August 2019 Earphones Award Winners

Kim Staunton's narration of this audio memoir is impressive. She delivers all the power of boxer and legendary public figure Muhammad Ali, as told by his daughter. Hana Ali's audiobook recounts her father's life, beginning with the love letters he wrote to his estranged wife. Listeners hear Hana's memories of a loving family man who was seeking a higher purpose, a man who... Read More

Robert Bathurst's intelligent narration captures every nuance, every emotion, and each of Louise Penny's subtle revelations about the unique, completely engaging residents of Three Pines. A woman is missing, her father is frantic, and her abusive husband is the prime suspect. Raging spring flooding threatens the village, and, on his first day back to work after his suspension... Read More

This audiobook takes the form of a postapocalyptic journal written by a teenager named Griz, who lives on an island off Scotland. The cause of the apocalypse is not clear, but the human population has been decimated. The prose is spare--as is the narration. C.A. Fletcher doesn't try to embellish the adventures that are unemotionally set forth in Griz's journal. A thief has... Read More

Narrator Fred Sanders is a master of pacing, easily carrying listeners through the many layers of this story of three college roommates reuniting for the first time since their 1971 graduation. Despite their different life choices and personalities, the men find their bonds are still tight and discover that none of them has ever forgotten their other best friend, a girl, who,... Read More

Narrator Orlagh Cassidy delivers amazing performances of two women and gives full dimensions to the people in their orbits. Chinese-American Hollywood actress Anna May Wong attends the Berlin Press Ball in 1928, where she meets brash, beautiful German actress Marlene Dietrich and Nazi propagandist filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. Cassidy provides a finely etched Wong, a superb... Read More

Stephanie Willia, Bethany Lind, and Nicholas Techosky take turns narrating this mystical Southern novel. Techosky portrays a reporter who is sent to Alabama to interview locals about mysterious blackbirds. Willia and Lind take on the two female leads, Anna Kate and Natalie, who don't know their connection at the beginning. Through the Blackbird Cafe they uncover the tie that... Read More

Narrator George Guidall brings back the many characters we have come to know and appreciate in Silva's Gabriel Allon series. Once again, Silva leverages current headlines to engage listeners, this time taking them into the intrigues of the House of Saud and the political ramifications of shifting alliances within it. Gabriel Allon, now having two years under his belt as... Read More

An unusual comedy of the workplace, narrated by Matthew Lloyd Davies, follows the Consular Mission as they try to keep the peace between Earth and a cabal of malicious Lovecraftian old gods. What follows is a strange, surreal, and zany series of misadventures with odd people and even odder creatures, including the hilariously evil Steve the Destroyer--a possessed doll. Davies's... Read More

Narrator Emily Woo Zeller masterfully voices New York Chinese and Mississippi Delta Chinese, as well as Southern black and Caucasian characters, in this long-awaited addition to the Lydia Chin and Bill Smith series. At her mother's insistence, P.I. Chin and her partner travel to the Mississippi Delta to establish the innocence of a cousin who is accused of having murdered his... Read More

Narrator Lauren Fortgang's wide range of voices perfectly portrays the formidable protagonist of this delightful story filled with thought-provoking insights on love and family. Desperate to placate her mother, who fears her daughter will be single forever, 29-year-old Kelly, an engineer, creates a robot named Ethan to accompany her to the upcoming wedding of her seemingly... Read More

David Shaw-Parker's usual exemplary narration brings all the inner torments of the characters in this classic novel to life. Trollope was one of the deep psychologists of the Victorian novel, and this is one of his most psychological works. Nearly all of the action is interior to the major characters. As we approach the end of the Palliser series, the parallel plots concern... Read More

Identity theft takes on a new meaning in this mesmerizing biography/social study narrated by the adept January LaVoy. LaVoy, with her modulated, attentive tone, and author Levin, with his thorough research and clear writing style, both try to find the humanity in a woman who may have murdered three people, kidnapped and sold children, and defrauded public assistance programs.... Read More

Helen Prejean's audiobook bubbles with levity, enthusiasm, and inspiration. In her soft Louisiana drawl, she describes her experiences while a novice with the Congregation of St. Joseph as a "boot camp for the Brides of Christ." By the time she was fully professed, Vatican II in 1962 had changed her life. She blossomed under the new church paradigm while remaining committed to... Read More

British narrator Barnaby Edwards captures pioneering travel writer Robert Byron's historical commentary, humor, and bon vivant sensibility while crossing the Middle East to explore the farthest reaches of Persia and Afghanistan in 1933-34. With the ability to evoke entire centuries and architectural styles in a single sentence, Byron is considered one of the masters of the... Read More

An audiobook devoted to the semicolon? Unlikely as that might sound, this little history of grammar's most misunderstood punctuation mark is, at just under four hours, brisk, lively, witty, and provocative; it is a genuine pleasure for the ear. Narrator Pam Ward is particularly skilled at rendering topics that might seem narrow, highly specialized, and intended only for a niche... Read More

Jayne Entwistle's flawless narration brings to life a small English village, the city of London, and the many memorable characters in this WWII novel. When bossy Mrs. Braithwaite is "fired" from her volunteer job, she decides to visit her daughter, Betty, who's doing war work in London. There, Betty's timid landlord, Mr. Norris, who is artfully portrayed, confesses that Betty... Read More

A new series from Philippa Gregory is always a chance to do a happy dance. Louise Brealey's exceptional narration gives this title the life it deserves. In 1648, after his defeat in England's Civil War, King Charles is exiled to the Isle of Wight. Superstition and religious persecution permeate the tiny town and desolate tidelands of the region. One of the inhabitants is wise... Read More

Imogen Church narrates Ruth Ware's unsettling update of Henry James's TURN OF THE SCREW. Nanny Rowan Caine arrives for her first day at what seems like a dream job to find that things are not as perfect as they first seemed. The house's "smart" system malfunctions in the middle of the night, and the children hate her for no apparent reason. Church ably handles the children's... Read More

Narrator Peter Capaldi's resonant voice is perfect for this rerelease of Adams's 1972 epic. Besides his natural Scottish accent, Capaldi crafts more than 20 distinctive voices for this story of a small group of rabbits who are fleeing an impending disaster. Hazel, the group's leader, sounds likable and capable--but without the machismo of Bigwig, the group's strongest defender.... Read More

The sounds of crickets, a crackling campfire, and music greet listeners as five narrators share the meaning of the term "otsaliheliga," a Cherokee word meaning "We are grateful." Each narrator lends a unique voice to the story, complementing the diverse contemporary Cherokee families who are depicted celebrating every season. Cherokee pronunciations are beautifully delivered to... Read More

David Sadzin offers a solid narration that reflects the author's straightforward style in this biography. Marshall "Major" Taylor was a professional bicycle racer in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Because he was black, he had to battle more than speedy competitors. While he fought bigotry both on and off the track throughout his career, racial prejudice... Read More