December 2024 Earphones Award Winners

A proper miss and a rakish pariah come to life via narrator Beatrix Ayliff's lush and emotional voice. After many seasons, Miss Loretta Linfield is finally being courted by the very eligible Duke of Colchester, but it is his bold sister, Charlotte, whom she cannot stop thinking about. Charlotte has dallied with many eligible ladies but is shocked to find her brother's intended... Read More

Golden Voice Juliet Stevenson's wise, somewhat bemused voice has introduced dozens of British classics to a generation of listeners. Her approach is familiar, subdued, precise. She skillfully builds and shapes this unexpectedly compelling history of the world's most performed piece of music. How Handel's MESSIAH came to be is a story with many twists, but it provides a focus... Read More

When executed as beautifully as this one, multigenerational novels are all consuming in the best way. Sandra Oh's performance of this audiobook makes the experience even more immersive. When young Sunja is saved from ruin and moves from Korea to Japan, a family tale begins and proceeds through four generations in the early 20th century. Oh is an outstanding narrator. Her pace... Read More

Playwright Jeanne Sakata's newly commissioned version of this beloved classic for L.A. Theatre Works is both well produced and thoughtful. It provides backstory for Mary Lennox before turning the dour child over to Archibald Craven, her remaining relative, after an outbreak of cholera takes her family in India. Mary, voiced by Alma Marian, moves from petulance to wonder as she... Read More

In the sequel to Korn's YOURS FOR THE TAKING, narrator Gail Shalan captures the desperation of two women as each works to survive in a world changed by politics and climate. Listeners learn why Kelly deserted her daughter, Orchid, seven years earlier and is making the dangerous trip home in 2041 to reunite with her. Woven into this story is Orchid's quest in 2078 to find her... Read More

Maya Hawke performs this classic collection superbly. She pays attention to Joan Didion's exquisite prose and captures her careful observations--such as a 5-year-old on acid in San Francisco and the evolution of her native Sacramento once aerospace engineers arrived, among other topics. Hawke gets Didion's measured pace and thoughtful tone just right as she conveys the... Read More

Narrators Ell Potter and Steve West are a dynamic duo escorting listeners through a bombastic adventure. Despite being gay, Sir Horley has pledged to marry a lovely woman, but his best friend, Arabella, won't have it. As Arabella whisks Horley away on his wedding night, their unbreakable bond is tested against silly challenges and the cold, hard truths that come with being... Read More

Barnaby Edwards's storytelling verve in this far-future adventure will have listeners rapt. Edwards is equally believable as a fussy tutor, a girl who is forced to fight mechanical monsters for entertainment, a washed-up soldier, and the rest of the characters who make up the story's motley crew. When Miss Torpenhow's city of Thorbury is taken over by hostile forces, she... Read More

This fascinating and aptly named audiobook features two very different "good" men," each fighting for justice in a completely different way. Narrator Curt Bonnem keeps listeners mesmerized with his pitch-perfect performance of mild-mannered scientist Dick Raynes and his counterpart, brilliant FBI Agent Steve Patterson, who is in love with Raynes's sister, Dee. After a lifetime... Read More

Carly Robins and Teddy Hamilton mesmerize listeners with their performance of this emotional contemporary romance. When Allie Rousseau, an elite ballerina, suffers an injury, she returns to her summer home to heal and recover. Hudson Ellis, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer, always had a deep connection with Allie--until the night he left for Basic. Years later, Hudson's niece... Read More

Kristin Atherton delivers a powerhouse performance of the final volume in Booker Prize novelist Pat Barker's trilogy reimagining the Trojan War from a female perspective. This book is told mostly by Ritsa, a Trojan healer who is enslaved to Cassandra, who is herself the slave-concubine of King Agamemnon. The war is over, the seas perilous, egos fragile, prophesies unkind, and... Read More

The endearing husband-and-wife team of Kate Reading and Michael Kramer continue their stunning narration of the Stormlight Archive series. Reading and Kramer switch off narrating--with both bringing special touches to their performances. Their narration is equal parts emotive and emphatic, gliding through accents and inflections with aplomb. The story is nuanced with... Read More