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NonfictionAudio

New Yorkers

Review by G. Robert Frazier

“Part of loving New York is just mourning the hell out of it.” With lines like that, you can’t help but listen to the treasure trove of rich stories compiled in Craig Taylor’s New Yorkers: A City and Its People in Our Time (14 hours). 

The author of a similar compendium of stories of life across the big pond, Londoners, Taylor spent six years interviewing 180 New Yorkers, some briefly, some over the course of several years, filling 71 notebooks and more than 400 hours of recordings. Steering clear of publicists and government officials to avoid familiar talking points, Taylor sought out New Yorkers from every walk of life to tell their stories and to share their place in the city, ranging from mothers and nurses to window washers. 

The audiobook brings this “profusion of voice in New York” even further into the realm of oral history, with a cast that includes such New Yorkers as Catherine Ho, Luis Moreno and more. “This city barged into conversations,” Taylor says. With that kind of attitude, you’ll have no choice but to listen in.

Read our review of the print version of New Yorkers.

“This city barged into conversations,” Craig Taylor says about New Yorkers. With that kind of attitude, you’ll have no choice but to listen in.
NonfictionAudioHistory

Four Hundred Souls

Review by Autumn Allen

A heartfelt chorus of voices composes a well-researched community mosaic of Black American history in Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain’s Four Hundred Souls (14 hours).

The book is divided into five-year periods that span 400 years of the Black American experience, and the audiobook transitions between each section via layered, echoing voices for a haunting, emotional effect. Eighty-seven narrators comprise the full cast, including the authors of some of the essays and poems as well as other notable voices such as journalist Soledad O’Brien and actors Danai Gurira and Leslie Odom Jr. The performances are straightforward or theatrical as appropriate, but they’re always engaging, and the variety of voices and styles sustains the listener’s attention.

Offering the best of education and entertainment, this epic audiobook enhances Kendi and Blain’s transformative history project through the sense of humanity that only a person’s voice can convey. Listeners will learn and be moved, and will no doubt listen more than once. Bravo.

 

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Go behind the scenes with the editors and producers of Four Hundred Souls, the year’s most astounding full-cast audiobook production.

This epic audiobook enhances Kendi and Blain’s transformative history project through the sense of humanity that only a person’s voice can convey.
FictionAudio

We Begin at the End

Review by G. Robert Frazier

British author Chris Whitaker creates a memorable sense of place in his novel We Begin at the End (10.5 hours), set in a small coastal California town populated by heartfelt characters in search of personal redemption.

Part crime drama and part coming-of-age tale, the novel centers on three characters: police chief Walk, his childhood friend Vincent and tough-talking 13-year-old Duchess. The connections between them can be traced back 30 years, when 15-year-old Vincent killed Duchess’ aunt. In the present, their tragic stories become further entwined in “a spiderweb of hurt” when Duchess’ drug-addicted mother is murdered soon after Vincent’s release from prison.

American actor George Newbern’s clear, unhurried and remarkably smooth narration proves to be the ideal match for Whitaker’s lyricism and layered plotting, evoking a deep sense of angst, tragedy and ultimately hope.

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read our starred review of the print version of We Begin at the End.

American actor George Newbern’s clear, unhurried narration proves to be the ideal match for Chris Whitaker’s lyricism.
NonfictionAudioSocial Science

The Sum of Us

Review by Norah Piehl

A wide-ranging examination of racial inequity in America, written by the former head of a progressive think tank, might not be the most obvious audiobook choice for your next road trip. But to write The Sum of Us (11 hours), Heather McGhee traveled across the country—from coastal Washington and rural Kentucky to an evangelical church in Chicago and a Nissan plant in Mississippi—to understand the roots of white America’s zero-sum attitude toward racial equity and how this mistaken belief system damages everyone.

McGhee, who narrates the audiobook, brings the same thoughtfulness to her reading as to her writing. Listeners can hear the despair in her voice as she describes the atrocities of white plantation owners and the devastation caused by predatory housing lenders, as well as her hopefulness when she introduces listeners to coalitions succeeding in confronting voter suppression. From health care policy and environmental justice to the ongoing legacy of segregation, McGhee places urgent topics in a new framework, supported by research and illustrated by stories of Black and white Americans from across the country.

 

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read our review of the print version of The Sum of Us.

Heather McGhee, who narrates the audiobook for The Sum of Us, brings the same thoughtfulness to her reading as to her writing
AudioYA FictionYA

Firekeeper’s Daughter

Review by Autumn Allen

If Angeline Boulley’s debut YA novel mesmerizes, then the audio production does so even more. In Firekeeper’s Daughter (14 hours), 18-year-old Daunis shoulders the burden of exposing the corruption in the nearby Ojibwe community. She feels like an outsider, and the tasks before her are daunting to say the least.

With a low voice and even tone, Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota actor Isabella Star LaBlanc grabs the listener and reels them right in. Her serious intonation imbues small acts and observations with a meaningful, nearly ominous feeling, ensuring listeners will pay attention to every detail as they instinctively sense that danger is near.

Building on the novel’s strengths as a thriller set within a unique cultural milieu, LaBlanc’s performance offers a heart-thumping, fully believable ride that will have listeners guessing, anticipating and enjoying every moment.

 

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Firekeeper’s Daughter author Angeline Boulley shares her favorite part of writing mystery books.

Angeline Boulley’s debut YA novel mesmerizes, and the audio production does so even more.
NonfictionAudioMemoir

AMORALMAN

Review by Anna Zeitlin

A magician never reveals their tricks, but fortunately for us, Derek DelGaudio doesn’t consider himself a magician. A sleight-of-hand master whose hit one-man Broadway show, In & of Itself, is now a movie (streaming on Hulu), DelGaudio offers a memoir like no other in AMORALMAN: A True Story and Other Lies (5.5 hours), because no one has lived a life quite like his.

DelGaudio traces his interest in deception back to childhood, when he concealed his true self to avoid being bullied at school. As a teenager he wowed legendary magicians, winning their trust and gleaning what he could from their knowledge. DelGaudio eventually mastered card moves that even his mentor couldn’t pull off, and he began using his extraordinary skills to control a weekly high-stakes poker game.

As both author and narrator, DelGaudio is a captivating storyteller who brings the weight of his experiences to every moment as he grapples with morality and makes questionable decisions amid the dubious world of con artists. 

A magician never reveals their tricks, but fortunately for us, Derek DelGaudio doesn’t consider himself a magician.
NonfictionAudio

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain

Review by Autumn Allen

Critically acclaimed writer and longtime creative writing professor George Saunders offers a master class in writing based on a study of seven short stories by classic Russian writers. Saunders narrates A Swim in a Pond in the Rain (14.5 hours) in an easy, conversational tone that makes the listener feel as if they are in a relaxed classroom—or perhaps sitting in a lounge for a one-on-one lesson from this thoughtful teacher. 

Well-chosen, exceptionally talented actors, including Phylicia Rashad, Glenn Close and Nick Offerman, narrate stories from Anton Chekhov, Leo Tolstoy and others, and their dramatized performances provide a refreshing contrast to Saunders’ more familiar style. Saunders’ love of literature and his enthusiasm for its interaction with the mind combine with his humor and dry wit to make for an engaging listening experience. More than a writing course, this audiobook is a unique exercise in paying attention and thinking critically.

 

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read our starred review of A Swim in a Pond in the Rain.

Talented actors narrate stories from Chekhov, Tolstoy and others, and their performances provide a refreshing contrast to George Saunders’ more familiar style.
Science Fiction & FantasyAudioFantasy

The Witch’s Heart

Review by Mari Carlson

In Genevieve Gornichec’s fantasy novel, The Witch’s Heart (12 hours), Angrboda has been burned three times for performing witchcraft, but she remains alive at the edges of the mythical Ironwood, where she begins a lasting, tenuous relationship with the trickster god Loki, Odin’s half brother. But Ragnarok, the destruction of the known world, threatens their future—and the future of their unusual offspring.

Jayne Entwistle, best known for her narration of the Flavia de Luce series by Alan Bradley, brings Angrboda to life with a husky, sage voice and northern English lilt. Her comforting tone and gentle pacing reinforce the novel’s focus on Angrboda’s domestic challenges in the shadow of cosmic conflicts. Accents used to delineate characters create a lively cast of women and men who visit Angrboda in her forest hovel. As many listeners will want to continue this dive into Norse mythology, a helpful list of resources for further reading follows the narration.

 

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Genevieve Gornichec on writing The Witch’s Heart when she should have been writing a term paper.

Jayne Entwistle, best known for her narration of the Flavia de Luce series, brings Angrboda to life with a husky, sage voice and northern English lilt.
AudioHistorical Fiction

Better Luck Next Time

Review by Tami Orendain

Julia Claiborne Johnson’s novel Better Luck Next Time (8.5 hours) is a story of love, marriage, money and heartbreak set on a “divorce ranch” during the 1930s. The tale unfolds through personal anecdotes and observations from Ward, now an elderly man but once a 24-year-old ranch hand who was strong, handsome and ready to get into trouble.

With a background in TV, film and Broadway, actor David Aaron Baker lends an easy, personable voice to Ward’s narration, capturing the character’s charisma with a slight Southern twang. Often thoughtful and sometimes mischievous, Baker’s voice brings the story to life with a sense of warmth and nostalgia, like a charming older man recounting his memories of when he was an equally charming younger man.

Listening to Better Luck Next Time feels like hearing someone reminisce about the best years of their life—with the occasional plot twist sprinkled in.

 

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read our review of the print version of Better Luck Next Time.

Listening to Better Luck Next Time feels like hearing someone reminisce about the best years of their life—with the occasional plot twist sprinkled in.
FictionAudioSatire

Black Buck

Review by Norah Piehl

Debut author Mateo Askaripour frames his novel, Black Buck (11 hours), as a “how-to” manual for fellow Black workers that reveals the secrets of the narrator’s success. This framing device is particularly well suited to the audiobook format, as its similarity to motivational tapes subtly adds to the novel’s rich satirization of the bizarre and toxic realm of white startup culture. 

Narrator Zeno Robinson strikes just the right balance in his performance of protagonist Darren Vender’s first-person narrative, hitting both his swaggering cockiness and subsequent regret with equal sensitivity. Robinson also exhibits commanding range with other characters, including Darren’s mom and girlfriend and his white colleagues at the startup. Fast-paced, funny and dark, Askaripour’s stellar debut doesn’t let up in its takedown of corporate racism.

 

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: How Mateo Askaripour climbed the corporate ladder, then spun what he learned into fiction gold.

Mateo Askaripour’s novel is well suited to the audiobook format, as its similarity to motivational tapes adds to the novel’s satirization.
NonfictionAudioMemoir

Just as I Am

Review by Deborah Mason

The late Cicely Tyson was more than an actor; she was a titan who inspired, prodded and enthralled her audience. From her breakout role in the 1972 film Sounder to her Emmy-nominated turn in “How to Get Away With Murder,” Tyson played her characters with integrity, endowing each with humanity and dignity. But she was also a daughter, a sister, a mother, a wife, an activist and an artist, and the story of her life is as complex as it is compelling. 

In her memoir, Just as I Am (16 hours), Tyson lays out the whole of her life—including her turbulent relationship with her mother and her fraught marriage to musician Miles Davis—with unflinching honesty and hard-earned wisdom. In the foreword, actor Viola Davis describes her first meeting with Tyson with humor and love, and the relationship between the two groundbreaking artists is a joy to imagine. Award-winning audiobook narrator Robin Miles performs the majority of the book, bringing the same warmth and depth of characterization that she brought to the audiobooks for Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns and Caste. But Tyson herself steals the show with her generous, funny and wise introduction, the many years apparent in her voice but the fire in her spirit still burning brightly. Listening to Just as I Am is a profound delight.

Robin Miles discusses the humbling and thrilling experience of narrating Just as I Am.

Narrator Robin Miles bringing the same warmth and depth of characterization to Cicely Tyson’s memoir as she did to Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste.
FictionAudioLiterary Fiction

The Liar’s Dictionary

Review by Anna Zeitlin

Eley Williams’ debut novel, The Liar’s Dictionary (8 hours), is a word lover’s dream. The story jumps between two British lexicographers’ storylines. Over a century ago, Peter Winceworth (narrated by Jon Glover) fakes a lisp, bemoans his employment at dictionary publisher Swansby’s and falls in love with a co-worker’s fiancée. In modern-day London, Mallory (portrayed by Kristin Atherton) is an intern who’s updating Swansby’s dictionary entries for digitization. She’s also been tasked with routing out the dictionary’s false entries, known as mountweazels. Both narrators have theatrical backgrounds and give lively performances. Glover turns Peter’s false lisp on and off as required, and his proper British narration feels both timeless and appropriate to the period. Neither Glover nor Atherton is weighed down by the prose’s unusual, rare and sometimes made-up words; rather, their delight in the wordplay is infectious.

 

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Eley Williams shares how her relationship to language has changed, plus a deeper look at her charming debut novel.

Eley Williams’ debut novel, The Liar’s Dictionary (8 hours), is a word lover’s dream.
Children's & YAAudio

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Review by Mari Carlson

Alvin Schwartz’s iconic tales from the 1980s and ’90s have an eventful history. They’ve been illustrated and re-illustrated and even adapted to film, and now they’re available as an audiobook for all ages. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark: Three Books to Chill Your Bones (4 hours) combines all three of Schwartz’s spooky collections (Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and Scary Stories 3), mixing European folk legends with mysteries, “jump” tales and ghost stories in contemporary settings. Memorable moments include a big toe floating in soup, a pimple infested with spiders and anything in a haunted house. 

Each of the three volumes is read by a comedy or horror actor: Patton Oswalt, Melissa McBride and Alex Brightman. The production is clean and pared down, with no extra sound effects—and we don’t need them, as these stories are still creepy after all these years. All three actors follow Mark Twain’s suggestion for telling scary stories—to speak slowly and in a low voice to draw listeners in—though the actors’ accents and screams add to the entertainment. Tracks run from 30 seconds to 15 minutes, so no fright is too prolonged, and each volume ends with detailed notes and references, perfect for listeners interested in the history of these classic tales.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark: Three Books to Chill Your Bones (4 hours) combines all three of Schwartz’s spooky collections (Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and Scary Stories 3), mixing European folk legends with mysteries, “jump” tales and ghost stories in contemporary settings.

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