New Reviews by Title: A-D

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

Erin Bennett offers a compelling performance of this novel by Elin Hilderbrand, who's now writing with her daughter. Though Tiffin Academy has jumped up in the national rankings of private boarding schools, nothing really seems that any different there. As the school year begins, faculty and students are either discovering secrets or hiding them. This audiobook is a mystery... Read More

Listeners will be riveted by narrator Atli Gunnarsson as he recounts the many trials and tribulations that await explorers who trek to the North Pole. In 1994, Erling Kagge made that journey using nothing but his skis. In a strong Nordic accent, Gunnarsson brings to life both Kagge's personal experience and those of the explorers who came before him. He transports listeners to... Read More

Ruffin Prentiss captures the angst of 13-year-old Malcolm Montgomery as the teen balances the uncertainty of foster care with the daily turmoil he experiences in middle school. Tops on Malcolm's list of things to do: Be adopted "before it's too late." When his new school begins to implement an AI-powered robot in the classroom and he is chosen to maintain it, the bullies pounce... Read More

Narrator Patrica Santomasso shines as the voices of a trio of women who were impregnated by the same deadbeat dad, Jason. They unite in solidarity and unexpected friendship. When Sandy finds co-parenting her daughter, Rosie, with Jason frustrating, she connects with Stephanie, the mother of Jason's oldest child. The two women bond over their shared experiences, discovering they... Read More

Greta Jung's narration quickly establishes the reasons for 17-year-old Korean American Winter Moon's sarcasm. Her tone becomes understandable when Winter's selfish, caustic mother comes into the picture. Jung also depicts Winter's tenderness toward her loving grandmother, Halmoni, and her heartbreak at Halmoni's death. These are only some of Jung's portrayals of complex... Read More

This author-narrated audiobook blends memories and poems with some mind-bending moments--as Elizabeth Gilbert talks with her late lover and converses with God. A practiced speaker, Gilbert performs this excruciatingly honest work with passion and restraint. The memoir is about addiction and how Gilbert healed after the death of her friend, lover, global-traveling companion, and... Read More

Pickleball is front and center in Spencer's latest audiobook, narrated by the excellent Mia Hutchinson-Shaw. Bex has been managing her family's struggling pickleball club since her mother's death. Niko, a pompous former tennis star, comes to town and immediately clashes with Bex. When a rival racquet club hosts a pickleball tournament, Bex and Niko put aside their differences... Read More

The full cast does a great job delivering this Grant Morrison-written comic series, but be warned: It's complicated stuff. The actors channel the comic characters, even down to voicing differences between Superman and Clark Kent, though the performer doesn't do justice to Jimmy Olsen. Veteran narrator Scott Brick stands out among the rest, thanks to his unique style. This... Read More

This audiobook is the first of a new cozy mystery series set on Bainbridge Island, Washington. The story, which revolves around the murder of an unlikable literary agent, is absorbing, and its gorgeous setting is a plus. The smooth, expressive voice of narrator Vanessa Daniels engages the listener and gives the characters much needed depth. Twenty-fiveyear-old Meg returns home... Read More

Amina AlTai teams up with Maria Shriver to deliver a compassionate personal growth audiobook that blends encouragement with practical strategies for self-improvement. Shriver's soothing narration pairs with AlTai's warm guidance as a mindset trainer to create an inviting tone for listeners who are navigating career setbacks. The audiobook highlights how social systems can shape... 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

In 1979, V.S. Naipaul took a break from writing novels and explored the nature of Islam in several Asian countries: Iran (not long after the fall of the shah), Pakistan, Malaysia, and Indonesia. As Raj Ghatak narrates the varied ways that Islam manifests in different nations, the feelings that Muslims have about their faith are strongly evoked. Ghatak suggests voices, rather... Read More

Shakira Shute's narration of a time-traveling ready-for-love witch should be listened to--if only for the internal dialogue between the witch, Thorn Scarhart, and her cat familiar, Bandit. When Thorn's potion brings her into the 21st century, listeners will delight in the slow reveal of her true motivation for doing so. Shute uses a low, sepulchral voice for Bandit, who... 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

Narrator Mary Jane Wells's outstanding performance transports listeners to 1911 Vienna. When Gustav Klimt spies a nude woman floating in the Danube, he can't resist sketching her. But it turns out that she's alive, and he takes her to his studio. With a little help from Freud and Jung, she recovers her memory. She realizes that she's more than 100 years old and the involuntary... Read More

Ramón de Ocampo's prosaic narration adds to the uneasy mood of this middle-grade horror story. After an embarrassing school incident, Casey becomes a social outcast. His family worries about him--until a local dad drops a new friend at Casey's home. Morel doesn't speak, has no eyes, and appears to be made of clay. Oddly, only Casey seems to notice these peculiarities. De Ocampo... Read More

Mitch Crawford's narration of this business advice is youthful and workmanlike. Today's venture capitalists often make fortunes by buying in, reorganizing (i.e., laying off), and then selling. Silicon Valley venture capitalist Dave Whorton argues for a better way: creating long-lasting companies, which he calls "evergreen." White Castle is an example of one such company.... Read More

The named cards in a tarot pack, the Major Arcana, come to life in this romantasy, deftly narrated by Anna Burnett. The illegal power to ink magical tarot cards lands Clara Graysword in a desolate prison cell. But when Prince Kaelis, the man Clara thinks killed her mother and disappeared her sister, shows up, Clara's life sentence turns into admission to the famed Arcana... Read More

Narrator Lee Osorio interweaves stories from different eras and countries in this science fiction audiobook. In 2018, Salvadoran American student Ana uses a device to view glimpses of alternate universes. She's also exploring her mysterious family history and her conflicting desires for her future. In the 1970s, revolutionaries Rafael and Neto, who is the uncle of Ana's... Read More

Dual narrations by Sophie Roberts and Justin Avoth make following this twisty historical confection an absolute treat. Roberts hits all the right notes for Hannah, who, when widowed by her husband's murder in eighteenth-century London, is left with a confectionary shop, mounting debt, and hostile suppliers who want her out of the business. Avoth embodies Devereaux, a... Read More

Anna Caputo gives a terrific performance of this memoir about growing up deaf in a hearing world. While author Rachel Kolb is accomplished--she was the first signing deaf person to become a Rhodes Scholar--her writing is down-to-earth and relatable. With an intelligent, empathetic intonation, Caputo imparts Kolb's life story, including the many adjustments she needed to make to... Read More

In 1971 Omaha, Helene and Evelyn meet as their children marry. Mia Barron's detached voice sets the scene and then, almost magically, transforms into women full of personality. Barron takes us back to the '40s and '60s, which molded the women, and forward from the '80s to the 2015s. As the women continue their rivalries, competing for attention and love, Barron gives each her... Read More

Narrator Angela Dawe returns listeners to a world of humans, psychics, and changelings. Justice Psy Eleri is hunting a serial killer in falcon changeling Adam Garrett's territory. Eleri and Adam have a past that Eleri wants to atone for before she has a complete psychic break. After having been reconditioned, most of her emotions have been eliminated, and Dawe gives her an... 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

Stephanie Németh-Parker's warm, conversational voice is spot-on for American actress Tess Bright, who is transported--along with her taciturn, disapproving costar, Hugh Balfour--to Jane Austen's England while filming a NORTHANGER ABBEY adaptation. Németh-Parker's narration is a liquid presence that conveys Tess's grief over her mother's death and her precarious career... 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

It's common in twentieth-century American fiction to decry the emptiness of middle-class life, and BABBITT has become the eponym of that theme. Nobel Prize winner Sinclair Lewis is well served by narrator Adam Sims, who makes the shallow, hypocritical, money-grubbing George Babbitt more and more sympathetic as he learns--and struggles against--the limitations of his own nature.... Read More

Suzanne Toren's precise articulation and midrange timbre are well suited to the erudition displayed in Donna Leon's newest essays. Best known for her mysteries featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti of Venice, Leon has strong opinions and an interesting background. Toren, an AudioFile Golden Voice narrator, brings attentive pacing and a hint of a smile to Leon's excellent... Read More

Narrator Marisa Calin transports listeners to London 1898. Disgraced spinster Lady Kay Matheson has plans to marry an American millionaire, Wilson Roycroft, when she encounters her former fiancé, Devlin Sharpe, the man who broke her heart. Devlin now has marriage plans of his own. Calin effectively contrasts Devlin's British accent and Wilson's American speech. Kay's finances... Read More

Lucy Boynton gives an emotionally wrenching performance of this enemies-to-lovers story. She uses differentiated voices for Andie, a New York City senior publicist from England, and her newest author, the suave Jack Carlson. Thrown together, they keep secret their earlier relationship at Edinburgh University. Andie still feels deeply wronged by Jack. As the pair stumble into a... Read More

For more than 24 stunning hours, narrator Ron Butler immerses listeners in the world of writer James Baldwin. This detailed biography structures Baldwin's life around his greatest loves, the people who filled so many of his thoughts. Baldwin travels the globe and makes a name for himself as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century, but he's always drawn back to the... Read More

Karen Cass narrates this charming audiobook, which combines rivalry and romance in a subtle nod to ROMEO AND JULIET. When Jules Caplethorne takes a leave from her publishing job to care for her Great-Aunt Flo and her bookshop, she becomes wrapped up in drama. The Caplethornes' longtime rivals, the Mountbeaus, have just opened up their own bookshop down the street. As Jules... Read More

Nano Nagle chronicles the lives of three sun bears--Tan-Tan, Kitud, and Boboi--from the time they're saved as cubs to their release back into the Borneo rainforest. Nagle's caring tone perfectly complements the story. While describing the bears' stay at Dr. Wong's Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Center, Nagle uses a dramatic voice to inform listeners about this special species... Read More

Aymann Ismail, a SLATE journalist and podcaster, narrates his memoir, giving it the genuineness he intended when he wrote it. Growing up the youngest son of immigrants, Ismail struggled with his identity as a Muslim and an Egyptian American. He narrates with the kind of self-questioning that adds credibility to his journey to form an honest relationship with his religion and... Read More

Narrator Shahjehan Khan's measured pace works well in imparting the author's goal to find a way to predict the monsoons in his home country of India. Listeners are presented with a thorough and entertaining autobiography of a boy who was born in a village without a school, who, nonetheless, secured an education, followed by positions at NASA, MIT, and the organization that... Read More

This translated French memoir by Jean Boucault and Johnny Rasse recounts their youth and mutual passion for birdsong. The boys' backgrounds are differentiated by the accents of narrators Jean-Marc Berne and Jean Brassard. Berne gives Johnny a rural working-class dialect represented by heavily accented English, while Brassard represents Jean's wealthier upbringing with... 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

This Three Pines audiobook is narrated by Jean Brassard, whose exquisite Québécois accent nails the characters in Penny's Chief Inspector Gamache series. Her previous novel, THE GREY WOLF, sets the stage for the stunning denouement that plays out here. It involves climate change, along with a border conflict, treason, and conspiracies. Brassard keeps the plot and its large cast... Read More

Keylor Leigh's narration makes it immediately understandable why Kaylani McKinnon doesn't want to leave Brooklyn for a summer in Martha's Vineyard with family friends. Once there, she finds herself sharing a room with one of the mean-girl siblings and unable to communicate with her beloved dad, who's incarcerated. That's before Chadwick, a popular boy and one of the only people... Read More

Cassandra Campbell gives a crisp and consistently powerful delivery of this deep dive into the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. One of the deadliest recent mass casualty events on U.S. soil is given a detailed examination. Based on her research and interviews, Roberts posits that the official federal story of just four perpetrators-- leading to the execution of Timothy McVeigh, the... Read More

Lily Newmark's transcendent performance of Anna North's remarkable novel lingers long in the memory. Three narratives intersect--a young woman of Iron Age Briton begins her first year as village Druid during the start of Roman occupation; Agnes, an American forensic anthropologist, is asked to examine a 2,000-year-old body preserved in an English peat bog; and that of the peat... Read More

Vikas Adam narrates this remarkable historical novel with warmth and gravity, capturing its sweeping drama and intimate emotions. As WWI draws to a close, Cora Trent, a Midwestern graduate student, meets Indra Mukherjee, an Indian revolutionary who is grappling with loss and political conviction. Adam's nuanced performance illuminates both the tenderness of their romance and... Read More

Carlotta Brentan's narration is a master class in poignant storytelling. Gelfuso's novel, featuring an 11-year-old girl who is trapped in time space, is a thoughtful exploration of memory, grief, and the abuse of power. Her writing is clear, emotionally grounded, and well paced. The story unfolds with quiet intensity and engaging characters that keep the listener entranced.... Read More

Actor Charlie Sheen, son of actor Martin Sheen and brother of actor Emilio Estevez, offers an unusual, bizarre, and extremely convoluted series of brief recollections, espousing his life philosophies and perspectives and occasionally referencing semi-chronological actual experiences. Sheen's narration is professional, warm, well enunciated, sincere, and appealing. Listeners... Read More

This audiobook takes place in 1930s Madrid, where Barbara opens a bookstore that serves to defend beloved literature from the rising Nazi censorship spreading across Europe and the effects of the Spanish Civil War. Narrator Lauren Ezzo's crisp diction makes the story's digressions into complex historical politics easy to understand. In an era-appropriate touch, her narration... Read More

Mark Bramhall gives an excellent performance of this WWII story. Nina Willner weaves the lives of her father, Eddie Willner, and his Jewish family in Germany with the lives of several American GIs who saved his life at the end of the war. Her father and another companion were found by members of the 32nd Armored Regiment just before V-E Day. The two Germans assisted the GIs in... Read More

Author, narrator, and neuroscientist Joseph Jebelli deftly introduces listeners to a revolutionary discovery--the human brain's default network. With the vocal delivery of a seasoned narrator, the author describes what the default network is, why it's been traditionally excluded from neuroscientific research, and how listeners can activate it. Surprisingly, this network of... Read More

Narrator Shiromi Arserio lends her vocal talents to Katherine Faulkner's latest mystery. Alice, a wealthy mother living in London, is hosting a playdate for her child when an intruder enters. She kills him with a barstool in self-defense. Arserio gives Alice a soft yet dynamic tone and captures her intense curiosity about the young man she killed. She also wants to know why she... 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

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

A full cast of experienced narrators breathe life into this thrilling supernatural tale filled with magic, mystery, and a hunt for objects with enormous power. Marissa Clay portrays kindhearted, self-assured private investigator Nevada Baylor, whose power is instantly recognizing lies. She teams up with Connor "Mad" Rogan, portrayed by Henry Kramer, a ruthless killer who has a... Read More

S.M. McVicar narrates his novel, a mélange of science fiction, dystopian adventure, and political commentary. In the future, Cal Shook, an outcast in the highly controlled and environmentally ruined society in which he exists, tries to take down "The 31" a secret group of billionaire oligarchs who rule the world. McVicar's narration is breathlessly rapid-fire. He is clearly... Read More

Former FBI Director Irene Rivers is now living in West Virginia, where she finds herself embroiled in trouble. Her daughter is exhibiting at-risk behavior, and most of the police forces aren't on the up-and-up. Narrator Natalia Payne navigates this thriller well. Her varying of male and female voices is clear, with shifting tones fitting the characters. Irene's preteen nephew... Read More

Caitlin Kinnunen narrates this middle-grade story, showcasing its verse form. Twelve-year-old Opal lives at the top of a fire tower in the Gila National Forest, New Mexico. Her mother and grandmother are responsible for spotting fires, determining their locations, and alerting the authorities. However, Opal longs to be in town, where she can attend school and not be constantly... Read More

Unless you have a time machine, the best way to visit the court of Henry VIII is to listen to this flawlessly researched audiobook. Accomplished narrator Rosalyn Landor delivers this lengthy fictionalized account of the life of Cardinal Wolsey in a low-pitched smoky voice that captures the drama, intrigue, and uncertainty of the time and place. Listeners learn how powerful... Read More

The wonderful delivery of Stephanie Nemeth-Parker and Joel Richards saves this predictable yet still entertaining mystery. Morgan, portrayed by Nemeth-Parker, is near the breaking point as she cares for her mother and four-year-old twins. Hiring Dana, a relative stranger, to be her mother's live-in caregiver seems like the perfect solution. Problems begin when Morgan's mother... Read More

Kristen Price narrates this guide in a tone that conveys genuine empathy for those immersed in the care of a loved one with dementia. With her deeper register and audible desire to help, she is an excellent messenger for this kind of resource. The well-informed authors describe strategies for handling issues that have to be addressed as a loved-one's faculties deteriorate,... Read More

Gabra Zackman's performance effectively demonstrates a kind of narration multitasking. In one way, she's conveying a diabolical true-crime mystery, complete with myriad details and dead ends. In Los Angeles, the mysterious death of a wealthy couple in an apparent car accident appears to be suspicious. Zackman also captures the human need for connection. A group of women,... Read More

Narrator Matthew Lloyd-Davies takes on the first installment of this series featuring a somewhat OCD barrister who becomes involved in a copyright case and a murder investigation. In a story based on true events in the Inner Temple of the Inns of Court (UK) in 1901, Ward stumbles upon the dead body of the Lord Chief Justice of England. Pompous magistrates and judges team up... 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

Narrator Carly Robins returns listeners to the small town of Sweetbriar Ridge, where for the last three years Sloane Donovan has been kissing Will Campbell at the kissing booth that is part of the town's annual festival. Now she's tired of just kissing and wants to meet him. Will is just as eager to find out who she is. Robins successfully conveys Will's urgency and frustration... 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

Richard Armitage brings the Great Plains of England in 2500 BCE vividly to life. His deft use of tone, pacing, and nuance differentiates the large cast of characters. The kindness and intelligence of Seft, a miner, sharply contrast with the brutishness of his father and brothers. Troon has an autocratic tone that reflects his ironfisted rule of the farmers and his scheming to... Read More

A full cast of Native American performers take young listeners to a Cherokee stickball game. Most of the narrators are Cherokee, like author Traci Sorell, who delivers her concluding notes, and Zebadiah Nofire, who ably leads the narration and voices the glossary. The Keetoowah, Navajo, Kiowa, and Pawnee Nations are also represented by players, coach, and onlookers. The... Read More

The author of this audiobook, Shawn Levy, treads carefully between other authors' efforts--some too fawning, others too critical--in this exhaustively researched, articulate, and absorbing biography of screen legend Clint Eastwood. Mike Chamberlain brings a well-suited tone to his narration. His performance provides crisp diction, enthusiasm, and optimism. Nearly every... Read More

This audiobook sheds light on the hard work of the many scientists who accurately track and predict the weather. The audio production's bright spot is narrator Keith Brown, who has a pleasant and authoritative vocal style and wonderful pacing. Otherwise, the audiobook is often tedious due to a lack of vivid narrative bringing the scientists and their work to life. The chapters... Read More

With his easy wit and comfortable Irish lilt, Gerard Doyle is once again the go-to narrator for Mick Herron's bestselling Slough House series. It's business as usual in this ninth story, in which the "slow horses"--demoted and/or disgraced British intelligence officers--are once again left to stand down and watch their careers crumble. Instead, they take on the case in question... Read More

The existence of the American Girls Club in Belle Epoque Paris (1871-1914) had been all but lost to history before author/narrator Jennifer Dasal unearthed details about it. This audiobook is pieced together from artists' autobiographies and American journalists' coverage of the expatriates. Bubbly, enthusiastic Dasal recounts the highs and lows of bohemian life in the famed... Read More

Narrator Adenrele Ojo returns to portray intrepid attorney Avery Keene and her resourceful crew of talented friends. Author Stacey Abrams tackles the world of AI and its potential for enhancing patient care and reducing biases in medicine. Ojo masterfully differentiates a wide cast of characters ranging from human players to the AI entities central to the story. Listeners will... Read More

This romantasy unfolds through alternating chapters featuring Brenda, portrayed by Elyse Dinh, and Kat, portrayed by Emily Woo Zeller. The two meet when Brenda is desperate to find a working internet to use to submit her scholarship application before the deadline and wanders into a coffee shop owned by Kat's family. The shop, it turns out, is in an alternate universe that is... Read More

For a comedy audiobook, the words "over-the-top" should be welcome. Alas, Larry Charles's narration of his memoir about 40 years in show business is just too much. His delivery pushes so hard that he ends up sounding like an amateur actor trying to impress. A winner of many prestigious awards, the writer and director of such successful shows as "Seinfeld," "Curb Your... Read More

Because he's extremely short, Robert Reich has been bullied his entire life. But standing up to bullies--socially and politically--has been his hallmark and is a major theme of this memoir. His most important message is a plea for Americans to stand up to the man he considers the bully-in-chief: President Trump. Reich narrates his audiobook, so the emotions he expresses are... 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

Adenrele Ojo narrates this important history of Black women whose magic and spirituality permeates the roots of American culture. Blue jeans, pancake mix, and even Vicks VapoRub all have their origins in these "conjure women," but a culture of misogyny and racism capitalized on them, at the same time ignoring their sacred elements. From the lore of the goddess Oshun through... 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

Listeners are introduced to forthright Egyptologist Amelia Peabody in this new full-cast adaptation. Nanette Savard consistently presents Amelia as she travels through Egypt on her way to Cairo, recounting her knowledge of the archaeological wonders around her. Amelia maintains her calm as she manages her companion; spars with the growly, brooding Emerson Radcliffe, voiced by... Read More

Artist Robert Crumb did the impossible--he turned the medium of comic books into something both inspiring and repellent while securing a place in comic history. Rob Shapiro's understated delivery of this authorized biography is as captivating as Crumb's bizarre life. Listening to it will make people seek out not only Crumb's work in Zap Comix, Fritz The Cat, and others, but... Read More

A hundred years ago, Arsène Lupin, a thief who solves crimes, was popular enough to be the hero of 30 books. The character is brilliant in the manner of Sherlock Holmes, very French, and the marvelous performance by David Timson makes him almost believable. Timson deploys an arsenal of voices, accents, and tones that keep the listener involved even through the mechanical... 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

Many listeners will recall Edoardo Ballerini's lucid narration of Stephen Greenblatt's 2013 audiobook, THE SWERVE. It was an inspired match between one of today's finest Renaissance scholars and one of the very finest audiobook narrators. Author and narrator match again in this insightful biography of Shakespeare's predecessor and early model, playwright Christopher Marlowe. In... Read More

Imogen Church demonstrates her superb narration skills in this fun mystery revolving around Jo Jones, an American who is settling into a new life in the north of England. Intending to uncover her English ancestors and their secrets, she rents a room in her home to a mysterious guest. When her policeman friend discovers the dead body of her guest, Jo can't help but get involved.... Read More

Set in a small island community off the coast of Iceland, this audiobook immediately captures the attention of listeners. A death at a diplomatic dinner sets the stage for all that follows. Denica Fairman depicts a wide range of characters, but the majority of the story is told from the perspective of Jane Shearer, the wife of the Canadian ambassador to Iceland. After the... Read More

This oral history of the Manhattan Project and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is dramatically made aural, thanks to the talents of some 30 narrators, plus the author. Like its predecessor, WHEN THE SEA CAME ALIVE, this audiobook features snippets of first-person accounts of those who lived the history. Artfully arranged into a cohesive whole, they vocalize the... Read More

Emily Sutton-Smith narrates a story of Auschwitz and the Nazi regime throughout Europe in a low, wistful tone without an accent. The novel features Rachael, a Jewish woman imprisoned in Auschwitz who finds a diamond ring in the mud, and Samual, a Jewish man living and working in Prague who is in love with a woman named Hanna. Sutton-Smith's slow-paced delivery portrays... Read More

Cindy Kay's smooth narration enhances the reflective quality of this story set in a mysterious library on the outskirts of Tokyo. Exasperated with her job as a bookseller in a chain bookshop, Otaha Higuchi gladly accepts an unusual position at a peculiar library--one that is open only at night, houses books only by deceased authors, and doesn't lend books out. A lightness in... Read More

Daniel Henning's talent for voicing larger-than-life characters brings a group of drag queen witches to life. It's 1989, and Joe plans to spend a summer bartending on Fire Island, a known gay hotspot. Joe is heartbroken over the loss of his boyfriend and is quickly taken in by a couple of older gay men who are secretly disco witches tasked with protecting the island and other... Read More

Narrator Alexandra Hunter establishes an apathetic voice for 13- year-old Kass, who has switched from public school to a fancy private school in order to join the diving team and have better opportunities for academic success. Kass struggles to fit in at her new school and even starts questioning economic disparity and its causes when she meets 17-year-old Miles, who dumpster... Read More

Katie Koster is a high-energy narrator whose tightly enunciated delivery suits this novel's main character. Amy is at a crossroads. An avid advocate for animals, she channels her midlife feelings of loss and lack of direction toward joining the search for Angel, an internet-famous dog that is missing in Tbilisi, Georgia. As one might expect, the audiobook is full of accented... Read More