Behind the Mic with AudioFile Magazine
Find 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.
1551
DON'T DATE ROSA SANTOS by Nina Moreno, read by ...
Everyone knows that Rosa Santos is cursed. The sea claimed the lives of her father and grandfather, and anyone who dates her risks the same fate. Almarie Guerra narrates with a sweetness that makes Rosa’s personality shine, and her community come to life.
4 min
1552
THE HERO NEXT DOOR by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perko...
What does it take to be a hero? Hear 14 stellar narrators read short stories from the best in children's literature. Heroes big and small show the importance of kindness, and how much courage we need to stand up for what’s right. Perfect family listening.
5 min
1553
SPEAKING OF SUMMER by Kalisha Buckhanon, read b...
Topical, timely, and beautifully written. Autumn Spencer’s twin sister, Summer, is missing, and Autumn seems to be the only one who cares. Karen Chilton’s outstanding narration lends an intensity to Autumn’s experiences as her mental health deteriorates.
4 min
1554
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ALISTAIR AINSWORTH by Leon...
For fans of Sherlock Holmes, the next generation arrives—Sherlock’s daughter Joanna and Watson’s son John are now a crime-solving team. Dr. Watson, Sr., is still tagging along, and the next generation—Holmes’s precocious grandson Johnny—appears as well.
4 min
1555
DEVIL'S FJORD by David Hewson, read by Saul Rei...
A dark Scandi noir mystery set in the remote Faroe Islands. The dark reality of the hard life of fishing village and mysterious disappearances are set against the rugged sea cliffs. The opening whale hunt is not for the squeamish listener.
5 min
1556
MR. SAMMLER'S PLANET by Saul Bellow, read by Ge...
Bellow’s classic novel takes place over two days in New York in 1969. Arthur Sammler, a Polish-born Holocaust survivor living in New York. We experience this cultural moment through his eyes. Exquisitely performed by George Guidall.
6 min
1557
BUT BEAUTIFUL by Geoff Dyer, read by Dion Graham
The world of jazz in mid-century America is evoked in a series of portraits of the musicians. With Dion Graham at the helm, we enter the lives of jazz greats like Charles Mingus or Thelonius Monk, all in a stream of consciousness that is like a jazz riff.
5 min
1558
THE TURN OF THE KEY by Ruth Ware, read by Imoge...
Ruth Ware’s latest gives us a classic Gothic set-up. Rowan accepts a job as a nanny at a gorgeous house in the Scottish Highlands, but from her arrival, everything goes slowly, irrevocably wrong. When we meet Rowan, she is writing from prison.
4 min
1559
TRAVEL LIGHT MOVE FAST by Alexandra Fuller, rea...
Acclaimed memoirist Alexandra Fuller contemplates the life of her boisterous, adventurous father Tim, whose motto was "travel light, move fast," as she wrestles with the grief of his passing.
4 min
1560
THE GONE DEAD by Chanelle Benz, read by Bahni T...
A debut novel about grant writer Billie James, whose father died under mysterious circumstances when she was just 4. There is a mystery surrounding her disappearance on that same day that she explores when she returns to the Mississippi Delta as an adult.
4 min
1561
THE LAND OF LITTLE RAIN by Mary Austin, read by...
A collection of 14 poetic essays by Mary Austin about the flowers, creatures, people, and landscape of the American Southwest—first published in 1903. The narrator’s tone perfectly matches the author’s own reverence for her subjects.
5 min
1562
HOW TO BE AN ANTIRACIST by Ibram X. Kendi, read...
National Book Award-winning author Ibram X. Kendi creates a stirring, personal look at the concept of antiracism, which requires people to change their thinking as individuals within society and to take action.
4 min
1563
CHANCES ARE... by Richard Russo, read by Fred S...
Pulitzer Prize-Winner Richard Russo’s novel of three men who met in college and are now in their sixties. They have come together on Martha’s Vineyard, where in 1971 a woman whom they all loved disappeared.
4 min
1564
THE TRUFFLE UNDERGROUND by Ryan Jacobs, read by...
How does the humble (or not so humble) truffle inspire this “Tale of Mystery, Mayhem, and Manipulation in the Shadowy Market of the World's Most Expensive Fungus”? The listener enters a demimonde of intense competition and extraordinary profit.
5 min
1565
THE BRITISH ARE COMING by Rick Atkinson, read b...
The first in a trilogy about the American Revolution by Pulitzer Prize-winner historian Atkinson. George Newbern’s engaging narration makes the history come alive through pace and emphasis, allowing listeners to absorb minute details.
5 min
1566
NOW'S THE TIME by Larry Strauss, read by Kim Fi...
African-American jazz culture sets the stage for this must-listen audiobook. A young jazz trumpeter crisscrosses the country, searching for a recording of her father’s last jazz performance. An Earphones Award winner.
5 min
1567
FLEISHMAN IS IN TROUBLE by Taffy Brodesser-Akne...
A brilliant, timely exploration of marriage, divorce, and the challenges women face in relationships—in working, parenting, and partnering. Narrator Ryan delivers just the right amount of sympathy, skepticism, and when called for, great emotional force.
5 min
1568
FKA USA by Reed King, read by Dan Bittner, Pete...
In this cross between THE WIZARD OF OZ and HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE, 16-year-old Truckee Wallace, our unlikely, unwilling hero, finds himself in the middle of an international incident. The year is 2085. Two narrators make the humor and satire memorable.
5 min
1569
THIS TIME WILL BE DIFFERENT by Misa Sugiura, re...
While CJ Katsuyama is happy helping out at her family’s flower shop, she’s never lived up to her mother’s high expectations. Then, everything changes. Joy Osmanski highlights all the emotions and wit as CJ’s confidence grows in the face of injustice.
5 min
1570
THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR by Amal El-Mo...
Two rival agents face each other across a burning battlefield. One leaves a note that says “burn before reading.” Farrell and Woo Zeller’s dual narrations emphasize the agents’ divergent personalities and their conflicting emotions as they fall in love.
5 min
1571
WE ARE GRATEFUL: OTSALIHELIGA by Traci Sorell, ...
Follow a year of Cherokee celebrations with this read-along for the award-winning picture book. Five narrators lend their voices to a story of contemporary Cherokee life while crackling campfires, lively music, and quiet conversations add ambience.
4 min
1572
BROKEN PLACES & OUTER SPACES by Nnedi Okorafor,...
An inspiring memoir narrated with confidence by a masterful writer. Now known for her Africanfutirist fiction for teens and adults, Okorafor tells the story of the surprising source of her passion and skill for creating fictional worlds.
5 min
1573
THE NICKEL BOYS by Colson Whitehead, read by JD...
Elwood Curtis is an earnest high school student on his way to college classes when he’s sentenced to serve time at Nickel Academy, a segregated reform school. Whitehead’s new novel is a haunting tale of America’s buried legacy of racism and violence.
5 min
1574
MRS. EVERYTHING by Jennifer Weiner, read by Ari...
Two narrators deliver a long, lush story of two sisters who grew up in a Jewish household in Detroit from the 1950s up to 2016. As their paths diverge, listeners think about women and how they move through all the challenges in their lives.
4 min
1575
BUNNY by Mona Awad, read by Sophie Amoss
A scholarship student doesn’t connect with her rich female classmates, until—against her better judgment—she goes to one of their parties. Narrator Sophie Amoss get an Earphones Award for her animated performance that enhances the story’s emotional punch.
5 min