July 2025 Earphones Award Winners

Will Watt's warm, empathetic performance makes this stand-alone fantasy set in the world of SERAPHINA a must-listen. In a story in which past crimes and present troubles converge, Watt flawlessly moves from character to character, giving each one a distinct and instantly recognizable voice and keeping listeners spellbound as the action unfolds. Charl's unassuming town of St.... Read More

An emotive narration by Stella Bloom lands listeners in a madcap adventure. As Harlow and her group of stylish crime fighters investigate an unscrupulous online dater, her romance with investigator Javier Montoya heats up. Bloom makes this Avenging Angels installment a must-listen by fully expressing Harlow's rapid-fire dialogue. Whether Harlow is pondering an impromptu... Read More

Social media personality B. Dylan Hollis narrates his audiobook on American desserts with charm and charisma--making his storytelling almost sweeter than the treats. Hollis takes listeners on a culinary trip around the country. Beginning with the Northeast and ending with the Pacific Northwest, he discusses nostalgic and iconic desserts from all over. The audiobook doesn't have... 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

This short performance by Mark Sanderlin will surely charm listeners. A crow, who only responds in caws, sits on a telephone pole and squawks up a storm, refusing to move whenever his animal neighbors ask him to come down. He ignores Squirrel, Hummingbird, Rat, and Bat as they ask him to play or spend time with them, and none of them can understand why he's so cranky. But... 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

Steven Pacey's range of voices perfectly serves this fantasy audiobook with a large cast of characters. Brother Diaz is tasked by the pope to escort the newfound princess across the continent, along with a protective force composed of murderers and monsters. As the story shifts perspectives, Pacey adjusts his tone, cadence, and pacing. Alex was a gutter thief before becoming a... Read More

Caroline Hewitt's superb narration takes listeners on a powerfully emotional journey in this dual-timeline audiobook. In 1942, as German officers arrive at their French countryside home, 7-year-old Martine is hidden in a cabinet by her Jewish father with a valuable bottle of wine. Alone on the streets, Martine is brought to an abbey by Sister Ada, who is hiding her own secret.... 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 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

In this queer dark academia fantasy, narrator Zara Ramm is so committed that it's hard to know where she ends and Chetwood Academy's Director of Magic, Dr. Walden, begins. Walden is a magician in her late 30s, a powerful demon wrangler, and an excellent teacher. She's equally responsible for managing teenage angst in the classroom and keeping the demons that infiltrate campus... Read More

Anyone who believes the American entrance into WWII was easy and inevitable will be shocked to hear that the path was difficult and paved with spies, lies, and coercion. Stephen Graybill performs this audiobook with the skill of a newscaster who's recounting revelation upon revelation about the spies on both sides of the war (and the Atlantic) who were using their skills to... Read More

Mary Russell's favorite uncle, Jake, turns up at her door after many years of absence. Mary finds herself caught between loyalties to her world-famous husband, Sherlock Holmes, and her ne'er-do-well uncle. Topnotch performances in alternate sections by Amy Scanlon, Steven Crossley and Jefferson Mays make King's latest Russell/Holmes outing sound like a full-cast audiobook. An... Read More

William DeMeritt's commanding performance is the perfect complement to Kevin Sack's tenth anniversary tribute to the 9 slaughtered members of Charleston's Mother Emanuel AME Church. This work is also a tribute to the rich and inspiring story of the Black church in America--a story laden with hope and hardship. Sack focuses mainly on the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME),... Read More

Debra Michaels's lively performance takes full advantage of the descriptive scenes and energetic dialogue in this first novel from playwright Mel Pennant. Miss Hortense, who immigrated to the UK from Jamaica in 1960, was the backbone of her suburban Birmingham neighborhood. She even ran the Pardner, a money-raising and savings club that allowed members to accumulate modest... Read More

Dervla Kirwan delivers a stunning performance of Knapp's powerful novel about the weight of choice, the search for identity, and the complexities of family. Her buttery voice creates a striking paradox--soothing and steady yet cut by the cruelty and sharpness of this story about Cora and the three narratives that unfold around the different names she gives her baby boy. Kirwan... Read More

Edoardo Ballerini's moving narration takes listeners to a 1980s Russian patriotic children's camp to meet sweet-natured 16-year-old counselor Yury and novice 19-year-old theater director Volodya. Well-rendered discussions of the countryside, food, regimented life--especially, the morning bugle--transport listeners to the cool lake and hot cabins. As the two diligently work... Read More

Golden Voice George Guidall masterfully draws listeners into Sheriff Walt Longmire's search for a missing woman in the dramatic landscape of Wyoming's Red Desert. Guidall's ability to modulate his voice to seamlessly differentiate male and female characters enhances the twists and turns of the story. Craig Johnson's vivid descriptions are matched by Guidall's pitch-perfect... Read More

In this gripping audiobook, Colter Shaw--tracker and survivalist--is hired to locate a missing family trapped after a levee collapses during a catastrophic storm. As he searches, Shaw uncovers a sinister plot that suggests the disaster may not have been entirely natural. Narrator Kaleo Griffith delivers a masterful performance, giving each character a distinct and memorable... Read More

This poignant audio memoir recounts the tragedy of the past three generations of the New Jersey Seabrooks, WASP agriculture kings brought low by family feuds, self-dealing, and racism. Golden Voice Dion Graham gives a bravura performance of the fraught relationships between three generations of fathers and sons: CF, who was dubbed the "Henry Ford of Agriculture"; his son,... Read More

London-born actor Rupert Degas brings his enticingly warm voice and an edge-of-your-seat intensity to his performance of John Buchan's famously propulsive spy thriller. Adapted many times, including by Alfred Hitchcock, the 1915 novel centers on mining engineer Richard Hannay, who hears of an international assassination plot and then must flee London when he becomes a murder... 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