NYT Top 100 Books of the 21st Century: Accessible Reads in Audio
The New York Times has curated a list of the top 100 books of the 21st century, highlighting a diverse range of genres and groundbreaking authors. For readers who are blind or have low vision, accessing these acclaimed works in audio format is essential. Braille books are usually more expensive and not widely available so here’s a look at some of the top titles available in audio.
P.S: The experience of listening to an author reading their works is like no other but in the case of no audio book option available, we also included options for reading books with assistive technology.
Books Available in Audio
1. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
- This captivating novel explores the intense friendship between two girls in a poor but vibrant neighborhood of Naples. Find it here.
2. The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
- A historical study of the Great Migration, detailing the movement of African Americans from the rural South to the urban North. Find it here.
3. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
- A historical fiction novel that brings to life the story of Thomas Cromwell’s rise in the court of Henry VIII. Find it here.
4. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
- A haunting novel about a father and son's journey through a post-apocalyptic world. Find it here.
5. The Known World by Edward P. Jones
- This novel tells the story of a Black slave owner in antebellum Virginia. Find it here.
6. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
- A gripping narrative that reimagines the historical Underground Railroad as an actual railroad system. Find it here.
7. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- A powerful tale of love and identity, exploring the experiences of a young Nigerian woman in America. Find it here.
8. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- A profound work that examines the realities of being Black in America, written as a letter to the author’s teenage son. Find it here.
9. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
- A graphic memoir that explores the author's relationship with her father and her own coming out. Find it here.
10. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
- A dystopian science fiction novel that explores the lives of students at a mysterious boarding school. Find it here.
11. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
- This novel is a profound exploration of faith and forgiveness in the form of a letter from a dying father to his young son. Find it here.
12. Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
- A unique narrative that blends historical fiction and supernatural elements, centered around the death of Abraham Lincoln’s son. Find it here.
13. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
- This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel chronicles the life of a Dominican-American teenager in New Jersey. Find it here.
14. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
- An epic historical novel that follows four generations of a Korean family living in Japan. Find it here.
15. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
- A powerful memoir about the year following the sudden death of Didion's husband. Find it here.
Utilizing Assistive Technology for Other Titles
For the books that are not available in audio, you can leverage powerful OCR (Optical Character Recognition) tools to read them:
- Envision Glasses:
These glasses can read text aloud and describe scenes, providing a hands-free reading experience. Features like batch scan and scan text are particularly useful for reading large volumes of text efficiently. Picture a hands-free reading experience whilst laying on the sofa!
- Envision App:
This free app provides OCR capabilities, allowing users to scan and read printed text using their smartphones. It’s a great alternative for accessing text that is not available in audio.
For the complete list of the NYT Top 100 Books of the 21st Century, visit the New York Times. By leveraging these resources and technologies, readers who are blind or have low vision can stay connected to the literary world and enjoy the enriching experience of reading.
