Best audiobooks of 2007.

Heard any good books lately? Apparently, lots of people are listening. According to a survey conducted by the Audio Publishers Association, annual audiobook sales are now estimated at $923 million. Customers find books at libraries, retail stores, and through downloading, which is becoming the fastest-growing audiobook format. This year's "best" list includes titles by the late sf author Octavia Butler, best-selling authors Khaled Hosseini and Nora Roberts, Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, and Good Morning America coanchor Robin Roberts. We owe a debt of gratitude to our team of reviewers, whose assessments are quoted below, for assisting us in compiling this annual roundup.

FICTION

U Bohjalian, Chris. The Double Bind. Books on Tape. 9 CDs. 11 1/2 hrs. ISBN 978-1-4159-3579-8. $110.

Taking a page from F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel The Great Gatsby, Bohjalian (Midwives, Before You Know Kindness) focuses on a young social worker employed at a homeless shelter and her quest to discover the truth in a dead client's box of old photos. Susan Denaker reads this compelling mystery, which crosses time and geography with "great sensitivity." (LJ 9/1/07)

U Butler, Octavia E. Fledgling. Sound Library: BBC Audiobooks America. 9 CDs. 12 hrs. ISBN 978-0-7927-4671-3. $94.95.

Narrated well by Tracey Leigh, this final sf novel from Nebula Award winner Butler is about a genetically altered vampire who can tolerate some daylight and transmits longevity to the human whose blood she needs to survive. Set in a remote area …