AudioFile Earphone Awards
AudioFile Magazine gives Earphones Awards to the best new audiobooks: listens that combine blow-you-away narrations with standout writing. AudioFile is the best independent source of audiobook reviews and recommendations—with clear focus on the performance and audio experience.
The Kindest Lie
A Novel
By Nancy Johnson
Narrated by: Shayna Small
Length: 11 hours 5 minutes
The Kindest Lie
“You know you are in the hands of a natural storyteller from the very first pages of The Kindest Lie, a story of unlikely friendships, difficult choices, and the untold burden of our past. Ruth is compelled to return to the hometown she fled to pursue her dreams. Midnight is a boy broken and in search of a safe port amidst the stormy seas of his young life. Both have been impacted by the brutal politics of race and class in modern America, and both must find a way to heal their broken hearts. A moving story of the compassion and strength needed to move past fear and distrust and begin to hope for a better future.”
Luisa Smith, Book Passage
The Consequences of Fear
A Maisie Dobbs Novel
Maisie Dobbs: Book #16
By Jacqueline Winspear
Narrated by: Orlagh Cassidy
Length: 10 hours 27 minutes
As Europe buckles under Nazi occupation, Maisie Dobbs investigates a possible murder that threatens devastating repercussions for Britain's war efforts in this latest installment in the New York Times bestselling mystery series.
October 1941. While on a delivery, young Freddie Hackett, a message runner for a government office, witnesses an... Read more »
Klara and the Sun
A Novel
By Kazuo Ishiguro
Narrated by: Sura Siu
Length: 10 hours 16 minutes
Klara and the Sun
“Klara and the Sun from Nobel-winner Kazuo Ishiguro is a radiant new novel about the bond between Klara, an Artificial Friend, and Josie, her human companion. The setting, a dystopian realm of genetic editing and stark class divisions, is not surprising given the author’s previous work, yet Ishiguro’s immense, unwavering portrayal of kindness is astonishing and revitalizing. Classic Ishiguro themes of loyalty, friendship, and sacrifice weave through the novel, but the thread of love runs deep, giving the book warmth and hope so that the earned twist feels more like a dawn than a sunset. Whether you’re returning to Ishiguro or discovering his voice for the first time, I’m excited for you. This is a chance to bask in the brilliance of one the greatest writers of our time.”
Caroline McGregor, Books & Books
Professional Troublemaker
The Fear-Fighter Manual
By Luvvie Ajayi Jones
Narrated by: Luvvie Ajayi Jones
Length: 7 hours 58 minutes
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
From the New York Times bestselling author of I'm Judging You, a hilarious and transformational book about how to tackle fear--that everlasting hater--and audaciously step into lives, careers, and legacies that go beyond even our wildest dreams
Luvvie Ajayi Jones is known for her trademark wit, warmth, and... Read more »
A Simple Murder
A Kate Burkholder Short Story Collection
Kate Burkholder
By Linda Castillo
Narrated by: Kathleen McInerney
Length: 10 hours 3 minutes
"[Narrator Kathleen] McInerney raises the tension in each story through her dramatic performances. The story collection provides listeners with an exceptionally engaging audiobook, delivered by a masterful narrator." -- AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award winner
New York Times bestselling author Linda Castillo is known as a “master of the... Read more »
A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians
A Novel
The Shadow Histories: Book #1
By H. G. Parry
Narrated by: Andrew Kingston
Length: 20 hours 53 minutes
A sweeping tale of revolution and wonder in a world not quite like our own, A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians is a genre-defying story of magic, war, and the struggle for freedom in the early modern world.
It is the Age of Enlightenment -- of new and magical political movements, from the necromancer Robespierre calling for revolution... Read more »
You Don't Belong Here
How Three Women Rewrote the Story of War
By Elizabeth Becker
Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
Length: 9 hours 16 minutes
The long-buried story of three extraordinary female journalists who permanently shattered the barriers to women covering war
Kate Webb, an Australian iconoclast, Catherine Leroy, a French daredevil photographer, and Frances FitzGerald, a blue-blood American intellectual, arrived in Vietnam with starkly different life experiences but one shared... Read more »
What Would Frida Do?
A Guide to Living Boldly
By Arianna Davis
Narrated by: Marisa Blake
Length: 5 hours 24 minutes
Revered as much for her fierce spirit as she is for her art, Frida Kahlo stands today as a brazen symbol of daring creativity. She was a woman ahead of her time whose paintings have earned her generations of admirers around the globe. But perhaps her greatest work of art was her own life.What Would Frida Do? explores the feminist icon's... Read more »
Beneficence
A Novel
By Meredith Hall
Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Rachel Jacobs & Tom Taylorson
Length: 9 hours 45 minutes
A family’s only hope to heal their shattered lives is that love is stronger than grief.
When they meet in the 1930s, Doris and Tup’s love is immediate. They marry quickly and Doris commits to the only life Tup ever wanted: working the Senter family farm, where his parents and grandparents and great-grandparents are buried under the old pines.... Read more »
Later
By Stephen King
Narrated by: Seth Numrich
Length: 6 hours 32 minutes
A BRAND-NEW NOVEL FROM LEGENDARY STORYTELLER STEPHEN KING!
SOMETIMES GROWING UP MEANS FACING YOUR DEMONS
The son of a struggling single mother, Jamie Conklin just wants an ordinary childhood. But Jamie is no ordinary child. Born with an unnatural ability his mom urges him to keep secret, Jamie can see what no one else can see and learn what no... Read more »
Heroine
By Mary Jane Wells
Narrated by: Mary Jane Wells
Length: 1 hours 27 minutes
Heroine is based on the true story of Danna Davis and her 10 years in the US Army. A survivor of military sexual trauma, hers is a human story exploring healing, forgiveness and what speaking your truth really means - with grit, lyricism and necessary black humour.
On a dangerous mission inside a combat zone, Sgt Davis must work with the... Read more »
Just as I Am
A Memoir
By Cicely Tyson
Narrated by: Cicely Tyson, Viola Davis & Robin Miles
Length: 16 hours 8 minutes
“In her long and extraordinary career, Cicely Tyson has not only exceeded as an actor, she has shaped the course of history.” –President Barack Obama, 2016 Presidential Medal of Honor ceremony
"Just As I Am is my truth. It is me, plain and unvarnished, with the glitter and garland set aside. Here, I am indeed Cicely, the actress who has been... Read more »
Land
How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World
By Simon Winchester
Narrated by: Simon Winchester
Length: 13 hours 46 minutes
The author of The Professor and the Madman and The Perfectionists explores the notion of property—our proprietary relationship with the land—through human history, how it has shaped us and what it will mean for our future.
Land—whether meadow or mountainside, desert or peat bog, parkland or pasture, suburb or city—is central to our existence. It... Read more »
Colonyside
A Novel
Planetside: Book #3
By Michael Mammay
Narrated by: R.C. Bray
Length: 10 hours 4 minutes
A missing scientist and deep pockets pull Colonel Carl Butler out of retirement, investigating another mystery that puts him and his team—and the future of relations with alien species—in danger in COLONYSIDE, the exciting follow-up to Planetside and Spaceside.
A military hero is coming out of disgrace—straight into the line of fire…
Carl Butler... Read more »
Ten Things I Hate About the Duke
A Difficult Dukes Novel
By Loretta Chase
Narrated by: Kate Reading
Length: 12 hours 17 minutes
USA Today bestselling author Loretta Chase continues her Difficult Dukes series with this delightful spin on Shakespeare's classic, The Taming of the Shrew.
This time, who’s taming whom…
Cassandra Pomfret holds strong opinions she isn’t shy about voicing. But her extremely plain speaking has caused an uproar, and her exasperated father, hoping a... Read more »
Black Buck
By Mateo Askaripour
Narrated by: Zeno Robinson
Length: 11 hours 12 minutes
Black Buck
“Perhaps I have a different perspective on this book because I have a younger brother who is a Black, 20-something man in sales, but this book presents an evocative, honest, complex portrait of being a BIPOC person in a white-dominant workplace (albeit one that is high-powered, sales-driven, and New York City-based). This is a book that allows a reader to be seen if this is their experience, but also for a reader to learn about a different reality if this is not their own. Black Buck is a tightly woven, contemporary debut from an author to watch.”
BrocheAroe Fabian, River Dog Book Co.
The Prophets
By Robert Jones, Jr.
Narrated by: Karen Chilton
Length: 14 hours 52 minutes
The Prophets
“I am at a loss for words. How can I even begin to describe the breathtaking language Robert Jones, Jr. has gifted us in his debut novel, The Prophets? How can I begin to explain how he achieves a feat so marvelous it almost seems impossible? Well, that’s the key word: almost. From his innovative restructuring of the Bible through the lens of America’s history with slavery to characters that leap off the page with colorful grace and dignity, Jones masterfully weaves a narrative that serves as a warning from the past, a prophecy for the future, and a testament to the present. His writing defies all great American novels that have come before, and in doing so becomes one of the greatest I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. I can’t wait for everyone to be as spellbound by this book as I am; it will stay with me forever.”
Gage Tarlton, Flyleaf Books
Four Hundred Souls
A Community History of African America, 1619-2019
By Ibram X. Kendi & Keisha N. Blain
Narrated by: Various
Length: 14 hours 1 minutes
Four Hundred Souls
“An absolutely stunning history of African America for people who do not normally read history. Compiled of short stories, essays, and poems, it is perfect for someone who is intimidated by lists of names and dates. Each individual voice stands on its own but together they truly make a 'choir' that flows together beautifully. This is a one-of-a-kind history that is essential reading for everyone.”
Tia, Quail Ridge Books
Blood Grove
Easy Rawlins
By Walter Mosley
Narrated by: Michael Boatman
Length: 9 hours 21 minutes
Walter Mosley's infamous detective Easy Rawlins is back, with a new mystery to solve on the sun-soaked streets of Southern California.
Ezekiel "Easy" Porterhouse Rawlins is an unlicensed private investigator turned hard-boiled detective always willing to do what it takes to get things done in the racially charged, dark underbelly of Los... Read more »
White Ivy
A Novel
By Susie Yang
Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
Length: 12 hours 50 minutes
White Ivy
“Ivy Lin’s unassuming looks and demeanor hide a dark side. She is obsessed with the wealth and privilege she sees around her and will cross boundaries to get what she needs — most of all, the object of her teenage affection. Susie Yang crafts a brilliant and mesmerizing tale that gives readers an intimate look into the experience of immigrants. Well-written prose, excellent characters, and a surprising turn of events will keep readers hooked until the end — and it is a doozy.”
Pamela Klinger-Horn, Excelsior Bay Books