AudioFile Magazine

01/08/2024

🎧 New Ep: AudioFile’s and host Jo Reed discuss a week of new and favorite personal development and business books, beginning with DIALED IN. After coach Dana Sinclair delivers her introduction with inviting sincerity, Eunice Wong performs the bulk of this captivating audiobook with the perfect blend of authority and spirit. The majority of the power of the audiobook can be found in the success stories that build the credibility of the author’s message: Guidance and support, as well as a strategic blend of insight and action, can help people break through performance blocks. Simon & Schuster Audio bit.ly/3M8l2JP

01/08/2024

In this well-informed collection of research and practical advice, Michelle Penelope King, an expert on organizational life, explains how to navigate the informal systems in any workplace. .Ellsmore narrates with authority that fits the depth and credibility of this writing. HarperAudio

AudioFile Audiobook Review: In this well-informed collection of research and practical advice, an expert on organizational life explains how to navigate the informal systems in a

01/08/2024

This entire ensemble of performers is particularly effective at creating an absorbing, progressively horrifying listen. 's audiobook revolves around a layered world of human relationships involving the desire for power and its consequences. Penguin Random House Audio

AudioFile Audiobook Review: This entire ensemble of performers is particularly effective at creating an absorbing, progressively horrifying listen. Wendig's audiobook revolves ar

01/07/2024

Samantha Tan masterfully narrates Vanessa Chan’s complex novel set in Malaya during the British and Japanese occupations. The novel centers around Cecily and her children as they navigate life under colonial rule and later, under harsh Japanese control. A challenging yet engaging and enlightening listen. Simon & Schuster Audio

AudioFile Audiobook Review: Samantha Tan masterfully narrates a complex story set in Malaya during the British and Japanese occupations. The novel centers around Cecily and her c

01/07/2024

Productivity expert Jon Acuff narrates his latest audiobook with infectious spontaneity and energy. Along with his boyish vocal tone, his willingness to share the trials and errors of his efforts to become a better person are at the heart of his appeal. His creative strategies and colorful rationales will speak to anyone who wants to create a better life. Recorded Books

AudioFile Audiobook Review: Productivity expert Jon Acuff narrates his latest audiobook with spontaneity and energy that are absolutely infectious. Part of what makes him connect

01/06/2024

Grover Gardner brings the Old West to life in Paulette Jiles’s slow-burn tale of vengeance set against a backdrop of post-Civil War lawlessness. A must-listen for mystery and history fans alike. HarperAudio

AudioFile Audiobook Review: Grover Gardner brings the Old West to life in this slow-burn tale of vengeance set against a backdrop of post-Civil War lawlessness. John Chenneville

01/06/2024

The holidays may be over, but Roan Parrish’s joyful q***r rom-com about fresh starts and taking chances is an irresistibly good time in any month. Natalie Duke, Voice Actor and Pete Cross star as two twenty-somethings eager to get out of their respective cities. Their comic timing is excellent, and they both lean into tender moments and hard conversations. Dreamscape

AudioFile Audiobook Review: Natalie Duke and Pete Cross narrate this joyful q***r rom-com about two people who find love in unexpected places. Greta, tired of being the only lesb

01/06/2024

In a friendly, accessible tone, author/narrator Nedra Glover Tawwab delivers hard truths about the need for healthy boundaries. Through a series of case studies of people overwhelmed due to their inability to say no or ask for help, Tawwab offers empowerment. Penguin Random House Audio

AudioFile Audiobook Review: In a direct, no-nonsense tone, author/narrator Nedra Glover Tawwab lays out the ground rules for making tough love work for you. Through a series of c

01/05/2024

While the new year can be a fantastic reading reset, all the goal-setting can sometimes get overwhelming. This month we're highlighting three fantastic 2023 releases that can act as springboards into new realms of reading and listening. Whether you’re looking to listen to more nonfiction, read about characters of a different age group than you normally do, or try out something speculative, these are three perfect gateways.

While the new year can be a fantastic reading reset, all the goal-setting can sometimes get overwhelming. I personally love setting new reading goals each year, but I also firmly believe that goals are only as good as the joy and satisfaction they bring you. So I like to get creative with my goal-se...

01/05/2024

🎧 New Ep: Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Kendra Wi******er discuss this Booker Prize-longlisted debut from Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow. Rose Akroyd performs as Sunday Forrester, an autistic woman navigating a neurotypical world as a single parent. Sunday lives a quiet life in rural England with her daughter. When a middle-aged couple moves into the neighborhood, Sunday and her teenage daughter become smitten with these sophisticated city people who seem to live much more glamorous and full lives. Akroyd captures Sunday’s straightforward way of speaking while still imbuing her performance with Sunday’s complex emotions, which she expresses differently than neurotypical people. Akroyd’s narration creates an intimate and beautiful performance. Hachette Audio bit.ly/3M8l2JP

01/05/2024

Thank you iDrop News for featuring our big, beautiful AudioFile Best Audiobooks 2023! Happy Listening!

AudioFile Magazine, a 30-year-old publication that covers and reviews audiobooks, has just released its annual list of the year's best picks. If learning,

01/05/2024

Terry Terry Pratchett Books’s delightful fantasy novel about a teenage witch in a poor English village is wonderfully told by Indira Varma in her charming British accent. The other performers are equally charming in their roles as the various townsfolk, elves, and fairies who populate the story’s tiny farming village. HarperAudio

AudioFile Audiobook Review: This delightful fantasy novel about a teenage witch in a poor English village is wonderfully told by Indira Varma in her charming British accent. The

01/04/2024

Vikas Adam brings a noirish vibe to his first-class narration of Lev AC Rosen, author’s mystery set in 1952 San Francisco. Andy Mills is trying to find his way after being bounced off of the police force because he is gay. An old lover appears, needing help, and Andy is soon working blackmail and murder cases. Macmillan Audio

AudioFile Audiobook Review: Vikas Adam brings a noirish vibe to his first-class narration of this 1952 mystery set in San Francisco. Andy Mills is trying to find his way after be

01/04/2024

"Growing older is more expansive than the world would have us believe," says Houston attorney, author, and Trinidad native Karen Walrond in this refreshing audiobook about reclaiming your life. In a clear timbre and lower register, she delivers inspiring stories about aging with the timing and resonance of an assured voice pro. Tantor Audio

AudioFile Audiobook Review: "Growing older is more expansive than the world would have us believe," says Houston attorney, author, and Trinidad native Karen Walrond in this refre

01/04/2024

🎇 Start the new year as you mean to go on—with great listening! We’re looking forward to upcoming audiobooks that make use of ensemble narrations, like THE ATLAS COMPLEX and THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF THE ALPERTON ANGELS, as well as single-voice narrations. Happy ! https://bit.ly/3vhExeo

01/04/2024

🎧 New Ep: Joniece Abbott-Pratt masterfully re-creates a 1950s Florida reformatory in this story based on a relative of author Tananarive Due and other actual people and events. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Kendra Wi******er discuss this painful but essential story. Listeners meet 12-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr. after he’s arrested for defending his sister Gloria from a white boy. While in the segregated reform school, Robbie experiences and witnesses unfathomable punishment. Abbott-Pratt expertly portrays the story’s crushing atmosphere, as well as fearless Gloria fighting to rescue Robbie, terrified boys, and, most movingly, the “haints”—ghosts of dead boys—who assist Robbie with his escape. Simon & Schuster Audio bit.ly/3M8l2JP

01/03/2024

🎧 New Ep: Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Kendra Wi******er discuss Paul Murray’s Booker-shortlisted novel of an Irish family falling apart at its seams, performed by a talented ensemble. Ciaran O'Brien performs the perspective of Dickie, a car salesman whose business is going under after the financial crash. Beau Holland narrates the perspective of Dickie’s shopaholic wife with a scheme to save her husband’s business. The couple’s children, performed by Heather O’Sullivan and Barry Fitzgerald, each have secrets of their own. The narrators embody their point-of-view characters, capturing their insecurities and eccentricities as their familial relationships deteriorate. Audible bit.ly/3M8l2JP

01/03/2024

It’s impossible to hear this posthumously released collection of essays and fiction without heartbreak, knowing it will be Anthony Veasna So’s last. narrates it expertly, infusing it with electric energy, wry humor, and curiosity. A powerful and moving collection from a writer whose small body of work is an essential contribution to Asian American literature. HarperAudio

AudioFile Audiobook Review: It's impossible to hear this posthumously released collection of essays and fiction without heartbreak, knowing it will be So's last. Keong Sim narrat

01/03/2024

Linda Holmes’s heartwarming novel puts a new twist on unconventional romances and stories of starting over. Julia Whelan's performance is lively and bright, inviting the listener to escape to small-town Maine. Penguin Random House Audio

AudioFile Audiobook Review: Just in time for summer, this audiobook puts a new twist on an unconventional romance. Evvie Drake is packed and ready to leave her husband when she l

01/02/2024

🎧 New Ep: Author/narrator Safiya Sinclair emphasizes the poetry of her words as she narrates her memoir. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Kendra Wi******er discuss this powerful memoir. Sinclair begins by defining “Babylon,” the term that Rastafarians coined to refer to the corrupting influences of Western culture—white oppression, in particular. Her father, a musician, became a strict Rastafarian, and when Sinclair reaches puberty, her rageful father turns on her and rains down abuse. The memoir’s throughlines are Sinclair’s depictions of her mother’s gentle love, her siblings’ tenderness, her own determination, and the poetry that grew within her. Simon & Schuster Audio bit.ly/3M8l2JP

01/02/2024

British voice artist Joan Walker’s plummy, warm voice charms listeners as thoroughly as does Sarah Ogilvie’s marvelous account of the Oxford English Dictionary’s unsung heroes. Ogilvie and Walker’s shared delight in these “word-aholics” is contagious. Prepare to be charmed. Penguin Random House Audio

AudioFile Audiobook Review: British voice artist Joan Walker's plummy, warm voice charms listeners as thoroughly as does Sarah Ogilvie's marvelous account of the Oxford English D

01/02/2024

With compassion, hard-earned insights, and touches of humor, therapist Struggle Care offers relief to the overwhelmed. Her voice is warm and understanding; whether listeners are struggling with the pandemic's aftermath or depression, Davis offers supportive ways to care for the home—and the self. Simon & Schuster Audio

AudioFile Audiobook Review: With compassion, hard-earned insights, and touches of humor, therapist KC Davis offers relief to the overwhelmed. Her voice is warm and understanding;

01/01/2024

🎧 New Ep: Julianne Moore performs this pandemic novel told in three sections. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s start the new year with this moving family story from Michael Cunningham. Each section is set on April 5th of a different year. In 2019, we meet Isabel; her husband, Dan; and her brother, Robbie—who are all living together in New York City. Each section reveals more about the family members, weaving together the threads of their lives. Moore’s narration is engrossing and moves easily among the different characters’ points of view, giving each family member emotional depth and development. Penguin Random House Audio bit.ly/3M8l2JP

01/01/2024

In this exuberant and inspirational audiobook, TV producer Shonda Rhimes describes a year she spent breaking out of her shell by doing everything offered to her that she feared—and saying “yes”. Her jaunty pace, colloquial language and assertive style, paired with the huge vein of wisdom running through the book, make this a powerful listen. Simon & Schuster Audio

AudioFile Audiobook Review: The author's jaunty pace makes her book sound like a stream-of-consciousness monologue that occasionally becomes unhinged. But there's such a huge vei

01/01/2024

Cheryl Strayed traces her emotions in both the text and narration of her short memoir, which revolves around the death of her mother-in-law, Joan. Strayed describes emotional distances and intimacies, and, most important, the healing that comes in final farewells. Brilliance Publishing

AudioFile Audiobook Review: Author Cheryl Strayed traces her emotions in both the text and narration of her short memoir, which revolves around the death of her mother-in-law, Jo

12/31/2023

#2024 We’re looking forward to upcoming audiobooks that feature ensemble narrations, like THE ATLAS COMPLEX and THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF THE ALPERTON ANGELS, as well as single-voice narrations. Happy !

12/31/2023

#2024 We’re looking forward to upcoming audiobooks that feature ensemble narrations, like THE ATLAS COMPLEX and THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF THE ALPERTON ANGELS, as well as single-voice narrations. Happy !
https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/articles/audiofiles-editors-pick-14-new-audiobook-releases-for-january/

12/31/2023

Golden Voice narrator Grover Gardner comfortably inhabits John McPhee’s curious mind and captures the eloquence of his prose in this splendid rendition of his short classic. McPhee’s exploration of oranges ranges widely and digs deeply, and this pleasurable listen is delivered by a master. Tantor Audio

AudioFile Audiobook Review: AudioFile Golden Voice narrator Grover Gardner comfortably inhabits McPhee's curious mind and captures the eloquence of his prose in this splendid ren

12/31/2023

Gerard Doyle performs this stand-alone dispatch from Mick Herron’s cynical “spook street” world with such dry resignation that it is often laugh-out-loud funny. His vocal control is masterly, his pacing, range, and attention to detail a perfect match for Herron’s, which is highest praise. Recorded Books

AudioFile Audiobook Review: Gerard Doyle performs this stand-alone dispatch from Mick Herron's cynical "spook street" world with such dry resignation that it is often laugh-out-l

12/30/2023

Suzanne’s Toren’s exquisite enunciation and no-nonsense manner meld beautifully with Donna Leon’s sardonic, witty reflections on Venice and its denizens. Toren narrates it all with perfect timing and a wink. Recorded Books

AudioFile Audiobook Review: Suzanne's Toren's exquisite enunciation and no-nonsense manner meld beautifully with Donna Leon's sardonic, witty reflections on Venice and its denize