April 2024 Earphones Award Winners

Journalist Kara Swisher specializes in reporting on the Internet. Here she narrates her memoir with urgency and focus, providing a you-are-there history of Silicon Valley. With more than a decade of podcasting experience, Swisher has developed a well-honed, rapid-fire delivery; an aura of journalistic integrity; and a firsthand knowledge of tech history. Anecdotes abound on... Read More

Narrators James Urbaniak and Jesse Vilinsky grip listeners throughout the roller-coaster ride of this inventive thriller. The story features the California Bear, a serial killer who mysteriously disappeared decades ago. As interest in the long dormant case is reignited, an ex-police detective, Hightower, and his cohorts go on a mission to reveal the real Bear. The plot unfolds... Read More

Josephine Huang and Cassandra Morris join forces to deliver the captivating story of best friends in this exceptional middle-grade audiobook. Helen, voiced by Huang, and Gracie, portrayed by Morris, are known for their mischievous antics. Their latest escapade leads them to join the Community Action Club, currently dedicated to promoting period equity. Morris's dynamic... Read More

Annabelle Hirsch's feminist look at history through 101 idiosyncratic objects is given a captivating performance by the author and 100 narrators. The choice of performers, including actors, authors, and commentators, is as clever as the short essays about the objects. We have an anecdote about a healed femur from 30,000 BCE, narrated by Gillian Anderson; a fifth-century BCE... Read More

Dominic Hoffman narrates this reimagining of ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN, but this time Jim tells his own story. When Jim learns that he's going to be sold to someone downriver, he flees, leaving behind his wife and daughter. But he soon finds himself tangled up with Huckleberry Finn, a white boy who is always getting into the worst sorts of trouble. Jim is practiced at... Read More

Paul Bellantoni impeccably presents a small village and its superstitious inhabitants in this look at WWII from an Italian perspective. Listeners join Ezio, who's dedicated to his job as a policeman despite needing a cane. Bellantoni conveys life as Mussolini's Fascists and the Nazis terrify everyone. When Ezio arrests a longtime Jewish resident, his conscience requires him to... Read More

Two gifted narrators turn in performances that make the authors' ideas about paying attention come alive. Their vocal gifts are different and complement each other: Imani Jade Powers performs with a hushed intensity and a philosophical depth that give her interpretations real power. Byron Wagner's strengths are more stylistic; his amazing array of pitch patterns is fun to hear... Read More

Nicholas Boulton delights in this story of passionate lovers. It's told from the perspective of a detective who is determined to charge the lovers with a crime following their torrid night of lovemaking in Spain's Guggenheim Museum. Boulton speaks brusquely as Detective Larramendi separately interviews the couple, who both offer the same explanation. Boulton uses pacing to... Read More

Dorje Swallow's performance of this metafiction centers this whirligig of a novel in which story begets story. His assured narration--in particular, his ability to do voices and accents and adapt his tone to whatever the scene--makes this audiobook marvelous to listen to. Hero Tojosoa ostensibly comes to Prague to join her friend, Sofie, for a weekend. When Dorothea Gilmartin... Read More

Narrator Rebekah Hinds imbues Hazell's compelling debut with a palpable sense of dread. A London cookbook editor known as Piglet prepares for her wedding, complete with a croquembouche wedding cake she's planning to make herself. Then, just 13 days before the big day, her fiancé, Kit, shares a secret that derails everything. Hinds's portrait of Piglet is a triumph, capturing... Read More

The best poets get that way because they have given a great deal of thought to questions such as: "What is poetry?" "How does it get that way?" Mary Oliver was one of those best poets, and in this audio version of her classic work about how to write and read poetry she offers some answers, both detailed and expansive, to John Ciardi's classic question: "How does a poem mean?"... Read More

In this audiobook, we delve into the tale of Balthazar and his band of thieves, embarking on what first appears to be a straightforward heist. Sunil Malhotra's exceptional narration is the highlight; he provides each character with a unique voice that vividly paints the story's universe. The drama quickly escalates as the characters are entangled in a grandiose plot involving... Read More

Like the captain of a historical sailing ship, Ralph Lister takes command of this sprawling 1975 bestseller about culture clash. He gives a tough, resilient voice to the hero, Captain John Blackthorne, while providing memorable voices for the dozens of characters ranging from Japanese samurai and courtesans to Spanish and Portuguese people. In 1600, after losing his ship and... Read More

Author/narrator Lucy Strange dazzles with her dynamic performance. Utilizing various English accents and tones, she delivers this story with impressive breadth. Six sisters live on a farm with their bitter father and loving granny. Their father, fearing the curse of the six sisters, betroths his oldest daughter, Grace. Not wanting to marry, Grace runs away. Willa, the second... Read More

Edoardo Ballerini meets Towles is a happy alliance in this short story collection. J. Smith-Cameron narrates only one story. Golden Voice narrator Ballerini uses his full range of techniques. By turns nuanced and dramatic, he always serves the author's fine prose. His smart pace and rich tone work particularly well for the noir novella set in late 1930s Hollywood. Evelyn Ross,... Read More

Hanif Abdurraqib's latest book is a transcendent feat of poetry, memoir, and--well, magic. His narration is as breathless and beautiful as his prose; this book is epic in every sense of the word. It's an ode to his hometown of Columbus, Ohio; a love letter to basketball; a meditation on home and belonging; and an exploration of faith, Blackness, music, and place. He delivers... Read More

Anthony Rey Perez has just the right tone for this satirical debut novel, especially as he aptly mimics the protagonist's self-justifying voice and truth twisting. Perez's pace moves the story forward--no matter the circumstance. He sounds just like the smart Puerto Rican kid from the Bronx featured in the story. Javi Perez succeeds until he doesn't by playing the victim... Read More

Rosa Escoda's narration of this slice-of-life audiobook is like being wrapped in a blanket still warm from the dryer. Frustrated by her indifferent marriage and burned-out by her competitive career, Yeongju leaves both behind to open a bookstore that becomes a refuge to those seeking peace and renewal. Escoda's brisk pace and gentle tone carry listeners along as Yeongju... Read More