Audiobook Narrators Who Should Be Reading Sleep Stories
Sleep and I have a complicated relationship. We have good days, sometimes good weeks, but right when I think we’re in a good place, it’s 2:00 AM and I’m staring at my ceiling doing “if I fall asleep right now, I’ll get X many hours of sleep” math. I’ve tried just about everything under the sun to improve this rocky relationship with varying degrees of success, from prescription medication and edibles to valerian tea and tart cherry juice. One thing that does help surprisingly often is sleep meditations and stories.
That’s why I got so excited while doom scrolling late one night last month (I know, the opposite of helpful) when I learned that author Aiden Thomas had written a sleep story for Calm. I expected to hear Aiden reading the story, which was just a misunderstanding on my part, but it got me thinking about the audiobook narrators who I would love to see do sleep stories and guided sleep meditations.
You might be thinking, “Hey Diaz, any sleep story can be a sleep story—just play the audiobook at bedtime.” For me it’s not that straightforward. If there’s even the hint of a plot or too much emotion, I get invested and my brain refuses to shut off. I can’t do too dry or boring either or I won’t find it soothing enough to relax. I do best with those meandering travel sort of stories where a narrator takes you on a train ride through some scenic location: no plot, just vibes, and of course: a great vocal performance. So here’s a list of audiobook narrators I would absolutely love to put me to sleep.
Tip: I’ve linked to the audiobook edition of the titles mentioned where you can hear a sample of each person’s work.
Steve West
Steve West’s voice is so smooth and delicious that when I misunderstood “armlet” for “omelette” in Sabaa Tahir’s Ember in the Ashes series on account of his English accent, I didn’t question it until the second or third book in the series. I really thought this man was out here risking it all for some eggs. I just kept it pushin’ and thought, “I’ve never heard anyone describe an omelette so… sensually.” Mr. West, if you ever get into the sleep story game, I hath coin to surrender.
Joe Jameson
I have gone on record multiple times as saying that this man could read me the back of a shampoo bottle and I’d pay for the privilege. He has such a lovely voice in general, but he takes it down a few raspy notes when voicing Oliver in Alexis Hall’s London Calling series and the effect is very nice. Every time he croons the name, “Lucien…” I need a moment to collect myself. Joe doing Oliver voice in a sleep story is maybe a risky idea, come to think of it; but I’d rise to that challenge, for science.
Adjoa Andoh
You may know British actress Adjoa Andoh as Lady Danbury in Netflix’s Bridgerton, but she is also an accomplished audiobook narrator; She is one of Audiofile’s Golden Voice Narrators and it’s not hard to see why. Her voice is so rich, so layered, so bewitching. It takes a certain skill to keep me rapt while voicing an age-old talking rock, but that’s exactly what she did in Ann Leckie’s The Raven Tower. Skill, I tell you!
Dion Graham
Ah, Mr. Graham. You can find Dion Graham’s beautiful voice in the works of Eric Jerome Dickey, James Baldwin, Walter Mosley, and Colson Whitehead, to name a few. There’s a weight and warmth to his voice that I just find so assuring, so calming. He is also an Audiofile Golden Voice Narrator and I immediately perk up when I see his name attached to a project.
Robin Miles
My first Robin Miles audiobook experience was with Stacy Schiff’s Cleopatra and I have lost track of how many of her audiobooks I have consumed since. Her delivery is so crisp and commanding but also warm. It is exactly the kind of voice I could envision for a guided meditation or yoga nidra – if anyone is going to get me to turn off my brain and focus on my left foot, then my left ankle, then my left knee, etc, it is Robin Miles.
Kate Reading
I am an evangelist for Sherry Thomas’s Lady Sherlock series, most especially on audio thanks to one Kate Reading. There is an understated elegance to her delivery whether she’s talking about cakes and “maximum tolerable chins” or the agonizingly slow seduction between Charlotte and Lord Ingraham. I would love to hear that voice take me on an English countryside stroll to slumberland.
Frankie Corzo
I love me some Frankie Corzo. She is a talented storyteller who you can tell has put a lot of work into her craft, one really in tune with the pacing, tone, and vibe that each story needs. Her softer performances, like the one in The Last Cuentista, make me long for a Frankie Corzo sleep story that’s all or partly in Spanish. Maybe someday my wish will come true.
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