Beyoncé and Reese Witherspoon Among This Year’s Audie Award Winners

⚓ Books    📅 2026-03-04    👤 surdeus    👁️ 1      

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Monday night, the Audio Publishers Association (APA) revealed the winners of the 31st Annual Audie Awards during a ceremony held in New York City. The awards celebrate excellence in audiobooks and spoken-word narration.

This year marked a historic one for audiobooks. Not only did the APA receive more than 2,300 submissions—a 42% increase over the last five years—but sales and overall interest in audiobooks are up for Americans. 

As for the audiobooks that won, some are from bestselling franchises—like this year’s Audiobook of the Year winner, Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins. Others, meanwhile, were touched by celebrity: Autobiography/Memoir winner Matriarch by Tina Knowles was narrated by Beyoncé, Solange, Kelly Rowland; and Gone Before Goodbye was narrated, in part, by Reese Witherspoon and Chris Pine.

Below are the winners of the 31st Annual Audie  Awards.

AUDIOBOOK OF THE YEAR

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

Narrated by Jefferson White

Published by Scholastic Audio      

ADAPTATION/ORIGINAL WORK  

The Big Fix: A Jack Bergin Mystery by John Mankiewicz, Jamie Napoli, Daniel Pyne, Katie Pyne, and Aaron Lipstadt

Narrated by Jon Hamm, Ana de la Reguera, Alia Shawkat, Omar Epps, Erin Moriarty, Sosie Bacon, John Slattery, and a full cast

Published by Audible Originals     

AUTOBIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR               

Matriarch by Tina Knowles

Narrated by Tina Knowles, Beyoncé, Solange, Kelly Rowland, and Angie Beyincé

Published by Penguin Random House Audio

BEST FICTION NARRATOR 

Kristin Atherton

for Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Published by Recorded Books, a division of RBmedia

BEST NON-FICTION NARRATOR    

Blair Underwood

For Truly by Lionel Richie

Published by HarperAudio

PRODUCTION & SOUND DESIGN

Dragon Day by Bob Proehl

Narrated by Hayley Atwell, Michael Chiklis, Aldis Hodge, Greta Lee, Jimmi Simpson, and a full cast

Published by Audible Originals

BUSINESS/PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT   

The Next Conversation, written and narrated by Jefferson Fisher

Published by Penguin Random House Audio


ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE   

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, Jim Seybert, Cerris Morgan-Moyer, Jade Wheeler, Peter Ganim, and Steve West

Published by Penguin Random House Audio

EROTICA

American Queen by Sierra Simone

Narrated by Sophie Eastlake, Teddy Hamilton, Rex Rhys, Shane East, and Valerie Azlynn

Published by Audiobrary

ESPANÞOL – SPANISH LANGUAGE

Apocalipsis Z – El principio del fin by Manel Loureiro

Narrated by Javier Rey, Maggie Civantos, José María de Tavira, Manuel Chacón, Oleg Kricunova, Marta Barriuso, Peter Nikolas, Rosalía Castro, Mercedes Castro, Manuel de Andrés, David García Palencia, Oscar Goikoetxea, Sabela Mascuñana, Daniel Méndez

Published by Audible Originals

FAITH-BASED FICTION OR NON-FICTION               

Silent Horizons by Chad Robichaux and Jack Stewart

Narrated by Ray Porter

Published by Tyndale Fiction

FANTASY          

Anima Rising by Christopher Moore

Narrated by Mary Jane Wells

Published by HarperAudio

FICTION            

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Narrated by Kristen DiMercurio, Julia Whelan, and Taylor Jenkins Reid

Published by Penguin Random House Audio

HISTORY/BIOGRAPHY           

Baldwin: A Love Story by Nicholas Boggs

Narrated by Ron Butler

Published by Macmillan Audio

HORROR          

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones

Narrated by Shane Ghostkeeper, Marin Ireland, and Owen Teale

Published by Simon & Schuster Audio

NEW VOICE AWARD: JUDGES CATEGORY

Gem Carmella

for The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar

Published by Macmillan Audio

LITERARY FICTION & CLASSICS    

The Director by Daniel Kehlmann

Narrated by Nicholas Boulton

Published by Simon & Schuster Audio

MIDDLE GRADE          

All the Blues in the Sky by Renée Watson

Narrated by Bahni Turpin

Published by Bloomsbury PLC

MYSTERY         

Gone Before Goodbye by Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben

Narrated by Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, Kiff VandenHeuvel, Suehyla El-Attar Young, Peter Ganim, Saskia Maarleveld, and James Fouhey

Published by Hachette Audio

NARRATION BY THE AUTHOR           

Everything Is Tuberculosis, written and narrated by John Green

Published by Penguin Random House Audio

NON-FICTION              

Separation of Church and Hate written and narrated by John Fugelsang

Published by Simon & Schuster Audio

ROMANCE     

King of Envy by Ana Huang

Narrated by Jason Clark and Nia Serge

Published by One Night Stand Studios x Ana Huang

SCIENCE FICTION   

Simultaneous by Eric Heisserer

Narrated by Ray Porter, Marin Ireland, and Stephanie Sheh

Published by Macmillan Audio

SHORT STORIES/COLLECTIONS   

Food for Thought, written and narrated by Alton Brown

Published by Simon & Schuster Audio

THRILLER/SUSPENSE            

Don’t Let Him In by Lisa Jewell

Narrated by Richard Armitage, Joanne Froggatt, Tamaryn Payne, Gemma Whelan, Louise Brealey, and Patience Tomlinson

Published by Simon & Schuster Audio

YOUNG ADULT             

Under the Same Stars by Libba Bray

Narrated by Jeremy Carlisle Parker, January LaVoy, and Major Curda

Published by Macmillan Audio

YOUNG LISTENERS

Secrets of the Purple Pearl by Kate McKinnon

Narrated by Kate McKinnon and Emily Lynne

Published by Hachette Audio


For more on the awards and he ceremony, visit Audiopub.org.

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