The 55 Best Audiobooks for Road Trips [2018]

The open road is calling. For those bookworms — young and old — looking for a new way to pass the time on a road trip, an audiobook might just be calling your name as well.

As to any naysayers (especially those parents who want to encourage their children to read), you might want to reconsider putting the book down and listen to the story being told instead. Stephen King himself is an advocate for audiobooks!

In some ways, audiobooks perfect reading. — Stephen King

Particularly when in the hands of an excellent reader/voice actor, Stephen King’s statement about audiobooks rings true. Before books came storytelling, after all.

So if you’re game for a story or two while on the road, we’ve consulted both Amazon and our own editors and ended up compiling 55 of our top audiobook picks for you — for adults and children alike!

The audiobooks will be listed from the shortest in length to the longest.

And if you’d also like to ensure that your car is fully covered before road tripping, enter your ZIP code below and compare at least three to four auto insurance policies today!

Adults: Best Audiobooks for Road Trips [2018]

#1 — Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert

Editor’s Pick
Time Length: 5 hours and 6 minutes

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear was an instant #1 New York Times bestseller and has gathered 2,191 reviews and a 4.5-star rating on Amazon.

#2 — The Balcony by Jane Delury

Editor’s Pick
Time Length: 6 hours and 15 minutes

This debut novel, The Balcony, has an average 3.5-star rating on Amazon along with 16 reviews.

#3 — Crushing It! by Gary Vaynerchuk

Editor’s Pick
Time Length: 8 hours and 2 minutes

Crushing It! is the #18 Most Read book on the Amazon Charts and has a full five-star rating out of 528 customer reviews.

#4 — Truth & Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett

Editor’s Pick
Time Length:  8 hours and 11 minutes

Truth & Beauty: A Friendship — the memoir of Ann Patchett and the poet Lucy Grealy — has collected 344 reviews and a 4-star rating on Amazon.

#5 — Orphan Train by Christina Baker Cline

Amazon’s Pick
Time Length: 8 hours and 21 minutes

Orphan Train is a #1 New York Times bestseller and has an average 4.5-star rating on Amazon out of 20,415 customer reviews.

#6 — The Martian by Andy Weir

Amazon’s Pick
Time Length: 10 hours and 53 minutes

The Martian has a 4.5-star rating on Amazon with 30,322 customer reviews, but the audiobook itself has garnered a lot of praise. It has won awards for:

• 2014 Voice Arts Award Finalist, Science Fiction
• 2015 Audie Award Finalist, Solo Narration: Male
• 2015 Audie Award Winner, Science Fiction

#7 — The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Amazon’s Pick
Time Length: 10 hours and 59 minutes

The Girl on the Train has a 4-star rating on Amazon with 58,226 customer reviews. It has also won the Audie Award, Audiobook of the Year, 2016, besides already being a #1 New York Times bestseller and USA Today Book of the Year.

#8 — In Freedom’s Cause: A Story of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce by George Alfred Henty

Editor’s Pick
Time Length: 11 hours and 34 minutes

In Freedom’s Cause: A Story of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce has a total of 59 reviews and a 4.5-star rating on Amazon.

#9 — Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

Editor’s Pick
Time Length: 11 hours and 35 minutes

The classic Pride & Prejudice has a 4.5-star rating on Amazon and 7,939 customer reviews.

#10 — Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Editor’s Pick
Time Length: 12 hours and 40 minutes

Red Queen is a #1 New York Times bestseller in the Young Adult Fiction category, with a total of 2,291 customer reviews and a 4.5-star rating on Amazon.

#11 — Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Editor’s Pick
Time Length: 12 hours and 47 minutes

Another favorite with Amazon customers, Throne of Glass, has 2,998 reviews and an average 4.5-star rating on Amazon.

#12 — No One Would Listen: A True Financial Thriller by Harry Markopolos

Editor’s Pick
Time Length: 13 hours

No One Would Listen: A True Financial Thriller has a 4.5-star rating on Amazon and 340 customer reviews.

#13 — Night School: A Jack Reacher Novel, Book 21 by Lee Child

Editor’s Pick
Time Length: 13 hours and 7 minutes

This #1 New York Times bestseller, Night School: A Jack Reacher Novel, has 5,738 reviews and a 4-star rating on Amazon.

#14 — Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight

Editor’s Pick
Time Length: 13 hours and 21 minutes

Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike is the #1 bestseller in the Running & Jogging category on Amazon, with a full 5-star rating and a total of 2,341 customer reviews.

#15 — The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty

Amazon’s Pick
Time Length: 13 hours and 44 minutes

The Husband’s Secret has a 4.5-star rating on Amazon, 18,807 customer reviews, and has been named:

• #1 New York Times bestseller
• One of the Top Ten Books of the Year by Peoples magazine
• One of the Best Books of the Year by Entertainment Weekly

#16 — Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

Amazon’s Pick
Time Length: 14 hours

Another #1 New York Times bestseller, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, has a full 5-star rating from 27,722 customer reviews on Amazon.

#17 — The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown

Amazon’s Pick
Time Length: 14 hours and 30 minutes

The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, a #1 New York Times bestseller that inspired a PBS documentary, has also garnered a 5-star rating from 20,688 Amazon customer reviews.

#18 — All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Amazon’s Pick
Time Length: 16 hours and 2 minutes

All The Light We Cannot See won the Pulitzer Prize and a 4.5-star rating from 28,029 Amazon customer reviews.

#19 — Inferno by Dan Brown

Amazon’s Pick
Time Length: 17 hours and 12 minutes

The thriller, Inferno, has 21,078 customer reviews and a 4-star rating on Amazon.

#20 — The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

Amazon’s Pick
Time Length: 17 hours and 26 minutes

The Nightingale has been named a #1 New York Times bestseller and Wall Street Journal Best Book of the Year, along with getting a full 5-star rating on Amazon out of 36,819 reviews.

#21 — The Outsider by Stephen King

Amazon’s Pick
Time Length: 18 hours and 39 minutes

The #1 Most Read on Amazon Charts, The Outsider, has a 4.5-star rating and 317 customer reviews on Amazon.

#22 — The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

Amazon’s Pick
Time Length: 19 hours and 7 minutes

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is the #1 bestseller in Fiction Classics on Amazon, along with having a 4.5-star rating and 18,902 customer reviews.

#23 — Gone Girl by Julia Whelan

Amazon’s Pick
Time Length: 19 hours and 11 minutes

Gone Girl has accumulated up to 44,968 customer reviews on Amazon and a 4-star rating.

#24 — Sycamore Row by John Grisham

Amazon’s Pick
Time Length: 20 hours and 50 minutes

Sycamore Row has a 4.5-star rating and 19,090 customer reviews on Amazon; the audiobook version also placed as an Audie Award Finalist, Thriller/Suspense in 2014.

#25 — The Name of the Wind: Kingkiller Chronicles, Day 1 by Patrick Rothfuss

Editor’s Pick
Time Length: 27 hours and 56 minutes

Book 1 of the #1 New York Times bestseller series, The Name of the Wind: Kingkiller Chronicles, Day 1, is also the #1 bestseller in the Paranormal Fantasy category on Amazon. The book has a 4.5-star rating and 7,198 Amazon customer reviews.

#26 — The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

Amazon’s Pick
Time Length: 32 hours and 29 minutes

The Goldfinch has a 4-star rating on Amazon and 25,737 customer reviews, along with winning three titles:

• Pulitzer Prize
• Audie Award Winner, Solo Narration – Male, 2014
• Audie Award Winner, Literary Fiction, 2014

#27 — Outlander by Diane Gabaldon

Amazon’s Pick
Time Length: 32 hours and 43 minutes

A #1 New York Times bestseller and #1 bestseller in Historical Romance on Amazon, Outlander, has 33,928 customer reviews and an overall 4.5-star rating.

Children: Best Audiobooks for Road Trips [2018]

#1 — Inside Out and Back Again by Thanha Lai

Amazon’s Pick
Time Length: 2 hours and 30 minutes

Thanha Lai’s debut book, Inside Out and Back Again, became a #1 New York Times bestseller and won the National Book Award, Young People’s Literature of 2011. The book also has a 4.5-star rating on Amazon and 565 reviews.

#2 — The Wishtree by Katherine Applegate

Amazon’s Pick
Time Length: 2 hours and 33 minutes

A New York Times bestseller and one of Amazon’s Top 20 Children’s Books 2017, The Wishtree, has a full 5-star rating on Amazon and 184 customer reviews.

#3 — The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Editor’s Pick
Time Length: 3 hours and 46 minutes

The One and Only Ivan — another book by Katherine Applegate — won the Newbery Medal and became a #1 New York Times bestseller, along with getting a full 5-star rating on Amazon out of 2,455 reviews.

#4 — Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Editor’s Pick
Time Length: 3 hours and 55 minutes

A New York Times bestseller and National Book Award Winner, Brown Girl Dreaming has a 4.5-star rating on Amazon and 572 reviews.

#5 — The Wild Robot by Peter Brown

Amazon’s Pick
Time Length: 4 hours and 14 minutes

The Wild Robot is the #1 bestseller in the Children’s Robot Fiction Books category on Amazon and has a 5-star rating from 350 reviews.

#6 — Wish by Barbara O’Connor

Editor’s Pick
Time Length: 4 hours and 41 minutes

Wish has a full 5-star rating on Amazon and 141 customer reviews.

#7 — The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald

Editor’s Pick
Time Length: 4 hours and 55 minutes

The Princess and the Goblin has 587 customer reviews and 4.5-star rating on Amazon.

#8 — Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly

Amazon’s Pick
Time Length: 5 hours and 17 minutes

Besides being a winner of the Newbery Medal, Hello, Universe has a 4.5-star rating out of 64 reviews on Amazon.

#9 — Pax by Sara Pennypacker

Editor’s Pick
Time Length: 5 hours and 35 minutes

Pax has 621 reviews on Amazon, giving the book a 4.5-star rating. This children’s book was also named:

• A National Book Award Longlist
• A New York Times Bestseller
• An Amazon Best Book of the Year

#10 –Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert O’Brien

Editor’s Pick
Time Length: 6 hours and 13 minutes

The classic favorite, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, has a 4.5-star rating on Amazon and 566 customer reviews.

#11 — A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

Editor’s Pick
Time Length: 6 hours and 26 minutes

A Wrinkle in Time has become the #1 bestseller in the Teen and Young Adult Classic Literature category on Amazon as the 3,262 customer reviews and 4.5-star rating are any indications. It’s also won several prestigious awards, and, as of 2012, it’s sold over 10 million copies.

#12 — The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Amazon’s Pick
Time Length: 7 hours and 14 minutes

With 37,794 reviews on Amazon and a 4.5-star rating, The Fault in Our Stars has got a lot of attention by becoming:

• TODAY Book Club pick
• TIME magazine’s #1 Fiction Book of 2012
• #1 New York Times Bestseller
• #1 Wall Street Journal Bestseller
• #1 USA Today Bestseller
• #1 International Bestseller
• #1 Indie Bestseller

The audiobook itself was an Audie Award Nominee, in the Best Teens Category of 2013.

#13 — I Have Lost My Way by Gayle Forman

Amazon’s Pick
Time Length: 7 hours and 29 minutes

I Have Lost My Way, a book written by a New York Times bestselling author, has become the #1 New Release in the Teen and Young Adult Depression and Mental Illness Fiction category on Amazon. The book has also gotten a 4-star rating out 89 reviews.

#14 — Wonder by R.J. Palacio

Amazon’s Pick
Time Length: 8 hours and 6 minutes

The #1 New York Times bestseller, Wonder, has also become the #1 bestseller in Amazon’s Children’s Special Needs Books. This book has 12,817 customer reviews and a full 5-star rating.

#15 — A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro

Amazon’s Pick
Time Length: 9 hours and 6 minutes

Book 1 in a series, A Study in Charlotte, has 273 reviews on Amazon and a 4-star rating.

#16 — The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

Editor’s Pick
Time Length: 9 hours and 37 minutes

Even though The Girl Who Drank the Moon has only a 4.5-star rating on Amazon and 644 customer reviews, this book has a slew of awards, such as:

• Winner of the 2017 Newbery Medal
• The New York Times Bestseller
• An Entertainment Weekly Best Middle Grade Book of 2016
• A New York Public Library Best Book of 2016
• A Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2016
• An Amazon Top 20 Best Book of 2016
• A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2016
• A School Library Journal Best Book of 2016
• Named to KirkusReviews’ Best Books of 2016
• 2017 Booklist Youth Editors’ Choice

#17 — The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

Editor’s Pick
Time Length: 10 hours and 7 minutes

Book 1 in the Books of Bayern series, The Goose Girl, has a 4.5-star rating and 515 customer reviews on Amazon.

#18 — Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

Editor’s Pick
Time Length: 10 hours and 21 minutes

Mara, Daughter of the Nile has become the #1 New Release in the Teen & Young Adult African Historical Fiction category for Amazon’s audiobooks. Overall, the book has a 4.5-star rating and 223 customer reviews.

#19 — The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

Amazon’s Pick
Time Length: 10 hours and 30 minutes

The Hazel Wood, a New York Times bestseller, has a 4-star rating on Amazon and 318 customer reviews.

#20 — The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Editor’s Pick
Time Length: 11 hours and 8 minutes

The Hobbit has 18,902 reviews on Amazon and a 4.5-star rating. It is a literary classic with a cult following. It’s sold 100 million copies worldwide, and J. R. R. Tolkien was named the author of the century.

#21 — Divergent by Veronica Roth

Amazon’s Pick
Time Length: 11 hours and 11 minutes

The first installment in a #1 New York Times bestseller trilogy, Divergent has 44,382 customer reviews and a 4.5-star rating on Amazon.

#22 — The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Amazon’s Pick
Time Length: 11 hours and 14 minutes

The Hunger Games has 73,959 reviews on Amazon, giving the first book in the trilogy an overall 4.5-star rating.

#23 — The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Amazon’s Pick
Time Length: 13 hours and 56 minutes

The Book Thief has a 4.5-star rating and 17,730 customer reviews on Amazon.

#24 — Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Editor’s Pick
Time Length: 15 hours and 46 minutes

The best-selling cult classic, Ready Player One, has gathered 17,473 reviews and a 4.5-star rating on Amazon, besides ranking as #7 Most Read on the Amazon Charts.

#25 — Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Amazon’s Pick
Time Length: 18 hours and 9 minutes

This debut book by Tomi Adeyemi became an instant #1 New York Times bestseller. On Amazon, Children of Blood and Bone became the #1 New Release in the Teen & Young Adult Prejudice & Racism Fiction category and has a 4.5-star rating and 686 reviews.

#26 — Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Book 7 by J.K. Rowling

Amazon’s Pick
Time Length: 21 hours and 36 minutes

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Book 7 has become the #8 Most Read book on the Amazon Charts, with an average 4.5-star rating given by 21,067 reviews. The Harry Potter series has won many awards and has sold over 500 millions copies worldwide.

#27 — War Storm by Victoria Aveyard

Amazon’s Pick
Time Length: 22 hours and 30 minutes

This book is the concluding book to the previously-mentioned Red Queen series. The #1 New York Times bestseller, War Storm, and any Red Queen books can be interchangeable with teens and adults.

As a whole, War Storm has 120 customer reviews and a 3.5-star rating on Amazon.

#28 – The Dragon’s Tooth (Ashtown Burials #1) by N. D. Wilson

Editor’s Pick
Time Length: 13 hours and 8 minutes

The Dragon’s Tooth is the first book in the Ashtown Burials series and is an adventure that spans genre and ages. Wilson has a flourish and confidence that spills onto the pages of his heroes.

Last Word of Advice

With vacation beckoning you to take to the road, keep in mind that you aren’t the only one. According to a study conducted by IPSOS, 66 percent of Americans planned to travel last summer.

And with vacationers and teenage drivers out and about during the summer months, that means more congested roads and more inexperienced drivers.

And summer isn’t the only time to be careful. Holiday driving can be dangerous as well.

So with the possible dangers, you might face on the road, making sure you, your passengers, and your car are fully covered in any given scenario should be a top priority.

Besides the state minimum requirements for auto insurance, here are three other types of car insurance that would especially come in handy:

• Collision – Protects your car when your car collides with another car or stationary object (pole, tree, etc.)
• Comprehensive – For anything not collision-related (car gets broken into, tree falls on car, run-in with an animal in a state park, etc.)
• Rental Car – If you want a rental car for the road trip, check first if your current insurance is sufficient; otherwise, rental car insurance options may cover you in situations you might not expect

It’s important you have a working knowledge of what insurance covers and different policy options. We recommend starting here.

But no matter what, to ensure you have a worry-free road trip, start comparison shopping today for better and more affordable car insurance by entering your ZIP code below!