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NonfictionAudioEssays

The Anthropocene Reviewed

Review by Anna Zeitlin

Based on John Green’s podcast of the same name, The Anthropocene Reviewed (10 hours) is a collection of essays structured as reviews of the human experience. Known for such young adult novels as The Fault in Our Stars and Turtles All the Way Down, this is Green’s first nonfiction book for adults but hopefully not his last. From sublime sunsets to the unbearable feeling of mortification to odd fascinations like the Hall of Presidents and Piggly Wiggly, he makes even the most obscure topics compelling. 

With storytelling skills from years as a podcaster and YouTuber, Green makes for a fantastic narrator. This is a truly gratifying listening experience; only the audiobook edition offers the opportunity to be part of a melancholy World War I singalong. 

No matter how you know of Green, whether from his previous books, podcast, vlogs or as a YouTube world history teacher, you’ll find something to enjoy in this audiobook.

With storytelling skills from years as a podcaster and YouTuber, John Green makes even the most obscure topics compelling in his audiobook.
NonfictionAudioBlack History

How the Word Is Passed

Review by Autumn Allen

Writer, poet and educator Clint Smith narrates the audio edition of How the Word Is Passed (10 hours), a timely reckoning with America’s past dependence on the cruel institution of chattel slavery. Smith brings the listener on a tour of locations with fraught ties to the transatlantic slave trade, from his hometown of New Orleans to Senegal. He reads his smooth, journalistic prose in a weighty, measured cadence. Listeners will find themselves paying closer attention and appreciating the author’s perspective even more because of how Smith’s narration lends gravity to his experiences and purpose to their telling.

Those who appreciate a good documentary will feel most at home with this audiobook. The content is heavy, at times nearly overwhelming, but Smith’s factual storytelling voice, with fitting but muted inflection throughout, models the courage and fortitude required to take it all in. This book is a generous gift to a nation struggling to define itself.

 

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: From a Louisiana native to a D.C. high school teacher to a Harvard Ph.D. candidate to a staff writer for The Atlantic—Clint Smith shares the journey that led to his brilliant nonfiction debut.

Clint Smith’s narration of How the Word Is Passed models the courage and fortitude required to face this timely reckoning with America’s past.
NonfictionAudioBlack History

We Are Each Other’s Harvest

Review by Mari Carlson

The audiobook of Natalie Baszile’s We Are Each Other’s Harvest: Celebrating African American Farmers, Land, and Legacy (13.5 hours) explores farming by Black Americans, past and present, through essays, interviews and poetry from farmers and historians, wordsmiths and activists. The expansive project, born out of Baszile’s extensive research for her 2014 novel, Queen Sugar, is bookended by the author’s own words about her family and her creative process. In between, we learn about the Black community’s enduring connection to the land despite slavery’s disenfranchisement and northern and urban migration, among other factors.

Tina Lifford, an actor in the TV adaptation of Queen Sugar as well as the series “Parenthood” and “South Central,” captures the book’s soulful tone through her deep voice, slow delivery and an array of accents. Her performance pays tribute to the Black community’s oral history tradition, which is referenced throughout the book. 

With rich descriptions of crops, recipes, family meals and current efforts to revitalize Black farming and land ownership, this audiobook inspires, empowers and enlightens through the spoken word.

 

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read our review of the print version of We Are Each Other’s Harvest.

With rich descriptions of crops, recipes, family meals and more, this audiobook inspires, empowers and enlightens through spoken word.
NonfictionAudioEssays

The Wreckage of My Presence

Review by Anna Zeitlin

You may know Casey Wilson from her brief stint as a cast member on “Saturday Night Live,” from her role on the beloved sitcom “Happy Endings” or maybe from her podcast on the Real Housewives, “Bitch Sesh.” But if you’re not familiar with her, you’ll certainly want to be after listening to her collection of essays, The Wreckage of My Presence (6.5 hours). As author and narrator, Wilson touches on all these projects, but you don’t have to be a pop culture devotee to find something relatable in her essays. 

Each story is moving and hilarious, whether she’s trying to get out of an awkward dinner party, processing the death of her mother or recounting all the ways “people don’t know how to act.” Listening to Wilson’s narration is like getting good gossip from one of your funniest friends. She’s grounded but oh-so-hilarious, a combination that makes this audiobook a must-listen.

Read our review of the print version of The Wreckage of My Presence.

Listening to Casey Wilson’s essay collection is like getting good gossip from one of your funniest friends.
NonfictionAudioMemoir

How Y’all Doing?

Review by Anna Zeitlin

Emmy Award winner Leslie Jordan is making the most of his sudden internet superstardom with his new book, How Y’all Doing? Misadventures and Mischief From a Life Well Lived (4 hours). After decades as an underappreciated character actor on a long list of sitcoms, Jordan is coming to terms with his newfound celebrity status and the opportunities it has presented, including achieving his lifelong dream of recording a duet with Dolly Parton.

In the early days of the COVID-19 quarantine, Jordan began posting very funny videos to his Instagram account, gossiping into the camera, coining memorable catchphrases, telling stories about his Mama and gaining millions of new fans. His knack for storytelling transfers beautifully to this new audiobook. He discusses growing up as a gay child on a Southern horse farm and shares juicy Hollywood gossip, from his experience of working with Lady Gaga to how actor Debbie Reynolds convinced his Mama not to worry so much about what he gets up to in California. 

Jordan’s twangy Tennessee drawl adds so much personality to the audiobook; you can really hear the laughter and joy in his voice as he reads some of his funnier stories.

You can hear the laughter and joy in Leslie Jordan’s voice as he reads the funniest stories in his new audiobook.
NonfictionAudioHistory

Facing the Mountain

Review by G. Robert Frazier

Bestselling author Daniel James Brown’s enthralling new book, Facing the Mountain (17.5 hours), describes the heroism of Japanese Americans who joined the Army to fight for the U.S. after the December 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor. While nearly 80 years have passed since that infamous day, Brown’s impassioned account of the trials and tribulations that Japanese Americans faced afterward is eerily reflective of the unjust hatred heaped on Asian Americans in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The audiobook is capably narrated by American actor Louis Ozawa, whose ability to speak both English and Japanese serves him well as he tells the stories of four soldiers and their families who gallantly proved their dedication to their country despite the bigotry they faced. Ozawa’s performance is inspiring and uplifting as he delivers a resounding call for respect after years of hate.

Read our starred review of the print version of Facing the Mountain.

Actor Louis Ozawa’s performance is inspiring and uplifting as he delivers a resounding call for respect after years of hate.
AudioScienceHistory

Empire of Pain

Review by G. Robert Frazier

New Yorker staff writer Patrick Radden Keefe’s exhaustive research for Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty (18 hours) makes him the natural choice to narrate his own audiobook. Keefe knows exactly which points to stress for listeners of this story, which he calls “the taproot of the opioid epidemic” in America—not that added emphasis is really needed, as the book’s content is shocking enough.

In jaw-dropping detail, Keefe recounts the greed, deception and corruption at the heart of the Sackler family’s multigenerational quest for wealth and social status. Renowned for their philanthropy, the Sacklers built their fortune through the pharmaceutical industry in the 1940s and ’50s, making calculated moves in medical advertising and with the Food and Drug Administration. Keefe brilliantly traces the Sacklers’ path toward developing controversial pharmaceutical products such as the anti-anxiety medicine Valium and the highly addictive painkiller OxyContin via their company, Purdue Pharma.

The 18-plus hours that it takes to listen to this mind-blowing history may seem intimidating at first, but Keefe’s masterful storytelling makes it worth every minute.

New Yorker staff writer Patrick Radden Keefe’s exhaustive research for Empire of Pain makes him the natural choice to narrate his own audiobook.
FictionAudioHistorical Fiction

The Rose Code

Review by Deborah Mason

Bletchley Park, the mansion where Oxford dons and crossword puzzlers cracked the German Enigma code, was so shrouded in secrecy that mentioning you worked there could land you in prison. In The Rose Code (15.5 hours), historical novelist Kate Quinn vividly conjures Bletchley through the tale of three unlikely friends from very different backgrounds: socialite Osla, social climber Mab and antisocial Beth. Quinn blends rich characterization, fast pacing and meticulous historical research to tell a story of friendship, tragic betrayal and treason. 

Award-winning narrator Saskia Maarleveld gives life to each of the friends, using realistic accents to underscore the class differences that would have made their friendship impossible in any other scenario. All the other characters, no matter how minor, receive Maarleveld’s full devotion as well, as she taps into the novel’s wide-ranging cast to audibly re-create the complexity and chaos of war-torn Britain. Her deep, husky, mysterious voice is perfect for a story that, after all, centers on an Enigma.

The Rose Code is a terrific story, brilliantly performed. Or as Osla would say, it’s a real corker!

The Rose Code is a terrific story, brilliantly performed by Saskia Maarleveld. Or as Osla would say, it’s a real corker!
NonfictionAudioSelf-Help

Professional Troublemaker

Review by Mari Carlson

Luvvie Ajayi Jones’ Professional Troublemaker: The Fear-Fighter Manual (8 hours) is a candid, can-do guide to making the world a better place by cultivating a better you. Narrated by the bestselling author, three sections—“Be,” “Say” and “Do”—detail steps toward understanding the core of yourself and making decisions based on those crucial personal values. Jones describes her own process and experiences, draws inspiration from her Nigerian heritage and shows what it looks like to live authentically in a judgmental world, with her grandmother as her favorite example.

Famous for her blog posts, podcast and TED Talks, Jones will hype up even the most fearful listener with her commanding, cheerful voice. She recommends that professional-troublemakers-in-the-making find friends or aunties to “gas [them] up” and cheer them on in their journey, and for the length of this audiobook, she is that friend. With special audio-only features such as a recording of Jones’ aunt speaking in Yoruba, it is impossible not to be won over by Professional Troublemaker’s empowering message that fighting fear is finding freedom.

 

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read our review of the print version of Professional Troublemaker.

Luvvie Ajayi Jones’ commanding, cheerful voice will hype up even the most fearful listener.
NonfictionAudioEssays

Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing

Review by Tami Orendain

In her collection of intensely personal essays, Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing (9 hours), Lauren Hough explores her identities—lesbian, Air Force airman, blue-collar worker and cult survivor—and uses them to critique systemic issues in contemporary American culture.

The audiobook’s narration is shared by Hough and actor-producer Cate Blanchett, who reads the two essays that bookend the collection. Blanchett’s clear, sharp tone allows the wit of Hough’s writing to shine, while Hough’s narration is deadpan, her steady voice capturing each essay’s unabashed honesty. Together, Hough and Blanchett create a heartbreaking and intimate experience for listeners, inviting them to reflect on the possibility and value of genuine human connection.

Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing is for audiences who are unafraid to face suffering, loss and vulnerability. Despite its challenging content, it offers a safe place for listeners to discover that they are not alone.

Read our review of the print version of Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing.

Author Lauren Hough and actor-producer Cate Blanchett create a heartbreaking and intimate experience for listeners.
NonfictionAudioEssays

Festival Days

Review by Tami Orendain

Essayist Jo Ann Beard explores life, death and the craft of writing in Festival Days (7.5 hours). Actor Suehyla El-Attar, known for her roles in Ant-Man and the Wasp and Green Book, reads in a calm, steady voice that emphasizes the collection’s sweeping gravitas, but she also gives personality to each unique piece. In “Werner,” a story about a man escaping an apartment fire, she creates a flowing contrast between firm descriptions of pain and the wistfulness of memory. She narrates “Maybe It Happened” in a lilting, sing-song tone, giving it a nursery-rhyme quality. And in “Close,” a discussion of craft, she is animated and personal, making the listener feel like they are learning from the author herself.

El-Attar’s narration pulls listeners in, highlighting the way a well-constructed sentence can bring an emotion, a scene or an idea to life.

 

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read our starred review of the print version of Festival Days.

Actor Suehyla El-Attar reads in a calm, steady voice that emphasizes the sweeping gravitas of Jo Ann Beard’s collection.
NonfictionAudio

Dusk, Night, Dawn

Review by Mari Carlson

From the veteran author of such uplifting books as Help, Thanks, Wow and Hallelujah Anyway comes Dusk, Night, Dawn: On Revival and Courage (4 hours), a collection of essays addressing hope in a time of unrest. Touching on topics that range from climate change and political divisiveness to the COVID-19 pandemic and her own recent marriage, Anne Lamott concerns herself less with offering solutions than with pointing to the earth’s dependable rhythms for signs of hope.

Lamott narrates the audiobook, and her gently warbling voice pairs well with the vibrant words she uses, such as sag, plop and love, to create a comforting aural atmosphere. She describes reaching out to friends during times of trouble, and her voice is like that of a friend, warm and supportive and slightly melancholic. Her essays are humorous, with metaphors of Life Saver candies and junk food, as well as profound, as when she reaches into biblical narratives and her own experiences to cull ageless wisdom and provide sage encouragement for future generations. This audiobook is the soundtrack for feeling better in the midst of a troubled landscape.

 

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Anne Lamott shares some ideas for how to get by when the world seems especially dark.

Anne Lamott’s narration of Dusk, Night, Dawn is the soundtrack for feeling better in the midst of a troubled landscape.
RomanceAudioContemporary Romance

Act Your Age, Eve Brown

Review by Anna Zeitlin

The delightful third installment in romance author Talia Hibbert’s Brown Sisters trilogy, Act Your Age, Eve Brown begins with Eve Brown failing at her latest attempt at a career and getting cut off from her trust fund. She leaves London and heads to the countryside, where she comes across a cute bed-and-breakfast that happens to be hiring a chef, a job she could probably pull off. Eve botches the interview and runs over B&B owner Jacob with her car, but she winds up working for him while his broken arm heals. He’s stubborn and stuck in his ways, and she’s fun and carefree, so of course they can’t resist each other.

Prolific voice-over actor Ione Butler effortlessly switches between Eve’s cool London accent and Jacob’s grumpy country tones. She delivers both comedy and romance, going straight for the heart but never losing the humor.

 

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Talia Hibbert explains why she thinks Jacob and Eve are so perfect for each other.

Narrator Ione Butler goes straight for the heart—but never loses the humor—in her rendition of Talia Hibbert's latest rom-com.

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