The first book in Mr. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” series, read by British actor Roy Dotrice, has sold more than 100,000 audiobook copies this year, bringing total audio sales to more than 700,000 since its 2003 release, according to Penguin Random House Audio. It’s no wonder. The sixth season of HBO’s adaptation, “Game of Thrones,” drew an average of 25 million viewers per episode in 2016, up from 20 million per episode in 2015. Mr. Dotrice holds a Guinness World Record for the number of characters voiced in an audiobook: 224 in his “A Game of Thrones” recording, which clocks in at over 33 hours.  Read more: The Fastest-Growing Format in Publishing: Audiobooks  Celebrity memoirs—particularly ones by comedians—are audiobook gold, when narrated by the author. Ms. Poehler performed the final chapter of her memoir live in 2014 at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Los Angeles. The recording features guest appearances by Carol Burnett, Seth Meyers, Patrick Stewart and Kathleen Turner. It was among the five best-selling audiobooks of 2015 on both Audible and iBooks.  The breakout book by Japan’s tidier-in-chief is one of the top 10 titles so far this year on Audible. (It helps that the print version has no illustrations.) Self-help is one of the most popular audiobook categories. Other best-selling titles include Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” and Charles Duhigg’s “The Power of Habit.”  Audible and other audiobook producers have found success hiring A-list actors to narrate classics. The latest is “Anna Karenina,” read by Maggie Gyllenhaal. Released on July 12, it immediately hit Audible’s best-seller list. “I feel like performing this novel is one of the major accomplishments of my work life—it was so challenging and so deep,” Ms. Gyllenhaal said, according to a description on Audible. Other pairings include Charles Dickens’s “The Chimes,” read by Richard Armitage, and Helen Mirren’s telling of “The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots,” a rediscovered Beatrix Potter story to be released in September.  Audible also has been producing radio-play-style dramatizations. They created a hit with “Locke & Key,” an audio work, complete with an original score, based on the graphic novel series by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez. The star-studded cast includes more than 50 actors, including Haley Joel Osment, Kate Mulgrew and Tatiana Maslany.  Write to Jennifer Maloney at jennifer.maloney@wsj.com
Smartphones and multitasking have publishers rushing out more audiobooks. A look at some of the most popular titles.