BEST VOICES OF 2011- FICTION & CLASSICS

Bronson Pinchot — Bronson Pinchot brings versatility and a talent for delving into the truth of an author’s vision to his audiobook performances, garnering rave reviews for everything from classic works by Flannery O’Connor and Mark Twain to contemporary fiction such as Daniel Woodrell’s BAYOU TRILOGY and David Vann’s CARIBOU ISLAND. We’ve characterized his narrations as deft and dignified, subtle and compelling, animated and mesmerizing--and always in marvelous synchrony with the author’s words.

BIANCA AMATO
Dracula in Love by Karen Essex
The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë by Syrie James

SUSAN DUERDEN
The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht

EMMA GALVIN
Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell

ROBERT PETKOFF
The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore by Benjamin Hale

BRONSON PINCHOT
Caribou Island by David Vann
Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O’Connor

LORNA RAVER
Emily Hudson by Melissa Jones
Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O’Connor

JULIET STEVENSON
Trespass by Rose Tremain

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BEST VOICES OF 2011 - NONFICTION & CULTURE

Cassandra Campbell -- What makes a good audiobook narrator? According to Cassandra Campbell, “Simplicity, honesty, clarity, and the ability to listen to the book. A good audiobook narrator is somebody who can get out of the way and let the story be the primary thing.” In narrating nonfiction and personal growth titles such as Kelly Traver’s THE PROGRAM and the forthcoming follow-up, THE HEALTHIEST YOU, Campbell uses those skills to deliver serious material while still sounding sound inviting, leading listeners through an informed discussion of the core principles of lasting behavioral change. Her mature-sounding tone and understated authority work well with these cutting-edge guides to developing better health habits. Campbell, who narrates fiction and children’s and young adult titles as well as nonfiction, knows that another key to being a good narrator is versatility. “Every book demands something different from you,” she says. “You just hope that what you do works.” And when you’re very lucky, a book speaks back to you. We awarded Earphones for Campbell’s performance of the 2009 title, HALF THE SKY. “It’s a complex nonfiction book about the treatment of women around the globe and what we can do to be more active, to help to change the face of that. Working on it was a very moving experience.”

CASSANDRA CAMPBELL
The Program by Kelly Traver, Betty Kelly Sargent

MARC CASHMAN
The Penguin and the Leviathan by Yochai Benkler

KIRSTEN POTTER
We’ve Got Issues by Judith Warner

KAREN WHITE
You Had Me at Woof by Julie Klam

OLIVER WYMAN
The Corner Office by Adam Bryant

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BEST VOICES OF 2011 - MYSTERY & SUSPENSE

Robin Sachs -- If you think that narrator Robin Sachs looks like he could have stepped out of a gritty mystery, just wait until you hear him. He can be gravelly or velvet-voiced, rough-and-tumble or languid as the text demands. He’s especially adept with psychologial thrillers such as Morag Joss’s AMONG THE MISSING and those grim, chilly Scandinavian books à la Henning Mankell’s THE TROUBLED MAN and Jo Nesbø’s Harry Hole mysteries.

SEAN BARRETT
The Wreckage by Michael Robotham

MARK BRAMHALL
The Hypnotist Lars Kepler

SCOTT BRICK
The Capitol Game by Brian Haig

ORLAGH CASSIDY
Before I Go to Sleep by Ross Macdonald

LINDA EMOND
Flash and Bones by Kathy Reichs
The Most Dangerous Thing by Laura Lippman

RICHARD FERRONE
Red Harvest by Alex Berenson

JIM FRANGIONE
The Altar of Bones by Philip Carter
To Fetch a Thief by Spencer Quinn

BARBARA ROSENBLAT
Crunch Time by Diane Mott Davidson
Silent Mercy by Linda Fairstein

ROBIN SACHS
Among the Missing by Morag Joss
The Troubled Man by Henning Mankell

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BEST VOICES OF 2011 - CHILDREN & FAMILY LISTENING

Johnny Heller — Johnny Heller’s energy and his youthful, boyish voice bring an immediacy to the many children’s and young adult titles he narrates. Having a well-developed sense of humor doesn’t hurt, either! He’s a pesky little sister in M IS FOR MAMA'S BOY, a charming Satchel Paige stepping out of history in SATCH & ME, and a snarky, intruding narrator talking directly to young listeners in A TALE DARK & GRIMM--and his audiobook performances engage kids every time.

BEST VOICES OF 2011 - BIOGRAPHY & HISTORY

Edward Herrmann — As our review of David McCullough’s THE GREATER JOURNEY attests, “Edward Herrmann trusts the text explicitly.” What greater quality could one hope for from a narrator of nonfiction? Herrmann embodies consummate skill, whether he’s delivering the history of American expatriots in Paris, telling Louis Zamperini’s life story in Laura Hillenbrand’s UNBROKEN, or giving critic Roger Ebert a voice again in LIFE ITSELF. As a narrator, Herrmann has presence, and his rich, patrician voice is unmistakable, but he never upstages the text, instead drawing in the listener with authority and calm assurance. He has a voice we love to listen to.

BEST VOICES OF 2011 - AUTHOR-READERS

John Lithgow — “I love telling stories,” John Lithgow told us when we spoke with him earlier this year. “Narrating and acting are both forms of storytelling. You’re taking people on an imaginary trip, giving them a temporary illusion of an altered reality. It’s always been mysterious to me why we humans need that, but we do. Anything that has an emotional impact, every art--music, painting, theater, books--is a story told.” Listeners experience exactly that impact hearing Lithgow narrate DRAMA, where he uses his charm and ample acting skills to ensure that every anecdote and bit of gossip, every revelation and insight, told in his own voice, feels like a gift and the best kind of intimate performance.

Maxine Hong Kingston — Our review says it all: “In narrating her own memoir, literary writer Maxine Hong Kingston (THE WOMAN WARRIOR, CHINA MEN) gives her words just the lyrical quality she intends. She speaks with emotion and passion about her life’s journey, bestowing each word with significance. A professor emeritus at UC Berkeley, Kingston is known for her books about Chinese culture and immigration, and she has devoted much of her life to antiwar activism. The American-born Kingston’s melodic speech is reminiscent of the tone and pace of poetic verse or haiku. Now 65 and speaking with depth, emphasis, and precision, she gently blends some imaginary pilgrimages into her life’s story as well.”

Tina Fey — Tina Fey’s memoir, full of her signature smart and self-deprecating humor, is probably funny enough on the page--she’s a professional funny woman, after all--but there’s no doubt that her own delivery and expert comedic timing make the audiobook’s listening experience something special. Voices, impressions, and asides, as well as the audio from her famous depictions of Sarah Palin for SNL, keep the laughs coming."

RANDY ALCORN
The Chasm
We Shall See God

PAT CONROY
My Reading Life

ANDRE DUBUS III
Townie

TINA FEY
Bossypants

MYLA GOLDBERG
The False Friend

TIM GREEN
Best of the Best

MAXINE HONG KINGSTON
I Love a Broad Margin to My Life

JOHN LITHGOW
Drama

MICHAEL MOORE
Here Comes Trouble

LISA SCOTTOLINE & FRANCESCA SERRITELLA
Best Friends, Occasional Enemies
My Nest Isn’t Empty, It Just Has More Closet Space

AMY SEDARIS
Simple Times

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BEST VOICES OF 2011 - YOUNG ADULT & FANTASY

Katherine Kellgren — Katherine Kellgren remains one of our favorite, most dynamic voices. Is it because of her no-holds-barred portrayals of the irrepressible Jacky Faber (and motley company) in adventures like THE WAKE OF THE LORELEI LEE and THE MARK OF THE GOLDEN DRAGON? Her aptitude with accents? For the last couple of books she’s worked with a dialect coach. “As Jacky’s adventures lead her farther afield, the accents get more and more complicated,” Kellgren tells us. Maybe it’s her lovely singing voice? Many of the Bloody Jack books feature traditional sea chanteys and ballads--all in a day’s work for a skilled narrator. “Some of them are sung by men or whole choruses of prim schoolgirls or drunken Scotsmen,” Kellgren says. At one point, she went to a singing coach and asked him to help her sing in a key that could sound like a drunken Scotsman. “He said it was one of the weirdest things he'd ever been asked to do.” Or maybe the real secret of her appeal is the pleasure she so obviously takes in telling, and sharing, a good story. “Audio encouraged me to develop a love of reading and literature,” Kellgren tells us. “By being a narrator, I’ve gone on all sorts of adventures I never thought I’d go on. It’s such a wonderful job--I feel so blessed to be able to do it.”

MACLEOD ANDREWS
Flash Burnout by L.K. Madigan

KEVIN R. FREE
The Cruisers: Checkmate by Walter Dean Myers

EMMA GALVIN
Divergent by Veronica Roth

JD JACKSON
Just Another Hero by Sharon M. Draper

KATHERINE KELLGREN
Bloody Jack series by L.A. Meyer

NICK PODEHL
Carter’s Big Break by Brent Crawford

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BEST VOICES OF 2011 - MULTI-VOICE PRODUCTIONS


L.A. Theatre Works’ full-cast production of Lorraine Hansberry’s A RAISIN IN THE SUN is immensely powerful. Judyann Elder gives an inspiring performance of power and strength as the family matriarch, Lena. Elder is finely tuned to the rest of the family members, and she gives listeners a real sense of the intimacy of these relationships. All the cast give full measure, and the arguments and verbal sparring are sharply delivered. The audio performance allows listeners to focus on Hansberry’s writing. CLYBOURNE PARK, which won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, was written in response to Hansberry’s work, making this performance of the original even more valuable.

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BEST VOICES OF 2011 - ENSEMBLE

Katie Couric, Paul Boehmer, Hillary Huber, Mirron Willis, Adenrele Ojo, Rosalyn Landor, et al.
THE BEST ADVICE I EVER GOT Katie Couric

Bahni Turpin, S’Von Ringo, J.B. Adkins
BIRD IN A BOX by Andrea Davis Pinkney

Sean Barrett, Anne-Marie Piazza, et al.
THE CLUMSY GHOST & OTHER SPOOKY TALES by Alastair Jessiman et al.

Jeremy Nicholas, Daniel Philpott, Edward de Souza, Anton Lesser, Benjamin Soames, Hugo Godwin
COMPOSERS’ LETTERS by Ludvig Van Beethoven et al.

Alma Cuervo, George Guidall, Celeste Ciulla, et al.
GREAT HOUSE by Nicole Krauss

Caroline Kennedy, Jane Alexander, John Bedford Lloyd, Hope Davis, Campbell Scott
SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY by Caroline Kennedy [Ed.]

Ramón de Ocampo, Bronson Pinchot, et al.
STORM RUNNERS by Roland Smith

Therese Plummer, Brian Hutchinson
SING YOU HOME by Jodi Picoult

Kevin R. Free, Katherine Kellgren
THE THRONE OF FIRE by Rick Riordan

Sarah Vowell, John Slattery, Paul Rudd, et al.
UNFAMILIAR FISHES by Sarah Vowell

Robert Petkoff, Joshua Swanson, et al.
YOU HAVE TO STOP THIS by Pseudonymous Bosch

BEST VOICES OF 2011 - FULL CASTS

Dennis Boutsikaris and a Full Cast
AMERICAN GODS by Neil Gaiman

Terence Aselford and a Full Cast
BLOOD AND HONOR by Simon Green

John Moffatt and a Full Cast
DEAD MAN’S FOLLY by Agatha Christie

Edoardo Ballerini and a Full Cast
DEVIL’S MANHUNT by L. Ron Hubbard

Samuel West, Toby Jones, and a Full Cast
FAUST by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Val Kilmer and a Full Cast
THE MARK OF ZORRO by Johnston McCulley, Yuri Rasovsky

Eric Stoltz, Laura Linney, and a Full Cast
THE NEIL SIMON COLLECTION by Neil Simon

Judyann Elder, James Gleason, and a Full Cast
A RAISIN IN THE SUN by Lorraine Hansberry

Simon Russell Beale, Anna Chancellor, and a Full Cast
SMILEY’S PEOPLE by John le Carré

Tovah Feldshuh, Simon Jones, and a Full Cast
THE WITCHES OF LUBLIN by Ellen Kushner, Elizabeth Schwartz, Yale Strom

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