New Reviews by Title: C

Patrick Hutchison's narration sounds like a long conversation with a friend. Mentally exhausted from his copywriting job, Hutchison purchases a decrepit one-room cabin in the woods of Washington. An inexperienced carpenter, he finds repairing his dilapidated "doghouse" a daunting task, which he details with just the right amount of self-deprecation. Indecisiveness and... Read More

Aaron Mahnke narrates his own audiobook, based on his popular and delightful podcast "Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities" (as well as the earlier "Lore"). As a podcaster, Mahnke certainly knows how to inject the right amount of wonder, humor, and pithiness as he delivers his stories of obscure, coincidental, and highly bizarre events in American history. Included are tidbits... Read More

Loretta J. Ross delivers her audiobook in an authentic-sounding voice. A longtime activist, Ross provides a detailed discussion on the practice of "calling in" people who need education and support on difficult issues. This is different from "calling out" someone, either in person or on social media, an approach Ross asserts may feel good in the moment but has limited positive... Read More

Emily Rankin narrates the story of Lucretia Sanderson, a teen who's recently moved to a Maine island with her mother. They're both seeking solace after her father's accidental death. Using varied accents and intonations, Rankin makes the tension and class differences between the island folk and the summer people apparent. She balances that tension with Lucy's glorious... Read More

Yikes! This tell-all exposé written and performed by a former insider at Facebook confirms concerns about the inner workings of one of the most influential organizations on the planet. Author Sarah Wynn-Williams tells her personal story of her climb to the upper branches of management at Facebook and the disappointment she felt at every move. While acknowledging that most users... Read More

The fighting that occurred in Italy in 1944, which led to the capture of Rome in early June of that year, is described in great detail in this history. Al Murray, who is also a British comedian, has narrated many histories of WWII, including several by Holland. He does a solid job in this production. His style is not as polished nor his accent as refined as those of many other... Read More

Kevin Young, poetry editor of THE NEW YORKER, has narrowed down the 13,500 or so poems the magazine published in the last century to a mere 21 hours of audio--still a monumental survey. Some of the authors included are surprises (Johnny Cash!), and some won the Nobel Prize, but all of them did very fine work, and some of it will be familiar to many listeners. What is unfamiliar... Read More

Part memoir, part manifesto--the heroic chef and founder of World Central Kitchen José Andrés's brief audiobook would have greatly benefited from a professional narrator. This is truly unfortunate as the story of Andrés's rise to celebrity chef and food philanthropist is fascinating. He trained at great places and learned his innovative style at the world-famous Spanish... Read More

In 1856, amateur scientist and early suffragette Eunice Newton Foote published a paper suggesting for the first time that heated gasses such as carbon dioxide could change the earth's temperature. In doing so, Foote created the foundation for climate science. Television actor Emily Swallow leads a fine ensemble cast as Foote attempts to balance her innate curiosity with the... Read More

Newcomer Samuel Eubanks brings an unstudied earnestness to his narration of this story of Black boys and bygone Mississippi summers. This is the first children's book by MacArthur Fellow Kiese Laymon. The unnamed protagonist spends summers with his grandmother; right next door is a boy who is visiting the country from New York. Eubanks sounds just a few years older than these... Read More

In conversational tones, positivity expert Shola Richards shares his playbook on how each person can begin to lead the charge to bring kindness back in a society in which hate and indifference are often fueled by social media and 24/7 news. Richards candidly shares how being the recipient of hateful behavior for far too long led to a suicide attempt that started him on this... Read More

Creepy, creepy, creepy. Narrator Kris Dyer pulls listeners into the mind of Joe Middleton, a serial rapist and murderer who is working as a janitor at the Christchurch, New Zealand, Police Station. Dyer masterfully voices the two sides of Joe: one, a seemingly kind, intellectually disabled man; the other, a calculating, twisted killer. Interspersed are third-person chapters... Read More

More than 20 years after her bestseller, SHE'S NOT THERE, trans author and activist Jennifer Finney Boylan presents a nuanced view of parenting, gender expectations, and growing older. Gabra Zackman narrates with warmth that makes listening seem like an intimate talk with a friend. Zackman mirrors Boylan's wit and capacity for deep reflection. Her narration is especially... Read More

Biologist Thor Hanson describes how during the Covid pandemic he attuned his senses to the wildlife right in his backyard. Narrator Stacy Carolan strikes a curious tone as he narrates the author's explorations of nature in Kansas City. Carolan's delivery is laid-back yet quickly paced as he presents the author's observations on the daily life that was going on all around him,... Read More

Vivienne Leheny's lively narration perfectly suits this high-stakes thriller. Single mother Adele, desperate for money, joins an extreme game of hide-and-seek at an abandoned island resort hosted by Maverick Dillan, an adventurer who is her son's favorite social media personality. Amid warnings from locals and a raging storm, prize money becomes the least of the contestants'... Read More

Amara Jasper narrates an eerie horror story set aboard a spaceship carrying mostly frozen bodies. Halley hopes to escape a political scandal on Earth with a high-risk job as a glorified janitor on a massive spaceship carrying a cargo of cryogenically frozen humans. A trio of glitchy AI holograms accompanies her, and there seems to be something in the vents . . . always just out... Read More

There are few voices better suited to Angelou's poetry than that of Golden Voice Robin Miles. Somehow, there's a consistent sweetness to Miles's tone, even when she performs Angelou's most emotional and wrenching titles. At the same time, Miles's lovely vocal power is ever present and inspiring, matching Angelou's style. Miles's rendition of the classic "And Still I Rise"... Read More

Amateur sleuth Isabel Dalhousie tackles her newest challenge in this audiobook, which bridges her personal and private lives. Narrated ably by Sally Masterson, the story becomes complicated quickly when Isabel's husband, Jamie, invites Dawn, a woman involved in a scandal, to stay with them and their two boys. When strange noises come from upstairs, where Dawn is working, the... Read More

Joshua Miele tells his life's story from age 4, when a neighbor poured sulfuric acid over his head, blinding and disfiguring him. Today this MacArthur Fellowship recipient is involved in research and innovations to make the sighted world accessible to the blind. Greg D. Barnett narrates the tremendous hurdles Miele overcame in order to live a normal life in a challenging... Read More

What happens when a pathological liar ingratiates herself into a family of three? The author uses the technique of the unreliable narrator, and narrators Andrew Eiden, Devon Sorvari, Emily Tremaine handle it well. A limited number of characters are involved, but the narrators especially shine while portraying the family's young daughter, Harper. She has clipped sentences, a... Read More

Narrator Jo Yuan gives an animated performance in this witty literary translation about South Korean corporate office life. Kim Jihye is a 30-year-old intern at Diamant Academy, an adult education company. Originally hoping to be hired as a permanent employee, she comes to realize that this is likely never going to happen. Instead, another intern, Lee Gyuok, is brought on.... Read More

Based on Hough's YouTube text-based horror series, this production is one wild ride as performed by the full cast. When Chloe, voiced by Mecca Rogers, misses her school bus because her math teacher, Miss Langley, voiced by Christina Hendricks, held her for detention after school, she hops on the "backup bus" and soon realizes she's been kidnapped. Classmates Kaitlin (Dacey... Read More

Narrator Timothy Andrés Pabon brings numerous essential skills to this richly detailed history of El Paso, Texas. Most important are his command of languages and accents, and a degree of conviction that supports the author's distinctly Southwestern and multicultural perspective. Parker, a respected journalist who, sadly, died the week this book was published, argues that El... Read More

Robyn Maryke deftly delivers this exploration of a woman's journey into polyamory. The narrator, who never reveals her name, begins the story with recollections of the times her husband, Paul, encouraged her to flirt with and maybe kiss other men. As a wife, she reflects on her role in their marriage, while as a spiritual person, she grapples with moral discomfort as Paul... Read More