May 2025 Earphones Award Winners

"Top Chef" host and alum Kristen Kish beautifully delivers her memoir, displaying her compassion throughout. Adopted and raised in Michigan, Kish never doubted her family's love, even as she struggled with social anxiety. Her deep family bonds and drive to succeed echo throughout her story. A move to Boston marked a turning point; there, she began to embrace her identity, and... Read More

Narrators Tim Paige and Jesse Vilinsky shine in this charming romance as they portray Forrest and Margot with compelling chemistry and emotional depth. Margot, a romance writer, has struggled with love in her own life. When her diary of disenchantment with the genre is maliciously revealed, her career is jeopardized. To help, her sister sends Margot to Alaska to reinvent... Read More

Author and narrator are both at their best here. This second installment brings Atkinson's monumental history of the Revolutionary War to nearly 60 hours, with the conclusion still to come. It's an investment timely and richly rewarded. Grover Gardner isn't the most melodic of narrators, but he is steady, consistent, and subtly expressive, the very qualities needed for serious... Read More

Angela Dawe brings Finlay Donovan's comedic crime solving to life with her narration of the fifth book in this series. When a body is discovered in a neighbor's backyard and Finlay's husband is arrested, Finlay and her nanny become involved. The nosy neighbor, Mrs. Heggarty, moves into Finlay's house and busies herself with her duties as head of the neighborhood watch. Does she... Read More

Sparkling wit, ingenious plotting, and a superb performance by Elizabeth Knowelden make this debut novel a listening joy. As WWII threatens, a fundraising gala for the Women's Voluntary Service is held at Sir Henry Heathcote's manor. The period's four most popular mystery novelists, Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, and Margery Allingham, act as hosts. All goes... Read More

Golden Voice narrator Julia Whelan delights listeners with this heartfelt contemporary romance. Alice Scott is optimistic about her writing--always hoping for a big break. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Hayden Anderson is a grumpy enigma. Both find themselves on Little Crescent Island for the same reason: They're competing to write the biography of an elusive heiress, the... Read More

Dickens is one of those classic authors whose works are wonderfully suited to the audiobook format. With strong dialogue, unexpected plot twists, and a wide array of characters, this production is superb, thanks to British actor Stephen Fry's expert narration. His exuberant performance brings Pip's coming-of-age story to life with glorious British accents. Dickens is well-known... Read More

Talented narrators Clare Corbett and Melanie Crawley deliver a haunting ghost story that shifts between 1776 and the present day. Corbett gives illiterate Hettie Gale a sharp West Country accent as she recounts her life and death in the late 1700s. Hettie's story alternates with that of soft-toned Alice McKenna, performed by Crawley. In the present time, Alice searches for her... Read More

Andre Santana and Annalee Scott portray dueling chapters in this survival story. Estranged childhood friends Tuck Mattice, an ex-con, and Emily Swanson, a pop star, coldly reunite after 13 years. Tuck's new job as the singer's bodyguard is over before it can begin when their plane crashes. Now they must figure out what has happened to the world they once knew as they trudge... Read More

January LaVoy draws the listener into the story of Sloan Cooper, a natural resources police officer. Sloan has returned home to recuperate after having been shot. At the same time, Nash Littlefield and his brother, Theo, have moved to Heron's Rest to start a contracting business. While recovering, Sloan becomes interested in missing persons cases. It turns out the missing have... Read More

As Kevin R. Free deftly narrates this 1928 bestseller with understated ease, the strength, newfound artistic freedoms, and dizzying magic of the Harlem Renaissance come to life. The Roaring Twenties roar loudly in wonderfully vivid descriptions of gambling, prostitution, cutting-edge jazz, and perfectly groomed mobsters, but it's the story of a job-hopping down-on-his-luck... Read More

John Kenney's latest novel successfully walks a tightrope between dark humor and genuine warmth, and Sean Patrick Hopkins's narration provides the necessary balance. Bud Stanley is a newspaper writer who one night drunkenly writes and publishes his own obituary, setting in motion a grimly amusing series of events. Hopkins's even tone perfectly conveys Bud's sarcastic wit, as... Read More

Brian Nishii delivers a performance that could not be better suited to this touching, well-documented personal growth audiobook. The author, a psychology professor and native of Japan, explains through vivid personal stories and accessible research that meaning and purpose in life are not enough. We can stay busy working for something we believe in, something important, but... Read More

An audiobook for the soul. This exquisite work of nature writing celebrating Scotland's Cairngorms mountains remains a classic of ecological observation. Tilda Swinton's rendition of Nan Shepherd's poetic prose mesmerizes. Her tone is exceptionally clear, her pace adds drama, and her style of narrating is immersive. Written in the 1940s, the book remained unpublished until the... Read More

This audiobook provides an extraordinary exploration of Anne Frank's life from her early years to her tragic demise, emphasizing the enduring significance of her diary through various media such as books, theater, and more. Narrator Erin Bennett approaches the text with profound respect for Anne and her memory while skillfully conveying the numerous other narratives within the... Read More

Talented actors Lesley Manville and Tim McMullen bring drama and rich characterizations to their narration, just as they do in the Masterpiece television adaptations of Horowitz's series. Their dynamic performances create an audiobook experience that's fun, immersive, and expertly voiced. Though this may be the final installment, ample backstory allows new listeners to jump... Read More

Fredrik Backman, the talented Swedish novelist, is a witty writer and a keen observer. Golden Voice narrator Marin Ireland grandly performs this story of art, friendship, and what it means to be a teen. Ireland replicates the snarky tone of Louisa, who has just released herself from foster care to go see the work of art that is the fulcrum of the plot. Ireland captures the... Read More

Keeping track of the wide range of accents of a cast of characters from multiple countries--New Zealand, London, France, and Hungary, to name a few--is a daunting task. English actor Bessie Carter does just that in this delightful crumpet of historical fiction. Carter employs her best BBC English for famed mystery author Dorothy L. Sayers, who spearheads the effort to form a... Read More

Narrator Daphne Kouma wows in this epic fantasy/murder mystery/political thriller. In a society built around eight powerful animal spirits, a new emperor is chosen every 24 years when those vying for the throne compete in a series of trials. When the Raven palace's contender is found dead, scholar Neema Kraa finds herself simultaneously taking her place in the trials and... Read More

Kristen Sieh's performance brings the listener into the life of a complicated woman whose sexual desire is fixated on commercial airliners. Lisa works as an online comment moderator in San Francisco. She's good at her job, but she reserves her passion for airplanes. She perceives flights as dates, turbulence as flirtation--and a smooth flight could lead to something more.... Read More

Max Meyers's performance of Yoko Ono's biography works because it's done with a reporter's professionalism--minus the invisible eye rolls. The audiobook offers an insightful examination of the controversial woman John Lennon not only loved, but also respected as an artist. Born to a wealthy but loveless Japanese family, she found her life shattered when Japan was devastated by... Read More