Feeling Stressed? Press Play on These Relaxing Audiobooks Now

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Being a book reviewer is not always an easy job, but when your task is to track down the "eight most soothing audiobooks," you kind of feel you have it made. Since I started working my way through the excellent books listed below, I've wrecked my car, misplaced my laptop, gained three pounds, had unpleasant dental work, had to cancel a much-anticipated trip—the point is, I can honestly testify to the soothing qualities of these mellifluous narrators and the stories they tell, providing the perfect distraction from whatever is on your mind, inviting you to lose yourself another world. Stressed out? Press play ASAP.

Table for Two, by Amor Towles

As a narrator, Edoardo Ballerini is in a class by himself, "the voice of God," according to the New York Times, and the pairing of his narrative elegance with these classic stories by Amor Towles is dreamy; think of these as mesmerizing bedtime stories for grownups. The "New York" half of the book includes six stories about marriage and other relationships, and as great as Ballerini is, "The Bootlegger," a story with a female narrator read by actress J. Smith Cameron (Gerri on Succession) is a standout—an O'Henry-esque treat. The "Los Angeles" half is a noirish novella continuing the story of Evelyn Ross, introduced in Towles' bestseller, The Rules of Civility.

My Name Is Barbra, by Barbara Streisand

If you choose this stunning memoir, you won't have to make another decision for a while, because it's 48 hours long. Given the daily imperative to choose between 300 varieties of breakfast cereal and 60 flavors of water...sweet relief. Who but EGOT-winning superstar Streisand could make every minute a pleasure, including music and soundtrack clips and ad-libs not in the print version? In her famous throaty Brooklyn accent, with plenty of droll asides and snappy comments, she unfurls her childhood, her romances, and the making of each of her movies, albums, TV specials, and stage shows. Her passion for her work and for everything she embraces—from coffee ice cream to Donna Karan—is an inspiration to re-commit to our paths.

The Waters, by Bonnie Jo Campbell

Actress Lili Taylor's winsome reading of Campbell's modern fairy tale makes it transparent audio magic, full of timeless wisdom. Her voice—both girlish and authoritative—could not be better matched to the story of a family of wise women from a Michigan swamp. The matriarch is "Herself," Hermine Zook, whose herbal remedies are relied on by the townspeople for everything from hemophilia to unwanted pregnancy, and much of the story is told from the perspective of her 12-year-old granddaughter, a mathematical genius named Donkey. She is in the process of absorbing her grandmother's wisdom when the trigger-happy locals make a terrible mistake.

Funny Story, by Emily Henry

If you haven't already fallen into the Emily Henry vortex—there's probably no more than a two-year wait for her books at your public library—the Julia Whelan-narrated audiobooks could be your gateway drug for fun and funny romances without any dead bodies. Whelan's read all five, and consistently nails the self-deprecating, ironic, and intelligent voice at the heart of Henry's romantic comedies. This one stars a children's librarian named Daphne whose fiance comes home from his bachelor's party to announce he's dumping her for his female best friend, Petra. Poor Daphne moves in with Petra's ex, Miles. And guess what happens...

Harlem Shuffle, by Colson Whitehead

Another widely recognized uber-narrator, Dion Graham, will have you utterly enthralled with his sonorous reading of superstar Whitehead's crime caper novel, the first in a trilogy. Set in Harlem in the late fifties and sixties, Graham's interpretation of the novel brings its cinematic prose and authentic voices to life in a way you have to hear to believe. Our hero, Ray Carney, is the son of a well-known hoodlum, but he's gone straight, a family man with a used furniture and appliance store on 125th Street. Unfortunately, his ne'er-do-well cousin Freddie shows up with an offer he can't refuse. Dion Graham has the kind of voice that could calm screaming infants and mollify mad dogs: your troubles will be no match.

Lies and Weddings, by Kevin Kwan

When Lady Arabella, who was once a supermodel in Hong Kong, schemes to revive her husband, Lord Gresham's, tapped-out fortune by marrying their kids to serious generational wealth, a volcano is just the first of the obstacles she confronts. Listening to Jing Lusi perform Kevin Kwan's latest grown-up fairy tale of glitz, glamour, haute couture, fine art, and true love feels like your personal Mary Poppins has parachuted into your life for storytime. A Shanghai-born actress (she played Amanda in the Crazy Rich Asians movie), Lusi perfectly voices the posh Brits, expats, and wayward Americans that populate this tale of star-crossed lovers and over-the-top weddings and parties. Pour a glass of the best wine you can afford, sit back, and relax.

Listen for the Lie, by Amy Tintera

This riveting audio intertwines a true crime podcast about a cold case murder in small-town Texas with chapters following the effects of the show—and its handsome host, Ben Owens—on Lucy Chase, best friend of the dead girl and believed by even her parents to be the killer. Every other chapter is an episode of the podcast, complete with theme music, read by Will Damron in his dreamy radio voice. Lucy's chapters are read by one of the grande dames of audio, January LaVoy, who nails Lucy's ironic worldview and her roller coaster of emotions, while also doing a fantastic job with her friend Savannah, still a badass mean girl even now that she's a ghost. When an author takes so many wild risks like this and gets it all to work out nicely in the end, I call that soothing.

The Book of Delights, by Ross Gay

If soothing sounds good, but a complete uplift and revival of your heart and soul would be even better, then Ross Gay has a story to tell you. One hundred and two of them were actually created during a year-long experiment in keeping a daily journal of things that the author found delightful. As he puts it, “It didn’t take me long to learn that the discipline or practice of writing these essays occasioned a kind of delight radar... The more you study delight, the more delight there is to study.” Let Gay's mellow tones flow over you, wrapping you in kindness and good vibes.

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