STARRED REVIEW
June 2019

The Hold List: Laugh-out-loud audiobooks

If you’re gearing up for summer vacation, don’t even think about embarking on that 10-hour drive without downloading an excellent audiobook (or two, or five) to pass the time. Buckle up! These are our picks for great books that are even better on audiobook.
STARRED REVIEW
June 2019

The Hold List: Laugh-out-loud audiobooks

If you’re gearing up for summer vacation, don’t even think about embarking on that 10-hour drive without downloading an excellent audiobook (or two, or five) to pass the time. Buckle up! These are our picks for great books that are even better on audiobook.
June 2019

The Hold List: Laugh-out-loud audiobooks

If you’re gearing up for summer vacation, don’t even think about embarking on that 10-hour drive without downloading an excellent audiobook (or two, or five) to pass the time. Buckle up! These are our picks for great books that are even better on audiobook.
Share this Article:

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?
By Mindy Kaling

Actress, comedy writer and producer Kaling makes social anxiety charming in her first memoir. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? is an entertaining collection of personal essays, humorous lists (like film franchises Kaling would like to reboot) and glimpses into the twisted world of LA celebrity. Though this isn’t exactly groundbreaking territory for a celebrity memoir, it’s hard to notice while listening to Kaling read her own work in her bright, chirpy voice. As you’d expect from a writer who honed her skills on “The Office,” Kaling’s comedic timing is on point, and her chatty style and focus on pop culture make listening to the audiobook feel like dishing with a friend who happens to be the best storyteller around. Listen to this one on a long drive, and let the miles fly by. 

—Trisha, Publisher


My Life as a Goddess
By Guy Branum

Is there anything more satisfying than an incredibly articulate complaint? Those who can pick a subject and eviscerate it, not cruelly but with utter realness, deserve every opportunity to rant at will. My Life as a Goddess, comedian Branum’s candid collection of essays about his small-town Californian upbringing and his coming-out coming of age, is hilarious, and his audacious performance unfolds with the blistering pace of a stand-up comic. He offers riotous hindsight, only to soften at poignant moments of self-awareness, when this “survival guide” really does explore his fight to survive the world’s treatment of a fat young gay man. His acerbic footnotes roll out like natural asides, and he even lets a self-deprecating laugh fly from time to time. Beneath it all is a love of words that any audiobook listener will relish. 

—Cat, Deputy Editor


Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
By David Sedaris

If there’s one author whose voice is inseparable from his writing, it’s David Sedaris. He rose to fame as both a performer and writer, first as a guest on NPR’s “This American Life” and then as a headliner for sold-out theaters. When you read Sedaris’ writing, it’s difficult not to hear his familiar cadence and inflection in your head, so why not skip the paper cuts and get right to the source? All of his audiobooks are exceptional—like hilarious radio productions with jazz interludes and guest appearances by the author’s sister Amy Sedaris—but Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim is a fine place to start. It’s laugh-out-loud funny one minute and gut-punch poignant the next: Sedaris at his best and most beloved. 

—Christy, Associate Editor


We Are Never Meeting in Real Life.
By Samantha Irby

The loose, freewheeling essays in Irby’s second collection, We Are Never Meeting in Real Life., are just as likely to stop you in your tracks with razor-­sharp observations as they are to spin out into hilarious, unexpected digressions. The first essay takes the form of Irby’s application to be a contestant on “The Bachelor” but makes several stops along the way to talk about why men are just as catty and self-­obsessed as women and to justifiably roast the Bachelor franchise for its absurd lack of diversity. As Irby reads her pieces on dating in her late 30s and entering what she describes as a mutually codependent relationship with her rescue cat, her relaxed deadpan serves as the deceptively unruffled foundation for her twists into the absurd and perfectly setup punch lines. 

—Savanna, Assistant Editor

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?
By Mindy Kaling
Three Rivers Press

ISBN 9780307886279

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
By David Sedaris
Time Warner Audiobooks

ISBN 9781586215026

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life.
By Samantha Irby
Random House Audio

ISBN 9781524783556

Get the Books

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

By Mindy Kaling
Three Rivers Press
ISBN 9780307886279
My Life as a Goddess

My Life as a Goddess

By Guy Branum
Simon & Schuster Audio
ISBN 9781508265719
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim

By David Sedaris
Time Warner Audiobooks
ISBN 9781586215026
We Are Never Meeting in Real Life.

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life.

By Samantha Irby
Random House Audio
ISBN 9781524783556

Get a custom reading list from BookPage!

Stay on top of new releases: Sign up for our newsletter to receive reading recommendations in your favorite genres.

Recent Features