Looking for a captivating tale to keep you company on long autumn walks? Or a great yarn to while away the miles on a long car trip? Training for a marathon and need a captivating autobiography to get you to mile 26? Whatever your reason for downloading an audiobook this autumn, here are our top 10 favourites, from new fiction releases to the latest memoirs and non-fiction bestsellers. Plug yourself in and let yourself be transported…

All available to download from wherever you subscribe to your audiobook downloads, including Audible and Audiobooks.com

Me – Elton John
Me - Elton John

If you watched and loved Rocketman, then Me – Elton John’s first and only autobiography will captivate you all over again. He writes honestly and powerfully about his struggle to get clean from a life of excess; and charts his rise to stardom from the young Reginald Dwight in Pinner, to living musical legend. It is a candid listen, chatty and leaving no topic, however hard, off the table. Read by Taron Egerton who played Elton in Rocketman, and has an introduction and epilogue from the main man himself.

The Testaments – Margaret Atwood
The Testaments - Margaret Atwood

Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2019, The Testaments is Margaret Atwood’s sequel to her dystopian masterpiece, The Handmaid’s Tale, bringing the iconic story to a dramatic conclusion. Picking up 15 years after the events of The Handmaid’s Tale, the theocratic regime of the Republic of Gilead maintains its grip on power, yet signs of discontent are rumbling from within. The story follows the lives and narratives of three women, whose testimonies blow open the secrets of Gilead and leave them all questioning their own identifies and how far they’ll go for what they believe in.

The Giver of Stars – JoJo Moyes
The Giver Of Stars - Jojo Moyes

The Sunday Times bestselling read from the author of Me Before You, The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes has been critically acclaimed as her ‘best novel yet’. It tells the story of Alice, a bored, stifled newlywed in Kentucky, USA, who finds an unlikely band of women to distract her and help her find just the adventure she is so desperately craving, through the unlikely quest to create a travelling library to bring the joy of reading to those who need it. It’s a tale of womanhood, female friendships and is based on a remarkable true story.

Girl, Woman, Other – Bernardine Evaristo
Girl, Woman, Other - Bernardine Evaristo

Joint winner of this year’s Man Booker Prize, Girl, Woman, Other tells the life stories of 12 very different women. Heralded as a ‘vibrant love song to modern Britain and black womanhood’, the book spans 100 years, from Newcastle to Cornwall. Yet the breadth of narratives are united by the common themes of life, love and loss – beautifully, colourfully and tenderly. A worthy winner and a captivating listen.

Finding My Voice – Nadiya Hussain
Finding My Voice - Nadiya Hussain

2015 GBBO winner, Nadiya Hussain has won the hearts of many, not through her baking recipes but her unfiltered, warm charm and unwillingness to bend her ‘TV persona’ to fit any mould. Her first memoir, Finding My Voice talks openly about the life, experiences and upbringing that have formed the woman and role model she is today.

So Lucky – Dawn O’Porter
So Lucky - Dawn O

Sunday Times bestseller, Dawn O’Porter is back with her new novel, So Lucky in which she takes three very different women’s seemingly ‘perfect’ lives in turn and examines the real, honest, sometimes hilarious flaws within them, and in turn, all of us. There are raw, knowing moments, yet thoughtful and hilarious ones too in this entertaining, easy listen.

Olive, again – Elizabeth Strout
Olive Again - Elizabeth Strout

Following on from the New York Times number one bestseller, Olive Kitteridge, author Elizabeth Strout draws us into the life of the blunt, contradictory yet eminently lovable life of Olive Kitteridge once more with Olive, Again. Entering the second half of her life, there are many changes, some welcome, some less so, for Olive to face. There is the delicate matter of integrating her second husband into family life and an abundance of life lessons including love, loss, loneliness and heartbreak, all set against the small coastal town of Crosby, Maine.

The Glossy Years: Magazines, Museums and Selective Memoirs – Nicholas Coleridge
The Glossy Years - Magazines, Museums And Selective Memoirs - Nicholas Coleridge

After 30-years at the top of Condé Nast, you’d expect Nicholas Coleridge to have a fair few ‘glossy’ stories to tell, and he doesn’t disappoint. From royalty to rockstars, he shares all the glamorous tidbits from the rarefied world of glossy magazines – with anecdotes covering David Bowie, Kate Moss, Beyonce and Bob Geldof – but it’s not all gossip fodder; Nicholas gives a perceptive insight into the changing world of print media, fashion, museums and British society as a whole. Rich in humour, honesty and a rare insight to another, glorious world.

Glastonbury 50 – Michael and Emily Eavis
Gastonbury 50 - Micheal And Emily Eavis

The ‘official story of Glastonbury’, told by the two people who have lived and breathed the iconic music festival for half a century: founder Michael Eavis and his daughter, Emily. As the legend goes, the first festival was not much more than a ‘Pop, Folk & Blues’ festival in a dairy farmer’s field in rural Somerset – with the promise of free milk thrown in with the £1 entry fee. Fast-forward five decades and the pair share what it is to be at the driving seat of the juggernaut it has become, with a quarter of a million people in attendance and three million tuning in around the globe. They are joined by big-name contributors to share their memories and experiences of the festival, including Adele, JAY-Z, Chris Martin and Dolly Parton who all share what for them makes Glastonbury, Glastonbury.

Gotta Get Theroux This: My life and strange times in television – Louis Theroux
Gotta Get Theroux This - My Life And Strange Times In Television - Louis Theroux

Kooky yet laser-direct interviewer, Louis Theroux gives a funny, heartfelt and entertaining account of his life in the world of TV. From fledgling journalist to award-winning documentary maker, his path to stardom has been as quirky as he is; drawn to off-beat characters his career has taken him to the US to witness the gang culture of San Quentin prison and into the homes of celebrities including Max Clifford and Chris Eubank. Yet it’s not all showbiz, Louis talks about his wife and family – all with his trademark honest, self-deprecating humour.

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By Lydia Mansi

November 2019