This author-narrated audiobook blends memories and poems with some mind-bending moments--as Elizabeth Gilbert talks with her late lover and converses with God. A practiced speaker, Gilbert performs this excruciatingly honest work with passion and restraint. The memoir is about addiction and how Gilbert healed after the death of her friend, lover, global-traveling companion, and... Read More

Actor Charlie Sheen, son of actor Martin Sheen and brother of actor Emilio Estevez, offers an unusual, bizarre, and extremely convoluted series of brief recollections, espousing his life philosophies and perspectives and occasionally referencing semi-chronological actual experiences. Sheen's narration is professional, warm, well enunciated, sincere, and appealing. Listeners... Read More

Richard Armitage brings the Great Plains of England in 2500 BCE vividly to life. His deft use of tone, pacing, and nuance differentiates the large cast of characters. The kindness and intelligence of Seft, a miner, sharply contrast with the brutishness of his father and brothers. Troon has an autocratic tone that reflects his ironfisted rule of the farmers and his scheming to... Read More

With his easy wit and comfortable Irish lilt, Gerard Doyle is once again the go-to narrator for Mick Herron's bestselling Slough House series. It's business as usual in this ninth story, in which the "slow horses"--demoted and/or disgraced British intelligence officers--are once again left to stand down and watch their careers crumble. Instead, they take on the case in question... Read More

Because he's extremely short, Robert Reich has been bullied his entire life. But standing up to bullies--socially and politically--has been his hallmark and is a major theme of this memoir. His most important message is a plea for Americans to stand up to the man he considers the bully-in-chief: President Trump. Reich narrates his audiobook, so the emotions he expresses are... Read More

Sean Patrick Hopkins and Adenrele Ojo narrate a compelling addition to the world created by Stephen King in THE STAND. The anthology collects stories set during, after, and long after the events of the iconic novel. Hopkins's steady, engaging narration captures the essence of each story. With his clear enunciation and varied pacing, the different characters and harrowing... Read More

Mark Sanderlin is the perfect narrator for this story of a preteen boy who is keeping a huge secret. Sanderlin's tone is young and welcoming, his pace steady, and his enunciation precise. He voices the confusion and impatience of Nathan, who is living with a tremendous secret: He's the son of aliens--and now he's growing a tail! Nine other kids, spread across the country, share... Read More

Samin Nosrat's warm and encouraging voice guides listeners through various kitchen adventures in these selections from her cookbook GOOD THINGS. The author of SALT FAT ACID HEAT and star of the Netflix series reflects on her struggles with depression and how she cooks now, shares recipes for "small good things" like Olive Oil Fried Bread, and expounds on the joys of eating with... Read More

Intended for children, this audiobook contains tough truths for listeners of all ages. Derrick Barnes introduces his story with an author's note imbued with empathy and resolve, telling listeners that he sees its fictional main character as the embodiment of his sons. At age 13, Henson Blayze is a football idol in his small town of Great Mountain, Mississippi. He loves his dad,... Read More

Listeners will enjoy the short, magical adventure of young Cala and her family during the night of Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead). While they all begin to gather in the cemetery to remember loved ones and friends who have passed on, it's clear that Cala is apprehensive and scared, especially now that her grandfather has died. At some point, she's separated from her family and... Read More

Kenny Blyth's warm Scottish accent and facility with creating characters make him the ideal narrator for Ann Cleeves's new series featuring Detective Jimmy Perez and his partner, Willow Reeves. They're now living on the Orkney Islands after moving from the Shetlands. Perez's best friend is found beaten to death with an ancient stone during an archaeological dig on Westray. Then... Read More

Arundhati Roy's moving performance illuminates her tumultuous experience of being raised in India by her fierce mother, Mary Roy, whom she refers to as "Mrs. Roy." Narrator Roy delivers her memoir in a calm, yielding voice that intensifies the hardships she overcame. Her mother worked miracles at her private school in Kerala, turning boys into gentlemen and teaching girls to... Read More

Narrated by Mary Roach, this audiobook explores the human body and the challenges that arise when organs, tissues, and limbs fail. Roach is curious and enthusiastic as she meets with physicians, researchers, and people in need of replacement or repair of crucial body parts. Her narration is funny and captivating, reminiscent of a great conversation at a dinner party. Roach... Read More

Listening to Tembi Locke's melodic voice share her experiences during a Sicilian summer vacation with her daughter, Zoela, and second husband, Robert, is a delight for any audiophile. Published years after FROM SCRATCH--her gut-wrenching memoir of her first husband's death from cancer--this account continues her story as she reconnects with her late husband's family and they... Read More

Daniel Nayeri narrates his novel, which transports listeners to Iran in 1941. He balances passages describing a neutral country overrun by the Anglo-Soviet invasion with the experiences of the main characters, recently orphaned Babak, age 13, and his sister, Sana, age 8. To prevent their separation, Babak steps into the role of their father, a teacher of nomads. Nayeri... Read More

This paranormal thriller proves to be a formidable audiobook production. The second volume of Roth's Curse Bearer duology requires the highly skilled quartet of narrators to present concepts based on Slavic folklore, often while speaking in Polish accents and employing foreign terms. Happily, the four narrators clear those hurdles, making for a smooth listening experience. The... Read More

Acclaimed novelist Miriam Toews narrates her haunting and, at times, funny memoir, which explores why she writes. In a conversational tone, Toews recounts mundane memories while unpacking her profound grief at losing both her father and sister to death by suicide. Through her writing and narration, Toews injects witty quips to break up the tragic subject matter, delivering her... Read More

Eugenia Cheng's consideration of equivalence and equality in math and in life could be applied to the identity she presents in this audiobook: Her narration is always easy to listen to, but WHAT she narrates is not; the two are not equal. Her voice and English accent are likable; her manner is warm, friendly, and engaging; her performance is clear and gently musical. Even the... Read More