Julia Whelan - Narrator Extraordinaire

I am currently road-tripping, spending two nomadic weeks camping in the mountains and on the coast of Northern California and Southern Oregon. The trees and the cooler weather are lovely, and we are spending a ton of time laughing with our kids and our friends and generally relaxing. You know I have an entire stack of books packed, and I may or may not get to all of them. Reading in the car is not for me; it immediately makes me turn a very unflattering shade of green. Audiobooks to the rescue. Audiobooks are truly a lifesaver on the road – I just pop a Dramamine, stick my earbuds in my ears, sit back, relax, and press play.

If you have listened to even a few audiobooks in your life, chances are good that you have heard Julia Whelan’s voice. She has narrated hundreds of books across all genres, making her the “gold standard” in audiobook voices, narrating popular reads from Kristen Hannah, V.E. Schwab, Emily Henry, Abby Jimenez, Gillian Flynn, Cormac McCarthy, Nora Roberts, Jojo Moyes, and many more. Choosing my favorite would be impossible, but here is a list of five amazing audiobooks narrated by Julia Whelan.

1. “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” by V.E. Schwab: Addie's story is sprawling and magical. It is the very definition of a “modern classic,” and Julia’s narration is both beautiful and haunting.
2. “Happy Place” by Emily Henry: All of Emily Henry’s books are narrated by Julia, and every single one is wonderful, so there is no need to choose just this one – listen to them all.
3. “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” by Taylor Jenkins Reid: Julia also narrates every single one of TJR’s masterpieces, and again, I love them all with all my heart - but Evelyn Hugo will always be the queen.
4. “The Women” by Kristin Hannah: Kristin Hannah’s books are almost all narrated by Julia, too - and if you like historical fiction, these are for you.
5. “Part of Your World” by Abby Jimenez:  Abby Jimenez is yet another author who has a whole catalog of audiobooks narrated by Julia Whelan, and again, they are all great, but “Part of Your World” was so sweet and laugh-out-loud funny that I am still thinking about it to this day

Just think, Julia has read more than 600 stories for us to enjoy, and we don’t have to suffer any carsickness to enjoy them. Yay! Now go forth and search for the Julia Whelan audiobook of your dreams, then pop over to my Instagram @allison.the.reader to tell me what I should listen to next and to see some pics from our big road trip adventure.