There’s something special about hearing someone’s life story being told to you. A memoir feels that much more intimate on audio, whether it’s a slice of life or a celebrity tell-all.

In many cases, authors narrate their own memoirs, and even if the presentation is less than perfect, listeners appreciate hearing the author’s own voice telling their story. But there’s sometimes a singular synergy between a memoir and a professional narrator—think of Julia Whelan’s outstanding performance of Tara Westover’s Educated (Random House Audio, 2018). Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking (HighBridge Audio, 2005), read by Barbara Caruso, is another such example. Our review enthuses that on audio this masterful memoir about grief is a “perfect marriage of writing and narration” and that “Caruso speaks Didion’s words as if they flow straight from her own heart.”

Forget the recent film version—Helen Macdonald’s memoir, H Is for Hawk(Blackstone Audio, 2015), about grieving her father and raising a goshawk, is spectacular in the ear. Our review calls the author’s narration marvelous, “evoking the open spaces of her Cambridge fields, the natural violence of a goshawk’s existence, and her crippling fear of mingling with society when she is so bereft.”

Hana Kim and Sunwoo Hwang’s Two Women Living Together (Harper Audio, Jan. 20) is translated from the Korean by Gene Png, and it’s both a specifically Korean account and one that transcends country and culture. Two women, both writers, decide to cohabitate platonically, something that’s unusual in Korean society and that offers them the connection of shared lives. Jessica Lee and Sofia Jin perform the authors’ alternating essays, and, according to our review, their “beautifully matched narration makes the evolving partnership feel immediate, sincere, and deeply personal.”

Celebrity memoirs can go from gossipy to something deeper. At 48 hours long, Barbra Streisand’s memoir, My Name Is Barbra (Penguin Audio, 2023), has plenty of time for both. In addition to Streisand’s conversational narration, listeners are treated to musical excerpts that demonstrate her evolution as a performer and enhance the listening experience. This EGOT winner also earned an Earphones Award for the audiobook, naturally.

Another favorite celebrity memoir is Alan Cumming’s Not My Father’s Son (Harper Audio, 2014), a searing remembrance of surviving his abusive father. It’s an emotionally raw performance, delivered in Cumming’s lilting Scottish accent. As our review raves, “Delivering stories that are both harrowing and at times hilarious, Cumming reaches through your earphones and doesn’t let go.”

Marla Gibbs’ new memoir, It’s Never Too Late (Harper Audio, February 24), tells the story of a groundbreaking Black actor in a very white industry. In the audiobook, listeners hear a trio of women: first, Gibbs greets them, and then Regina King reads her introduction before Tisha Campbell takes over narrating the bulk of the work. Our reviewer finds that it makes for a successful audio experience: “Campbell offers unforgettable portraits of this ageless icon’s rocky childhood, struggles with marital abuse, bravery, and eventual success.” Intimate, inspiring, and well worth hearing.

Jennifer Dowell is the audiobooks editor.