April's Audio Download Top 20

For a second month running, the top three titles in the Audible download ranking have stayed the same. April’s top 20 saw Stephen Fry’s Mythos claim a second consecutive month in the number one spot (its third overall), with Jordan B Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life maintaining second place, after falling from its February top spot a month ago, and Gail Honeyman’s Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine dutifully placing third for an apposite third month. Audio download is so far the one format in which Eleanor Oliphant... is yet to rampage into the top spot—surely only a matter of time for the British Book of the Year winner, which has spent a combined 23 weeks at the top of the print and e-book charts.

Mark Manson’s The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck climbed into the top five, a year after débuting in the Audible ranking in 20th place. Like Jordan B Peterson, Manson has a dedicated internet following, with over two million monthly visitors to his blog, which offers "personal development advice that doesn’t suck". The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck was endorsed by Hollywood actor Chris Hemsworth on Instagram in 2017, guaranteeing its status as a bestseller in Hemsworth’s native Australia ever since. While both 12 Rules for Life and The Subtle Art... have performed steadily in print, with Peterson’s title ascending to the Hardback Non-Fiction number one last week, their audio downloads reach previously undreamt-of heights. Nielsen Book’s consumer research that indicates audio downloads are most likely to be purchased by young men could be relevant here. Self-help titles are definitely a different, more masculine breed in the Audible ranking. Compared to print, where Fearne Cotton reigns supreme, in audio Professor Steve Peters’ The Chimp Paradox notched up a 27th month in the chart, securing 18th place for April, and Gary Vaynerchuk’s guide for entrepreneurs Crushing It! set up shop in the ranking in 11th place.

For once, the physical audio-book chart was not topped by a kids’ title, with perennial top-spot holder The Wheels on the Bus consigned to second place. Eoin Colfer and Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy: Hexagonal Phase, dramatised for Radio 4 and featuring an all-star cast (including Stephen Hawking), rocketed into the number one spot, after its release on 13th April.