As of Wednesday, November 8, Spotify Premium users in the US have access to over 200,000 audiobooks as a part of their subscriptions. Spotify Premium individuals and Plan managers for Family and Duo accounts can listen to audiobooks for up to 15 hours per month for free. If you use up your allotment, you can buy a 10-hour top-up.
“Audiobooks are an entertaining way to finally get around to all the books you’ve always meant to read, a new way to experience the stories you already love, and a great way to discover your next favorite book,” the Spotify team noted in a new blog post on Wednesday. “In fact, we ran a consumer survey of over 1,000 Americans that showed that the younger generations are really taking to audiobook listening: Gen Z and millennials lead in audiobook listening, with 72% of 18-to-34-year-olds reporting that they listen to audiobooks.”
The next step is figuring out where to start. Remember, you only have 15 hours of listening time before you have to start spending money, so here are three 2023 bestsellers clocking in around or under 15 hours that are absolutely worth your time:
The Wager (8h 28m)
Synopsis: “From the author of Killers of the Flower Moon, a page-turning story of shipwreck, survival, and savagery, culminating in a court martial that reveals a shocking truth. The powerful narrative reveals the deeper meaning of the events on The Wager, showing that it was not only the captain and crew who ended up on trial, but the very idea of empire.”
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store (12h 21m)
Synopsis: “In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighborhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side and shared ambitions and sorrows. Chicken Hill was where Moshe and Chona Ludlow lived when Moshe integrated his theater and where Chona ran the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store. When the state came looking for a deaf boy to institutionalize him, it was Chona and Nate Timblin, the Black janitor at Moshe’s theater and the unofficial leader of the Black community on Chicken Hill, who worked together to keep the boy safe.”
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi (16h 59m)
Synopsis: “Shannon Chakraborty, the bestselling author of The City of Brass, spins a new trilogy of magic and mayhem on the high seas in this tale of pirates and sorcerers, forbidden artifacts and ancient mysteries, in one woman’s determined quest to seize a final chance at glory—and write her own legend.”
