The best short stories or collection audiobooks for beginners: where to start
If you've never finished a short stories or collection audiobook, start with one that already won. Every title below took the Audie Award in the short stories or collection category — broadly loved, superbly narrated, the audiobook industry's own pick for the best short stories or collection production of its year. They are the safest first credits: hard to switch off, and hard to regret. The most recent winner is Food for Thought by Alton Brown (2026).
| Audiobook | Author | Narrator(s) | Award |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food for Thought | Alton Brown | Alton Brown | Audie Short Stories or Collection (2026) |
| You Like It Darker: Stories | Stephen King | Will Patton, Stephen King | Audie Short Stories or Collection (2025) |
| Wild and Precious: A Celebration of Mary Oliver | Mary Oliver | Sophia Bush | Audie Short Stories or Collection (2024) |
| Getaway | Sally Hepworth, Zakiya Dalila Harris, Catherine Steadman, Luanne Rice, Jess Lourey, Rumaan Alam | Candice Moll, Shayna Small, Samara Naeymi, Jennifer Jill Araya, Carly Robins, Fajer Al-Kaisi | Audie Short Stories or Collection (2023) |
| Blackout | Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, Nicola Yoon | Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Dion Graham, Imani Parks, Jordan Cobb, Shayna Small, A.J. Beckles, Bahni Turpin | Audie Short Stories or Collection (2022) |
| The Chekhov Collection of Short Stories | Anton Chekhov | Richard Armitage | Audie Short Stories or Collection (2021) |
| Full Throttle | Joe Hill | Zachary Quinto, Wil Wheaton, Kate Mulgrew, Neil Gaiman, Ashleigh Cummings, Joe Hill, Laysla De Oliveira, Nate Corddry, Connor Jessup, Stephen Lang, George Guidall | Audie Short Stories or Collection (2020) |
| Heads of the Colored People | Nafissa Thompson-Spires | Adenrele Ojo | Audie Short Stories or Collection (2019) |
| The Language of Thorns | Leigh Bardugo | Lauren Fortgang | Audie Short Stories or Collection (2018) |
| The Brink | Austin Bunn | Austin Bunn, Luke Daniels, Tanya Eby, Talph Lister, Amy McFadden, Mikael Naramore, Nick Podehl | Audie Short Stories or Collection (2017) |
| The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher | Hilary Mantel | Jane Carr | Audie Short Stories or Collection (2015) |
| Sherlock Holmes in America | Jon L. Lellenberg, Martin H. Greenberg, Daniel Stashower | Graeme Malcolm | Audie Short Stories or Collection (2014) |
| Astray | Emma Donoghue | Khristine Hvam, James Langton, Robert Petkoff, Suzanne Toren, Dion Graham | Audie Short Stories or Collection (2013) |
| Selected Shorts: New American Stories | Aleksandar Hemon, Jhumpa Lahiri, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Sherman Alexie | Boyd Gaines, Rita Wolf, Condola Rashad, BD Wong | Audie Short Stories or Collection (2012) |
| Stories: All-New Tales | Neil Gaiman | Anne Bobby, Jonathan Davis, Peter Francis James, Katherine Kellgren, Euan Morton | Audie Short Stories or Collection (2011) |
| Black Magazine Audio Magazine (Vol. 1) | Hugh B. Cave, Paul Cain, Frederick Nebel, Reuben J. Shay, Dashiell Hammett, William Cole | full cast | Audie Short Stories or Collection (2010) |
| Armageddon in Retrospect | Kurt Vonnegut | Rip Torn, Michael Vonnegut | Audie Short Stories or Collection (2009) |
| 20th Century Ghosts | Joe Hill | David Ledoux | Audie Short Stories or Collection (2008) |
| This I Believe | Jay Allison, Dan Gediman | Bill Gates, Martha Graham, full cast | Audie Short Stories or Collection (2007) |
| Runaway | Alice Munro | Kymberly Dakin | Audie Short Stories or Collection (2006) |
| Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim | David Sedaris | David Sedaris | Audie Short Stories or Collection (2005) |
| Home on the Prairie: Stories from Lake Wobegon | Garrison Keillor | Garrison Keillor | Audie Short Stories or Collection (2004) |
| Classic Women's Short Stories | Katherine Mansfield, Kate Chopin, Virginia Woolf | Carole Boyd, Liza Ross, Teresa Gallagher | Audie Short Stories or Collection (2003) |
| Blood: Stories of Life and Death from the Civil War | Ulysses S. Grant et al. | Christopher Graybill, Colleen Delany, Grover Gardner, Barrett Whitener, Delores King Williams | Audie Short Stories or Collection (2002) |
| Ten by Maugham | W. Somerset Maugham | full cast | Audie Short Stories or Collection (2001) |
| Malice Domestic: An Anthology of Original Traditional Mystery Stories | Anne Perry et al. | Patrick Macnee, Juliet Mills, Judy Geeson, Christopher Cazenove, Stephanie Beacham, Reed Diamond, William Windom | Audie Short Stories or Collection (2000) |
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Frequently asked questions
Which short stories or collection audiobook should I start with?
Start with a recent Audie Short Stories or Collection winner such as "Food for Thought" by Alton Brown (2026). Award winners are the safest first listens because they are judged on narration as much as story, so the performance carries you through.
Are these good for someone new to audiobooks?
Yes. Every audiobook here won the Audie Award, the audiobook industry's own award — they are broadly loved and exceptionally well narrated, which is exactly what makes a first audiobook easy to finish.
How do I listen for free?
A free 30-day Audible Premium Plus trial includes one credit. You can use it on any short stories or collection audiobook on this page and keep it permanently, even if you cancel before the trial ends.
More short stories or collection guides: every Audie-winning short stories or collection audiobook · full-cast short stories or collection audiobooks · all listening guides · best audiobooks by award.