New Reviews: Fiction

Miranda July perfectly delivers the overanxious voice of a quirky, unnamed protagonist who realizes, too late, that she's having a midlife crisis. After planning a cross-country road trip from L.A. to New York City, she impulsively takes an exit a half-hour from her house and stays in a tiny motel. This one decision sends her on a perimenopausal coming-of-age adventure full of... Read More

Helen Laser gives an extraordinary performance of this inventive story set in the world of reality television. Marsh is a 40-something divorced woman with an unsatisfying career, an unhappy romantic life, and a complicated relationship with her teenage daughter. When she's selected to star in a reality TV show that is a global sensation, she is given the opportunity to redo her... Read More

Family dynamics can be complex, and that's true in this audiobook. Ostensibly, the story is about four adult sisters who were orphaned early and forced to take care of themselves and--in their own ways--each other. The novel sketches their personal lives, professional ambitions, and interwoven histories when one sister goes missing. Sarah Bolger, Aisling Franciosi, Caoilinn... Read More

Sophie Amoss performs this quiet novel about two sisters who have spent the last 10 years caring for their ailing mother. At their home on an island off the coast of Washington, Sam and Elena fight to make ends meet working menial jobs and taking paid surveys online. But when a strange brown bear returns to their neighborhood again and again, the two sisters have very different... Read More

Beep is a monkey, and in Bill Roorbach's offbeat fantasy tale, he's the central narrator, communicating to the listener in a kind of childlike animal-speak akin to his species. Roorbach provides the words and voice to this amusing and disorienting story about the relationship between nature and humans. Listeners follow Beep's travels from his homeland to New York with young... Read More

Allyson Johnson performs a story revolving around generations of Black women in a small Kentucky town named Opulence. Minnie Mae, the matriarch of her family, strives to keep her secrets buried deep. In another family, a young widow named Francine Clark mysteriously becomes pregnant long after her husband has died. Johnson captures these beautifully written characters, imbuing... Read More

This audiobook immerses listeners in a fictionalized season in the life of a black-throated blue warbler, chronicling a female bird's trials and tribulations in undertaking migration, finding a mate, and interacting with other birds. Narrator Jess Moran's small, feminine voice complements the petite stature of the lead character in this avian drama. Sporting a band on her leg,... Read More

David Crellin narrates this gloomy novel set in 2001 in Northern England, featuring sheep farmers Steve Elliman and William Herne. Their flocks are suffering from deadly foot-and-mouth disease and must be euthanized, a calamity that is destroying other generations-old family farms, as well. In the aftermath, the dour men rustle healthy flocks in an attempt to survive. With the... Read More

Bahni Turpin delivers this story of feminist entrepreneurship and second chance love with the humor and hilarity it deserves. Toni is a single mother of twins with big dreams. Turpin captures Toni's spunkiness as she balances motherhood and a demanding job with her aspirations for entrepreneurship. Turpin deftly portrays Toni's loving, if chaotic, world, which includes... Read More

Narrator Mara Wilson uses an urgent and precise tone as a middle-aged millennial looks back at the murder of Karlie Richards, a North Carolina college student. Pearson uses the framework of the standard whodunit to explore a variety of colorful characters. Joy Brunner, Karlie's former roommate, finds a letter in a book that may exonerate the mentally challenged young man who... Read More

Part literary mystery, part astronomy lesson, this audiobook, narrated by Casey Withoos, provides listeners with a compelling story set in Australia in 1997. Sylvia Knight is recovering from the hit-and-run that made her a widow more than two years ago. She believes she knows who killed her husband, but no one has been held accountable. Sylvia is working as an assistant in a... Read More

Franz Kafka's legacy can be seen in this series of vignettes. The performances are consistently subtle and deliberately nondescript, adding to the listener's feelings of confusion and claustrophobia. Some highlights: Penelope Rawlins captures a developing feeling of dread as a prospective client tours a new studio apartment with curious design qualities, including a single... Read More

Karla Cornejo Villavicencio narrates her debut novel about undocumented immigrant Catalina Ituralde. Facing an uncertain future after her Harvard graduation, Catalina reflects on her time as a student and her childhood with her grandparents. Villavicencio speaks with a smile in her voice, capturing Catalina's skepticism and wry humor. Her melodic intonation lends itself well to... Read More

In the great tradition of storytelling, Columpa Bobb tells of a village in Nuu'Chahlnuth territory in southwestern British Columbia. Told from the point of view of Mink, a shape-shifter, the account traces events in Celia's village, particularly her attempt to help her community heal after a brutal incident. Bobb takes advantage of rhythm, riding the emotions of the characters... Read More

Samantha Tan's melodic voice carries listeners through a story that spans continents and decades. It follows a group of gay men and the women entangled in their lives from the cinema in Fuzhou, China, where they cruise and find refuge in the 1980s, to Manhattan's Chinatown through the present day. Tan expertly navigates a range of points of view, embodying characters of... Read More

With its stellar cast and sprawling story, this audiobook is outstanding. Jane, an archivist at Harvard, returns to her childhood home on the coast of Maine to get her late mother's affairs in order. She discovers that her dream house there has been sold, and the new owner hires her for historical research on the house, which could be haunted. Told by several narrators, the... Read More

Prepare to be swept away to Scotland's northernmost reaches, wrapped warmly in the voice of narrator Eilidh Beaton. She pipes out quiet, unassuming Gertie MacIntyre's daydreams as she works in the local grocery store, knitting constantly. In contrast, opinionated pilot Morag sounds definitive, even as she proposes that Gertie fill in at the airfield, a miraculous new start for... Read More

Fans of stories about mismatched people are certain to enjoy Brian Craig's narration of this novel. Hank is a curmudgeon who mostly wants to be left alone, except for one last attempt to rekindle a very brief, very one-sided high school romance. Luis is a good-natured guy living in unfortunate but not insurmountable circumstances. Together, the pair make an odd couple, and... Read More

Baron Ryan's first collection of short stories explores a semester in the lives of Charlie and his friends, who are students at Harvard. The author narrates his own work, lending his youthful voice to stories featuring the 36 questions to ask to fall in love, a tongue-in-cheek correspondence with a professor regarding a writing assignment, the "story behind the story," and... Read More

Fourteen narrators give superb performances in this collection of coming-out stories. Their range of accents, tones, inflections, and styles brings the stories to life. Some works are funny and some heartbreaking, but all are honest, open, and full of heart. Though Maggar mentions in her introduction that the stories are from all over the world, the audiobook's settings are... Read More

Author and narrator Roxana Robinson weaves together the many pieces of her great-grandparents' memoirs, letters, and journal entries, adding threads that turn them into a novel. Her inviting delivery engages listeners with English-born Frank Dawson, who embraces African American civil rights after surviving battles in the Confederate Navy and becoming editor of the Charleston... Read More

Acclaimed narrator Dion Graham performs this dynamic, artfully crafted novel about a biracial author/academic who becomes the owner of a plantation on the Delmarva Peninsula after the death of his son. This work of literary fiction morphs back and forth from reality to fantasy, from tragedy to dark humor, from past trauma to present emotional upheavals. Graham's voice is well... Read More

Kevin R. Free's performance requires a skilled handling of this material, which he accomplishes successfully. Stoopendaal's story is told from the perspective of a nameless adult male. You likely know the type: a budding intellectual filled with important thoughts who applies conceptual frameworks to everyday life yet is steeped in outdated gender stereotypes. Motivated by... Read More

Alex Jennings provides a sensitive narration of Perry's multilayered novel, a meditation on loneliness and the fragility of human connections, as seen through the motif of a comet's recurring orbits. With a thoughtful air, Jennings tells the interconnected stories of columnist Thomas Hart, a closeted gay man who lives in the village of Aldleigh; Maria Vaduva, a... Read More

Hawaiian actor Kaipo Schwab performs the first published novel by a citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. In the middle of WWII, Cowney Sequoyah is hired to be a groundskeeper at the historic Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina. While there, he learns more about the Axis diplomats being held prisoner at the inn. But when a Japanese girl goes missing, the U.S.... Read More

Lisa Flanagan performs this group story of a faculty at one public high school as if she were herself an entire acting company. At the beginning of the story's school year a superannuated substitute teacher dies ingloriously on a couch in the eponymous lounge. That episode and each one following introduces more linked characters, events, complications, and unintended... Read More

Penelope Keith and Russell Tovey embody the warmth of the protagonists in this charming novel told from dual perspectives. Tovey narrates with emotional vulnerability and an inquisitive tone in portraying Clayton Stumper. The lovably old-fashioned 26-year-old unravels the final mystery left by the legendary puzzle maker Pippa Allsbrook, who raised him in her later years after... Read More

What if you were so good at your job as a rental stranger that you started believing your roles were real? Julian Cihi gives a convincing and moving portrayal of a young man who has many identities--except his own. Cihi's range of voices and accents illuminates the diverse roles he adopts for clients who have hired him through the Rental Stranger app. While Cihi's even tone... Read More

Narrator Tanya Eby tells the story of Erica; her 17-year-old daughter, Summer; and Erica's ex-husband Peter's pregnant wife, Allison. When Peter ends up in jail, Allison is left with a toddler and no money. As Summer pleads with her mother to rescue Allison, Eby captures Summer's youthful exuberance and her mother's controlling personality. Allison is younger than Erica, and... Read More

Narrator Elisabeth Lagelee uses a soft French accent for this story of love and loss set in Milly, France. Twenty-one-year-old Justine works as a nursing assistant in a retirement/nursing home, where she collects the stories of her charges, especially those of Hélène, a nearly 100-year-old resident. Hélène recounts her life from the 1920s through the Nazi Occupation, including... Read More

In a stellar narration, David Pittu infuses this audiobook with genuine wit and plenty of tenderness. In two timelines, we follow Artie, a struggling gay copywriter who hates his job, first, on his 30th birthday in 1992 and, again, on his 60th in 2022. On his 30th, his three best friends urge him to quit his job and write a novel. David Pittu imbues young Artie with a funny,... Read More

This family saga set in Venezuela follows political movements in the 1960s and the 1990s, and their effects on the lives of Stanislavo; Emiliana; Maria; and her son, Eloy. Four narrators take turns delivering the story of Stanislavo, which takes place in the jungles of northeastern Venezuela in 1964 as he participates in a leftist uprising and forms a relationship with... Read More

Soneela Nankani's narration maximizes this story of reunion and suspense. Her expressive voice captures the complexities of Raj and Rachel Ranjani's special weekend. Their lavish plan to celebrate the launch of their high-end winery in Napa Valley with their best friends from college exposes simmering tensions beneath the surface. Nankani's skillful character differentiation... Read More

Christine Rendel gives a quietly unforgettable performance of this dark and witty 1986 novel--a queer classic that is finally available on audio. Janet and Susan, known around their Cotswolds village as "the girls," live a comfortable life running a quaint gift shop. When Jan gets pregnant, it leads to a series of unexpected (and dramatic) events. Rendel's narration captures... Read More

Ellie Gossage gives an intense and wonderfully introspective performance of this unsettling novel. Helen is lesbian lawyer whose parents have recently been incarcerated for an appalling crime of neglect. She's nearly perfected the art of compartmentalizing her trauma and using sex to distract herself, but she takes it to another level when she becomes involved with an older... Read More

Cassandra Campbell, Devon Sorvari, and Fred Sanders provide an authentic narration of this moving novel. Sorvari portrays Keaton, a woman whose life has been turned upside down. Needing time to recover, she is sent to North Carolina by her mother to prepare her late grandparents' home for sale. Upon arriving in Beaufort, Keaton discovers that the house has remained untouched... Read More

Fiona Hardingham delivers Simonson's latest novel. In England in 1919, life has returned to a postwar normal. But Orphaned Constance worries about her future. What will she do when her current position as gentle Mrs. Fog's companion ends? Poppy is young, confident and eager to help her disabled brother. Hardinghan's tone of humility and empathy provides balance to Poppy's... Read More

Kevin Barry narrates his dark story about a whirlwind romance between an opium addict and a mail-order bride in the winter of 1891 in Montana. This story--resplendent with esoteric language and a quirky style--is surely best consumed in audiobook form, and Barry's narration does it justice. Tom Rourke long ago abandoned the miserable work in the copper mines in favor of... Read More

Narrators Caroline Lee and Geraldine Hakewill weave the threads of this tense exploration of free will. Everyone on a delayed flight across Australia is tired and frustrated as they await reaching their destination. Suddenly, a nondescript woman stands and begins pointing to fellow passengers and stating how they will die and when. She won't remember this later--when the... Read More

Sometimes you stumble across an audiobook with such a bizarre and intriguing performance that you want to devour it. Such is the case with Sarah Crossan's novel and her outstanding performance of it. Dolores divorces her husband after discovering he's been having an affair with an AI sex bot named Zoey, which she eventually keeps. At first, Dolores explores her hate for the... Read More

The stories in this audiobook collection have subjects as wide as the list of narrators is long, and the result is excellent. All the titles--based in New England and spanning centuries--create their own world, yet connections both clear and subtle link them beautifully. There is not a weak performance, and each narrator is perfectly suited to his or her story. "Radiolab:... Read More

André Santana narrates this queer coming-of-age story with tenderness that will touch listeners' hearts. The story begins with 6-year-old Santiago's arrival in the U.S. from Colombia with his mother and half-brother. As they settle in place, his mother, who is always working, often leaves Santiago to his own devices. As Santiago matures, he discovers and embraces his queer... Read More

This familiar story of a teen pop star pushed to early stardom is given a haunting performance by Brittany Pressley. Amber has grown up pleasing her mother by attending audition after audition. Her success in landing a spot in the supergroup Cloud9 was only the beginning. Now exploring her solo pop career, Amber becomes an oversexualized idol who yearns for a normal childhood.... Read More

Willy Vlautin narrates this novel, a series of linked stories, with the gentle twang of a vintage Telecaster. His characters are woven into the settings of the American Southwest, around Las Vegas and Reno, in run-down hotels and casinos. Here, guitar players are buoyed by their love of performing music, even if the audience is small and disinterested. Here, listeners trace the... Read More

Cynthia Nixon tells this story of loss with empathy and compassion. Magda is taking the road trip her best friend, Sara, had planned for the two of them--she's traveling with an urn containing Sara's remains. Except for the hint of Sweden in one's character's voice, Nixon doesn't employ accents to identify characters. Instead, her amazing ability to insert emotions into their... Read More

Joyce Maynard's sweater-warm voice is rich with nuance as she performs her newest, a sequel to her Earphones Award-winning COUNT THE WAYS. Taking place between 2010 and 2024, the story finds Eleanor, a successful writer, back on the family's New England farm after her former husband's death. In a story that is simultaneously profound and quotidian, she navigates life with three... Read More

This audiobook concerns two women who are separated by decades and continents but joined by blood, tragedy, and a bejeweled cobra bracelet. The romantic story is rendered perfectly by two narrators. Helen Laser portrays the contemporary New England heroine, Mallory, a single mom. Caroline Hewitt depicts Hannah, who in 1952 is living in Cairo, which is seething with revolution.... Read More

As an audiobook, Hamya's low-key novel might easily have employed two narrators--or even a third. The action revolves around the opening of Sophia's play, which is attended by her father, a novelist who is appalled when he finds himself depicted as a crass philanderer while they were on their vacation together in Italy when Sophia was a teenager. During the performance Sophia... Read More

Drawing inspiration from BLACK MIRROR, THE MATRIX, and 1984, this debut audiobook takes listeners inside the evolving world of AI with a dystopian twist. Although it's set in a world of cutting-edge tech, it is a deeply human story, and Joe Knezevich's narration imbues it with warmth and subtlety. When a tech start-up creates an algorithm that can change events in the real... Read More

Cassandra Campbell and Barrie Kreinik bring this historical novel's two timelines to life. In 1890, Annie, an Irish maid for a wealthy family, is deceived by love and wrongly accused of theft. Sentenced to prison, Annie is subjected to sexual harassment and acts of violence. Injustice drives her to revenge. In 1972, Judy, an aspiring photographer, spies Annie's mug shot and... Read More

In a masterful performance, Deepti Gupta delivers this story of twin sisters who are torn apart by family mores in 1950s Bombay. She brings the ever-rising stakes for Jaya and Kamlesh to the listener in living color. Her nuanced performance captures each character, particularly determined and passionate Jaya. Gupta's subtle shifts in tone and accent also enhance the... Read More

Narrator Cindy Kay entertains listeners as she skillfully delivers this satirical novel's snarky tone. Aki Hiyashi-Brown accepts a teaching job at the expensive, predominantly white Wesley Friends School in order for her daughter, Meg, to be able to attend. After racist graffiti is found at the school, Aki, one of the few teachers of color, is assigned to be the head of the new... Read More

Andrew Byron's voice sets the scene of a historic city with a culture steeped in both Europe and the East. His performance is transporting, embedding listeners in the city of Lviv, Ukraine. This fascinating place and its impact on its residents is the heartbeat of this quietly moving audiobook. Deeply drawn characters, including aging hippies, a former secret policeman, and a... Read More

Hanako Footman's delicate tones resonate with the otherworldly atmosphere of this short novel about revisiting cherished memories. Footman sustains the intrigue regarding Mr. Hirasaka, an affable guide of the afterlife who owns a fantastical photo studio somewhere between life and death. Although he assists each of the three characters--an old woman, a gangster, and a girl--to... Read More

Helen Laser brings a crisp no-nonsense timbre to the lush, narcissistic world of celebrities that ghostwriter Mari Hawthorn must navigate to survive in Palm Springs. Mari gets her big break when she's hired to write notorious model Anke Berben's memoir. Laser makes her excitement and trepidation palpable with a well-chosen combination of hushed tones and even diction. Anke is... Read More

Vikas Adam brings color to this unique international drama. His expressive voice captures the ups and downs of young Egyptian American Azaan's life in California. When Azaan's parents catch him kissing Madison, his American crush, he is exiled to Egypt. Adam dramatizes Azaan's development from a rebellious teen who is forced to study religion to an adult who poses as a fake... Read More

Four narrators lend their talents to a love story that spans decades. Leanne Woodward portrays stoic Chloe, a young librarian who is struggling to raise three younger siblings. When she stumbles upon an old book with intriguing marginalia, she strives to uncover the developing love story with the help of Joe Zack, a suave flirt portrayed by Joe Jameson, who makes him completely... Read More

Adepero Oduye and Chukwudi Iwuji perform this whirlwind story told by a group of characters who are all connected by the events of a single night. In an unnamed city in Nigeria, Kalu attends a sex party to help him forget that his girlfriend, Aima, has just left him. But everything goes wrong, and Kalu finds himself sucked into the city's seedy underbelly with no way out. Oduye... Read More

Sometimes metafiction--shape shifting, self-referential, time bending--can seem like a party favor. While it possesses many meta elements, this satisfying audiobook is at once a comic romp, a satire of fame in the Internet Age, and a look at race--set in rural Mississippi. This is the 2021 revision of the debut novel from Laymon, whose more recent memoir, HEAVY, was much... Read More

Even at more than 15 hours, with a story covering several decades, this audiobook never slows its pace as narrated by Edoardo Ballerini. The epic begins in 1980 with the kidnapping of a Long Island factory owner and follows the lives of his three underachieving adult children, all of whom are damaged in their own way by the ordeal. Ballerini expertly captures the Jewish... Read More

Three narrators, Susan Bennett, Christina Moore, and Xe Sands, combine their talents to tell the story of Dr. Lark Smith. Lark has been moved from oncology to the ER because she is deemed to be too emotional. Dr. Lorenzo Santini has offered to help her get back to oncology if she will pretend to be his girlfriend to please his grandmother. Sands gives Lark vulnerability as her... Read More

This historical mystery brings a strong, idealistic American woman to a small village in mountainous Calabria, Italy, in 1960. Francesca is running from marital turmoil in Rome when she comes to Santa Chionia to build a nursery school. Narrator Lisa Flanagan gives Francesca a passionate, authoritative voice as she tells her story of trying to raise up the people of a forgotten... Read More

Golden Voice Narrator January LaVoy becomes the characters of Troy, Georgia, as they face off on the issue of banning books in libraries. Lula Dean, the prime book banner, fills her little free library with "wholesome books." Little does she know that her rival, Beverly Underwood's daughter, Lindsay, put banned books beneath the wholesome book jackets. Oh, my! LaVoy imbues... Read More

This splendid romantic adventure, loosely based on the Persephone myth, receives a sterling performance by Ariel Blake. In the fifteenth century, Odòdó is a member of the women's blacksmith's guild in Timbuktu, where conditions are terrible for her and other women. When Timbuktu falls, Odòdó is abducted and spirited away to the Royal City, where her life changes forever. The... Read More

Sophia's current beau, the man of her dreams, surprises her with a cruise to the Galapagos Islands. Just as they are boarding, he gets an "emergency" call from his ex-wife and tells Sophia he can't go. At his insistence, she decides to go alone. Narrator Erin Bennett gives a great performance, delving into Sophia's ruminations with excellent pacing and varying tones that reveal... Read More

In this satirical audiobook, a full cast flips the script on privilege, race, and gender roles in an upper-class neighborhood called Malcolm X Estates. The narrators are deliberately over-the-top as they capture the many laugh-out-loud situations that take place when a white family moves into the Black neighborhood. Clare Brown, author and one of the key narrators, portrays... Read More

Natalie Naudus narrates the opening of a duology retelling the Mulan legend. Meilin escapes from her abusive father when he arranges to sell her to an equally abusive husband. She disguises herself as a boy and enlists in the army, where she augments her training with nightly sessions. A jade necklace she inherited from her mother is imbued with black magic, and she starts to... Read More

This stunning collection of short stories is narrated beautifully by a quartet of gifted narrators who bring to life the reimagined lives of the nine-tailed fox of Asian folklore. As each story unfolds, the narrator imbues it with passion, sensuality, and a healthy dose of feminist perspective. Nancy Wu, Annie Q, Jen Zhao, and Eunice Wong have engaging and charming voices, and... Read More

In a patrician-sounding voice, narrator Zion Jang portrays a group of Washington, DC, interns. The senators they serve, known as the "Gang of Six," are considered the wheeler-dealers of the Senate. One of them is about to die. Listeners will enjoy Jang's performance as he creates a personality for each of the interns by changing tone and rhythm. Especially notable is Cameron... Read More

In this audiobook thriller, women take action against violent men, cruel women, and a world that underestimates them and takes them for granted. Sisters Paula and Julie grow up with a vengeful mother, ultimately paying the price for her choices. Three narrators take turns voicing the lead as the story jumps around in time, making the shifts easy for listeners to manage. As... Read More

Elena Rey rises to the challenge of narrating this emotionally charged and hilarious story of love and trauma shared among three generations of women. Luciana, the youngest daughter in a Colombian American family, becomes exasperated when her eccentric grandmother, Abue, refuses to evacuate from Miami during a hurricane. A mass found on Abue's gallbladder throws everything into... Read More

Narrator Ann Richardson performs this beautifully crafted story about female bonding, personal growth, and the transformative power of friendship. The audiobook alternates between the viewpoints of an aging, reclusive bestselling author, Inez, and her cleaner, Meja. Meja lacks direction in her life and comes to help Inez declutter her cottage in coastal Sweden. The story is... Read More

Andre Bellido skillfully narrates this story of writers, generational trauma, and magical realism. Aureliano Más returns to Mexico City at the behest of his aunt. She has secured him a writing fellowship she hopes will give him direction and help him stop drinking. But Aureliano's alcoholism, rooted in his mother's haunting disappearance and his best friend's suicide, has a... Read More

Genevieve Gaunt narrates this genre-defying surreal novel about art, artists, and relationships. Her genteel English accent fits the prose, which evokes a mood of elite European salon communities. Gaunt's pacing is slow, giving listeners needed time to absorb the disorienting introspective narrative, which frequently switches from the first to the third person. Main characters... Read More

With understated compassion, Xavier Casals narrates Takacs's debut work about an oyster-farming family on the brink of collapse. Just after the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010, 34-year-old Jordan finds he needs the help of his estranged younger brother, Benny, to weather a financial crisis and their mother May's precarious situation. Casals infuses his voice with the... Read More

Jean Ann Douglass narrates this Depression-era story of an orphaned runt bear that is saved by the cook at an isolated logging camp and raised to be part of the cook's family and the camp community. When a savage death occurs, Bruno the bear is blamed, kidnapped, and sold. The cook's daughter, Pearly, determined to save her "brother" from certain death, sets off on a perilous... Read More

Sophie Amoss and Joe Knezevich deliver this novel revolving around the Babineaux family of Grand Isle, Louisiana, as it was impacted by the Deepwater Horizon explosion and Hurricane Alex in 2010. Amoss lets us hear Josie's excitement when a magazine plans to spotlight her family's restaurant to kick off tourist season and her frustration when her children blame her for the... Read More

Gospodinov's award-winning novel is given an energetic and spirited narration by Toby Stephens. This work is the memoir of Georgi, a Bulgarian who finds solace in the Greek legend of the Minotaur. The course of his life goes in various directions, much like a labyrinth. Georgi communicates his feelings of abandonment in vignettes from his boyhood in 1970s Bulgaria. Stephens is... Read More

A talented ensemble cast narrates a ripped-from-the-headlines thriller set at a prestigious Miami public school. When newcomer Melody Howard arrives from Kansas, she is swept into the glamorous world of PTA moms at her daughter's new school. Andi Arndt's portrayal of Melody as she slowly unravels due to the high-stakes pressure of her new environment is compelling. Other... Read More

A coming-of-age story turned brutal murder mystery morphs into a queer love story of legal injustice. Hope Newhouse's gripping narration builds the mystery and listeners' emotions equally, balancing the complex themes with dark humor. Thirteen-year-old Lacey Bond is living in rural New Hampshire during the '90s Satanic Panic, a time of mass hysteria attributable to children... Read More

Junior Nyong'o's low-key narration is exactly what this mystical story demands. In the 1960s, during the brutal Biafran-Nigerian civil war, Kunle, tormented by guilt over an accident that nearly killed his brother years ago, learns that his brother is now in Biafra. Kunle volunteers with the Red Cross since only they can cross the Nigerian blockade into Biafra. There he is... Read More

Narrator Stacy Gonzalez brings to life the docks, bars, and streets of 1800s Tacoma in Washington Territory in this queer historical romp. Alma Rosales has set up a good life for herself as opium smuggler Jack Camp. But when two men are found dead in a bar her crew frequents and several newcomers--known and unknown--come to town, Alma's situation is threatened. Gonzalez's deep... Read More

Petey Gibson gives an exuberant and emotional performance of this charming queer love story about ghosts, grieving, and big family messes. Ezra has been able to see ghosts since his grandfather died when he was a kid, and he wants nothing to do with his family's Jewish funeral home. But when his mom announces she's leaving his dad for the rabbi's wife, he reluctantly agrees to... Read More

Hearing the dry, intense voice of narrator Emily Rankin as she portrays Julia Ames is like being a psychoanalyst who is listening to a particularly troubled patient. Julia grapples with her identity as a daughter, wife, mother, friend, and, briefly, an adulteress. She is insecure, emotionally vulnerable, witty, pessimistic, and totally self-absorbed. Rankin presents all aspects... Read More

Escape with narrator Chris Henry Coffey to the small town of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, in this heartfelt contemporary romance. Jack Schmidt's beachfront restaurant has been run by his family for three generations. After his father's death, Jack took over, making the restaurant his entire life. But isn't there more to life than work? Now a popular restaurant group has come into... Read More

This delightful summer beach story narrated beautifully by Nan McNamara has amusing rom-com-style humor yet also delivers a sensitive treatment of a delicate subject. During their annual week in a Cape Cod rental, Rocky and her husband are joined by their adult children. McNamara doesn't provide extensive vocal characterizations, but she charmingly portrays Rocky's negotiation... Read More

Gail Shalan, who narrates most of this long and flabby novel, is an agile and adept performer. She does fine work shifting from the youthful voice of Jolie Aspern, the primary narrator of this fictional memoir, to the voice of her junkie failure of a father, Ethan. Shalan captures the other lightly drawn characters with subtle shifts of tone and tempo. Ari Fliakos is quite... Read More

It's easy to imagine the voice of Brian Nishii as that of the great Japanese writer Osamu Dazai (1909-1948) as Nishii delivers these searingly personal short stories, each of which depicts a morsel of Dazai's short life. Nishii presents the stories in a conversational tone that sounds as if Dazai is telling them to friends. From anecdotes to sweeping portraits of... Read More

Kira Fixx narrates this intimate queer coming-of-age novel with the perfect mix of wistfulness and straightforward brashness. Sixteen-year-old Shae falls in love with Cam, who radiates passion and determination. Within a year, Shae is pregnant, and Cam has decided to transition from male to female. Soon Cam is starting a new life away at college, while Shae sinks into opioid... Read More

Christine Rendel thoughtfully introduces this gentle story. Listeners meet 83-year-old Helen Cartwright, a widow who is returning to England after many years in Australia, and the tragic death of her son. Helen, who is just waiting for the end, exists on radio, TV, tea, and toast. She avoids human contact. Rendel's friendly style enhances the backstory of Cartwright's life as a... Read More

Narrator Christine Lakin balances the poignancy and humor in this 1990s story of three generations of strong, complicated women: Dale, a gritty veteran of five husbands who left her only child, Cherie; Marlys, her dying friend who is Cherie's stepmother; Cherie herself, now a confident, wealthy woman and "fixer"; and Laura, Cherie's pregnant daughter whose perfect life is... Read More

Listeners will savor this story of high school soulmates reuniting under less-than-ideal circumstances. Narrator Rebecca Lowman has a subtly elegant voice that allows the story to shine. Shiloh and Cary were best friends in high school who were secretly in love, but self-doubt and immaturity kept them apart. Eventually, they lost touch. Now 33 and divorced with two kids, Shiloh... Read More

Listeners will be moved by this compelling story about the immigrant experience in America and what it means to define our own lives. Narrator Junior Nyong'o voices Mamush, the son of Ethiopian immigrants. Facing a failing marriage, Mamush leaves his wife and son in Paris to visit his mother in Washington, DC. Upon arrival, he is told that Samuel, the man he considers a father... Read More

Aasne Vigesaa captures the varied charms of Minnesota and its indomitable people in this intriguing collection of short stories. In each work, Minnesota is more than a backdrop; it becomes a vibrant character, adding atmosphere and distinction. In "The Picnic," Vigesaa's sweet, gentle Megan plans a picnic months in advance--to her commitment-phobic boyfriend's irritation--until... Read More

This riveting audiobook delves into the lives of three generations of luchadores, masked Mexican wrestlers, who are grappling with love and family secrets in Mexico City and Los Angeles. Narrators Gisela Chípe, Tony Chiroldes, Lee Osorio, and André Santana bring depth and authenticity to their characters. Chípe's portrayal of Elena resonates with strength and resilience,... Read More

Megan Tusing performs this new audiobook featuring the state of Florida, accidental death cults, and dangerous technology that could rip apart reality. In a world of stray cats, bizarre human behavior, and random floods, a ghostwriter finds herself dealing with the present, as well as the past wrongs of her father and other members of her strange family. After her sister's... Read More

In Elin Hilderbrand's final Nantucket novel, narrated by Erin Bennett, with a special appearance by Hilderbrand herself, Chief of Police Ed Kapenash's retirement plans are disrupted by a fire that destroys a brand-new $22-million home. At the time of the blaze, the owners, a new couple in town, are hosting a yacht party, from which their assistant, Coco, goes missing. Chief Ed... Read More

Narrator Shayna Small infuses teen angst throughout Chambers's novel. Diamond, a biracial teen, is still reeling from her father's death eight years ago. Narrating largely from Diamond's point of view, Small skillfully uses nuanced voicings for the many conversations Diamond has with other characters. Small captures the teen's pain when Ma has Pop declared dead in order to... Read More

Carlotta Brentan's narration offers all the glamour and sparkle of Rome in the 1960s. After marrying David Shepard, an American diplomat based in Italy, Teddy Huntley Carlyle experiences life in the Euro fast lane. Royalty, film stars, corporate executives, foreign diplomats, Russian spies, and American expats populate her new life. But Teddy has secrets that could destroy... Read More

Mikaela Hoover performs this wildly delightful novel about Iranian American fast-food heiresses who want to be TV stars. The four Milani sisters have very different reactions to learning that their reality television series is delayed because of COVID-19. Now the Milani family members are forced to spend all their time together, and tensions rise as they wonder if their... Read More

Johnny Rey Diaz navigates these short stories with touching empathy. He performs the lived experiences of Salvadorans and the larger Latin American diaspora in ways both fascinating and challenging. Reyes, Jr's, storytelling starts conventionally but soon evolves into darker themes that capture the impact of late capitalism, which is characterized, in part, by the drive to... Read More

Rebecca Lowman gives an affecting performance of this stirring audiobook about grief and adventure. Ammalie, a 50-something waitress who has recently lost her husband, Vincent, decides to take a trip to revisit one place she went to with him and two other locations that had special significance to him. Lowman's expressive tone and relaxed pacing settle listeners into Ammalie's... Read More

Jocelyn Tam's narration of this stirring autobiographical novel offers an evocative portrayal of Lai Wen's coming of age in Beijing at the time of the Tiananmen Square uprising. Tam brings to life the dynamics within Lai's family, in particular her grandmother's tough love and her father's silent struggles, and illuminates Lai's gradual awakening to the political and social... Read More

David Lee Huynh, Nicky Endres, Zoleka Vundla, and Katherine Littrell skillfully portray eight different characters in this speculative novel set in the near and extreme futures. Yonghun, a researcher who teaches poetry to an AI, is cured of cancer after nanotherapy replaces his human cells with android cells. All who receive the miraculous cure become immortal, changing the... Read More

Narrator Chante McCormick performs this audiobook about Mae, a biracial young woman who struggles with her identity, racism, family secrets, and how to re-create a lost family recipe for macaroni and cheese. McCormick skillfully adjusts her tone, pitch and accents to create the many characters in Mae's extended family. Mae is on a mission to unite her interracial family and... Read More

Juliet Stevenson's voice in this production is like a spa tub, soothing and stimulating at the same time. The fact that she is narrating a masterpiece will keep listeners from being soothed to inattention. THE TRANSIT OF VENUS does have some astronomy in the background, but it is mostly a study of many of the forms of love, focused on the inhabitants of an English country... Read More

Escape with Brittany Pressley and Karissa Vacker to an adults-only nostalgic summer camp. Jesse and Hillary became best friends years ago at Camp Chickawah and thought they would return as adults to be camp counselors. While that dream came true for Jesse, Hillary moved on to other opportunities. Now that the camp may be sold, Jesse invites Hillary and former campers to create... Read More

Helen Laser gives a nuanced performance of this audiobook about an unlikely friendship between two women. On the cusp of 40, Phoebe is divorced, infertile, stalled in her academic career, and her beloved cat has died. She goes to an exclusive Newport, Rhode Island, resort, where she is the only guest who is not there for a wedding. In the elevator, she meets Lila, the bride,... Read More

Narrator Stephen Thorne's nuanced narration is ideal for this comic depiction of a society in chaos. Listeners will enjoy its emphasis on the ridiculous. During Dan's first vacation in a decade, the sun explodes, and the resort where he's staying is plunged into darkness. A social hierarchy quickly takes hold in which Building A, with the most amenities and wealthiest guests,... Read More