Audiobooks: worlds beyond your walls

As humans, we’re inherently social creatures, and stories are the lifeblood of our species. So, if you’re anything like the team at Penguin Books Australia, by now the realities of a long-term lockdown are kicking in and you’re searching for a variety of experiences and stories to feed your brain.

Audiobooks can help fill your home with the conversations we’re all craving. Whether it’s listening to a book that makes you think differently, makes you laugh or cry, helps you stave off anxiety or simply occupies your mind, when you hit play on an audiobook you’re engaging in discussion with the world beyond your walls. Plus, as any kid will tell you, there’s something soothing about being read to. And you don’t necessarily need to drop what you’re doing to tune in.

To find the right audiobook fit, make good use of the preview function – five minute samples that allow you to check the narrative and narrator work for you. Sample widely, and try listening at different points in your day to find your sweet spot. Here are some audiobook suggestions to help broaden your horizons, while you’re around the house.

To bake with:

• LOVE! by Zoe Foster Blake
• Don’t Stop Believin’ by Olivia Newton-John
• Jane in Love by Rachel Givney
• Sparkle Pages by Meg Bignell
• The Place on Dalhousie by Melina Marchetta
• The Lost Love Song by Minnie Darke

To exercise with:

• The Inn by James Patterson & Candice Fox
• Gathering Dark by Candice Fox
• The Girl in Kellers Way by Meg Goldin
• Bye Baby by Fiona McIntosh
• Minotaur by Peter Goldsworthy
• The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld
• Under Your Wings by Tiffany Tsao

To get your sport fix with:

• The Rip Curl Story by Tim Baker
• No Spin by Shane Warne & Mark Nicholas
• Church of the Open Sky by Nat Young
• A Sporting Chance by Titus O'Reily
• The Football Solution by George Megalogenis
• Riding with Giants by Peter Holmes à Court
• The Fine Cotton Fiasco by Peter Hoysted & Pat Shiel

To adapt with:

• Any Ordinary Day by Leigh Sales
• When You Kant Figure It Out, Ask A Philosopher by Marie Robert
• Anxious Kids by Michael Grose & Jodi Richardson
• The Strength Switch by Lea Waters
• The Resilience Project by Hugh van Cuylenburg
• Embrace Yourself by Taryn Brumfitt
• Fly! Life Lessons from the Cockpit of QF32 by Richard de Crespigny

To provoke further conversations with:

• After the Count by Stephanie Convery
• Fixed It by Jane Gilmore
• Seize the Fire by Richard Flanagan
• The Arsonist by Chloe Hooper
• Outspoken by Father Rod Bower
• Party Animals by Samantha Maiden
• Fake by Stephanie Wood

To colour mindfully with:

• Love Is Strong as Death by Paul Kelly
• Star-Crossed by Minnie Darke
• The Pearl Thief by Fiona McIntosh
• Against All Odds by Craig Challen & Richard Harris
• My Thoughts Exactly by Lily Allen
• Sweetness and Light by Liam Pieper
• Perfect Motion by Jono Lineen

To learn a little (or a lot) with:

• Captain Cook’s Epic Voyage by Geoffrey Blainey
• Buckley’s Chance by Garry Linnell
• Who’s Minding the Farm? by Patrice Newell
• The Front Runner by Matt Bai
• Dead Man Walking by Kate McClymont
• Witches: What Women Do Together by Sam George-Allen

To work towards financial peace of mind with:

• Happy Money by Ken Honda
• Money School by Lacey Filipich
• Mindful Money by Canna Campbell
• Win Fast by Siimon Reynolds

To laugh out loud with:

• Maggie’s Going Nowhere by Rose Hartley
• Dear Girls by Ali Wong
• The Origin of Me by Bernard Gallate

To experience another life with:

• The Prettiest Horse in the Glue Factory by Corey White
• About a Girl by Rebekah Robertson
• The Coconut Children by Vivian Pham
• The Yield by Tara June Winch
• Jack Charles: Born-again Blakfella by Jack Charles
• The Lost Boy by Ayik Chut
• A Mother’s Promise by Lee Barnett

To start an adventure with:

• Atticus Van Tasticus by Andrew Daddo & Stephen Michael King
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
• Tales of Mr Walker by Jess Black
• Kensy & Max by Jacqueline Harvey
• Two Wolves by Tristan Bancks