Updated information about discontinued Cracker Barrel Audiobooks program as of 10/30/19

The Books on Audio exchange program is no longer available in any of our store locations. We have seen the need greatly decline due to how users listen to books today and the advance of digital technology.

You can return any title rented before Sept. 10, 2019, the date the program was discontinued, to any of our more than 650 locations to receive the return fee. Books on Audio titles will be available for purchase until the remaining inventory is gone. If interested in purchasing titles to keep, check with your local Cracker Barrel. 

If you are on the road and need a new audiobook to help pass the miles, Cracker Barrel may be your best option! Did you know that you can stop in for a meal or just a stretch break and purchase an audiobook? The best part is that there is a great selection and you get most of your money back! How does the Cracker Barrel Audiobooks program work? I’ve got some great tips for you!

Cracker Barrel provided lunch for my family and a complimentary audiobook so we could try out the program and share it with you. All opinions are my own. Affiliate links are included in this post.

Travel Tip: Cracker Barrel Audiobooks

We love listening to audiobooks when we take a road trip. When the kids were small, we started them out with simple short read-a-long versions of their favorite stories (like Lion King, Bear Wants More or Three Little Pigs). Then we moved up to A to Z Mysteries and Magic Treehouse. By the time our oldest started school, we were listening to Charlotte’s Web, Secret Garden and Chronicles of Narnia. They quickly understand and grasped the concepts of long storylines and we found it to be a great way to pass the time when we were traveling.

Now that they are older, we still love to listen to audiobooks. Sometimes we check them out from the library or borrow them from family members, but there have been trips when we forgot an audiobook or finished one sooner than we expected. That’s where Cracker Barrel comes in!

Did you know that you can stop in at any Cracker Barrel location and purchase an audiobook on CD? You pay full price at first, then you take it on the road with you and listen to it while you travel. When you finish listening, you return it to any Cracker Barrel location and get an almost full refund. They simply subtract $3.49 for each week you had the audiobook in your possession. So, basically, you RENT the audiobook for a week for less than $4.00! Just remember to Keep your receipt! You will need the receipt when you return the audiobook so you can get your refund!

Purchase a Books-on-Audio title at full retail price at any of our 645 locations, listen to it, and return it to any of our locations for a full credit less a $3.49 per week exchange fee (plus tax where applicable). Book prices range from $9.99 to $48.00 (plus tax where applicable) based on the number of cassette tapes or CDs (or size of the book). If you are not able to return it to a location you may mail it back to Guest Relations at P.O. Box 787, Lebanon, TN 37087.

Cracker Barrel Audiobooks Selections

Here’s the fun part! You never know which audiobooks will be available when you stop in at the next Cracker Barrel. Because people are constantly purchasing and returning the audiobooks, the selection is always changing. When you get to the country store, simply ask someone where to find the audiobooks, or look in the corner for the rotating book tower!

On our recent visit, we found selections from many of the popular contemporary authors like John Grisham, Catherine Coulter and James Patterson. If you don’t see one you recognize, it’s not going to hurt anything to take a chance and try a new author!

Why stop at Cracker Barrel on Vacation?

Audiobooks are not the only reason that Cracker Barrel is a great place to stop on vacation or road trips!

It’s also a great place to pick up some of your favorite travel snacks! Ever since visiting the Jelly Belly Warehouse in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin last summer we have been huge fans of Jelly Belly Belly Flops! Did you know that you can buy these in the Cracker Barrel Stores?

Another Kentucky favorite that we love to drink when we are traveling is Ale-8-One! You can’t buy it in most stores around the country, but Cracker Barrel carries the bottles! (Plus you can purchase many of your other favorite specialty sodas, too!)

Did you see that you can take a tour of the Ale-8-One Bottling Plant in Winchester, Kentucky?

And of course, Cracker Barrel always tastes like home cooking and helps make road trips a little more relaxing! Unless of course, your family is as competitive as ours is. Then you know that waiting for your food is a bit intense!

Have you ever listened to audiobooks while you are traveling? What is your favorite genre to listen to? I’d love to hear!