Behind the Mic with AudioFile Magazine
1,567 episodes - English - Latest episode: 18 days ago - ★★★★★ - 123 ratingsFind your next great audiobook on our podcast, Behind the Mic with AudioFile Magazine. Every Monday through Friday, AudioFile Editors recommend the best in audiobook listening. All in 6 minutes or less. It’s short, sweet, and just what your ears need. Want more? Listen to our bonus episodes featuring conversations with the best voices in the audiobook industry.
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Episodes
WANDERING SOULS by Cecile Pin, read by Aoife Hinds, Ioanna Kimbook, Ainsleigh Barber
May 12, 2023 09:00 - 8 minutesHost Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Kendra Winchester discuss this historical novel set at the end of the Vietnam War. Aoife Hinds, Ioanna Kimbook, and Ainsleigh Barber perform this stunning debut that follows three orphaned Vietnamese refugees. Siblings Anh, Thanh, and Minh flee Vietnam at the end of the war, hoping to meet their parents at a refugee camp in Hong Kong. But after the rest of their family is found dead, they are sent to the UK to start a new life. Hinds performs the main portions of ...
THE WONDERLAND COLLECTION by Lewis Carroll, read by Simon Bubb
May 11, 2023 09:00 - 7 minutesSimon Bubb’s whimsical narration sets the stage for Lewis Carroll’s classic tales of Wonderland. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Kendra Winchester discuss the fun of listening to this collection, part of this summer’s Audiobook SYNC program and available free to teen listeners in July. In addition to the more familiar ALICE IN WONDERLAND and ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS, the collection includes short stories centered on mathematical problems. Bubb lends a range of vocal characterizations to t...
BITING THE HAND by Julia Lee, read by Julia Lee
May 10, 2023 09:00 - 7 minutesJulia Lee performs her new essay collection that explores the complex lived reality of being the child of working class Korean immigrants in California. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Kendra Winchester discuss Lee’s emotional performance of the audiobook. During the 1992 riots in her hometown of Los Angeles, Lee had a front-row seat to the horrors of white supremacy. As she attends college and moves on to grad school, she has her own racial reckoning as she examines her complicity in America’s ...
LILIANA'S INVINCIBLE SUMMER by Cristina Rivera Garza, read by Victoria Villarreal
May 09, 2023 09:00 - 8 minutesVictoria Villarreal becomes the voice of a loving, tormented family member, Cristina Rivera Garza, who is seeking information about the murder of her sister Liliana. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Kendra Winchester discuss this audiobook that bears witness to Liliana’s life. Villarreal uses a soft yet determined voice to characterize Cristina on her journey to find justice for her sister, and she captures the beautiful memories that Rivera Garza shares. This memoir is a beautiful example of a t...
SCORCHED GRACE by Margot Douaihy, read by Mara Wilson
May 08, 2023 09:00 - 7 minutesIn this new series, Mara Wilson narrates as the audacious heroine Sister Holiday, a queer, tattoo-covered nun brimming with a talent for solving mysteries. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile contributor Kendra Winchester discuss Wilson’s incredible performance as this nun with a chip on her shoulder. She creates Sister as a chain-smoking paradox, and listeners will be delighted with the depth of her emotional range as she delivers Sister’s dialogue. It’s a hard-boiled, sexy, and sometimes very funny ...
YOU COULD MAKE THIS PLACE BEAUTIFUL by Maggie Smith, read by Maggie Smith
May 05, 2023 09:00 - 7 minutesAmerican poet Maggie Smith beautifully narrates her memoir about the end of her marriage and rediscovering herself as she picks up the pieces. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss the intimacy of listening to Smith narrate her own memoir, which is structured as a series of short narratives walking listeners through her life transition. Starting with her heartbreak, the memoir explores not only a very specific kind of pain, but also the roles that women embrace and grow into. Read...
BEYOND MAGENTA: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin, read by Tanya Eby, Nick Podehl, Todd Haberkorn, Roxanne Hernandez, Janina Edwards, Nancy Wu, Marisol Ramirez
May 04, 2023 09:00 - 8 minutesAn ensemble of voices delivers this candid collection of interviews with gender-nonconforming teens who struggle to be accepted. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss this collection available this summer for free through AudioFile’s SYNC program in June. Tanya Eby voices author Susan Kuklin, narrating in a neutral yet respectful tone that allows the more emotional stories conveyed by the other narrators to stand out. Performed conversationally, each teen’s narrative is imbued wit...
VERA WONG'S UNSOLICITED ADVICE FOR MURDERERS by Jesse Q. Sutanto, read by Eunice Wong
May 03, 2023 09:00 - 7 minutesEunice Wong’s brisk performance perfectly suits Jesse Q. Sutano’s humorous yet poignant cozy mystery. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss this quirky mystery and its unforgettable protagonist, the 60-year-old Chinese immigrant, Vera Wong. Vera’s lonely existence takes a wild turn when she discovers a dead body in her rundown San Francisco tea shop and decides to investigate. Vera is a woman of strong opinions and decisive actions, and Wong’s crisp, accented portrayal reveals all...
THE PEOPLE'S HOSPITAL by Ricardo Nuila, read by Ricardo Nuila
May 02, 2023 09:00 - 8 minutesPhysician Ricardo Nuila brings the full extent of his passion for people to his narration of his experiences with American healthcare. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss this fascinating deep dive into the safety net system in Houston, Texas, focused on the public hospital Ben Taub. On staff at that hospital, Nuila saw firsthand the destructive aspects of for-profit healthcare and how often those who were truly suffering would end up in his public hospital when it was almost to...
CODE GRAY by Farzon A. Nahvi, read by Aden Hakimi, Farzon A. Nahvi
May 01, 2023 09:00 - 7 minutesDr. Nahvi processes many experiences as an emergency room doctor, and Aden Hakimi effectively channels the author’s reflectiveness and compassion. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss how the author leads off the audiobook with a glimpse inside the chaos and bravery of a Manhattan ER at the start of COVID. Hakimi’s presence is assured and calm as he delivers terrible stories with careful attention and kindness. Dr. Nahvi also walks us through his pre-COVID career, giving fascinat...
CATCHING THE LIGHT by Joy Harjo, read by Joy Harjo
April 28, 2023 09:00 - 7 minutesHost Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Robin Whitten discuss two recent audiobooks written and read by former U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo (Mvskoke Nation). Harjo shares short vignettes about her life and her inspiration for her poetry in CATCHING THE LIGHT, and her wide-ranging topics include language, Native American history, music, and human nature, with her soft and strong voice. She meditates on why she writes poetry, and the inspiration her studies in music and art bring to her work. Her recent c...
YOU CAN'T SAY THAT! by Leonard S. Marcus [Ed.], read by Tom Parks, Roxanne Hernandez, Arthur Morey, Janet Metzger, Thom Rivera, Susan Dalian
April 27, 2023 09:00 - 7 minutesToday, the 14th season of AudioFile’s SYNC launches, and Robin Whitten tells host Jo Reed about this year’s excellent season of free audiobooks for teens, including YOU CAN’T SAY THAT! It’s a collection of interviews with authors of YA books about censorship and free expression, and it could not be more timely. Listen to hear professional narrators bring interviews with authors to life, including Angie Thomas, Katherine Paterson, and David Levithan. Sign up for this year’s SYNC program and le...
THE WHITE LADY by Jacqueline Winspear, read by Orlagh Cassidy
April 26, 2023 09:00 - 7 minutesWith her keen talent for British accents, narrator Orlagh Cassidy masterfully delivers this stand-alone historical mystery from Jacqueline Winspear. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Robin Whitten discuss Winspear’s new heroine, Elinor White. The story moves around in time from White’s life in Britain in 1947, to her recruitment in the Belgian Resistance as a teen during WWI, and her work as an SOE agent during WWII. Cassidy guides listeners through the emotional, physical, and long-term impacts o...
THE ISLAND by Adrian McKinty, read by Mela Lee
April 25, 2023 09:00 - 7 minutesFrom the opening lines, narrator Mela Lee draws listeners into this thriller. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Robin Whitten discuss an audiobook with an action-packed plot. Tom, the recently remarried widower; Heather, the younger new wife; and Tom’s children travel to Australia for a medical conference. Then the family adventure turns into a terrifying situation on a remote island. As the bad goes worse, Lee’s narration never lets the suspense subside in this edge-of-your-seat thriller and 2023...
SAVING TIME by Jenny Odell, read by Kristen Sieh
April 24, 2023 09:00 - 7 minutesKristen Sieh narrates Jenny Odell’s audiobook that is a dazzling meditation on the possibilities and abuses of time. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Robin Whitten discuss how Sieh gives a lovely, engaging performance of this wide-ranging compilation. Sieh narrates with emotional breadth and cultural awareness in this book with its sprawling range of perspectives, historical references, and moving personal vignettes. Odell shows how keeping track of time is a modern invention, and obsessing about...
THE TRYOUT by Christina Soontornvat, read by Grace Li, Vaneh Assadourian, Marcha Kiatrungrit, Ashley Austin Morris, Brian Sounalath, and a full cast
April 21, 2023 09:00 - 7 minutesHost Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly talk about the fun of listening to Christina Soontornvat’s middle-grade graphic memoir translated into audio. Grace Li leads the narration as young Christina, a seventh grader navigating a particularly intense cheerleading tryout—plus a lot of middle-school drama. Christina was the only Thai American kid in her small town Texas school, and she faced microaggressions and outright racism. Sounds of ringing school bells and squeaking sneakers join the ...
LOVELESS by Alice Oseman, read by Billie Fulford-Brown, Elizabeth Schenk, Imogen Church
April 20, 2023 09:00 - 8 minutesBillie Fulford-Brown narrates this contemporary British novel from Alice Oseman, author of the HEARTSTOPPER series. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly discuss this emotional audiobook about a memorable first year at University. Eighteen-year-old Georgia has never kissed anyone, had a crush, dated, or fallen in love—and really hasn’t ever wanted any of those things. As she begins her first year at Durham University, she can’t give up her idea of a “normal” university experience. It’s ...
HEARTS UNBROKEN by Cynthia Leitich Smith, read by Kyla Garcia
April 19, 2023 09:00 - 7 minutesHost Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly discuss how Kyla Garcia brings this award-winning 2018 novel by Cynthia Leitich Smith to life for listeners. Louise Wolfe is a smart and curious high school senior in Kansas, and a citizen of the Muscogee Creek Nation. Garcia’s bright narration suits the character as she finds her voice in the school paper, navigates crushes, and thinks about the future. Lou and her family face discrimination and harassment over her younger brother’s lead role in th...
BLOOD DEBTS by Terry J. Benton-Walker, read by Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Zeno Robinson, Bahni Turpin, Torian Brackett
April 18, 2023 09:00 - 7 minutesJoniece Abbott-Pratt and Zeno Robinson beautifully capture the voices of Cristina and Clement Trudeau, Black teenage twins growing up in a magical New Orleans family. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly discuss this action-packed YA fantasy from Terry J. Benton-Walker. A year after their father’s death, the twins fear their mother is soon to follow. Then they discover she isn’t just ill, but cursed, and they are all targets—so they set out to find the truth. Robinson and Abbott-Pratt ...
A LIVING REMEDY by Nicole Chung, read by Jennifer Kim
April 17, 2023 09:00 - 7 minutesJennifer Kim movingly narrates a raw and relatable memoir about grief and loss from Nicole Chung, author of ALL YOU CAN EVER KNOW. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly discuss Chung’s story of moving away from her parents and starting her own family, and the heartbreaking loss of both of her parents. Kim’s somber narration sensitively navigates the immense guilt and grief that Chung experiences having been far from her parents when they parents died and unable to help. Kim sharply capt...
THE WAGER by David Grann, read by Dion Graham
April 14, 2023 09:00 - 7 minutesDavid Grann’s enthralling audiobook is performed by a masterful narrator, Dion Graham. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alan Minskoff discuss an audiobook that details the true story of HMS WAGER, an English warship that sailed in the 1740s. Graham delivers the nautical adventures at a strong pace with a mesmerizing cadence and impeccable timing. The excitement and peril of the high seas are captured through Grann’s dramatic accounts of mutiny, shipwreck, and remarkable perseverance. A compelling...
PALO ALTO by Malcolm Harris, read by Patrick Harrison
April 13, 2023 09:00 - 6 minutesPatrick Harrison combines a fine storytelling style with a sure sense of the dramatic and a good tempo as he narrates Malcom Harris’s monumental work. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alan Minskoff discuss this activist’s look at his hometown and the powerful institutions that reside there, revealing the dark side of Silicon Valley. The thesis is that technological innovators and their political allies became unfathomably wealthy as they despoiled the planet, exploited workers, and were ruthless ...
WOLFISH by Erica Berry, read by Lessa Lamb
April 12, 2023 09:00 - 7 minutesLessa Lamb narrates Erica Berry’s audiobook about wolves with a fine tone and timbre. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alan Minskoff discuss how she inhabits the youthful sound and elegant style of this layered audiobook. Lamb’s timing and sense of occasion add richness to its informed foray into all things wolf as she captures the drama, fear, and anxiety that underlie the immersive presentation. The text weaves together the author’s own fraught coming-of-age story, recounts the accidental reint...
ROMAINE WASN'T BUILT IN A DAY by Judith Tschann, read by Alejandra Reynoso
April 11, 2023 09:00 - 6 minutesHost Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alan Minskoff talk about a fun history of food lore and language from Judith Tschann, and Alejandra Reynoso’s gifted narration. This witty treasury of food lore will enlighten listeners curious about the origin of the fine French wine Chateau Neuf de Pape or how the orange, the fruit, gave its name to the color. Reynoso establishes just the right tone and cadence for a global journey centered on foodways. Read the full review of the audiobook on AudioFile’s websit...
THE CLIMATE BOOK by Greta Thunberg, read by Amelia Stubberfield, Greta Thunberg, Nicholas Khan, Olivia Forrest
April 10, 2023 09:00 - 7 minutesGreta Thunberg, the young Swedish climate activist, has a voice that rings with passion, palpable emotion, and earnest commitment. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alan Minskoff discuss her audiobook of essays, where she’s joined by a talented trio of English narrators bringing skill and understanding to the text. Climate experts and other scientists sound the alarm about the shocking state of our warming planet. This anthology of experts, artists, and, especially, the young woman influencing a g...
HOUSE OF COTTON by Monica Brashears, read by Jeanette Illidge
April 07, 2023 09:00 - 8 minutesNarrator Jeanette Illidge’s impressive vocal versatility perfectly suits Monica Brashears’s debut novel. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Kendra Winchester discuss this gothic novel featuring Southern and Appalachian folklore. Magnolia’s grandmother dies, leaving her alone at 19 with a predatory landlord and a job that pays poorly. When a white man offers her a strange but lucrative modeling job, she accepts and moves to his plantation-style house and funeral parlor. There as Magnolia impersonate...
HIJAB BUTCH BLUES by Lamya H, read by Ashraf Shirazi
April 06, 2023 09:00 - 7 minutesAshraf Shirazi reads Lamya H’s extraordinary debut memoir with the perfect mix of tenderness and ferocity. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Kendra Winchester discuss Lamya H’s memoir, where they use stories and verses from the Quran to reflect on their life as a queer Muslim immigrant. Shirazi’s narration is searching, conversational, and often humming with emotion. Her voice flows naturally, drawing listeners into Lamya H’s lush prose and probing questions. This powerful, vulnerable, and beautif...
IN THE UPPER COUNTRY by Kai Thomas, read by Milton Barnes, Tymika Tafari, Wesley French
April 05, 2023 09:00 - 6 minutesMilton Barnes, Tymika Tafari, and Wesley French perform this historical novel set in Canada in the 1800s. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile contributor Kendra Winchester discuss this story within a story, where listeners receive a new piece of the puzzle with each chapter. Lensinda, a free Black woman working as a researcher for a Black journalist, interviews an older woman arrested for shooting a slave catcher who was trying to take her back to America. But when she begins the interview, Lensinda d...
LIFE ON DELAY by John Hendrickson, read by George Newbern
April 04, 2023 09:00 - 8 minutesGeorge Newbern performs this memoir by a journalist who became famous after he wrote about President Biden’s stutter and how he overcame it. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Kendra Winchester discuss John Hendrickson’s memoir that explores both the author’s own experiences with a stutter and the experiences of others. Newbern’s performance capures Hendrickson’s deep anguish from internalized ableism and an educational system that wasn’t equipped to help students with disabilities. With his abilit...
THE BOOK OF EVERLASTING THINGS by Aanchal Malhotra, read by Deepti Gupta
April 03, 2023 09:00 - 7 minutesDeepti Gupta performs Aanchal Malhotra’s lush historical novel set against the backdrop of the Partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile contributor Kendra Winchester discuss Deepti’s skill at giving voice to the dozens of characters in this multigenerational family saga. A Hindu teen named Samir, who is working in his family’s perfume shop in 1930s Lahore, falls in love with Firdaus, the daughter of a Muslim calligrapher. As tensions between Muslims and Hindus incre...
MURDER YOUR EMPLOYER by Rupert Holmes, read by Neil Patrick Harris, Simon Vance
March 31, 2023 09:00 - 7 minutesSimon Vance and Neil Patrick Harris combine their narrative talents to present an unusual mystery set in a 1950s school instructing students how to “morally” murder—and get away with it. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss Rupert Holmes’s fun and over-the-top mystery audiobook. Listeners meet three students at this unusual school. In addition to learning methods to inventively delete (murder) deserving victims, cleverly rendered quotes from the school’s handbook offer further di...
THE LEVEE by William Kent Krueger, read by JD Jackson, William Kent Krueger [Note]
March 30, 2023 09:00 - 7 minutesGolden Voice narrator JD Jackson acts out William Kent Krueger’s dramatic audio-original novella. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss this AudioFile Earphones Award-winner set in Mississippi in 1927. Listeners learn of a potential breach of a levee, the only thing holding back torrents of water during unprecedented flooding of the lower Mississippi River. Four men arrive by boat and work tirelessly to save the levee and rescue stubborn stranded residents. Jackson’s deep, gravell...
2023 Audie Awards Recap
March 29, 2023 10:00 - 8 minutesHear all about the 2023 Audie Awards from AudioFile’s Michele Cobb and host Jo Reed! Listen in as they highlight the winners of Audiobook of the Year, Best Male and Best Female narrators, and more. You can visit www.theaudies.com for a full list of the Audie Award winners and finalists — and if you want to catch up with the full livestream of the event, visit the APA website. Congratulations to all of the winners and finalists of this year’s Audie Awards! See the full list of Audie Award winn...
SURVIVAL OF THE THICKEST by Michelle Buteau, read by Michelle Buteau
March 28, 2023 09:00 - 7 minutesFans of comic, commentator, and actor Michelle Buteau will laugh out loud through her frank essays. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss Buteau’s lively narration—and her upcoming role as host of the 2023 Audie Awards. Michele and Jo discuss Buteau’s essay collection that highlights key moments in her life, written and narrated in her fun and brash style. A stellar example of an entertainer turned writer using her talents as a narrator. Read the full review of the audiobook on Au...
REALLY GOOD, ACTUALLY by Monica Heisey, read by Julia Whelan
March 27, 2023 09:00 - 7 minutesJulia Whelan is the perfect narrator for Monica Heisey’s emotional novel. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss how her performance enhances the engaging journey of Maggie, a nearly 30-year-old graduate student whose life isn’t going as planned. At first, Maggie thinks the amicable ending of her short marriage as a modern uncoupling, but eventually she realizes she’s fallen into unhealthy habits—far after her friends and colleagues do. Whelan’s narration will have listeners rootin...
THE WICKED BARGAIN by Gabe Cole Novoa, read by Vico Ortiz
March 24, 2023 09:00 - 7 minutesVico Ortiz narrates an action-packed fantastical pirate adventure with gusto. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly discuss the excitement of listening to Gabe Cole Novoa’s thrilling YA audiobook. Sixteen-year-old Mar has to hide twice over—they wear a chest binder, and they have strong magical control over fire and ice that demands to be used. Slipping seamlessly between English and Spanish, Ortiz puts listeners firmly in Mar’s point of view with their appealingly husky voice and drama...
BABEL by R.F. Kuang, read by Chris Lew Kum Hoi, Billie Fulford-Brown
March 23, 2023 09:00 - 8 minutesChris Lew Kum Hoi brings an incredible range of languages and voices to life for listeners in this sharp fantasy from R.F. Kuang. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly discuss the skilled narration of this breathtaking alternate history. Orphaned and taken from China to be raised in England, Robin Swift trains for years to join the Royal Institute of Translation at Oxford, housed in its Babel tower. As he learns to wield the power that exists when language is translated, he discovers th...
SOMETHING WILD & WONDERFUL by Anita Kelly, read by Mark Sanderlin
March 22, 2023 09:00 - 6 minutesMark Sanderlin narrates this charming romance set on the Pacific Crest Trail with the perfect mix of emotion and humor. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly discuss this hiking romance full of beautiful vistas, surprise rattlesnakes, and trail magic. Alexi and Ben set out to hike the PCT for very different reasons, but when they meet each other on the trail and decide to be hiking partners, they discover a sweet connection. Sanderlin’s narration sounds natural, and he smoothly captures...
LOVE AT FIRST PSYCH by Cara Bastone, read by Santino Fontana, Stephanie Einstein, and a Full Cast
March 21, 2023 09:00 - 8 minutesSantino Fontana and Stephanie Einstein lead a full-cast performance of Cara Bastone’s newest audio-first romance. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly discuss the fun and joy of listening to one of Bastone’s romances. Robbie and Marigold are two older college students working on a group project for their psychology class exploring whether love at first sight exists. Listeners hear their lively interviews in a diner, at the zoo, even at the mall, and a full soundscape sets the scene. Fo...
THE NEIGHBOR FAVOR by Kristina Forest, read by Keylor Leigh, Malik Rashad
March 20, 2023 09:00 - 7 minutesNarrators Keylor Leigh and Malik Rashad work together beautifully to deliver this heartwarming slow-burn romance from Kristina Forest. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly discuss this story of two twenty-somethings who fall for each other twice over — once over a months-long email conversation, and once when they serendipitously wind up as neighbors. Lily and Nick form an easy connection as friends, but it takes a long time for them to realize their feelings for one another. Leigh por...
POETRY UNBOUND by Pádraig Ó Tuama, read by Pádraig Ó Tuama
March 17, 2023 09:00 - 8 minutesBased on Pádraig Ó Tuama’s popular podcast, “Poetry Unbound,” this audiobook is a fine anthology of poetry, and a very good introduction to how to think about poetry itself. Ó Tuama is an especially good interpreter of poetry, both as a critic and as a reader, and he narrates brief and insightful essays about each of the fifty poems included in the collection. Each poem is read with thoughtfulness and skill in his Irish brogue, voicing poems from Ada Limón, Ilya Kaminsky, Ocean Vuong, and mor...
A WINTER GRAVE by Peter May, read by Peter Forbes
March 16, 2023 09:00 - 6 minutesPeter May’s excellent mystery pairs an outstanding performance by narrator Peter Forbes with a riveting story set in near-future Scotland. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Robin Whitten discuss this environmental sci-fi thriller set in the year 2051. Forbes is extremely easy to listen to, and he handles both dialogue and narration with aplomb. In this story, Detective Inspector Cameron Brodie is dispatched to the Highlands to investigate the murder of a man found encased in ice. The expressive na...
THE WOMAN WHO SPLIT THE ATOM by Marissa Moss, read by Sandy Rustin
March 15, 2023 09:00 - 9 minutesThe life of groundbreaking nuclear physicist Lise Meitner (1878-1968) is given voice by narrator Sandy Rustin. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Robin Whitten discuss how this inspiring audiobook will be available for free for teen listeners this summer through AudioFile’s SYNC program. Marginalized by sexism, Meitner, an Austrian Jew, struggled to pursue the field she loved, eventually earning her colleagues’ respect and a partnership with chemist Otto Hahn in Berlin. Nazi policies stripped her o...
THE NIGHT TRAVELERS by Armando Lucas Correa, read by Edoardo Ballerini
March 14, 2023 09:00 - 7 minutesEdoardo Ballerini provides a gripping performance that captures the backdrop of historical events in Armando Lucas Correa’s novel. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Robin Whitten discuss this Golden Voice narrator’s skill at engaging listeners in a multi-generational saga that moves from Germany to Cuba to New York, encompassing war and revolution, family secrets, and devastating truth. Read the full review of the audiobook on AudioFile’s website. Published by Simon & Schuster Audio. Find more aud...
SECRETS TYPED IN BLOOD by Stephen Spotswood, read by Kirsten Potter
March 13, 2023 09:00 - 7 minutesPrivate detectives Lillian Pentecost and Willowjean Parker are back! Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Robin Whitten discuss a new mystery audiobook from Stephen Spotswood, with a smashing performance by Kirsten Potter. It’s New York City in 1947, and Holly Quirk, writer of gruesome murder stories for STRANGE CRIMES magazine, hires detectives Pentecost and Parker after discovering that three murders from her stories have been enacted in real life. Plot twists and Potter’s narration put this clever...
CHAOS THEORY by Nic Stone, read by Dion Graham, Nic Stone
March 10, 2023 10:00 - 7 minutesAuthor Nic Stone and narrator Dion Graham give voice to Shelbi and Andy, two teens who form an unexpected connection. Graham provides a multilayered portrayal of 18-year-old Andy, whose drinking is largely in response to trouble processing his younger sister’s death. Stone portrays Shelbi, a 16-year-old just released from a mental health facility for self harm. Together the narrators explore their characters’ vulnerabilities. Read the full review of the audiobook on AudioFile’s website. Publi...
CODE NAME BLUE WREN by Jim Popkin, read by Jim Popkin
March 09, 2023 10:00 - 7 minutesInvestigative journalist Jim Popkin takes listeners on an incredible journey through the life of Ana Montes, possibly the most damaging female spy in America’s history. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss a story where truth is stranger than fiction. Montes, the government’s top Cuba expert, worked closely with the intelligence community in the Castro years. She had top-secret clearance—and passed classified documents to Cuba. Popkin presents this true account with a matter-of-f...
EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY HAS KILLED SOMEONE by Benjamin Stevenson, read by Barton Welch
March 08, 2023 10:00 - 6 minutesNarrator Barton Welch keeps Benjamin Stevenson’s entertaining, highly original mystery light and lively, even during its most intense moments. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss a listen all about a family of killers (some more culpable than others). Ernie Cunningham self-publishes books on writing, and he speaks directly to listeners. Each chapter is dedicated to a family member responsible for a death, and Welch keeps Ernie’s tongue-in-cheek attitude and direct comments amusi...
I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU by Rebecca Makkai, read by Julia Whelan, JD Jackson
March 07, 2023 10:00 - 6 minutesJulia Whelan’s performance is so consistently gripping that listeners might attempt to finish Rebecca Makkai’s entire audiobook in a single sitting. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss an audiobook all about a true-crime podcaster. Bodie has returned to her boarding school alma mater to teach a few courses in her area of expertise, podcasting, and is encouraged by her students to re-investigate the murder of Bodie’s roommate, Thalia. There are doubts as to whether the man impris...
THE SURVIVALISTS by Kashana Cauley, read by Bahni Turpin
March 06, 2023 10:00 - 7 minutesKashana Cauley’s satirical comedy about survivalists, gun dealing, and finding happiness is masterfully narrated by Bahni Turpin. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss this lively and surprising audiobook. Aretha, an up-and-coming attorney, falls for Aaron, and when she moves in, Aretha discovers another side of him. Aretha’s life is thrown into chaos when she’s fired for missing a day of work—and then Turpin embodies a new and improved Aretha who only looks out for herself. Turpi...