New Reviews by Title: U-Z

Rasha Zamamiri narrates a unique epic fantasy inspired by the region of North Africa. Touraine was abducted as a child and forced to become the ideal soldier. Her loyalty to the empire is tested when she's sent back to her homeland to quash a budding rebellion. Zamamiri nails accents and from time to time even sounds like a different narrator as she gives this story a... Read More

Narrator Angèle Masters reunites Victorian-era adventurers Veronica Speedwell and Stoker as they are pulled into a new case. When Princess Gisela of Alpenwald goes missing, Veronica's striking resemblance to her causes the country's chancellor to ask Veronica to stand in for her. Masters keeps the energy high throughout the audiobook, especially as Veronica and Stoker... Read More

J.A. Jance fans will be delighted with this addition to the Ali Reynolds series, narrated by Karen Ziemba. When a former employee of her husband begins work at her company after his release from prison, Ali immediately presses him into service because her tech guru, Cami, has disappeared. The story is enhanced by Ziemba's gift for subtly differentiating secondary characters.... Read More

Narrator Arthur Morey delivers statistical concepts with insightful tonal variations that enhance comprehension and maintain the listener's interest. Robert Putnam posits that the last 120 years of economic history have followed an "I-we-I" trajectory. The Gilded Age was marked by massive inequality and exploitation of workers. Then the New Deal and civil rights shared gains... Read More

This book is monumentally improved as an audiobook production because of the energy of narrator George Newbern. He grabs listeners by the lapels as he voices Professor George Entmen, a nice guy with a respectable but lackluster life except that he has developed the ability to fly. But even his flying--not soaring, but subtle low and slow floating--seems as underwhelming as the... Read More

Narrator Joel Froomkin cheerfully brings out the wit of this novel about class and circumstances. Forced by her limited resources to become a governess, Becky Sharp is not afraid to social climb, while her best friend, Emmy, seemingly lives to fulfill the whims of her family. Froomkin's bright tone and light British accent make it seem like he is having a great time sharing the... Read More

Kevin R. Free and Vyvy Nguyen narrate this work of speculative fiction, which asks listeners to consider whether the world would be better off without the Internet in general and social media specifically. Nguyen narrates the first and last chapters, which are in the first person, leaving Free to do the majority of the third-person narration. His strength as a narrator comes... Read More

This audiobook includes two versions of the late Eric Carle's classic story, both equally delightful in different ways. The first version is brought joyfully to life by narrator Kevin R. Free with vivid sound effects and music. Kids will laugh out loud as the hungry young caterpillar audibly chomps, crunches, and crinkles its way through all kinds of food until it is full. The... Read More

This ambitious first novel is given a near perfect interpretation by Sophie Amoss. Her appealing textured voice bonds us to the narrator, an otherwise rather opaque young employee at a Berkeley, California, bookstore. For months Gabriele, half-Italian herself, fills and ships esoteric book orders for a Signor Vietri in Rome. Ever more curious about his reading lists, she... Read More

Narrating his 2009 memoir, Nicholas Meyer is every bit the storyteller, a skill honed from years of writing and directing in Hollywood. The title references his work on the Star Trek series--he developed and directed several of the franchise's most successful entries. How Meyer came to have so much creative impact on the legendary series is almost accidental; he recalls not... Read More

Narrator Barrie Kreinik sensitively delivers the many themes that wend through this audiobook, including friendship, family, secrets, lies, and climate change and its effects on woodlands. When they were girls, Daniela Garcia and Cadie Kessler were best friends, but a violent event and subsequent cover-up ended their bond. Twenty-five years later, Cadie, now an... Read More

Michael Kramer has a rough edge to his voice that evokes the Western setting of this Zane Grey audiobook. There's a romantic quality to his narration that gives the descriptive passages of the landscape more power than they have in print. Zane Grey follows Adam, a tenderfoot from the East, as he becomes a fugitive and, gradually, a fabled wanderer. Though Adam becomes tougher... Read More

Bernadette Dunne's energetic narration is a good match for this thought-provoking sci-fi novel about the consequences of Pilots, new brain implants designed to increase one's focus. The story is told through the points of view of four characters: teacher Val, who doesn't want a Pilot; her wife, Julie, who loves hers; and their two kids--David, whose Pilot malfunctions, and... Read More

Stephanie Harper's debut novel, featuring 33-year-old Wesley Yorstead, is perfect for these pandemic times. Wesley suffers from agoraphobia, and listeners are invited inside his mind as he navigates his self-imposed isolation. Narrator Brian Holden gives Wesley a range of voices as he shares his routines, slowly revealing the event five years earlier that triggered the... Read More

A psychiatrist and veteran researcher on early abuse and loss combines his clinical knowledge with the personal experiences and observations of a well-known survivor of such trauma: Oprah Winfrey. They are both capable, likable narrators who are sincerely engaged with their subject matter. Their informative audio is an easily digestible blend of sections they have written and... Read More

Kelsey Chapman thoughtfully delivers her own words in this audiobook about the importance of mentors and their lessons for success. Chapman clearly shares practical advice, and her bubbly tone sounds like listening to a mentor of one's own. She provides information about how to identify the best mentors and about how one can be a strong mentor oneself. This audiobook, with its... Read More

Narrators Sneha Mathan and Neil Shah work together to recount the harrowing events that take place as an Afghan family attempts to find a peaceful place to live. Fereiba must flee with her three children when the Taliban murder her educated husband. Mathan captures the constant worry and fears plaguing the distressed mother on her journey from Kabul to the streets of Europe.... Read More

Narrator Nan McNamara brings her enthusiastic storytelling skills to this illuminating examination of TV pioneers Gertrude Berg, Hazel Scott, Irna Phillips, and Betty White. Listeners are treated to a revelatory history of the transition from radio to television in the 1940s and '50s, including the devastating impact of the McCarthy era. McNamara is perfectly in tune with... Read More

Narrator Sarah Skaer's emotionally charged voice emboldens each story in this collection of traditional Japanese folktales retold from a feminist perspective. The new takes are darkly comedic and quirky. One story features a gossipy ghost who disapproves of hair removal, while in another a living woman is visited by a customer service representative from the afterlife. Skaer... Read More

Susan Vinciotti Bonito gives this introspective, fragmented fiction--written in Italian and translated into English by the author--a delicate, poignant narration. She narrates the vignettes with a deliberate pace and inquiring tone that suit the internal monologue style. The choice to read in a distinctly inflected way gives the novel an immersive quality that illuminates the... Read More

Narrator Adenrele Ojo marshals listeners through this complicated legal-political-medical thriller. Listeners may wonder how Stacey Abrams found the time to write a book. Abrams provides the answer in the introduction. In a departure from her romance novels, Abrams provides listeners with an engaging, fast-paced plot involving the Supreme Court, weaponized genetics, and a... Read More

Narrator Nicola Barber's youthful timbre and determined tone are well matched to the character of Sophie Scholl, whose heavily researched story is written in verse. Wilson recounts the true story of a student-led resistance movement in WWII Germany. Blending somber reflection and impassioned urgency, Barber transports listeners back and forth in time through the war and its... Read More

JD Jackson narrates this essay collection about the social effects of the film BLACK PANTHER. The premise is that it is more than a comic- book movie--it is an inspirational work of art that will change the lives of those who see it. In order for this premise to work, the narrator has to sell it, and Jackson brings the gravitas that the audiobook needs. His powerful voice and... Read More

Kim Staunton narrates a romance between a bold frontierswoman and a genial newspaper reporter. Spring Lee is content with her solitary life and sees no need for a man to clutter it up. But when Garrett McCray rides into town during a blizzard, she rescues him and slowly begins to rethink her stance. Staunton captures Spring's fierce and hard-won independence, as well as her... Read More

John Hartley's low, rolling narration sinks into Jagger Black's wrenching sadness over the murder of his father. Like Jagger, his dad was a member of the Chaos Motorcycle Club. Hartley's soft intensity reflects Jagger's state of raw grief when he first meets Archie at the cemetery where his dad is buried. Hartley's voice for Archie has a lighter timbre, so she sounds... Read More

Darrell Dennis captures the angst of the unnamed narrator in this classic novel of modern Native Americans on the Great Plains. He adroitly shifts between the flat dialogue of ranch life and the lyricism of the Western setting. Likewise, he captures the cadences of a trio of secondary characters--aspiring Lame Bull, wise Yellow Calf, strong Teresa. Most of all, Dennis's... Read More

Narrator Raphael Corkhill deftly navigates a range of situations and voices in this novel, a blend of romance, mystery, and space opera. In order to secure an important treaty, Prince Kiem is commanded by his grandmother, the emperor, to marry Count Jainan, the widower of Kiem's late cousin. Soon after, they find themselves at the center of messy interplanetary politics.... Read More

This examination of the facets of wisdom has the tone of both an absorbing TED talk and a social science research paper. It is a multilayered consumer guide to a common human trait, as well as an inside look at how a painstaking researcher might define a neurobiological or personality construct. Roger May narrates with slow and thoughtful pacing. His pleasing voice and... Read More

Narrator Sandra Sims delivers a sincere but lackluster performance of this audiobook about Black feminist icon Dorothy Pitman Hughes. Hughes organized her New York City community to create much needed child care and job training for families suffering from poverty and racial discrimination, actively empowering her neighbors to create better outcomes for themselves. She traveled... Read More

Sammie, the protagonist of this audiobook about motherhood and marriage, is deeply unhappy. Narrator Kristen Sieh pours all of that malaise into her voice, which makes for an unforgettable, though often infuriating, character. Listeners get a front-row seat as Sammie's relationships with her wife, Monika, and son, Samson, become increasingly strained. In every scene, Sieh's... Read More

British narrator Karen Cass vividly narrates this captivating audiobook. She realistically delivers the upper-class English accents and Irish brogues of those featured in this true account of a 1970s aristocrat turned revolutionary. In an engaging style and intelligent tone, Cass recounts how wealthy Rose Dugdale, a conservative debutante who attends Oxford and gains a PhD in... Read More

Narrator Soneela Nankani forthrightly presents this canonical text on Middle Eastern Arab women. For those who enjoy academic explorations of gender, identity, and nationalism, this is an exciting presentation of an insightful work. Nankani approaches the material with the steadiness of a lecturer. Her pace is measured and precise. She does use emphasis whenever possible to... Read More

Simon Bubb's whimsical narration ideally sets the stage for three of Lewis Carroll's classic works. The collection includes ALICE IN WONDERLAND, ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS, and A TANGLED TALE, an interesting collection of short stories centered on mathematical problems. Bubb lends a range of vocal characterizations to the many eccentric characters of Carroll's creation.... Read More

With task and job automation ever more dramatically on the human horizon, James Suzman, a Cambridge University fellow, offers a grand, grandiose yet scholarly history of work, in all its meanings, from humans' beginnings through current times. Nicholas Guy Smith, a charming Brit, provides a clear and measured narration. The text does, however, meander, becoming a bit tedious,... Read More

Listening to this posthumous collection of commentary by chef Anthony Bourdain on his favorite places is like joining him for one final adventure. From Argentina to Vietnam, each brief chapter starts with a quick but detailed overview of airports, transportation, and hotels, narrated by Bourdain's assistant, Laurie Woolever. This is followed by Bourdain's thoughts about the... Read More

Computer science professor Cal Newport suggests alternatives to our inbox-centered work lives. Kevin Free offers a deliberative yet friendly narration. Free guides listeners through a theoretical framework arguing that one should begin the workday with deep, creative work and write email responses significantly later. Newport further suggests that organizations help staff by... Read More

Author and narrator Casey Wilson uses humor as a thin veil for a great deal of heart in her captivating memoir (which she pronounces "memwah"). The "Happy Endings" actor shares details of her life in an energetic tone, maintaining her bubbly persona throughout. Her voice thickens with emotion only in moments when she shares the things that matter most to her. These contrast... Read More

Listeners join 18-year-old Evie Jones as she moves to an Alaskan town for a fresh start, only to find herself framed for the murder of a mother and child. Evie is living at a wilderness camp when she discovers the whereabouts of the real murderer and seeks vengeance. Vanessa Johansson's stylish narration illuminates both the naïve and street-smart sides of young Evie, which... Read More

Narrator Dana Stoutenburg delivers this important audiobook in a compelling and thoughtful tone that matches its content. Frost analyzes more than 200 years of examples in which individuals and groups have been deprived of their civil and political rights and even had their citizenship stripped. The work asks listeners to consider what it means to be American and how... Read More

Author Susan Orlean, who is most known for her book THE ORCHID THIEF, narrates a short essay about overcoming her fear of flying. She highlights her phobia and the path she took to overcome it. She also provides a short history of those psychological treatments--chiefly hypnosis. As she switches from first- and second-person points of view, Orlean's experience is shared in an... Read More

Narrator Tavia Gilbert's voice is perfect for this intelligent exploration of risk by an international crisis analyst. Gilbert's mature, assertive tone fits the author's command of her topic. Even when sentences are packed with information, Gilbert's flawless phrasing makes them clear. Michele Wucker examines how gender and age, cultural and family norms, and economic status... Read More

Christina Moore is engaging as she narrates this eye-opening, relevant audiobook, part history, part primer on activism, and part resource guide. Recognizing the division in our current political landscape, the author takes a deep dive into how we got to this point. Using a nonpartisan approach, this audiobook avoids finger-pointing and instead provides historical context,... Read More

This is not a typical story of three teenage best friends. It's way more. Abby is afraid that her unrequited crush on Leo and her B.E.I. (Big Embarrassing Incident) with him will ruin their friendship. Narrator Eva Kaminsky navigates the pitfalls Abby must avoid when she and Leo take a DNA test and Abby finds out that she has an older sister, Instagram star Savannah Tully.... Read More

Listening to Tavia Gilbert perform this psychological suspense is engrossing. Twelve-year-old Karin is lost in Hoge Veluwe Forest, a Dutch National Park. Gilbert captures the youthful timbre of the girl's voice, and her pitch and intensity change as Karin faces drug dealers, wolves, hunger, disorientation, and, worst of all, betrayal by a once trusted figure. Other expertly... Read More

Author/narrator Annabelle Gurwitch is spunky, funny, and upbeat in this no-holds-barred memoir about her unconventional life as a divorced mom of a nonbinary 20-something in recovery. Listeners will find her performance refreshing and revelatory as she takes them through the ups and downs of her unusual life. Gurwitch takes everything--from her home to her marriage to... Read More

As narrator, Ellen Barkin brings across the uniqueness of Martha Gellhorn, a pioneering American journalist, feminist, and activist. Barkin narrates this collection of Gellhorn's letters with the precision of an expert archivist. Her contralto voice creates a bygone vocal persona that echoes the 1930s-40s, the years featured in this audiobook. Barkin carefully presents... Read More

Listeners may smile at the droll humor as narrator Samuel West delivers the author's account of how New Caledonian crows make tools. What does this have to do with life across our galaxy? It shows how intelligence evolves to fit needs. Arik Kershenbaum believes alien life forms can be understandable, but first listeners need to take a look at life forms here on Earth. Thus,... Read More

Holly Palance's soothing narration creates the perfect gentle atmosphere for this thoroughly Midwestern novel. Zorrie Underwood's entire life has been a struggle--from her parents' early deaths to her efforts to keep the family farm afloat through troubled decades. Palance matches her wistful but determined tones to Laird Hunt's spare prose as Zorrie marches forward, no matter... Read More