Easy listening: the best audiobooks

"If you've ever hauled around a suitcase bulging with heavy hardbacks, you've probably asked yourself: surely there's an easier way to do this?" said Josiah Gogarty in GQ. "There is." Audiobooks fit "weightlessly" on your phone so you won't have to "agonise" over what to take on holiday. Ideal for listening to on a run or as you lie "comatose" on a sunbed or sofa, they're often narrated by a famous actor – or even the book's author – helping to transport you to another world. Here are some of the best audiobooks to add to your summer listening list.

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

"Move over, David Suchet, there's a new Hercule Poirot in town," said The Guardian. Peter Dinklage leads the multi-star cast in this adaptation of Agatha Christie's first novel, narrating the "moustached sleuth" brought in to investigate the poisoning of a wealthy widow at her isolated country home.

So Far Gone by Jess Walter

Edoardo Ballerini is well known as an audiobook narrator, but listening to him read this novel was the "first time I understood the hype", said Marshall Heyman on Vulture. The story follows Rhys Kinnick – a reclusive journalist forced to reconnect with his estranged grandchildren. The protagonist is "one of those great curmudgeonly creations you just want to spend time with, and Ballerini brings him to humorous, relatable life". It's well worth a listen.

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James by Percival Everett

Percival Everett's Pulitzer Prize-winning reimagining of Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is told from the perspective of Jim, an enslaved Black man who befriends "teen runaway" Huck and joins him on a trip down the Mississippi river. Narrated by a "wry and charismatic" Dominic Hoffman, Jim is given an "agency denied him by Twain", said The Guardian.

The Benefactors by Wendy Erskine

Acclaimed short story writer Wendy Erskine has written her first novel about a teenage girl's assault and the aftermath. The author narrates the audiobook herself, "but that's only the start of the story", said Alex Clark in the Financial Times. Erskine is a "gifted creator of monologues" and she's brought in over 50 readers to "bring them to life". Most are family and friends with little previous recording experience; a "bold move" but one that "pays off". The novel is "propelled" by the array of different characters; the "naturalistic voices" capture the "intimate friendships" and "frayed family dynamics" that make Erskine's book such a "great achievement".

Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams

This "completely fascinating memoir" gives an insider account of one woman's career at Facebook, said Vulture. From Mark Zuckerberg to Sheryl Sandberg, Wynn-Williams "leaves no asshole behind", making the book a "compelling" read. Narrated by the author in her "charming New Zealand accent", it's an enjoyable listen – even when she "takes a few too many diversions or gets on her soapbox".

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

"Margaret Atwood clearly trusts Elisabeth Moss", said GQ. The actor played Offred in the TV adaptation of Atwood's "classic tale of a misogynistic dystopian America" and also lends her voice to this gripping audiobook. She's joined by other actors from the show including Ann Dowd, who plays the terrifying Aunt Lydia.

Long Island by Colm Tóibín

"Long Island" was one of last year's "must-reads", said The Times, and the audiobook is "beautifully narrated" by Jessie Buckley. The sequel to Tóibín's "beloved" 2009 novel "Brooklyn" picks up two decades after Eilis Lacey emigrated from rural Ireland to New York. It's the 1970s and she's in her 40s, living in Long Island and reeling from news of her husband's infidelity. For a "true completist experience" you can also listen to "Brooklyn" (narrated by Saoirse Ronan who starred in the film) and Tóibín's Ireland-set "Nora Webster".