I’ve seen a lot of changes in the world of audiobooks in the 26 years that I’ve been involved in covering and reviewing them for AudioFile magazine. The format has switched from cassettes to CDs to digital files and streaming, from specialty MP3 players to smartphones in our pockets. The industry has grown and broadened: Ever more audiobooks are being produced, and more care is taken to cast them authentically—that is, to ensure that the narrator shares a background or identity with a book’s author or characters. Audiobooks are more accessible, more available, and more inclusive than ever, and, according to the Audio Publishers Association 2025 Consumer Survey, 51% of American adults have listened to an audiobook.

There’s something magical about having a story told to you. For many of us, we first experience this as young children, and parents, teachers, or caregivers read us stories—something we then replicate with the children in our own lives. (I’ve been practicing farm animal sounds while reading Sandra Boynton’s Barnyard Dance! out loud to my baby nephew.)

I recently listened to Hwang Bo-reum’s Every Day I Read: 53 Ways To Get Closer to Books, translated by Shanna Tan and narrated invitingly by Rosa Escoda (Bloomsbury Publishing, December 2). Hwang doesn’t mention audiobooks, but I think she would appreciate them as another way to fit more reading into our lives. Think of it less like multitasking and more like a complementary activity to the other things you’re already spending time on. Commuting and road trips used to be some of the main ways that we listened; perhaps you, too, can recall a drive across the country, and which novel was playing through the car speakers while you passed memorable landmarks and landscapes.

But audiobooks aren’t confined to the car or mass transit. I’ve heard from people who listen while walking outside or exercising in the gym, while doing the dishes or other household chores, while gardening. Many artists find that they can listen during certain parts of their process. I often listen at home—knitting to Queen Demon by Martha Wells, read by Eric Mok (Macmillan Audio, October 7), sewing to Bird City: Adventures in New York’s Urban Wilds by Ryan Goldberg, read by Evan Sibley (Hachette Audio, November 4). And, of course, listening at night can be a way for adults to return to that comforting sensation of being read a bedtime story. (Or, if you’re afflicted with insomnia, a way to pass that stretch of time in the wee hours.)

But what makes a good audiobook? At the heart of an exceptional audiobook experience is a skilled narrator who connects with the material and who in turn connects the listener to the material. Styles vary widely—from a bells-and-whistles production with a full cast, music, and sound effects to a single voice in your ear, holding your attention, making it impossible to press pause. Read our audiobook reviews, which will now appear in every issue of Kirkus, and find something that piques your interest. The more listening you do, the more you will discover what makes a good audiobook for you.

Jennifer Dowell is the audiobooks editor.