New Reviews: Fiction

In this vivid short story, listeners meet 13-year-old Ravi during a summer in New Jersey in the 1960s. Even though the story is written in the third person, Fajer Al-Kaisi's use of a clear, deep voice for the narrative suggests an adult Ravi who is thinking back on a day in his youth that changed his life. For Ravi's remembered dialogue as a teen, Al-Kaisi uses a voice that is... Read More

Golden Voice narrator Cassandra Campbell becomes the characters in this enchanting novel set in the gardens of Le Château du Paradis. Soft-spoken Eloise Bourn, a flower whisperer who is hoping to remake her life, has taken a job at the Château, where she's bound to strict rules set by the owner. But Eloise senses all is not as it appears and is ever questioning as she settles... Read More

Three generations of women face love, war, friendship, and death in Dasher's new audiobook, gracefully narrated by Elisabeth Rodgers. WWI veteran Charles woos Dellie, the daughter of an oilman in Oklahoma. Rodgers delivers just the right notes of love and respect between Charles and Dellie, along with the grit of their daughter, Georgeanne, whose passion is flying. During WWII,... Read More

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

Kirby Heyborne narrates a cinematic fever dream in which five soldiers confronting the horrors of WWI stumble across a supernatural being. The audiobook has a unique structure consisting entirely of a single sentence relentlessly weaving poetic brutality with moral tension. Heyborne adeptly navigates the unusual rhythm of the format with a narration that maintains momentum... Read More

William DeMeritt's low, gravelly timbre and Bahni Turpin's delicious drawl utterly capture the emotional ride as two former lovers reunite in their Southern hometown after years of betrayal and heartbreak. One-hit wonder Luke Randall stole the song his first love, August Lane, wrote for him years ago. Now her mother, a country music star who is Luke's idol, wants him to sing it... Read More

Although six narrators are at work on this short story collection, they all share the same vocal palette. The narrative tone features absurdity and black humor, two examples of which are Sacha Chambers's narration of "The Future Is Not What It Used to Be," which combines time travel and weight loss, and Matt Godfrey's delivery of "A World Without Selfie Sticks," in which a man... Read More

Narrator Caroline Hewitt deftly presents this novel about a fictional friendship between Marilyn Monroe and a young Reno hotel maid. The story takes place in 1960 during the dissolution of Monroe's marriage to playwright Arthur Miller. Chambermaid Pauline fails to recognize the actress when she first cleans her suite--but soon observes Marilyn's transition from sleepy Mrs.... Read More

Golden Voice Narrator Michael Crouch brings his expert skills to this complex historical drama. While WWII still rages in the Pacific, a secret spanning generations begins in Bonhomie, Ohio. Cal Jenkins and Margaret Salt, who are married to other people, share a kiss in a hardware store upon the news of victory over Germany, and this starts a massive trickle-down effect... Read More

Emily Rankin's performance is so subtle that she disappears completely into this novel. Michelle Huneven's family saga combines tenderness, sadness, joy, and grief with exquisite prose and psychological insights. The story begins in the 1970s and spans decades. An upper-middle-class family with issues, the Samuelsons, fractures after their golden-boy son, Ellis, dies in a... Read More

Narrator Nathan Agin empathetically delivers this delectable tale of how "Cato's Cheesecake," an ancient Roman recipe believed to be the oldest ever found, changes the lives of Greek immigrants on the Upper West Side of New York City. Agin modulates his tone and adds dramatic pauses to enhance this story of risk, opportunity, and love. It's the 1970s, and the Katsikases's... Read More

This unusual story opens with the listener learning that Christa, expertly portrayed by narrator Jesse Vilinsky, is about to receive life-altering news. In short order, the island where she hides from the public while conducting snail research implodes. Two men--specifically, a love interest and her long-lost father, both portrayed by Jonathan Todd Ross--turn her carefully... Read More

Narrated by the author, this collection of 12 short stories, a finalist for the National Book Award, is an exploration of being human--the good, the bad, and the ugly. The accounts of love, loss, family, passion, and heartbreak are enhanced by Amy Bloom's experience as a psychotherapist. Her pacing and conversational delivery engage listeners, as does the diversity of the... Read More

Narrator Lucy Boynton conveys an unsettling blend of glamour, paranoia, and detachment when 20-something Lily wakes up and inexplicably finds herself participating in a reality TV show. Boynton's calm tone aligns with Lily's internal disconnection, giving the listener space to feel the tension mounting as contestants are placed in increasingly dangerous challenges. Boynton... Read More

Narrator Stina Nielsen portrays Bernadette, a copy editor at a New York publisher in the 1960s. After joining a feminist book club, she pursues a much-deserved promotion and advocates for equal rights. She finds two unexpected allies at her job who bolster her influence. Nielsen's clear voice delivers the narration at a steady pace that aligns with Bernadette's calm demeanor... Read More

Lydia Leonard's narration of a rocky yet meaningful relationship will ring true for many listeners. Australian Coralie moves to London for work and meets Adam, a political writer with a young daughter, Zora. Leonard chronicles Coralie's romance with Adam through the arrival of two more children--all of which takes place amid the additional stresses of Brexit and the pandemic.... Read More

Yuriri Naka's gentle tones suit the quiet, introspective atmosphere of this comforting collection of interconnected stories set in the coastal town of Mojiko, Japan. The sweetness in Naka's voice conveys the community's awe for the magic of the convenience store called Tenderness. What Naka's narration may lack in vocal resonance, she skillfully makes up for by capturing the... Read More

Stacy Carolan convincingly delivers most of this AI-focused novel. He is an engaging narrator with a good tone and a tempo that adapts to the story's sometimes urgent pace. Noah, a lawyer, is the husband of AI genius Lorelei Shaw. In a tragic accident, the family's autonomous-driving minivan hits a car and kills an elderly couple. January LaVoy does an exceptional, though... Read More

Brian Nishii is the perfect narrator for this outstanding alternate history. A U.S. bomber carrying an atomic bomb heads for Japan in early August 1945, but the B-29 crashes and the undetonated bomb falls into the hands of the Japanese. Nishii's performance is riveting as he delivers the events that follow. The Japanese don't know what the bomb resembling a "big, black daikon... Read More

Thanks to James Aaron Oh, listeners don't need to have grown up in New England to fall in step with the East Gladness transients in this audiobook. Oh introduces listeners to the region through the poetic perspective of Hai, a troubled Vietnamese son whose failure to realize the American dream haunts him so much that he's preparing to jump off a bridge. Above the churning... Read More

A scientist who breeds rare snails encounters sisters who provide "romance tours" in this audiobook. Set against the backdrop of wartime Ukraine, the complex story defies a simple summary or spoiler-proof description. Saskia Maarleveld delivers the female points of view with quiet intensity. Her nimble pace and sincere tone showcase Reva's solid prose. Max Meyers captures... Read More

Jacques Roy offers a low-key narration of Kelley's novel about the tedious yet illuminating job of a fact-checker for a popular magazine. Roy delivers some priceless fact-checking phone conversations with celebrities such as Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier, as well as a fact- checker's delicate handling of the widow of a dead CIA officer who has purportedly been unfaithful. The... Read More

Miranda Raison's understated performance complements this quietly profound production. When an English couple divorce in 1982, it fractures their young daughter's life in ways she doesn't fully understand or heal from until a complex truth is revealed forty years later. The novel shifts between Dawn's romantic awakening with another woman and traumatic divorce proceedings from... Read More

Narrated by an ensemble, Poeppel's novel is delightful. Berliners Greta and her husband need a place to live in Dallas when he takes a one-year position there without discussing it with her. Lucy needs to flee Dallas quickly after her teenage son makes a mistake that puts his future in jeopardy. Connected by a mutual contact, Lucy and her children head to Berlin to stay in... Read More

When a father disappears one night, a fractured family tries to make peace with what happened. But the discordant echo of that night still haunts them. At a patiently revelatory pace, narrator Eunice Wong portrays the Kang family--Louisa, Anne, and Serk. As the story proceeds with multiple shifts in point of view, Wong expertly voices adolescent caprice, 20-something apathy,... Read More

Audio fans' mouths will water as they listen to the excellent narration of Mia Hutchinson-Shaw. In this novel Isabella Pasternak, a semi-washed-out food writer, reluctantly accepts a new gig to ghostwrite a cookbook for former big-time, always hungover soap star Molly Babcock. The kitchen gets messy, and the relationship equally so. Nothing Isabella tries is good enough.... Read More

This English translation of a French novella imagines the lives of strangers in an apartment building as described by their neighbor Nathalia in letters to her therapist. Narrator Alex Wyndham embodies the series of characters who tell their stories--or are they all Nathalia revealing herself to her therapist and the listener through first-person fiction? Some of Wyndham's... Read More

This immersive audiobook revolves around scents, sensibility, sex, and success. Award-winning narrator Saskia Maarleveld tells the story of Iris, a thirty-five-year-old lighting consultant who is given a unique perfume that transforms her life. Maarleveld captures Iris's metamorphosis from underappreciated designer and rejected lover to a woman who stirs primal desires, exudes... Read More

Rachel F. Hirsch gives a stellar performance of this poignant coming-of-age novel. After high school, Hannah and her girlfriend, Sam, drive from Long Beach, New York, to San Francisco, dreaming of a queer life outside the confines of their small town. Working as strippers to make ends meet, they grow apart, and Hannah learns there's more to growing up than moving away. Hirsch's... Read More

Historical fiction is a fascinating way to learn about different time periods and significant events. This audiobook explores 1880s Portland, Oregon, a setting not often examined in historical novels. Cindy Kay gives a solid performance, maintaining a clear voice and a measured pace. Some accents are inconsistent, but the momentum of the story continues with few awkward... Read More

Narrators AhDream Smith, Erin Spencer, and Khaya Fraites draw listeners into the lives of three single teenage mothers--Simone, Emory, and Adela. Through alternating perspectives, the narrations capture each character's struggles and hopes as the women navigate pregnancy and motherhood while coming of age in Padua Beach, Florida. Smith conveys Simone's resilience and heartache... Read More

Kaipo Schwab's polished voice and nuanced character portrayals bring warmth to this meditative story about loneliness and reconnections, set during twilight in Tokyo. Schwarb's grounded narration gently recounts each character's story, infusing subtlety, humor, and whimsy as revealed through their interwoven lives. Schwab masterfully conveys the quiet joy and wonder of the... 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

Coincidently, narrator Justice Smith evokes the sensibility and behavior of a man named Smith. He performs this debut novel thoughtfully and keeps the lid on some wild moments of debauchery in New York's demimonde of partying and self-indulgence. The plot concerns the tribulations of an entitled Stanford graduate--his father was a college president and his mother, a surgeon.... Read More

Narrator Piper Goodeve brings listeners to the town of Bramble, Kentucky, where Marlow Heddings has relocated after the death of her husband, whom she was in the process of divorcing. Looking for a fresh start, Marlow is renting a cabin from ex-Marine Cort Easton and contending with her former in-laws. Goodeve gives them strident tones as they insist on Marlow returning to the... Read More

Emma Galvin gives a sparkling performance of this contemporary audiobook about a Jewish family who move from Brooklyn to a college town in northern Maine. The four members of the family are soon caught up in a "he said/she said" situation revolving around the high school principal's shocking proposition of Hazel, a senior, on her first day of school, and a campus controversy... Read More

Narrator Nicky Endres shows impressive vocal versatility in this queer sports romance. Professional indoor volleyball players Six and Green, both Asian American trans women, are dating. To avoid any flak, they've decided to play on rival men's teams. They have the world's attention as they prepare for their first in-person game since the pandemic, and when a crisis strikes the... Read More

This contemporary gothic novel is narrated by Helen Laser. After a breakup and an upsetting incident at work, Cassie retreats to her hometown, where she reconnects with her high school friend, Eli, whose wife, Beth, has just passed away. Eli is immediately drawn to Cassie, and they marry quickly. But Cassie, who struggles with OCD, isn't a good fit for the life Beth left... Read More

Sharone Halevy's mesmerizing narration envelopes listeners in the disorientating world of an Israeli woman who relocates to the U.S. for a project management position. Soon, this unnamed woman finds herself joining her enigmatic supervisor, David, and other co-workers on frequent hunting trips. As a former member of the Israeli military, she has experience with guns but hasn't... Read More

Mozhan Navabi offers a gentle narration of this retrospective look at the lives of four friends. Her soothing voice carries the necessary gravitas for this tenderhearted novel that explores the ways our chosen families sustain us. Fleeing soul-crushing poverty in France during WWII, Gazala and her brother, Samir, Algerian orphans, find their separate ways to New York City.... Read More

This talented cast enlivens Becker's engrossing historical novel, bringing 1965 pre-Roe v. Wade America to life, a time when women had little independence, voice, or financial power. Gilli Messer projects Lily's frustration as she yearns for more than a predictable suburban life, tries to understand changing values, and asks, "Is this all there is?" Messer also believably... Read More

Ami Okumura Jones narrates this quiet character-driven family drama about three mixed-race British Japanese sisters. Rei, the oldest, works in corporate finance in London, while middle sister Kiki is a single mother working in a retirement home in Tokyo. Youngest sister Ai is a rising J-pop idol caught in a national scandal. Ai's troubles bring the sisters back to their seaside... Read More

Carlotta Brentan narrates Giulia Caminito's English-language debut, giving its main character, Gaia, two believable voices. Set in Italy in the 1990s, this novel recounts the struggles of the Colombo family, who seek to rise out of poverty and find their place in a judgmental society. Brentan takes listeners into teenage Gaia's mind, emphasizing her frustration and... Read More

Thérèse Plummer and Saskia Maarleveld, both outstanding storytellers, portray Laura and Helaine, two characters who span decades during and after WWII. Years after her traumatic experience volunteering for the Red Cross in Nazi Germany, Laura discovers half of an engraved necklace in England. Recognizing that the necklace is connected to her friend Franny, who mysteriously died... Read More

Brian Nishii narrates this uplifting tale of magical realism involving a middle-aged man who believes he's the unluckiest person in Japan. Suichi is going through hard times with his job, his family, and the mounting debt that threatens to cancel their long-awaited trip to Paris. At his lowest point, a mysterious taxi driver appears, taking him on a thought-provoking journey.... Read More

The title suggests the quintessential summer listen, and it doesn't disappoint. Jaime Lamchick delivers a strong performance of this audiobook, confidently telling the story of Nicola, Juliana, David, and Taylor. She captures nuances in conversations well, and the way she uses shifts in tone to add personality is quite effective. Inspired by the Fitzgerald classic THE GREAT... Read More

Brittany Bradford tenderly narrates this speculative meditation on grief and family connections. Twins Olivia and Ayanna grow up physically together but ideologically separate. Olivia is raised by their staunchly Catholic mother, and Ayanna by their father, who worships a mysterious blue door--one of several that spontaneously appeared throughout the world decades before.... Read More

Elaine Castillo performs her novel featuring a millennial woman living in Las Vegas with her extended family who is trying to get by after losing everything in the 2008 financial crisis. She spends her days wading through the worst humanity has to offer at her job as a moderator for a major social media company. When she accepts a promotion to work in her company's new virtual... Read More

Nicholas Boulton's dignified English voice sets the stage for this novel about several mental hospital outpatients who are experiencing various aspects of life in London in the period from WWII to the 1980s. Golden Voice Boulton's narration is descriptive and employs various emotions when needed, such as gravitas for the bombings of London in the 1940s. The relationships among... Read More

This slow-burn novel features two brilliant Harvard undergraduates who are caught up in the intoxicating allure of start-up culture when their biotech brainchild promises to change the world. Zoe, portrayed by Helen Laser, is born into an elite family and destined for greatness. Laser's boldly confident tone is perfect for the sharp, privileged young woman who is studying the... Read More

This audiobook benefits from the fine narration of actor John Grasl. Abe Jacob, a Mohawk living in Miami, returns to his tribal home on the New York-Canadian border. He's a failed poet who's divorced from a polyamorous wife and suffers from a rare autoimmune disease that has no cure. He also has a snarky alter-ego named Dominick Dear Woods, who narrates this compelling debut... Read More

These disparate stories demonstrate Park's range, literary skill, and talent for capturing a significant moment. Narrated with guile and energy by Raymond J. Lee, "Machine City" spins the tale of an ill-fated short film and a relationship at Yale. Lee also does outstanding work with Gabrielle De Cuir as the aging director and actress in a send-up of a vintage sci-fi movie in... Read More

Renowned British actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who won an Earphones Award for his narration of St. Aubyn's novel DOUBLE BLIND, delivers a terrific performance of the author's latest tale. Rather like an updated Shakespeare comedy on steroids, the tale of love, loss, family, and survival involves separated fraternal twins, mental illness, troubled therapists, and environmental... Read More

An ensemble enthusiastically depicts the American Library in Paris in this novel. Patrons and staff share their experiences, taking listeners behind the scenes of the renowned institution. Program Director Lily from Montana and her friend, Mary Louise, both portrayed by Pauline Chalamet, carry the story, including a subplot that involves a search for the long-lost friend of... Read More

Natsumi Kuroda's narration brings a gentle steadiness to this collection of short stories set aboard a train on Japan's Hankyu Line. As the works unfold, Kuroda is a grounding presence, providing space for the emotions of the myriad passengers. With characters ranging from a bride dressed for her wedding day to a grandmother and her granddaughter, the stories are a... Read More

Golden Voice narrator Cassandra Campbell takes on this slow-moving story of the small town of Ebey's End, situated on an island off the Pacific coast. Sweet-natured and observant Anita Odom, owner of Island Grocery, suddenly finds herself having to raise her orphaned fourteen-year-old cousin, July. The next thing Anita knows, July is shyly suggesting various purchases to... Read More

This account of two Black writers makes for a memorable audiobook. Both narrators are masters of cadence and pace. The unnamed first-person protagonist, portrayed expressively by Golden Voice Narrator JD Jackson, wins a National Book Award. Ronald Peet eloquently portrays the writer Soot. Both writers are wounded--one by a knife and the other by loss. Europe is the setting for... Read More

Four narrators tell this multigenerational story of a Shanghai family with a magical secret: The women can "reforge" pencils, re-creating the stories that were once written with them. Carolyn Kang voices devoted granddaughter Monica, who lives in contemporary times in Cambridge. As Monica researches her family's history, Kang captures her growth, taking her from self-doubting... Read More

Cassandra Campbell portrays a woman who's trying to recover from a series of personal challenges. When Gwen Gilmore arrives in Port Anna, Maine, she's determined to climb out of a deep emotional hole after losing her mother, her job, and her long-term boyfriend one after the other. While staying at her family's cottage, she tries to find a new job and dig herself out of an... Read More

Jennifer Kim tenderly performs this portrait of contemporary Japanese society, which reflects on Japan's work culture. Kim portrays Dok-go, a homeless man who finds community after helping convenience store owner Mrs. Yeom recover her lost handbag. Her performance is sobering and affecting as her slow pace and grave tone convey Dok-go's strong moral code and work ethic,... Read More

Narrator Jennifer Pickens nails the sharp, witty tone of this novel set in academia. Robbie, an MFA student nearing graduation, is working on her creative writing thesis, focusing on the theme of infidelity. She is secretly basing it on her advisor, Simone, and Simone's husband, Ethan, who both work in the English department. Ethan is having an affair with the department's... Read More

Narrated by Angela Ness, Buchanan's debut features Fiona, an environmental influencer who is mourning the loss of her partner, Ed, who was killed by police during a climate change protest. When a plant begins to talk to her, she is convinced that Ed has been reincarnated. Meanwhile, London is experiencing an unprecedented drought with an imminent storm surge predicted to... Read More

Imani Jade Powers brings a thoughtful tone to this layered story of love, regret, and quiet resilience, which follows a Croatian woman's journey into midlife. Powers's voice projects the melancholy of Ivona's reflections as she returns to her hometown to care for aging family members and reunite with her childhood love and now ex-husband. Set against the evocative backdrop of... Read More

This collection of interconnected short stories is a delight. Southern humorist and actress Fannie Flagg narrates her own work with a touch of whimsy. You can almost hear the sparkle in her eye as she portrays an assortment of characters all over the country throughout decades. Her pacing is pleasant and relaxed as she brings to life these snapshots of America. The stories... Read More

Piper Goodeve gives an enthusiastic narration of a novel inspired by the true story of one of the first female horse divers. After answering an ad for a girl who loves horses who can dive and swim, Sonora Webster becomes absorbed in the carnival world of early-twentieth-century America. Harsh instruction for Sonora, gentle training of the horses, and the thrilling moments... Read More

Listeners may be tempted to bypass this magnificent audiobook with its unfamiliar character names and sprinkling of Yiddish words. That would be a mistake. This story is universal in its community feeling, challenging parent-child relations, marital troubles, and eternal struggle between tradition and modernity. At a basic level, the story is about a Polish village in the early... Read More

Combining her theatrical training, bilingualism, and Caribbean roots, Almarie Guerra is the ideal person to narrate this audiobook. The saga of a Puerto Rican and Irish American family stretches over three generations as they make their homes in San Juan, New York, and St. Louis. The story touches on the history, culture, and politics of the territory of Puerto Rico, making the... Read More

Juliette Goglia and Nick Thurston share the narration of this thriller set in the high-stakes world of international art dealing. Goglia captures the naïveté of Ingrid, a gallery assistant who falls in love with Rudolph, a shady art dealer who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Goglia also portrays many other irritating female characters with a convincing degree of... Read More

Sixteen narrators offer a humorous take on contemporary culture, with Bechdel as the deadpan narrator. While her friends navigate their first throuple and her wife, Holly, garners fame as a wood-chopping influencer, Alison is stuck. Her first book has been adapted into a successful TV show, but she struggles with a follow-up. Perhaps writing a script about rejecting consumer... Read More

Madeleine Maby skillfully narrates Harmel's new historical mystery. Jewel thief Colette Marceau has known of her family's history--stealing from the rich and giving to the poor--since she was 14. Seventy years later, a museum exhibit of a unique diamond bracelet catches her attention. The last time she saw that bracelet was in Paris in 1942 on the night her sister, Liliane,... Read More

Kaipo Schwab brings quiet elegance and nuance to this character-driven meditation on creativity, beauty, and ambition in a Japanese architectural firm. His narration captures the calm precision of young Toru Sakanishi as he navigates his first professional position during a bidding war for a high-stakes government project. Schwab's gentle pacing and warm tone mirror Toru's... Read More

Mei Mei Macleod's performance of this speculative novel draws listeners into an alternative world in which slivers of the sun are slowly disappearing. A young woman works at a pharmacy in Five Poems Lake, a village surrounded by deserts. Years ago, her father, a policeman, died mysteriously, and now new clues drive the young woman and her sister, Dong Ji, to investigate how... Read More

Mayuri Bhandari brings grace and gravity to a richly imagined alternate history in which the British never left India as a colonial authority. Bhandari's voice captures the emotional intensity of Kalki Divekar's path from grieving daughter to daring revolutionary. Bhandari's precise and lyrical delivery parallels the 10 avatars of Vishnu, a principal Hindu god, whom Kalki... Read More

This quixotically creative audiobook redefines historical fiction. The author mixes Shakespearean characters and references with contemporary sensibilities, idioms, and colloquialisms to tell the story of Rosie, the eldest daughter of the not-so-doomed Romeo and Juliet. Narrator Suzy Jackson gives Rosie the voice of a modern woman. Rosie has a reputation as a sleuth and was... Read More

The performances of Nathalie Standingcloud, Kamali Minter, and Tanis Parenteau enhance the diverse perspectives of the Cherokee women in this compelling audiobook, which spans more than 30 years. Steph Harper, thoughtfully portrayed by Standingcloud, has a single driving passion: to become a NASA astronaut. Her goal permeates her emotionally complex relationships with her... Read More

Petros Castellanos, a long-haired 17-year-old from a Greek island, is the focus of this Amazon Original audiobook from award-winning author Rose Tremain. Petros's father, a Greek who owns two taxis, wants his son to join the business. Petros's mother is English--and there's the rub. She encourages him to go to London, then see the world. He goes, and it backfires. Narrating in... Read More

Golden Voice Robert Petkoff hits the comedic highs and lows in this audiobook so well that listeners may be surprised by the emotional impact he delivers. Casey is struggling to find meaning in his boring job, his divorce, and the death of his stoic father. At least there's the game of golf. Discovering his father's coveted bag of golf clubs, Casey takes a sabbatical and hits... Read More

Golden Voice narrator Vikas Adam expertly performs two stories, each set in the past and the future. "Jamali Kamali" is an extensive poem imagining the relationship between two figures from 16th-century India. "Zundelstate" is a futuristic romance in which an amateur historian named Joe covertly searches for information from the past. Marianna works for the history-suppressing... Read More

A six-person cast narrates a story spanning two centuries, set on a remote island in New York. Rachel Hirsch portrays Providence, a sweet nineteenth-century maid who is secretly fleeing Boston after the murder of her employer. In modern times, Audrey, portrayed by Helen Laser, is feeling frazzled and cynical due to her responsibility for shepherding her sultry movie star... Read More

The youthful voice of Shannon Tyo is fitting for Vera, a 10-year-old Korean American girl who resides in a dystopian United States with her complicated family. While Vera presents as a conscientious, anxious, overachieving pre-teen, her Russian Jewish father, Anglo Saxon stepmother, and vociferous half-brother (who loves to expose himself to incoming houseguests) are totally... Read More

Narrator Mira Sorvino enchants as she portrays Jess Capodimonte Baratta, a good Italian daughter from New Jersey who finds the courage to break free from a life that seems to be happening without her consent. When an unwanted revelation and an unexpected windfall from her beloved Uncle Louie turn Jess's life upside down, she seeks clarity and a fresh start in her family's... Read More

This audiobook is an offbeat, avant-garde look at the American Southwest as seen through the eyes of a poet, philosopher, cowboy, and "weeper" named Ed. Weepers are professional mourners hired to add tangible signs of grief to funerals. Narrator David Aaron Baker brings Ed to life. His warm and folksy voice is instantly likable. Ed's verbal ruminations are sometimes profound,... Read More

The advantages and perils of technology have long been examined in fiction, and this audiobook offers an excellent, profoundly human view of the topic. Helen Laser is outstanding as Jane, a teenager who is living off the grid in Montana with her father. As Jane learns more about her history, Laser's portrayal subtly changes to reflect her growth. Jane's voice shifts from that... Read More

A trio of narrators embody three celebrity friends who are trying to deal with the pitfalls of fame and fortune while growing up in the public eye. Dominique Salvacion is Miranda, a child movie star who goes from fun-loving party girl to rehab failure. Caroline Hewitt is Germaine, whose celebrity is based on being an heiress to a real estate magnate and who questions her fame... Read More

Ifan Huw Dafydd gives a performance worthy of this emotional and powerful debut, winner of the Swedish book of the year award, the August Prize. Listeners will become attached to Bo, an elderly man who is determined to keep his son from taking his dog, Sixten, now that his wife is in a facility for dementia, leaving him with only part-time caregivers. Journal entries added by... Read More

James Rottger presents this timely story with verve, his Scots accents reflecting its varied locales. When thoughtful Dr. Neil Anderson is misunderstood by a student, a serious complaint results. After he discovers his girlfriend's unfaithfulness, he retreats to the Isle of Mull, rather than defend himself. Rottger lustily utters the strong feelings of longtime friend James,... Read More