobook performance of a story that needed retelling.
- 3
Anna Karenina
by Leo Tolstoy
Narrated by Maggie Gyllenhaal
★ 4.39 BLT Score (958.4K ratings)★ 4.11 Goodreads (944.0K) ★ 4.46 Audible (14.4K)More about this pick
Maggie Gyllenhaal narrates Anna with such intelligence and vulnerability that Tolstoy's century-old tragedy feels like a story unfolding in real time.
- 4
The Color Purple
The Color Purple Collection • Book 1
by Alice Walker
Narrated by Alice Walker
★ 4.68 BLT Score (764.1K ratings)★ 4.28 Goodreads (758.4K) ★ 4.81 Audible (5.7K) - 5
I Must Betray You
by Ruta Sepetys
Narrated by Edoardo Ballerini, Ruta Sepetys
★ 4.56 BLT Score (103.0K ratings)★ 4.4 Goodreads (101.3K) ★ 4.77 Audible (1.7K)More about this pick
Ballerini's dual narration captures the suffocating paranoia of Cold War Romania so viscerally you'll feel the weight of every impossible choice Cristian makes. A gripping true-stakes thriller about resistance that refuses easy heroics.
- 6
The Body
by Robin Waterfield, Stephen King
Narrated by Wil Wheaton
★ 4.52 BLT Score (45.7K ratings)★ 4.3 Goodreads (45.7K)More about this pick
Wil Wheaton's narration captures the raw nostalgia and heartbreak of King's coming-of-age masterpiece so perfectly you'll forget you're listening. This one hits different as an audiobook.
- 7
Their Eyes Were Watching God
by Zora Neale Hurston
Narrated by Ruby Dee
★ 4.47 BLT Score (402.9K ratings)★ 3.99 Goodreads (390.8K) ★ 4.66 Audible (12.1K) - 8
The Picture of Dorian Gray Novel
by Oscar Wilde
Narrated by Russell Tovey
★ 4.46 BLT Score (1.9M ratings)★ 4.14 Goodreads (1.9M) ★ 4.54 Audible (9.0K) - 9
Forever a Hustler's Wife
A Hustler's Wife • Book 2
by Nikki Turner
Narrated by Bahni Turpin
★ 4.30 BLT Score (3.6K ratings)★ 4.46 Goodreads (3.1K) ★ 4.73 Audible (457)More about this pick
Bahni Turpin's delivery transforms this street-lit sequel into pure theater—she nails every character's voice so sharply you forget you're listening to one narrator commanding a cast of hustlers and preachers.
- 10
The Road
by Cormac McCarthy
Narrated by Tom Stechschulte
★ 4.29 BLT Score (1.1M ratings)★ 4 Goodreads (1.1M) ★ 4.36 Audible (23.9K)
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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.