September 2024 Earphones Award Winners

A terrific performance by Christopher Lane transports listeners to Dickens's London 20 years before the events made famous in his novels. We learn why Miss Havisham became the embittered woman in GREAT EXPECTATIONS, as well as the origin stories of many other notable characters in Dickens's works. After being jilted at the altar and robbed of her fortune by Compeyson, a con... 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

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

Starting this audiobook with the title's bestiary gives listeners the opportunity to be introduced to the creatures who are vital to its quest story. In addition, English actor Samuel West's deadpan delivery highlights its dry humor. If Christopher weren't holding a baby griffin, he never would have come to believe his grandfather about the hidden archipelago where magical... Read More

Crews's novel, published in 1988, is finally on audio, and it's worth the wait. Matt Godfrey's masterful storytelling brings it to life. Part of "Southern grit lit," the story focuses on Eugene Talmadge Biggs, a prizefighter who discovers that his most lucrative skill is his ability to knock himself unconscious. Biggs capitalizes on the public's thirst to see this talent,... Read More

Expertly narrated by Imani Jade Powers, this speculative fiction enters the mind and motives of Lady Macbeth. While she's reminiscent of Shakespeare's character, many of the events depart from the play's, allowing us to see things through her eyes. Seventeen-year-old Roscille, allegedly cursed by witches, drives men mad after one look into her eyes. Against her will, she's... Read More

Vivienne Leheny will keep listeners guessing as she narrates this smart story about a thirty-year-old mystery involving the disappearance of three members of a wealthy Nevada family. The incident resulted in national headlines. Leheny's wonderfully breathy presentation adds to the drama. The story starts simply enough: Dr. Sloan Hastings sends her DNA to a genealogy website and... Read More

Marc Vietor narrates a dark fantasy epic about a family of merchant bankers and the prince who is poised to take over the kingdom. Davico di Regulai, armed with an ancient dragon eye and his own wits, steps up to control a vast banking empire. He soon learns that kindness is a weakness that will get him killed. A slow build follows Davico from childhood to adulthood. As Vietor... Read More

Dion Graham's masterful narration clarifies this novel's shifts in point of view and vividly defines its main characters, 107-year-old Josey Kravitz and 12-year-old Alex. The richness of Graham's Polish accent for Josey augments the power of his storytelling and his tragic past, as well as his caring personality. Graham's delivery also reveals Alex's feelings of hopelessness... Read More

Elizabeth Knowelden will capture listeners' hearts with her charming performance. Rival ornithologists Beth Pickering, a recent graduate, and Professor Devon Lockley are on the hunt for the death whistler bird, one the rare jewels in birding. While Beth finds Devon to be brash and egotistical at first, it's only a matter of time until Devon's charm sucks her in. Knowelden's... 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

Peter Noble has narrated several audiobooks by historian Patrick Bishop. Here he brings subtlety and nuance to this richly detailed account of the German occupation of Paris during WWII and its exuberant liberation by the Allies in August 1944. Stories of the French Resistance provide drama enough, and the narrative is filled with celebrity names--among them Picasso, Hemingway,... Read More

Narrator Daniel Henning brings his signature versatility, emotional connection, and perfect comedic timing to the latest in the acclaimed Cerulean Chronicles series. The magical children cared for by Arthur and Linus on Marsyas Island are joined by a new child, the yeti David, who is voiced with a nasally growl. When the children speak, the production layers their voices... Read More

British historian Giles Milton regularly narrates his own books, all devoted to aspects of WWII, and this illuminating account of the wartime dealings among Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin has a flavor no professional narrator could convey. Milton's voice is not schooled or melodious; it has the bark and urgency of a wartime announcer. Pitched but not strident, unvarnished but... Read More

Lucy Antek Johnson is the daughter of a violinist who played for 17 years under the famous Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini when he led the NBC Symphony Orchestra. Before his sudden death, Samuel Antek wrote all but the final chapter of this intimate portrait of Toscanini, which offers insights about why the legendary conductor was so revered. In this illuminating audiobook,... Read More

Narrator iiKane shows astounding vocal versatility in this suburban horror audiobook about a bizarre Homeowners Association. Sol and her wife, Alice, finally purchased a home in a gated community. But nosy neighbors, microaggressions, and tree roots growing where they don't belong unsettle Sol, who is stuck at home on probation after a plagiarism accusation at work. iiKane... Read More

Multitalented playwright/director/actor Colman Domingo gathered an internationally acclaimed cast to hit this spirited blend of social satire, love, responsibility, and grief out of the park. When an out-of-work actor (a superb Domingo) returns home to face the heartbreak of burying his late mother, he receives all kinds of advice--from his wild best friend (an energetic Alex... Read More