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February 2025 Earphones Award Winners

The award is given by AudioFile to truly exceptional titles that excel in narrative voice and style, characterizations, suitability to audio, and enhancement of the text.



THE BEST AMERICAN ESSAYS 2024

THE BEST AMERICAN ESSAYS 2024

Earphones Award Winner

by Wesley Morris, Kim Dana Kupperman [Eds.] | Read by Emily Rankin, Cary Hite, Jeanette Illidge, Robert Fass, Nancy Wu

Harper Audio
Contemporary Culture

This outstanding audio collection begins with a thought-provoking introduction by editor Wesley Morris in which he discusses the struggle over what individuals and societies can think. The narrators take turns delivering the 22 works originally featured in publications such as HARPER'S MAGAZINE, THE ATLANTIC, and THE NEW YORKER. One standout is "Jenisha from Kentucky." Jeanette... Read More

CLEAN POINT

CLEAN POINT

Earphones Award Winner

by Meg Jones | Read by Mary Jane Wells, Patrick Zeller

Harper Audio
Romantic Fiction

A duet narration by Mary Jane Wells and Patrick Zeller as tennis doubles partners Scottie Sinclair and Nico Kotas is double the fun for listeners. Wells digs into Scottie's fall from grace after a Wimbledon win and her personal struggles over her worldwide notoriety. Wells manages to craft Scottie's persona as spunky yet traumatized; she reveals a deep sense of fairness... Read More

A FIVE-LETTER WORD FOR LOVE

A FIVE-LETTER WORD FOR LOVE

Earphones Award Winner

by Amy James | Read by Katie Koster

Harper Audio
Romantic Fiction

Katie Koster will charm a wide audience with this fun romantic performance. Wordle enthusiast Emily daydreams at her dead-end job as a receptionist at a car shop. When her car's alternator dies, her co-worker, John, comes to her rescue, and the bland mechanic suddenly becomes interesting when he shares his own enjoyment of Wordle. Koster offers an authentic narration of this... Read More

A FIVE-LETTER WORD FOR LOVE

A FIVE-LETTER WORD FOR LOVE

Earphones Award Winner

by Amy James | Read by Katie Koster

Harper Audio
Romantic Fiction

Katie Koster will charm a wide audience with this fun romantic performance. Wordle enthusiast Emily daydreams at her dead-end job as a receptionist at a car shop. When her car's alternator dies, her co-worker, John, comes to her rescue, and the bland mechanic suddenly becomes interesting when he shares his own enjoyment of Wordle. Koster offers an authentic narration of this... Read More

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Earphones Award Winner

by Alton Brown | Read by Alton Brown

Simon & Schuster Audio
Contemporary Culture

Add "outstanding audiobook narrator" to Brown's impressive resumé. He is, after all, a Food Network personality, a cookbook author, and an avid food science researcher. Given his long-running gigs on "Iron Chef" and "Good Eats," along with his work as a pitchman for GE, it's no surprise that he performs his "essays and ruminations" smoothly and wittily. His range of interests... Read More

HOW SWEET THE SOUND

HOW SWEET THE SOUND

Earphones Award Winner

by Kwame Alexander | Read by Karen Murray

Hachette Audio
Children

Every second of this dynamic production--from the bouncing notes of the opening theme to the last snapped finger--creates a musical soundscape. Narrator Karen Murray's sweet and steady tones guide the listener through a history of Black music told in rolling lines of poetry. Murray moves seamlessly from the talking drums of Africa through the origins of the blues, jazz, funk,... Read More

IN THE DISTANCE

IN THE DISTANCE

Earphones Award Winner

by Hernan Diaz | Read by Alexander Skarsgard

Penguin Audio
Fiction

Narrator Alexander Skarsgard provides the ideal voice for this audiobook. Just as one settles in with what seems like a typical Western, something occurs that reveals there's nothing typical about it. Hakan, a reserved Swede of intimidating size, must navigate a strange country where dangers abound. Skarsgard's gentle tone suggests an innocence glowing halo-like over Hakan. At... Read More

KING: A LIFE (YOUNG ADULT EDITION)

KING: A LIFE (YOUNG ADULT EDITION)

Earphones Award Winner

by Jonathan Eig, Yohuru Williams, Michael G. Long [Adapt.] | Read by Dion Graham

Macmillan Audio
Young Adult

Listeners are given a well-rounded portrait of the leading figure in the Civil Rights movement, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King--fleshed out by fascinating and coherent accounts of the events of the day and the people around him. Dion Graham masterfully portrays the voices and emotions of Dr. King's orations; Coretta King's softer, lighter speech; and the racist attitudes... Read More

LIVING ON EARTH

LIVING ON EARTH

Earphones Award Winner

by Peter Godfrey-Smith | Read by Peter Godfrey-Smith, Mitch Riley

Macmillan Audio
Contemporary Culture

Australian philosopher of science Peter Godfrey-Smith narrates this history of life on earth from its beginnings to the present, going on to explore possibilities for the directions life may take in the future. In a light Australian accent, Godfrey-Smith presents theories of evolution, mind, and connectedness and consciousness. His narration is down-to-earth and comfortable yet... Read More

UNDER THE SAME STARS

UNDER THE SAME STARS

Earphones Award Winner

by Libba Bray | Read by January LaVoy, Jeremy Carlisle Parker, Major Curda

Macmillan Audio
Young Adult

A trio of narrators portray teens from different eras and settings. January LaVoy transitions smoothly from the accented dialogue of Hanna and Sophie, two Polish teens, to an unstressed voicing of their risk-taking amid Hitler's threats in 1939. Jeremy Carlisle Parker transitions listeners to 1980 West Berlin, where Jenny adjusts to her family's move from Dallas. Parker also... Read More

WAITING FOR THE LONG NIGHT MOON

WAITING FOR THE LONG NIGHT MOON

Earphones Award Winner

by Amanda Peters | Read by Megan Tooley, Ussani Taylor

Recorded Books
Fiction

Megan Tooley and Ussani Taylor deliver moving performances of Amanda Peters's short stories, which explore the Indigenous experience throughout American history. Peters, author of THE BERRY PICKERS, writes about such disparate people as a girl who is witnessing the arrival of the first white settlers and a boy who is struggling in a Christian boarding school. Tooley performs... Read More

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