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The best audiobooks of the season span fiction, mystery, horror, romance, SFF, and a range of nonfiction.

The mystery listens not to miss.

Romance listens not to miss.

SFF listens not to miss.

A horror listen not to miss.

Together with the Audio Publishers Association (APA), in September 2024 Library Journal and School Library Journal fielded a survey about audiobooks in the United States’ public libraries. Nearly 500 librarian respondents provided insight into audio format demand, budgeting, licensing terms, and selection influences.

The shortlist for the Aspen Words Literary Prize and the finalists for the Nebula Awards are announced. After a complaint brought by Meta, an arbiter has blocked former Facebook employee Sarah Wynn-Williams from promoting Careless People, her recently published tell-all about the company. UK bookseller Waterstones expands its Books of the Month program with YA and additional nonfiction offerings. Plus, Page to Screen, a profile of Cynthia Ozick, and interviews with Silvia Park, Kelly Link, and Athol Fugard.

Across a range of genres and subjects, skilled narrators deliver nuanced, striking, and comforting listens, as spring arrives with performances that reveal new insights about old favorites and introduce fresh aural experiences not to miss.

The demand for audiobooks continues to grow year-over-year. Publishers are responding to consumers’ ever-increasing audiobooks appetite by looking beyond the latest front-list titles to expand catalogs and production in creative ways.

Rodrigo Fresán’s Melvill wins the Republic of Consciousness Prize, United States and Canada. NYT releases its spring books preview. The nonprofit We Need Diverse Books announces its inaugural reading day, April 3. A behind-the-scenes book about the 1984 movie Spinal Tap is in the works. Plus, new title bestsellers and interviews with Curtis Sittenfeld, Karen Russell, Carvell Wallace, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Kelley’s debut might draw comparisons to Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water, but this powerfully queer story will stand tall in its own right on any shelf.

Like the novel’s lottery-winning protagonist, Lippman’s fans will feel like they hit the jackpot with this warm and cozy romp through a Paris vacation and cruise, without too many lives lost along the way.

Genre blends, older sleuths, and subjects as expansive as Jane Austen and AI fill this season’s killer titles.

S.A. Cosby’s thriller King of Ashes launches Flatiron’s new imprint Pine & Cedar in June 2025. Cosby talks with LJ about the novel, his writing process, and the authors who first made him fall in love with crime fiction. 

All the Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman is the top holds title of the week. LibraryReads and Library Journal offer read-alikes for patrons waiting to read this buzziest book.

The Joyce Carol Oates Prize finalists are announced. Manya Wilkinson wins the Wingate Literary Prize for Lublin. Oprah selects The Tell by Amy Griffin for her book club. Rebecca Yarros’s bestselling “Empyrean” series will be released as graphic novels. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for top holds title All the Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman. Bloomsbury’s new imprint Bloomsbury Archer will publish Samantha Shannon’s Among the Burning Flowers in September. Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns will release The American Revolution: An Intimate History on November 11, ahead of its companion six-part PBS documentary series. Stephen King’s Cujo is headed to Netflix.

The Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards finalists, the Golden Poppy Book Award winners, and the British Book Awards Book of the Year shortlists are announced. Zando acquires Tin House. HarperCollins will publish Lucy Foley’s new Miss Marple novel in September 2026. In May, Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach, and Amanda Doyle will release the new book We Can Do Hard Things, based on their podcast. Martin Scorsese will adapt, direct, and produce Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead novels for the big screen. Louise Penny cancels U.S. tour dates. Plus, Terry Brooks passes the baton on his Shannara series.

All the Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman leads holds this week. Also in demand are titles by Chris Bohjalian, Karen Russell, Rhys Bowen and Clare Broyles, and Colleen Oakley. People’s book of the week is Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall. April's Indie Next Preview features #1 pick Tilt by Emma Pattee. Plus, Hoda Kotb announces a new book, Jump and Find Joy, due out September 23.

The longlist for the Biographers International Organization’s Plutarch Award, the longlist for the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction by women and nonbinary writers, the finalists for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, and the shortlist for the Lionel Gelber Prize for books about international affairs are announced. Jenni Fagan’s memoir Ootlin wins the Gordon Burn Prize. The Help author Kathryn Stockett will publish her second novel in April 2026. Plus, Page to Screen and interviews with Abdulrazak Gurnah, Agustina Bazterrica, Zadie Smith, and Dennis Lehane.