The “Oscars” of audiobooks have been announced by the Audio Publishers Association in a dazzling ceremony that honors the fastest growing segment of the publishing industry, and the amazing narrators who bring literature to life. Congratulations to all of the winners, marked in bold red below, along with the nominees in all 29 categories. The event, hosted by Paula Poundstone the evening of May 11 at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, honored over 135 audiobooks, from classics to erotica, business to paranormal, in every genre for every age. You can see all of the past Audies winners here—twenty-one years of the very best in audiobooks!
Award categories & 2016 winners & nominees:
Audiobook of the Year: This award recognizes the audiobook that, through quality, innovation, marketing and sales, has had the most significant impact on the industry.
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. Read by Clare Corbett, Louise Brealey, and India Fisher (Penguin Audio / Books on Tape)
Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee. Read by Reese Witherspoon (HarperAudio)
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. Read by Polly Stone (Macmillan Audio)
The Water Diviner by Andrew Anastasios and Meaghan Wilson-Anastasios. Read by Jack Thompson (Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd)
Best Female Narrator
All the Stars in the Heavens by Adriana Trigiani. Read by Blair Brown (HarperAudio)
The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant. Read by Linda Lavin (Simon & Schuster Audio)
Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray. Read by January LaVoy (Listening Library)
The Lost Landscape by Joyce Carol Oates. Read by Cassandra Campbell (HarperAudio)
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. Read by Polly Stone (Macmillan Audio)
Wild Rover No More by L.A. Meyer. Read by Katherine Kellgren (Listen & Live Audio)
Best Male Narrator
Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut. Read by John Malkovich (Audible Studios)
Classic Love Poems by Various. Read by Richard Armitage (Audible Studios)
Dead Wake by Erik Larson. Read by Scott Brick (Books on Tape/ Penguin Random House Audio)
The English Spy by Daniel Silva. Read by George Guidall (HarperAudio)
Finders Keepers by Stephen King. Read by Will Patton (Simon & Schuster Audio)
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. Read by Scott Brick (Brilliance Audio)
Excellence in Design
The Art of War by Sun Tzu. Design by Alex Odulio (Audible Studios)
Bill O’Reilly’s History Collection: Audiobook Boxed Set by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard. Package/cover design by Margo Goody (Macmillan Audio)
Forces from Beyond by Simon R. Green. Cover design by Ashlee Sasscer (Recorded Books)
The Hunger Games Trilogy Collection by Suzanne Collins. Package/cover design by Kathlyn Miller (Recorded and published by Scholastic Audio, and distributed by Brilliance Publishing, Inc.)
Locke & Key by Joe Hill.. Design by Matthew Angorn, Kari Niles, Nick Horvath, Gabriel Rodriguez, Diane Chang, and Amil Dave (Audible Studios)
Excellence in Marketing
Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee. Read by Reese Witherspoon (HarperAudio)
Locke & Key by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez. Read by Haley Joel Osment, Tatiana Maslany, Kate Mulgrew, and a full cast (Audible Studios)
Read Proud Listen Proud. LGBTQ literature awareness campaign (Penguin Random House Audio)
Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. Read by Cecil Baldwin, Dylan Marron, Retta, Therese Plummer, and Dan Bittner (HarperAudio)
Excellence in Production
Amok by Sebastian Fitzek. Read by Natascha McElhone, Adrian Lester, Rafe Spall, Peter Firth, Brendan Coyle, and Hugh Skinnert (Audible Studios)
Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee. Read by Reese Witherspoon (HarperAudio)
Locke & Key by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez. Read by Haley Joel Osment, Tatiana Maslany, Kate Mulgrew, and a full cast (Audible Studios)
The Patriot Threat by Steve Berry. Read by Scott Brick with special bonus “writer’s cut” read by Steve Berry (Macmillan Audio)
Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book: The Mowgli Stories by Rudyard Kipling. Read by Bill Bailey, Richard E. Grant, Colin Salmon, Tim McInnerny, Bernard Cribbins, Celia Imrie, and Martin Shaw (Audible Studios)
Audio Drama
Amok by Sebastian Fitzek. Read by Full Cast (Audible Studios)
Christmas Eve, 1914 by Charles Olivier. Read byFull Cast (Audible Studios)
Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book: The Mowgli Stories by Rudyard Kipling. Read by Bill Bailey, Richard E. Grant, Colin Salmon, Tim McInnerny, Bernard Cribbins, Celia Imrie, and Martin Shaw (Audible Studios)
The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman. Read by Julian Rhind-Tutt, Lara Pulver, Niamh Walsh, Adjoa Andoh, Peter Forbes, John Sessions, and Michael Maloney (HarperAudio)
The Starling Project by Jeffery Deaver. Read by Alfred Molina and a full cast (Audible Studios)
Autobiography / Memoir
Born with Teeth by Kate Mulgrew. Read by Kate Mulgrew (Hachette Audio)
The Courage to Act: A Memoir of a Crisis and Its Aftermath by Ben S. Bernanke. Read by Grover Gardner (Brilliance Publishing)
Ghost Boy by Martin Pistorius. Read by Simon Bubb (Thomas Nelson)
I Must Say by Martin Short. Read by Martin Short (HarperAudio)
Keep Moving by Dick Van Dyke. Read by Dick Van Dyke (Blackstone Audio)
Travels by Michael Crichton. Read by Christopher Lane (Brilliance Audio)
Business/ Personal Development
Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man by Steve Harvey. Read by Mike Hodge (HarperAudio)
A Curious Mind by Brian Grazer with Charles Fishman. Read by Norbert Leo Butz (Simon & Schuster Audio)
Get Big Things Done, The Power of Connectional Intelligence by Erica Dhawan and Saj-nicole Joni. Read by Christina Moore (Recorded Books)
Talking to Crazy by Mark Goulston. Read by L.J. Ganser (Audible Studios)
Wake up Happy: The Dream Big, Win Big Guide to Transforming Your Life by Michael Strahan and Veronica Chambers. Read by Michael Strahan (Simon & Schuster Audio)
Erotica
Beg Tease Submit by CD Reiss. Read by Jo Raylan (Flip City Media)
Beta by Jasinda Wilder. Read by Summer Roberts and Tyler Donne (ACX/Seth Clarke)
Control Burn Resist by CD Reiss. Read by Jo Raylan and Christian Fox (Flip City Media
Curing Doctor Vincent by Renea Mason. Read by Noah Michael Levine and Erin deWard (Renea Mason)
Trust by Ella Frank. Read by Shannon Gunn (Audible Studios)
Fantasy
Ascension: The Trysmoon Saga, Book 1 by Brian K. Fuller. Read by Simon Vance (Podium Publishing)
The Cycle of Arawn by Edward W. Robertson. Read by Tim Gerard Reynolds (Podium Publishing)
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin. Read by Robin Miles (Hachette Audio)
Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron. Read by Vikas Adam (Audible Studios)
Son of the Black Sword by Larry Correia. Read by Tim Gerard Reynolds (Audible Studios)
Fiction
Citizens Creek by Lalita Tademy. Read by Bahni Turpin and J. D. Jackson (Brilliance Publishing)
A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson. Read by Alex Jennings (Hachette Audio)
Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal. Read by Amy Ryan and Michael Stuhlbarg (Penguin Audio / Books on Tape)
The Last Bus to Wisdom by Ivan Doig. Read by David Aaron Baker (Recorded Books)
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. Read by Polly Stone (Macmillan Audio)
The Sellout by Paul Beatty. Read by Prentice Onayemi (Audible Studios)
History/Biography
In Search of Sir Thomas Browne by Hugh Aldersey-Williams. Read by Simon Vance (HighBridge Audio, a division of Recorded Books)
A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts by Andrew Chaikin and Tom Hanks. Read by Bronson Pinchot (Audiobooks.com Publishing)
Operation Nemesis by Eric Bogosian. Read by Eric Bogosian (Hachette Audio)
Pacific by Simon Winchester. Read by Simon Winchester (HarperAudio)
Texas Rising by Stephen L. Moore. Read by P.J. Ochlan (HarperAudio)
Humor
Almost Interesting by David Spade. Read by David Spade (HarperAudio)
Car Talk Classics: No Factory Recalls, So Far by Tom and Ray Magliozzi. Read by Tom and Ray Magliozzi (HighBridge Audio, a division of Recorded Books)
Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson. Read by Jenny Lawson (Macmillan Audio)
Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari with Eric Klinenberg. Read by Aziz Ansari (Books on Tape/ Penguin Random House Audio)
Texts from Jane Eyre by Mallory Ortberg. Read by Amy Landon and Zach Villa (Tantor Media, a division of Recorded Books
Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling. Read by Mindy Kaling (Books on Tape/ Penguin Random House Audio)
Inspirational Faith-Based Fiction
Come to Me Alive by Leah Atwood. Read by Pamela Almand (ACX)
Her Brother’s Keeper by Beth Wiseman. Read by Clifton Harris (Thomas Nelson)
The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn by Lori Benton. Read by Kate Forbes (Recorded Books)
Secrets She Kept by Cathy Gohlke. Read by Morgan Hallett and Suzy Jackson (Recorded Books)
To Win Her Favor by Tamera Alexander. Read by Melba Sibrel (Zondervan)
Inspirational Faith-Based Non-Fiction
And Then There Were Nuns by Jane Christmas. Read by Elizabeth Wiley (Post Hypnotic Press)
Boy Born Dead by David Ring. Read by Paul Michael (christianaudio)
Glory Days by Max Lucado. Read by Ben Holland (Thomas Nelson)
The Pastor’s Wife by Sabina Wurmbrand. Read by Sadie Alexandru (christianaudio)
Through the Eyes of a Lion by Levi Lusko. Read by Levi Lusko (Thomas Nelson)
Literary Fiction & Classics
The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma. Read by Chukwudi Iwuji (Hachette Audio)
Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson. Read by Kieron Elliott (Recorded Books)
Little Big Man by Thomas Berger. Read by Scott Sowers, cameo by David Aaron Baker (Recorded Books)
Sweetland by Michael Crummey. Read by John Lee (HighBridge Audio, a division of Recorded Books)
Til the Well Runs Dry by Lauren Francis-Sharma. Read by Ron Butler and Bahni Turpin (Tantor Media, a division of Recorded Books)
Middle Grade
Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan. Read by Mark Bramhall, David deVries, MacLeod Andrews, and Rebecca Soler (Scholastic Audio)
The Enchanted Files: Diary of a Mad Brownie by Bruce Coville. Read by full cast (Listening Library)
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: Book V by Maryrose Wood. Read by Katherine Kellgren (HarperAudio)
Jump Back, Paul: The Life and Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar by Sally Derby. Read by Dion Graham, Bahni Turpin (Brilliance Publishing)
Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper. Read by Heather Alicia Simms (Simon & Schuster Audio
Multi-Voiced Performance
Clockwork Lives by Kevin J. Anderson and Neil Peart. Read by Morgan Hallet, George Guidall, Richard Poe, Jim Jenner, Tandy Cronyn, Pete Bradbury, Barbara Rosenblat, and Brian Hutchison (Recorded Books)
Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan. Read by Mark Bramhall, David deVries, MacLeod Andrews, and Rebecca Soler (Scholastic Audio)
How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon. Read by Cherise Boothe, Shari Peele, Kevin R. Free, Avery Glymph, Patricia R. Floyd, and Brian Hutchison (Recorded Books)
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. Read by Olivia Taylor Dudley, Lincoln Hoppe, and Jonathan McClain (Listening Library)
Just Kids from the Bronx by Arlene Alda. Read by Alan Alda, Arlene Alda, Christina Delaine with Milton Glaser, Regis Philbin, Robert Klein, Gabrielle Salvatto and Carlos Serrano (Macmillan Audio)
With Lee in Virginia by G.A. Henty. Read by Brian Blessed, Sean Astin, Kirk Cameron, and a full cast (Heirloom Audio Productions)
Mystery
All the Old Knives by Olen Steinhauer. Read by Ari Fliakos and Juliana Francis Kelly (Macmillan Audio)
Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith. Read by Robert Glenister (Hachette Audio)
Corrupted by Lisa Scottoline. Read by Kate Burton (Macmillan Audio)
Gun Street Girl byAdrian McKInty. Read by Gerard Doyle (Blackstone Audio)
Malice at the Palace by Rhys Bowen. Read by Katherine Kellgren (Audible Studios)
The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny. Read by Robert Bathurst (Macmillan Audio)
Narration by Author
The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer. Read by Amanda Palmer (Hachette Audio)
Born with Teeth by Kate Mulgrew. Read by Kate Mulgrew (Hachette Audio)
Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson. Read by Jenny Lawson (Macmillan Audio)
I Must Say by Martin Short. Read by Martin Short (HarperAudio)
Thirteen Ways of Looking by Colum McCann. Read by Colum McCann (Books on Tape/ Penguin Random House Audio)
Non-Fiction
The Dorito Effect by Mark Schatzker. Read by Chris Patton (Dreamscape)
Ghettoside by Jill Leovy. Read by Rebecca Lowman (Random House Audio / Books on Tape)
I Wasn’t Strong Like This When I Started Out by Lee Gutkind. Read by Tavia Gilbert (Tantor Media, a division of Recorded Books
Missoula by Jon Krakauer. Read by Mozhan Marno (Books on Tape/ Penguin Random House Audio)
Song Machine by John Seabrook. Read by Dion Graham (Highbridge Audio, a division of Recorded Books)
Original Work
Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu. Read by Rose Leslie and David Tennant (Audible Studios)
Drunken Fireworks by Stephen King. Read by Tim Sample (Simon & Schuster Audio)
Locke & Key by Joe Hill. Read by Haley Joel Osment, Tatiana Maslany, and a full cast (Audible Studios)
NPR American Chronicles: First Ladies by National Public Radio. Read by Cokie Roberts (HighBridge Audio, a division of Recorded Books
The Starling Project by Jeffery Deaver. Read by Alfred Molina and a full cast (Audible Studios)
StoryCorps: Outloud: Voices of the LGBTQ Community from Across America by David Isay. Read by Ari Shapiro and a full cast (HighBridge Audio, a division of Recorded Books)
Paranormal
The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich. Read by Charlotte Parry and Christian Coulson (Hachette Audio)
Hounacier by Seth Skorkowsky. Read by R.C. Bray (Audible Studios)
Lycan Fallout 2: Fall of Man by Mark Tufo. Read by Sean Runnette (Podium Publishing)
Seven Years by Dannika Dark. Read by Nicole Poole (Tantor Media, a division of Recorded Books)
White Trash Zombie Gone Wild by Diana Rowland. Read by Allison McLemore (Audible Studios)
Romance
The Duke’s Holiday by Maggie Fenton. Read by Sue Pitkin (Brilliance Publishing)
The Highwayman by Kerrigan Byrne. Read by Derek Perkins (Tantor Media, a division of Recorded Books)
Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover by Sarah MacLean. Read by Justine Eyre (HarperAudio)
The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy by Julia Quinn. Read by Rosalyn Landor (HarperAudio)
A Sorceress of His Own by Dianne Duvall. Read by Kirsten Potter (Tantor Media, a division of Recorded Books)
Science Fiction
Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie. Read by Adjoa Andoh (Hachette Audio)
Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson. Read by Ali Ahn (Hachette Audio)
Golden Son: Book II of the Red Rising Trilogy by Pierce Brown. Read by Tim Gerard Reynolds (Recorded Books)
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. Read by Scott Brick (Brilliance Publishing)
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi: Beware the Power of the Dark Side! by Tom Angleberger. Read by Marc Thompson (Listening Library)
Thriller/Suspense
Blue Labyrinth by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Read by Rene Auberjonois (Hachette Audio)
The Patriot Threat by Steve Berry. Read by Scott Brick (Macmillan Audio)
The President’s Shadow by Brad Meltzer. Read by Scott Brick (Hachette Audio)
Season of Fear by Brian Freeman. Read by Joe Barrett (Blackstone Audio)
Signal by Patrick Lee. Read by Ari Fliakos (Macmillan Audio)
Young Adult
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven. Read by Kirby Heyborne, Ariadne Meyers, and Jennifer Niven (Listening Library)
Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray. Read by January LaVoy (Listening Library)
The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman. Read by Julian Rhind-Tutt, Lara Pulver, Niamh Walsh, Adjoa Andoh, Peter Forbes, John Sessions, and Michael Maloney (HarperAudio)
Unbroken (The Young Adult Adaptation) by Laura Hillenbrand. Read by Edward Herrmann (Listening Library)
The Winter Horses by Philip Kerr. Read by James Langton (Tantor Media, a division of Recorded Books)
X: A Novel by Ilyasah Shabazz and Kekla Magoon. Read by Dion Graham and Ilyasah Shabazz (Brilliance Publishing)
Young Listeners (up to age 8)
Appleblossom the Possum by Holly Goldberg Sloan. Read by Dustin Hoffman (Listening Library)
Brother Hugo and the Bear by Katy Beebe and S.D. Schindler. Read by Gildart Jackson (Dreamscape)
Dory Fantasmagory by Abby Hanlon. Read by Suzy Jackson (Recorded Books)
The Eloise Collection by Kay Thompson. Read by Bernadette Peters, with music by Anthony de Mare (Simon & Schuster Audio)
Little Shop of Monsters by R.L. Stine and Marc Brown. Read by Jack Black (Hachette Audio)
Nino Wrestles the World by Yuyi Morales. Read by Adriana Sananes (Dreamscape)