November 2024 Earphones Award Winners

Food and travel writing mingle in this fine collection. Padma Lakshmi's introduction, narrated by Soneela Nankani, is much more than a standard intro. Nankani shines in her sensitive and captivating performance of Lakshmi's very personal story of meeting with her estranged father in India. The excellent Eunice Wong reads Marion Bull's "Orange Is the New Yolk" with wit and a... Read More

Ferne Marks and Owen Hall make a perfect pair depicting the electric chemistry between a kitchen witch and the charming man who catches her eye. Ever since Scott Mason stumbled into Serendipity Cafe in London, he's had the barista on his mind. Dina Whitlock was just as taken by Scott and is startled to discover they're both attendants in their best friends' country wedding.... Read More

Glen Powell leads a full cast in this polished production, which embraces the rom-com formula with a twist. Nathan's skill is ghost- writing, in particular, providing men the necessary words and stage presence to fully communicate their feelings when they give the Best Man toast. The market is rich for this service as men notoriously don't have the words to connect with their... Read More

Ffion Aynsley and Iestyn Arwel portray the characters in this story of murder and deception in 1881 Oxford. Aynsley morphs into determined and clever Non Vaughan, a Welsh polymath recently admitted to Jesus College at Oxford. Aynsley's vocal performance features a melodic Welsh lilt that ebbs and flows with Non's emotions. Arwel breathes life into Basil Rice, a Jesus College... Read More

Nneka Okoye narrates a delightfully queer and fiendishly magical Regency romance. After his sister, Mary, makes an ill-advised wish, John Cesar and the dashing Captain Orestes James do their best to save her from the result. Okoye dazzles in her role as Robin Goodfellow, the capricious fey narrator of the story. Her performance captures the arch tone and wry humor that are... Read More

EJ Lavery's heartfelt narration captures a landscape of emotions and family dynamics in this coming-of-age novel. Lavery's firm yet gentle tone captures the tension and love within Cruzita's family as they try to keep alive the legacy of her great-uncle's bakery and Cruzita's dreams of becoming a pop star. Most convincing are Lavery's portrayals of teenager Cruzita's... Read More

Novelist Richard Powers calls narrator Edoardo Ballerini the very best, and many listeners would agree. Ballerini's range is impressive, but he excels with the difficult, the literary, the opaque, and the autobiographical. He brings particular ease and purposefulness to this memoir by NEW YORK TIMES style critic Guy Trebay portraying his early years in Manhattan in the 1970s.... Read More

Golden Voice January LaVoy delivers an exceptional performance as Vida, who possesses a profound understanding of the mountains where she was raised. This knowledge is central to her existence. Her expertise becomes crucial when she suspects that the death of her beloved José Nochelobo was not an accident. LaVoy's precise and skillful portrayal of each character and moment adds... Read More

Celebrated Canadian poet and novelist Anne Michaels has written an exquisite novel (shortlisted for the Booker Prize) that looks at love, loss, and human connection. Michaels's intimate delivery and empathetic tone serve her bittersweet and elegiac text well. Starting in 1917 with a battlefield explosion, her exploration of characters during troubled times spans a century and... Read More

The cavernous voice of narrator Allan Corduner is the listener's first clue that this enchanted story is more expansive than the tiny, spartan attic room where Marta and her mother live above The Hotel Balzaar. While Marta's mother toils as the hotel's maid, Marta's job is to be unseen and unheard. Corduner's booming voice initially seems incongruous with the contemplative... Read More

Alison Fensterstock and Ann Powers deliver an ambitious, sprawling, almost overwhelming project. That's by design. The history of music traditionally revolves around men and their recordings, with women as afterthoughts. This audiobook is not just about inclusion. It's a corrective recentering. The origin story of the song "Hound Dog" is a focal point. It's often attributed as... Read More

Entomologist Barrett Klein describes the importance of insects to life on Earth, as well their influence on our culture and civilization. Narrator Sean Patrick Hopkins has a tone of curiosity and wonder as he takes the listener on a comprehensive tour of the insect world, covering topics such as insects' influence on developments in science and engineering, mind-altering... Read More

Christine Lakin and Tim Paige deliver a fun, sexy, and relatable romance. Lakin voices Molly, a sassy and cynical rom-com screenwriter who reluctantly attends her fifteenth high school reunion. There, she unexpectedly reunites with her ex-boyfriend, Seth, voiced by Paige. Seth is in search of a fairy-tale romance. As they catch up, they make a playful bet on the outcomes of... Read More

Famous Filipino American drag queen Manila Luzon gives a heartfelt, charming narration of this delightful rom-com. Rex takes his drag queen persona, Regina, online in order to use his popularity to save a karaoke bar--all the while keeping his drag life a secret from his father. As he becomes successful, he also is faced with the need to reveal who he is to the world in order... Read More

Narrator Troy Glasgow is a gift--a natural storyteller who knows how to pace this dynamic debut. Glasgow's acting prowess is on full display as his baritone voice seeps into listeners' ears--and into their souls. He carries listeners into, as described in this book, "the secret side of [London], full of winding, serpentine streets and back-alley bargains . . . It was the outer... Read More

A supremely talented cast narrates 12 short works that could only have originated from master storyteller/director Pedro Almodóvar. This first collection ranges from personal essays--there's one about the death of his mother--to a fascinating retelling of "Sleeping Beauty" that revolves around the Spanish Queen Juana la Loca. Fans of Almodóvar's work will recognize the story... Read More

In this locked-room fantasy, Moira Quirk's vocal confidence and captivating talent are on full display. Just two months after giving birth, the famous Hound Guildmember Kembral Thorne attends a New Year's Eve party. But what's supposed to be a gathering of various public officials and guilds quickly becomes a bloodbath. Violent creatures come out of nowhere to kill guests and... Read More

Aaron Goodson presents moving personal essays that vividly depict the joys, sorrows, and frustrations of an American Black man. Listeners meet Jerald Walker, a former cult member who is now a successful academic. Goodson energetically shares Walker's years as a member of the Worldwide Church of God, whose founder he hilariously compares to Donald Trump. Listeners will be... Read More

Stellar narrator Jefferson Mays and bestselling author James S.A. Corey are in warp drive as they launch the first book of a planned trilogy set in the far future. This loose reinterpretation of the Book of Daniel begins on a planet settled long ago by humans. When the planet is invaded by a hostile force interested only in utility, selected people are transported to an alien... Read More

Elizabeth Knowelden's vibrant performance sparkles in a fantastically fun story that celebrates uniqueness. Young Millie Fleur La Fae's garden, with plants like sneezing stickyweed and fanged fairy moss, clashes with Garden Glen's theme of sameness and perfection. Millie considers planting more ordinary flora that would blend in and be considered less "weird" but devises an... Read More

Jen Zhao's narration of this silkpunk fantasy enhances the intriguing story. Aihui Ying dreams of becoming a master engineer like her father, but women are barred from the Engineer's Guild. After witnessing her father's assassination and receiving his journal, Ying sets out to avenge his murder. Disguised as a boy, she travels to the capital to take the guild's entrance exams.... Read More

In this rich audiobook about all kinds of performance, narrator Paul Boehmer's slow pacing and palpable understanding of the material fit the author's broad thinking. Boehmer sounds perfectly compatible with Sennett's stature and advanced age (81). Sennett's writing is always broad and moving and, in this case, has particular relevance to the political performances that... Read More

Jennifer Bobiwash and Darrell Dennis deliver powerful performances as Ariel and Tomah, Native American teenagers who are living in an urban intertribal housing project. A musical introduction sets an inspiring and reflective tone for this moving dual narrative. Bobiwash captures Ariel's love of ballet, which diminished after the disappearance of her Auntie Bineshiinh. Bobiwash... Read More

Malcolm Gladwell once again shows that audio is the ideal medium for someone who excels at both long-form journalism and podcasting. In this follow-up to his iconic debut, THE TIPPING POINT, Gladwell explores the bleaker side of how things go viral. His unmistakable delivery has become more animated after years at the mic, and as he's done in previous audiobooks, he uses... Read More

Lucy Scott masterfully delivers this intense account based on a true story. In Croydon, England, in 1964, while answering a domestic disturbance call, police discover an elderly woman in distress and her 37-year-old nephew, unkempt, nearly naked, fearful, and mute. William Tapping hasn't been out of the house in decades. Helen Hansford, an art therapist at Westbury Park... Read More

Roxane Gay, a feminist Black woman, narrates her essay on coming to terms with America's gun culture and growing ownership of guns, especially by Black women. In a thought-provoking consideration of this divisive topic, Gay is deliberate in her approach. She talks about how she came to buy a gun for protection in the face of increasingly specific and detailed death threats. She... Read More

Narrator Alejandro Antonio Ruiz dazzles listeners with their vocal range and agility. Ruiz convincingly portrays characters of different ages and genders, displaying an impressive command over their versatile voice. Eighth-grader Elio Solis has become more aware of his body, emotions, and female classmates. He feels his world has become radiantly ultraviolet when his classmate... Read More

Rachel Fulginiti narrates with warmth, clear enunciation, and pitch variety. But what makes her performance special is her empathy with the author's altruistic mission and the plight of the intended audience--couples who are wrangling with the fraught business of ending a marriage. Fulginiti's tone is serious, but the optimism in her voice is needed to reach listeners who are... Read More

Listeners will marvel at the extraordinary experiences Shirley MacLaine, now 90, has packed into one lifetime. Her delivery is intimate and chatty--as if her listeners were sitting in her living room. She delivers surprises about Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, the Dalai Lama, and even Mikhail Baryshnikov--to name a few of her friends. It's a list of the most famous... Read More

Narrating this cutting-edge guide to personal growth and initiative, Sean Pratt captures every bit of the author's enthusiasm for the lessons he learned while leading an innovation team at Google. Pratt's pitch patterns and phrasing are beautiful to hear. He uses strategic pauses that highlight important words, along with tone and intensity changes that sync perfectly with the... Read More

Impressive performances from a stellar cast transform this "Novel in Five Acts" into an absorbing listening experience. Focusing less on Oscar Wilde's affairs and gross indecency trial, Bayard's look behind the scenes probes their damaging psychological effects on Wilde's wife and young sons. Elisabeth Rodgers is simply amazing as Oscar's wife, Constance, suddenly realizes... Read More

Jesse Bernstein brings Percy Jackson to life in this seventh installment in the series. Percy is tasked with house-sitting for the goddess Hecate and her two pets, a polecat and a hellhound. When the house is destroyed and the pets escape, Percy and his friends Annabeth and Grover must fix things before Hecate returns. Bernstein's vocal characterizations match each personality... Read More