Arts and entertainment audiobooks pull you into worlds you might never have access to otherwise, whether that’s the chaotic backstage of a Broadway production, the obsessive mind of a painter, or the strange economics of the film industry. Listening makes these stories feel immediate in a way that reading sometimes doesn’t.

If you loved hearing Patti Smith narrate her own “Just kids” in 2010, you already know what this category does at its best. Listeners who are curious, creative, and a little nosy about how art actually gets made will find a lot to sink into here.