Anna Zeitlin

NonfictionFictionAudioMemoir

Audio: July 2019

Feature by Anna Zeitlin

Starred review
Beth O’Leary’s debut novel is a cute, cozy work of British pop fiction that’s hard to put down. After a bad breakup, Tiffy moves in with Leon, a nurse who works the night shift, because he only needs his flat during the day. She can’t afford her own place in London, and he needs the extra cash for his brother’s legal fees. They share a bed at opposite hours but don’t meet for months, communicating through notes left around the apartment. Tiffy publishes craft books, and she throws a bit of quirky chaos into Leon’s orderly apartment and life. The Flatshare (9.5 hours) switches perspectives between Tiffy and Leon, with narrators Carrie Hope Fletcher and Kwaku Fortune providing their voices. Fletcher and Fortune each do their own versions of all the characters’ voices, as heard from Tiffy’s or Leon’s point of view, which takes getting used to but totally works. It’s a sweet, charming love story.

Part memoir, part pop culture criticism, Mr. Know-It-All (10 hours) is one of those books that you definitely should listen to on audiobook over reading the printed book. Director and screenwriter John Waters is a fantastic storyteller and spends much of his time these days giving talks across the country. My favorite parts of his new book are when he digs really deep into tiny niches of popular culture, breaking down the teenage death pop songs of the 1950s and ’60s and suggesting, “Aren’t all country songs novelty songs in a way?” Waters also gives great background on his guerrilla filmmaking career and reveals how he convinced studios to give him funding after so many box-office misses. He even provides details about some of his movie pitches that never got made. I’m still holding out for the mod Hairspray sequel!

You don’t have to be a fan of the HBO series “Veep,” which A Woman First: First Woman (6 hours) is based on, to enjoy listening to it. Although a familiarity with the show will add to the experience, you just need a healthy sense of humor about American politics. In the show, Selina Meyer serves as vice president before becoming president for a term, and she is running for president again when this book is set. Julia Louis-­Dreyfus is hilarious as Selina, who reads this (clearly ghostwritten) book about her life and passes off the boring bits to her dutiful personal aide, Gary, who is played by Tony Hale. Autobiographies have become de rigueur for anyone considering a run for office, and this book does not go easy on the genre. It’s a shockingly funny takedown of political self-
importance and a biting satire of the political memoir.

Starred review Beth O’Leary’s debut novel is a cute, cozy work of British pop fiction that’s hard to put down. After a bad breakup, Tiffy moves in with Leon, a nurse who works the night shift, because he only needs his flat during the day.…
Science Fiction & FantasyRomanceNonfictionFictionAudioMemoir

Audio: August 2019

Feature by Anna Zeitlin

★Waiting for Tom Hanks
In this charmingly sweet romance from Kerry Winfrey, a lovable aspiring screenwriter named Annie Cassidy is obsessed with Nora Ephron movies and finding her own Tom Hanks. To Annie, Tom Hanks—the star of several of Ephron’s most beloved romantic comedies—represents her dream man. He’s an everyman who believes in love at first sight and maybe even lives on a houseboat à la Sleepless in Seattle. In contrast, Annie lives with her Dungeons & Dragons-loving uncle, and her dating prospects are looking grim. When a movie production takes over her neighborhood, it brings with it several men who vie for her attention. Will she end up with the grip who checks all her boxes, or with the handsome movie star she keeps bumping into but couldn’t possibly have a chance with? With fun, engaging narration from Rachel L. Jacobs, Waiting for Tom Hanks is a pure delight from beginning to end.

Out East
Out East is a memoir about one summer in the Long Island beach town of Montauk, where John Glynn, his friends and some loose acquaintances go in together on a summer home. Glynn feels like the odd man out in a group mostly populated by women, gay men and Wall Street bros. But as feelings develop for one of his new friends, it turns out he might fit in better than he thought. Glynn has a knack for details, is skilled at place-setting and displays a true love of language, which he deploys effortlessly. It’s a small, personal story about Glynn figuring out who he truly is over one wild summer of weekends away from the city. Michael Crouch lends an earnestness to the narration. As focused as the story is, he makes everything feel big and new.

The Lesson
A strong debut from Cadwell Turnbull, The Lesson does what all the best science fiction does: It uses the supernatural to reveal something true about our world. The book is set in the U.S. Virgin Islands five years after the Ynaa, an advanced alien race, arrived to study humans. The Ynaa live mostly peacefully with humans, at least for the time being. Most people are willing to put up with the occasional killing at the hands of the Ynaa in exchange for their science and medicine, but eventually enough is enough. Narrators Janina Edwards and Ron Butler do a fantastic job setting us in the islands, and their accents draw extra attention to the colonial elements of alien invasion that mirror our own history. It’s worth a listen for anyone with an interest in sci-fi.

★Waiting for Tom Hanks In this charmingly sweet romance from Kerry Winfrey, a lovable aspiring screenwriter named Annie Cassidy is obsessed with Nora Ephron movies and finding her own Tom Hanks. To Annie, Tom Hanks—the star of several of Ephron’s most beloved romantic comedies—represents her…
FictionAudio

Audio: September 2019

Feature by Anna Zeitlin

★Fleishman Is in Trouble
Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s stunning debut novel explores middle age, parenthood, divorce and the subjective nature of how we perceive other people, even those closest to us. Toby Fleishman is going through a divorce and discovers he’s a hot commodity on all the new dating apps. But when his ex-wife, Rachel, doesn’t pick up the kids when it’s her turn, he’s forced to navigate parenthood and dating while wondering what happened to his marriage—and to Rachel. He paints her as a neglectful mother and ruthless social climber with little care for his input. She makes more money, and he feels like he put his career on the back burner for her. But wait till you see her point of view. Read by Allyson Ryan with humor and attitude, Fleishman Is in Trouble is a ruthless look at class and relationships in modern-day Manhattan.

Whisper Network
A North Texas-based athletic wear company gets shaken up when the “bad man list” is passed around in Chandler Baker’s Whisper Network. When one of those bad men is up for a promotion to CEO of the company, enough is enough. Four very different women—from high-powered lawyers to a member of the custodial staff—come together to stand up to him and to the company willing to overlook his history of sexual harassment. This #MeToo revenge fantasy makes for a fun listen with a bit of mystery, exploring women’s lives, their relationships to work and how they deal with the bad men they are forced to answer to. Narrator Almarie Guerra does a nimble job portraying the different women with honesty and sympathy.

Conviction
When Anna McDonald’s husband announces he’s leaving her for her best friend, she finds comfort in true crime podcasts—until she recognizes the victim of her new favorite podcast as a man she once knew. When her best friend’s has-been rock-star husband turns up on her doorstep, he becomes the unwitting accomplice in helping her unravel the podcast’s mystery. Soon they’re jet-setting around Europe as Anna becomes entangled with assassins and uncovers a plot involving one of the richest, most secretive people in the world. Much of Conviction takes place in Scotland, and narrator Cathleen McCarron does a great job with accents and secret identities. Denise Mina’s latest thriller is a fun, edge-of-your-seat listen that feels very contemporary with its use of social media and podcasts to drive the story forward.

★Fleishman Is in Trouble Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s stunning debut novel explores middle age, parenthood, divorce and the subjective nature of how we perceive other people, even those closest to us. Toby Fleishman is going through a divorce and discovers he’s a hot commodity on all the…
NonfictionFictionAudio

Audio: October 2019

Feature by Anna Zeitlin

★ Trick Mirror
Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion, a book of nine original essays from New Yorker writer Jia Tolentino, makes for great listening. She finds a personal angle to big topics within our modern culture, such as in “The I in the Internet” when Tolentino takes the listener through her personal history with the internet (which will be familiar to anyone who browsed the web in the 1990s and early 2000s), traces it to the modern day and reveals how it has shaped our realities. She draws connections between radical political movements and the way popular websites encourage us to turn inward. She comes to a stark conclusion about the way we allow ourselves to be used by corporations. In another essay, she reflects on her experience as a reality TV star and provides insight into the medium. Tolentino narrates the essays herself, which emphasizes her sharp wit and adds an intimacy to the more personal stories.

Never Have I Ever
In Never Have I Ever, Amy’s blissful, suburban Florida life is turned upside down when new neighbor Roux shows up at her book club and turns the discussion toward everyone’s deepest, darkest secrets. Roux earns a living through blackmail, and Amy gets tangled up in something far beyond a party game. This is a fun thriller grounded in textured relationships that include a controlling best friend and a quirky teenage stepdaughter. I kept thinking I knew where the story was going, but there were twists upon twists I truly could not see coming. Author Joshilyn Jackson does a pitch-perfect job narrating her own novel. The Alabama-born writer gets the pretend-nice, passive-aggressive, classically Southern voice just right.

Going Dutch
All the characters in James Gregor’s debut novel are horrible people, but I couldn’t help but root for them. Richard is a Ph.D. candidate struggling with writer’s block. His classmate Anne helps him by doing his work for him, buying him fancy meals and paying for taxis. In return, she expects a romantic relationship, and he is happy to oblige—despite being gay. It all comes to a head when things get serious between Richard and a former online fling. He is forced to choose between the handsome lawyer, who’s definitely husband material (even if he’s a little too into Ayn Rand), and the woman who holds the key to his academic success. Going Dutch pokes fun at online dating, New York intellectuals, money and manners. Narrator Michael David Axtell infuses Richard’s inner monologues with wry humor, making his observations even more biting.

★ Trick Mirror Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion, a book of nine original essays from New Yorker writer Jia Tolentino, makes for great listening. She finds a personal angle to big topics within our modern culture, such as in “The I in the Internet” when Tolentino…
NonfictionAudioPop CultureMusicMemoir

5 audiobooks to feed your pop culture diet

Feature by Anna Zeitlin

From lowbrow to highbrow TV, from comic books to rock ’n’ roll, here are five audiobooks to feed your pop culture diet. Whether your ears are tuned to licentious behind-the-scenes stories or erudite critiques, there’s something for anyone who hasn’t been hiding under a rock for the last century.

Bachelor Nation, written and read by Amy Kaufman
This is an absolute must-listen for anyone who’s ever watched “The Bachelor” and wondered what goes on behind the scenes, and for anyone curious about the tricks employed by reality TV. We learn how producers use editing to tell whatever story they want to tell, no matter what was really said. Any casual viewer knows how petty the contestants can be, but this book reveals just how ruthless the people behind the scenes can be, too. If you ever audition for the show, never reveal your fear of heights, unless you want to be the one selected for the sky-diving date. Whether you love the show or love to hate it, the juicy, tell-all nature of this audiobook makes it hard to press pause.

I Like to Watch, written and read by Emily Nussbaum
Emily Nussbaum, TV critic for The New Yorker, shares a collection of essays that treats television with respect, acknowledging it as the art form it has become. Twenty years into what many call TV’s second golden age, this is the perfect time to look back on the pivotal shows like “The Sopranos,” “Sex and the City” and even “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” all of which set TV on the path it’s on today. She delves into the difficult question of the #MeToo era: Can we still consume art by bad men? I found myself nodding along to the whole audiobook. It’s a thoughtful, opinionated collection of essays and a masterclass in critical writing.

Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine, written by Joe Hagan, read by Dennis Boutsikaris
Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner’s life makes for a fascinating lens through which to view the changing music- and magazine-publishing industries in the later half of the 20th century. He created legends, cementing John Lennon’s legacy as a rock god and building up the mythology behind rock ’n’ roll and the 1960s as a magically creative time. He lifted up the careers of Annie Lebowitz, Cameron Crowe and Hunter S. Thompson. He’s also a total narcissist, and this book pulls no punches. He puts profits over friendship time and again. He’s a successful business mogul, but at what cost? Joe Hagan had incredible access for this book and doesn’t hold anything back.

The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture, written and read by Glen Weldon
This book tracks the history of Batman from his origin as a Shadow knock-off, created to compete with Superman, and through all his permutations in comics, movies and cartoons. Author Glen Weldon posits that the most essential part of Batman is his pledge: When his parents are murdered, he vows to defend the defenseless. The adaptations that have ignored this part of his character are the ones that fail to connect with readers and viewers. Weldon draws a distinction between male and female fans: Male fans complain, make death threats and beg creators for the version of Batman they most relate to; female fans create their own versions, with stories they want to hear, using the characters they love in fan fiction. Weldon is a dynamic narrator, adopting New York and Scottish accents when quoting comic book authors. His “mad fan” voice is particularly skewering.

My Life as a Goddess, written and read by Guy Branum
Writer/comedian Guy Branum uses pop culture as a framing device for his memoir. As a kid, he watched old TV shows to learn about the world. His essay “The Man Who Watched The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” is a beautiful portrait of his relationship with a father who didn’t quite understand him but was proud of him. He does a line-by-line breakdown of “Bohemian Rhopsody” by Queen, interpreted as a coming-out tale that shines a whole new light on the song. Branum’s repeated line “and then I remembered, I am a Goddess” is an inspiring mantra that will boost any listener’s self-confidence. He has a way of throwing out biting asides that make this audiobook that much more fun than the book.

From lowbrow to highbrow TV, from comic books to rock ’n’ roll, here are five audiobooks to feed your pop culture diet.
AudioClassics

Audio: November 2019

Feature by Anna Zeitlin

★ The Dutch House
Tom Hanks summons up a kind of nostalgic Americana in his reading of Ann Patchett’s new novel, The Dutch House, a modern wicked-stepmother fable that follows narrator Danny and his older sister, Maeve, throughout their lives. After Danny and Maeve’s mother abandons them, their father remarries a woman who has no interest in them. When he dies and leaves almost everything to their stepmother, including their grand house, the injustice of it guides the rest of their lives. Patchett effortlessly navigates through time, capturing the essence of her characters’ stories in a subtle portrait. Hanks truly transforms into Danny; after hearing his narration, I can’t imagine the book without it.

The Water Dancer
In The Water Dancer, Ta-Nehisi Coates’ magical debut novel, readers meet Hiram, an enslaved man with special abilities. Through Hiram’s struggles and those of the people he encounters, Coates makes the emotional costs of slavery tangible, from the families who are separated to the free mother whose children are taken from her and sold. Coates gives his characters an original way of speaking that captures the ethos of the time without being confusing to the modern ear. He refers to the enslaved as the “Tasked” and the enslavers as the “Quality,” an intentional choice that encourages the listener to question the word slave and its denial of humanity. Hearing the words spoken in actor Joe Morton’s rich voice ties the book to the oral tradition and entrenches the story in legend. Coates brings his experience in journalism and nonfiction to ground the book in research, using history to create something new and wholly original.

Mythos
With endless British wit, Stephen Fry puts his own spin on classical Greek mythology in Mythos. The storylines stick pretty closely to the classics, while the added playfulness is all Fry. He fleshes out the gods, heroes and mortals, giving them more personality and filling in their interpersonal relationships. Their nutty antics play out in an absurd fashion. It’s what would happen if you handed Monty Python the keys to Mount Olympus. Fry has a strong love for the English language, which his narration reinforces as beautifully strung words slip over his tongue, and his dry delivery bolsters the comedy. It’s a good listen for families with teens, but a bit risqué for young children.

★ The Dutch House Tom Hanks summons up a kind of nostalgic Americana in his reading of Ann Patchett’s new novel, The Dutch House, a modern wicked-stepmother fable that follows narrator Danny and his older sister, Maeve, throughout their lives. After Danny and Maeve’s mother abandons…
AudioMysteryMemoir

Audio: December 2019

Feature by Anna Zeitlin

★ Medallion Status
In his laugh-out-loud new memoir, Medallion Status, John Hodgman navigates his new life as a former celebrity, as he discovers that he’s less famous than a pair of Instagram dogs. He explores his obsession with achieving higher levels of loyalty status to his favorite airline and shares the private spaces he’s been admitted to, including a party where a man who walked on the moon feels unworthy of attending,  a top-secret lounge at the airport and his favorite fancy Hollywood hotel. He also shares places he’s been prohibited from entering, including a Scientology center said to contain a bottomless pit and Mar-a-Lago. In this excellent memoir full of astute moments of nuanced observation, Hodgman explores his myriad interests, from extinct hockey to ska, which inform his unique perspective. This is definitely one you’ll want the audiobook for, as Hodgman’s delivery really helps his jokes land. There’s also one line in the memoir that Hodgman can’t bear to read aloud; you need to hear the A-list celeb he brings in to read it.

Make It Scream, Make It Burn
Leslie Jamison’s essays in Make It Scream, Make It Burn cover a wide range of topics. In the opening essay, “52 Blue,” she talks about a whale whose call is twice as loud as all other whales in the ocean, and about his human devotees who have ascribed their own meanings to his call, projecting loneliness or heartbreak onto the whale and creating stories about his life. In other essays, Jamison learns about people living through the video game Second Life, about a photographer who spends 20 years traveling to Mexico to photograph the same family and about her own experience of becoming a stepmother and buying the wrong Frozen doll. Jamison reads in a direct, matter-of-fact voice, underscored with a tinge of longing. Her narration emphasizes the melancholic but hopeful tone of the book.

Now You See Them
Detective Edgar Stephens and magician Max Mephisto return in Elly Griffiths’ fifth Magic Men mystery, Now You See Them, set in mid-1960s England amid battles between gangs of mods and rockers. When an American matinee idol comes to town and one of his biggest fans goes missing, Detective Stephens is on the case, but his wife, a former detective, gets ideas of her own for how to solve it. As more young women disappear, the race is on to find the kidnapper in this light mystery with a fun setting. With a background in British theater, James Langton brings his acting chops to the narration. His proper English accent is well suited to the material.

New audiobooks from John Hodgman, Leslie Jamison and Elly Griffiths make for excellent listening.
NonfictionFictionAudioMemoir

Audio: January 2020

Feature by Anna Zeitlin

Three recent stellar audio releases.

★ The Witches Are Coming
The titular feminist rallying cry of The Witches Are Coming echoes throughout Shrill writer Lindy West’s latest collection of essays, which explores personal stories and pop culture through the lens of our current political reality. West has a wonderfully dry wit, and her biting narration makes her essays even funnier. Just the way she reads the chapter title “Is Adam Sandler Funny?” had me laughing, and then she goes on to explore not only Sandler’s jokes but also their impact on a generation of men. In another essay, she describes attending a conference by Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle brand, Goop, which she approaches with an open mind, allowing folks to have fun with their crystals, then points out the class disparities of the wellness industry. West brings humor and her resolutely feminist perspective to each topic.

Me
Elton John reflects on his life in Me, looking back on his youth as a poor boy in a broken home, his years as a struggling musician and eventually his life as a rock legend and humanitarian. He speaks with distance and clarity about his bulimia and addictions to cocaine and alcohol. He finds humor in those dark days, like the time Andy Warhol showed up at John Lennon’s apartment, and Lennon and John had to pretend they weren’t home so Warhol wouldn’t capture their piles of cocaine with his famous Polaroid. John’s friendly rivalry with Rod Stewart pops up throughout the book, as each takes great pride in sabotaging the other and gloating over his successes. John is ready to retire from the road and wants to spend more time with his family, but he clearly isn’t done creating. He reads the beginning and end of the audiobook, with Taron Egerton taking over the bulk of the narration. Egerton recently played John in the biopic Rocketman, and he easily jumps back into the role, providing a dynamic narration filled with earnest enthusiasm.

Nothing to See Here
In Kevin Wilson’s latest novel, Nothing to See Here, Lillian leaps at the chance to help her former best friend, Madison, despite past betrayals. Madison is married to a wealthy Tennessee senator, and when his ex-wife dies, he takes in their two children. But the thing is, these kids burst into flames. Lillian drops everything to become their governess and help Madison raise these weird fire children. This bizarre, captivating novel questions what makes a family and satirizes Southern gentility and politicians. Marin Ireland does a great job with the narration, creating unique voices for each character that reveal their personalities, even the young children’s.

Three recent stellar audio releases.
★ The Witches Are Coming The titular feminist rallying cry of The Witches Are Coming echoes throughout Shrill writer Lindy West’s latest collection of essays, which explores personal stories and pop culture through the lens of our current political reality. West…
AudioWomen's HistoryBiography

Audio: February 2020

Feature by Anna Zeitlin

A trio of recent audiobook standouts includes a bio of a beloved actress, a hymn to all things soft and snuggly and a tribute to the unsung women of Disney.

★ Carrie Fisher 

Even if Carrie Fisher had never starred in one of the biggest movie franchises of all time, she still would have lived a life worth writing about, and author Sheila Weller tells the full story in Carrie Fisher: A Life on the Edge (Macmillan Audio, 13.5 hours). Fisher was a witty novelist, a top Hollywood script doctor, an addict, a child of celebrities and a performer of a one-woman show. She was also bipolar, an extremely thoughtful gift-giver and a thrower of legendary parties. I think Fisher would have appreciated the humor with which Weller portrays her life and the way she balances darkness with light. Award-winning narrator Saskia Maarleveld nimbly strikes this balance as well, giving the darker moments of Fisher’s life the weight they deserve while ably delivering her jokes, a vital skill when quoting this beloved icon.

Cosy

Cosy is a necessary counterpoint to the sleek, minimalist, Danish modern style of interior design that’s so popular today. This audiobook teaches you not only how to decorate your home for maximum comfort but also how to live your life to its “cosiest” (the British spelling, please). After listening to it, I was ready to throw out all my Ikea furniture and curl up in a Welsh woven blanket with a pot of tea and one of the cosy books recommended by author Laura Weir. She offers suggestions for cosy charities (because giving back makes you feel good), cosy vacation stays, cosy recipes and cosy clothing, all with a lighthearted sense of humor. Narrator Michelle Ford’s peaceful, meditative voice is the perfect guide through ultimate cosiness.

The Queens of Animation

The women behind Disney’s most famous animated features finally get their due in this well-researched book from Nathalia Holt. Even if you’re not already interested in animation, The Queens of Animation is worth listening to for its insight into the changing roles of women in the workforce throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries. Many creative women have been involved in the menial tasks of animation since its early days, but this book focuses on the women who were integral to the look of Disney’s earliest films, despite Walt Disney’s original policy of not hiring women for creative roles. Surviving in a male-dominated industry, the women are linked by their talent and gumption. Narrator Saskia Maarleveld has a compelling way of telling the story—one that pulls you in further, like she’s confiding a dark secret.

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A trio of recent audiobook standouts includes a bio of a beloved actress, a hymn to all things soft and snuggly and a tribute to the unsung women of Disney.
NonfictionFictionAudioYA FictionYASocial Science

Audio: March 2020

Feature by Anna Zeitlin

Whether fact or fiction, this month’s best audio selections challenge the heart and the mind with thought-provoking stories. 

★ Such a Fun Age 

In Kiley Reid’s debut novel, Such a Fun Age, Emira is a black woman babysitting for a white family while figuring out what to do with her life. Late one night, while perusing a supermarket’s aisles with the family’s toddler, she is accused of kidnapping. In this intense scene, the listener is put in the shoes of a young black woman who may be sent to jail—or worse—for something so obviously unjust. Emira’s name is cleared, but the event shifts her relationship with her employer. The mom, Alix, wants Emira to view her as a trusted friend while continuing to treat her like a servant. When someone from Alix’s past gets tangled up in Emira’s life, things get even crazier. Narrator Nicole Lewis so effortlessly switches between Emira and Alix that I thought there were two narrators. This is a thoroughly fun listen with the feel of a good gossip sesh, but it’s also an utterly current take on race and class in America with the power to transform how many listeners view and react to the subtle cues of racism.

Tightrope

With Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope, Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn address the devastating challenges faced by working-class Americans as they attempt to gain an even footing, let alone try to achieve the American dream. The book narrows in on real stories, tells us where we went wrong as a country and offers hopeful solutions—if we’ll only listen and make a change. Listening to the audiobook feels like bingeing a few great episodes of “This American Life.” Personal stories from blue-collar America show the lives behind the statistics and make their struggles hard to ignore. Actor Jennifer Garner, narrating an audiobook for the first time, lends an emotional weight to these harrowing stories.

Loveboat, Taipei

Abigail Hing Wen’s fun and exciting Loveboat, Taipei follows 18-year-old dancer Ever Wong, an Ohio-raised teen who has little in common with her Chinese parents. She feels pressured by them to go to medical school instead of pursuing her love for dance and choreography. When they send her to Taipei to study Chinese during the summer before college, she thinks she’s being punished. Instead, she discovers a thrilling world run by smart, creative teenagers where love connections abound. Narrator Emily Woo Zeller navigates a large cast of characters from multiple countries and regions and captures Ever’s earnest passion and inner turmoil.

Whether fact or fiction, this month’s best audio selections challenge the heart and the mind with thought-provoking stories. 
NonfictionFictionAudio

Audio: April 2020

Feature by Anna Zeitlin

Listen to an all-star cast take on landmark ACLU cases, an eerie take on a social media dystopia or an author’s self-narrated memoir in essays.

★ Fight of the Century

Fight of the Century, edited by Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman, includes essays by 40 writers on different ACLU court cases that helped define and protect our civil liberties over the past century. Anyone with even a passing interest in constitutional law and the Bill of Rights will be enthralled by this audiobook. The writers make history personal and breathe life into what could be a dry subject. For example, Homegoing author Yaa Gyasi takes on Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. Reflecting on growing up in the Huntsville, Alabama, public school system, she provides new insight and reminds us that our work is not finished. The narration is performed by an all-star voice cast including Samuel L. Jackson, Lucy Liu, Zachary Quinto, Patrick Stewart and many others. The changing voices keep things lively, and many actors bring a personal element to the narration, their own backgrounds reflective of those in the cases being discussed.

Followers

Megan Angelo’s Followers tells two parallel stories in the 2010s and 2050s about how far people will go to achieve fame—and to escape it. This pop culture sci-fi book’s grim (or maybe just too-real) vision of the not-so-distant future pushes the concepts of social media influencers and reality stars to their extremes. In the future, stars have product sponsorships and live their whole lives on camera. But instead of staring at devices all day, the technology is implanted directly in your body, and it’s very hard to disconnect. Narrator Jayme Mattler has a cold, dissociated style that adds to the story’s eeriness. It’s like The Truman Show for the 21st century.

Here for It

Here for It: Or, How to Save Your Soul in America is a collection of funny, touching essays about R. Eric Thomas’ life. As a black kid growing up in urban Baltimore, Thomas imagines the horrors that lurk in the suburbs of his mostly white classmates’ neighborhoods. As a gay Christian, he navigates dating a horror-loving agnostic and dealing with his certainly bedeviled Krampus Christmas decoration. When Thomas falls in love with a preacher, he realizes that his life doesn’t fit into the expectations for a preacher’s spouse. Thomas doesn’t shy away from strong opinions, and his narration provides the perfect tone for sassy asides, making these deeply personal stories even more so.

Listen to an all-star cast take on landmark ACLU cases, an eerie take on a social media dystopia or an author's self-narrated memoir in essays.
RomanceAudioYA NonfictionYAMemoir

Audio: May 2020

Feature by Anna Zeitlin

A clear-eyed examination of racism, a rollicking coming-of-age memoir and a romance that’s truly for everyone top this month’s best audiobooks.

★ Stamped

In Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, Jason Reynolds uses his own voice to reinterpret Ibram X. Kendi’s Stamped From the Beginning for young readers. He traces the origins of racism in the United States back hundreds of years, to when Greek philosophy and the Bible were first used to justify enslaving Africans with dark skin. In an engaging storytelling style intended for a young audience but appealing to anyone, Reynolds delves into different periods in American history to uncover the racism hiding in plain sight and how it connects to today. He equips listeners with the tools to notice when something is racist and to be antiracist in their own lives. Reynolds’ narration has a poetic, hip vibe that keeps the book flowing and never feeling like homework. This would make a great listen for the whole family, especially when incorporating breaks for discussion.

Everything I Know About Love

Dolly Alderton’s Everything I Know About Love, a touching memoir of early adulthood’s hilarious highs and relatable lows, is a must-read for anyone who grew up learning to talk to a crush through instant messengers. Alderton breaks up the memoir’s chapters with lists of the absolute truths that she believes about love at different ages in her life; the lists charmingly contradict each other as she gains maturity and perspective. Alderton makes for a delightful narrator despite, as she mentions, hating her posh, British boarding school accent. Her wit shines through, especially when narrating an imaginary, over-the-top bachelorette party from hell.

Undercover Bromance

Undercover Bromance, written by Lyssa Kay Adams, delivers on the goofy action the title promises. The bromance book club is made up of Nashville’s movers and shakers, from the city’s top athletes to its elite businessmen, including nightclub owner Braden Mack. When Braden accidentally gets Liv fired from her dream job as a pastry chef, he helps her get revenge on her sexual harasser boss. The fun cast of characters includes a hippie farmer landlord, a Vietnam vet who’s a softy at heart and a Russian hockey player who tells it like it is. Narrator Andrew Eiden’s macho, tough-guy voice is suited to this testosterone-laden romance novel that fully embraces the form and proves that romance can be for anybody.

A clear-eyed examination of racism, a rollicking coming-of-age memoir and a romance that's truly for everyone top this month’s best audiobooks.
Audio

Audio: June 2020

Feature by Anna Zeitlin

Shockingly funny essays, a necessary new collection and a historic reimagining: three can’t-miss audiobooks to listen to right now.

★ Wow, No Thank You.

Samantha Irby’s latest essay collection, Wow, No Thank You, is the cynical, shockingly funny audio­book that’s been missing from your life. Irby is a transplant from Chicago to suburban Michigan, plus a stint in Hollywood, and her fish-out-of-­water stories are delightfully hilarious. A proponent of staying in, Irby makes the art of turning down party invitations sound like the most fun you’ve ever had, and getting a voicemail from a friend the worst of horrors. Irby is frank and fearless, so if bodily functions make you uncomfortable, this is not the book for you. But if you admire a bold, brash woman who clearly enjoys telling it like it is, you won’t be able to stop laughing. Irby is already funny on the page, but she has a special gift for comedic delivery, and her narration adds even more laughs to the book.

Hitting a Straight Lick With a Crooked Stick

Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick, edited by Genevieve West, collects a variety of Harlem Renaissance legend Zora Neale Hurston’s early short stories. It’s a fascinating time capsule of early 20th-century urban and rural life, with roots in African American folklore. Narrator Aunjanue Ellis, an actor you may know from ABC’s “Quantico,” has a warm, liquid voice and a poetic rhythm that brings Hurston’s stories to life. Her narration makes Hurston’s signature dialect feel natural and modern, and her emotional performance lends additional depth to Hurston’s already strong characters.

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Aunjanue Ellis discusses her experience narrating Zora Neale Hurston’s collection of short stories.

Miss Austen

Gill Hornby’s novel Miss Austen follows Jane Austen’s sister, Cassandra, as an elderly woman in 1840 England. Cassandra attempts to preserve Jane’s legacy by finding and destroying emotionally revealing letters that Jane wrote to a friend. Janeites will enjoy the story’s romance, mystery and social observations, but Hornby deals with aging and regret in a way the English novelist was never able to do, and fans will be surprised by some of Miss Austen’s most honest moments. Cassandra’s story beautifully addresses how history chooses to remember women—and the way that, for the most part, it doesn’t remember them at all. As a writer who is the sister of a famous author (Nick Hornby), Hornby is the perfect person to tell this tale, and actor Juliet Stevenson provides a very proper English narration that’s fitting for the early Victorian setting.

Shockingly funny essays, a necessary new collection and a historic reimagining: three can’t-miss audiobooks to listen to right now.

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