September 2025 Earphones Award Winners

Narrators André Santana and Angel Pean add emotional depth to this moving story. In the aftermath of the Civil War, emancipated siblings Coleman and June cannot escape the Harper family of Baton Rouge. Mr. Harper, seeking his fortune in a Mexican silver mine, forces June to accompany him and later demands that Coleman bring his wife's jewelry for barter. Coleman obeys but also... Read More

If social media numbers and my math are correct, Jen Hatmaker has 1,518,500 combined followers on Facebook, Instagram, and X--and they will love this book. Those who have watched her videos or listened to her podcasts will immediately recognize her distinctive speaking style in this memoir recounting her journey from the trauma of divorce and evangelicalism to the healing and... Read More

Mimi doesn't like Waipo's favorite tea. How long can she avoid drinking it without hurting her grandmother's feelings? Katharine Chin delivers the answer in a heartfelt performance. Waipo repeatedly offers liangcha to Mimi, who thinks it's gross and yucky. Chin captures the humor in Mimi's efforts to get rid of the tea, as well as the tension when Waipo and Mimi clash over the... Read More

Logan Rozos expertly narrates a heartfelt queer romance. Eli, an editorial assistant who wants to be a writer, has sworn off romance. Finally, his friends set him up on a date with handsome but awkward Peter--which turns out to be a bust. Now Eli's boss wants him to continue seeing Peter and to write a series of articles about it to provide dating tips for readers. Eli's first... Read More

Almost 30 years after his first visit to Trastevere, author and narrator Mark Radcliffe returns, this time with his wife, Bella, and their Cavapoo, Arlo. Five-year-old Arlo provides a delightful twist to this story with his cheerful dog's-eye perspective of their three-month Roman holiday. Radcliffe's English accent and breezy delivery are charming--but it's his portrayal of... Read More

Robert Fass's performance gives this utterly believable novel the life it deserves. Fictional writer Jed Rosenthal is playing detective--he's curious about why his grandparents, Babs and Lou Rosenthal, and their closest friends, Essee and Irv Kupcinet, suddenly ended a lifelong friendship some years ago. Tracing the two families' histories unveils a series of real events.... Read More

Golden Voice Hillary Huber masterfully delivers two very different stories that dramatically collide: a tragic family saga unfolding around the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan and a fast-paced thriller set in Arizona. In this fourth series entry, Frankie Elkin searches for a missing Afghan immigrant woman, quickly discovering that no one is truly who they seem. New... Read More

When book conservator Tory Van Dyne comes face-to-face with the ghost of Agatha Christie, hilarity and hijinks make this audiobook a must-listen. Because the afterlife is too dull for the Queen of Crime, Christie is given special dispensation to return to Earth to solve a murder. From the Christie Room of the Mystery Guild Library, Christie; Tory; Tory's actress cousin, Nic;... Read More

Actor Richard Attlee has the rare ability among audiobook narrators of extracting full value from each word and syllable while seeming to do nothing at all. What in a lesser narrative might have seemed affected here achieves a singular ease and naturalism. Art historian Pears's richly detailed, expertly written "Love Story from a Lost Continent" comes from firsthand... Read More

Genevieve Gaunt deftly conveys this time-travel/ghost story set in both 1895 and 2013. After a contemporary family unexpectedly inherits a mansion on the Cornish coast, they hear anguished crying nightly but find no obvious cause. Gaunt offers superb historical and contemporary speech patterns and outstanding voices for the young. The family consults Pixie Tate, a "time slider"... Read More