New Reviews by Title: U-Z

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

Anna Fikhman's melodic Ukrainian accent briefly sets the scene of a close-knit family. Twelve-year-old twins, outgoing Dariia and quiet Rada, live in Mariupol with their parents. Rapidly Fikhman plunges listeners into a sleep disturbed by the 2022 Russian attack, which separates the family and hurls Dariia and her mother into a world she couldn't have imagined. Fikhman excels... Read More

A trio of narrators portray teens from different eras and settings. January LaVoy transitions smoothly from the accented dialogue of Hanna and Sophie, two Polish teens, to an unstressed voicing of their risk-taking amid Hitler's threats in 1939. Jeremy Carlisle Parker transitions listeners to 1980 West Berlin, where Jenny adjusts to her family's move from Dallas. Parker also... Read More

After giving herself the goal of having 1,000 unplugged hours in a year, author Hannah Brencher narrates her own words on the life-changing importance of disconnecting from our devices, particularly our smartphones. As narrator, her youthful and enthusiastic tone adds the passion listeners need to agree to the idea of using their phones less in order to gain more engaging and... Read More

Jennifer Jill Araya thoughtfully introduces this 1980s semi-autobiographical story. Listeners meet 12-year-old Cayenne, who's delighted when her nomadic hippie parents rent a house that permits her to finally go to an actual school and make friends. After her mother has twins, she must help out at home while her pot-smoking dad, a Vietnam vet, and her mom scrape money together.... Read More

The story of workers who are fighting for a settlement to pay their medical bills after exposure to coal ash begins with a phone call. Lee Osorio captures the urgency that sent a worker out to clean up a "black wave" of toxic slurry after a partial dike collapse. Osorio increases the tension as revelations spring from a lawyer's study of coal ash's effects. He slows down to... Read More

Narrator Kaleo Griffith delivers an insightful and moving discussion of the transformative power of art, and the beauty born of sorrow. Balancing journalistic flair and storytelling, this audiobook deepens our understanding of the history and experiences that shaped various renowned artists and their work. Highlights include stories about Artemisia Gentileschi's entrepreneurial... Read More

Katherine Rundell's wonderful essays about some of our planet's most interesting animals will have listeners thinking about the natural world in new ways. Writing about swifts, she says they "fly like a stroke of luck incarnate." British actor Lenny Henry narrates with a raspy voice and at a brisk clip, and listeners may find his pace too fast to absorb all of the fascinating... 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

Amir Abdullah captures the vivid and tumultuous world of late-'90s Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) as Mobutu's regime falters and lives intertwine across continents. Abdullah's performance brings depth to Sanza, a resilient street kid, and Molakisi, a diamond hunter who is entangled in the chaos. Abdullah's nuanced delivery highlights the contrasting lives of these... Read More

Medical buffs will be fascinated by Will Watt's delivery of this audiobook about six mysterious outbreaks of disease. In a clinical manner, he details the hantavirus outbreak of 1993, John Snow's work on cholera transmission, the research methodology of the 1918 flu pandemic by two doctors, the eradication of smallpox, Dr. Anthony Fauci's novel approach to finding a cure for... Read More

Five narrators take on this story of young Indio women who are swept up in the violence of an El Salvadoran dictator. When Graciela is taken from her friends and family to become an oracle for a horrifying dictator, she meets her older sister, Consuelo, who was stolen when she was a young child. After a violent uprising, the sisters escape from El Salvador to the rich world of... 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

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

Having narrated the three previous presidential histories by Bob Woodward, Robert Petkoff is familiar with the author's cadence and tone. His reading of WAR is crisp, confident, and streamlined. He reports on the Biden presidency, focusing on three conflicts that will change the world: the Ukraine conflict and how the superpowers stumbled into it; the Israeli-Hamas dispute and... Read More

As he narrates this production's opening, a brief glossary, Navajo educator, artist, and actor Roger Willie's tone and accent establish its setting. He then begins the story with a gripping portrayal of Cody, a Navajo boy who wakes up feeling thirsty. Whether Willie is delivering English or Dineh, listeners hear Cody's increasing anxiety as he finds all the community water... Read More

Cindy Kay sweeps listeners away with this memorable otherworldly story. On the day Hana is due to inherit her family's pawnshop, where people from our world can trade away their greatest choices and regrets, she wakes to find it ransacked. Also, her father is missing, and one of their precious choices is gone. Kay's narration balances a story that alternates between being... Read More

Two great characteristics of Billy Collins's poems are their surface simplicity and their intriguing depth. Collins reads them here as though the surface were all, letting us appreciate the language and wit but allowing us to stop and think and go as deep as we want into these meditations on poetry, age, mortality, and many other subjects. Now in his 80s, Collins spends more... Read More

In 1976, the football (soccer) club of Watford, England, was once again at the bottom of its league standings. Then something extraordinary happened: Rock-and-roll superstar Elton John bought his hometown team. Narrating with relaxed British aplomb, London stage veteran Alex Jennings delivers the feel-good story of how John's partnership and eventual friendship with... Read More

Greta Jung performs Nobel Prize winner Han Kang's latest novel, a haunting story focused on the friendship of two women. Kyungha receives an urgent request from her friend, Inseon, to come see her at a hospital in Seoul. Inseon asks Kyungha to care for her bird, Ama, at her home on Jeju Island, and Kyungha arrives just as a snowstorm consumes the island. Jung's wistful... Read More

In a clear and expressive voice, Marisol Ramirez narrates this fascinating audiobook about 60-year-old Tere Sánchez, who begins to levitate like her relative St. Teresa of vila. Grieving the death of her husband, Tere feels lost. One day, while tending his garden, she levitates. Terrified, Tere travels to vila, Spain, seeking answers about levitation. While in vila, she... Read More

Narrator Christine Anne-Roche uses impressive vocal agility, infusing her voice with strong emotion that matches the powerful message of this audiobook. Nemonte Nenquimo, a member of the Waorani people of Amazonian Ecuador, recounts her path from her childhood in the forest to her present work as a tenacious environmental activist. Listeners follow Nenquimo on her journey from... Read More

Mary Jane Wells delivers another excellent performance of a contemporary romance. The third of the Graves Glen series once again features reclusive Welsh witch Bowen Penhallow, who does business with an American magical artifact collector named Tamsyn. Neither she nor Bowen expect to see the other at a Yuletide wedding--or to be whisked into the past. Romance blossoms, and they... Read More

Karissa Vacker's gentle voice ripples with mirth as she recites Bee Johnson's descriptions of the many things a mess can make: meals and snacks, props for imaginative play, art, a squabble, a reconciliation, and more. Lists of messes conveyed in bouncy rhyme unfurl alongside a jaunty soundtrack augmented by occasional sound effects. These last are often necessary to fully... Read More

Sally Phillips narrates an emotional story about a famous author who is dealing with a life-changing diagnosis, how she recovered, and how she learned to live her life to the fullest. Eve is a prominent novelist who wakes up in a hospital bed to hear she's had a malignant brain tumor removed. Now Eve must learn to walk, talk, and write again. She overcomes hardships and... Read More

Stephanie Németh-Parker and William DeMeritt work together beautifully to narrate this exquisitely crafted and stirring family story. Forty-ish auto mechanic Kyle returns home to small-town New York to care for his father, Danny, who has had a stroke. He quickly runs into his ex-wife, Casey, who lives across the street. Casey has been helping Danny since Kyle left town after he... Read More

Sy Montgomery is so joyful and enthusiastic while describing her adventures with her flock of chickens that listeners will want to stroke a hen and pick up a rooster just to participate in her positive view of the world. Montgomery is keenly observant and curious. She calls her chickens "the ladies," and she recognizes each hen's individual call and personality. She also cites... Read More

Min is messy and chatty and spontaneous but, out of nowhere, she develops a stammer that changes her life. Not only does the audio format sound entirely appropriate to illustrate her struggle to produce language, Aiofe McMahon doubles down on that advantage, with her lovely Irish accent and expressiveness ensuring that all the characters teem with life. Min's sister, Bea, is... Read More

Alex Cuadros spent six years investigating the controversy at the heart of this audiobook, and his passion for the story comes through in both his text and his narration. In a voice that is youthful and warm, Cuadros takes the listener into the Amazon rainforest, where the Indigenous Cinta Larga people have endured a decades-long struggle against illegal diamond mining that led... Read More

Ana Osorio and Ahmed Hamad are consistently excellent as they deliver this audiobook, which takes place in 1885. Osorio portrays 19-year-old Inez Olivera with a light accent that reflects her Argentinian Bolivian background. Inez has escaped murder and duplicity, and now seeks to break away from her uncle's control and to stay in Egypt. Osorio speaks in a thoughtful tone as... Read More

Narrator Helen Laser breathes life into Minnie Soffer, who narrates her family's story of coming to America and making a new life for themselves in 1920s New York City. The Soffers, Jewish Americans from Ukraine, are acculturating while retaining their religious rituals and attitudes. The father, Ike, runs a speakeasy and is involved in racketeering, bootlegging, and enforcing... Read More

This audiobook captures multiple sides of Nikola Jokic, one of the NBA's greatest stars. His story ranges from his upbringing as an unfocused, aloof teen to his focus on the court. Narrator Roger Wayne offers the right amount of emotion for the many folks quoted in this well-researched biography written by a former news reporter who covered Jokic's team, the Denver Nuggets.... Read More

Listeners follow Nicky Hennigan, a young waitress in the small town of Ballina, Ireland, who discovers that her boyfriend, Doll English, has disappeared. Over a single weekend, Nicky comes to find out that Doll has been kidnapped by the Ferdia Brothers. Damian Gildea captures the wit of this story in every line and voice. Gildea reflects the pale existence of the Irish... Read More

Moira Quirk confidently pronounces Welsh words as she narrates this fantasy. In a land filled with magical monsters, hunters compete during the Wild Hunt to earn a prize from the immortal king. Royal Gwydion hopes to keep his cruel brother from the throne and teams up with quick-witted commoner Branwen and kind Prince Pryderi. As Quirk narrates, monsters speak with hissing... 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

Meg Travers narrates a wintry holiday romance about how an unexpected inheritance leads to two total opposites finding love. When Lexie learns of her father's death, she's conflicted because they hadn't spoken in the last 10 years. She becomes even more confused when she finds out he left her half of his holiday travel company; the other half is going to a handsome, arrogant... Read More

Helen Laser narrates this opposites-attract romance, which follows a perfectionist math professor, Catherine, and her doorman, Luca, on a search for Catherine's lost identity. Before starting her new teaching job, Catherine finds out that her personal information has mysteriously disappeared from all government and academic records. Desperate for help, she reluctantly teams up... Read More

In the 10th installment of the Undoubtable Rose Beaufont series, Dara Rosenberg continues to provide her lilting narration to its clever protagonist. Rose Beaufont must hunt Mater Inferni, the Mother of Witches, and then figure out how to destroy her without destroying herself or all of magic. As the title suggests, this is not a dark, foreboding magical story but one full of... Read More

Raquel Beattie's rich narration takes listeners on this multigenerational journey of self-discovery. Martha, a lawyer who is trying to juggle marriage, career, and two kids, suddenly has to care for her elderly Grandaunt Nena. Spending time with Nena, Martha finally acknowledges the magic pulsing inside her. Nena reveals that in her youth, witches took her to an... Read More

This captivating audiobook proves to be an unlikely but winning blend of humor and terror. Thank author Henry Neff for creating such an exotic cast of bizarre characters. But it's up to narrator Ramiz Monsef to bring those characters to life. This Monsef accomplishes magnificently with characters who range from Laszlo, a snarky 800-year-old demon, to Maggie, an earnest young... Read More

Emilia Ward, bestselling author of the Miranda Moody series, is a mum and wife, living outside of London. Ayesha Antoine as Emilia reveals that after so many "Miranda" books, it's time to leave her heroine behind--to the disappointment of her loyal fans and publisher. Antoine reflects Emilia's escalating fear as disturbing incidents mimicking plotlines from her novels begin... Read More

What a treat it is to hear celebrated Irish actor Ger Ryan narrate Roddy Doyle's third Paula Spencer novel in her finest Dublin working-class brogue. It's 2020, the height of the Covid pandemic, and Paula finds herself locked down in her house with her oldest daughter, Nicola. They have a few things to talk about. Paula has survived an abusive husband and her own alcoholism,... Read More

Foulmouthed, straight-talking, and relatable, author and narrator Florence Given wants listeners to stop being chained by socially created restraints and to start living their lives to the fullest. This audiobook explores the barriers and societal oppression festering beneath the everyday advertising and patriarchal mythmaking that keep women from embracing their lives. Given... Read More

Jenn Lee does a serviceable narration of this treasure-trove of stories featuring women who created musicals on and off Broadway. Many women were helped by the men in their families--Mary Rodgers, daughter of composer Richard Rodgers, for example--while others were prominent figures of their time, such as Dorothy Parker, who was known for her biting wit. Lee's precise delivery... 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

Narrators Samantha Brentmoor and Patrick Zeller delight listeners in this sweet and steamy holiday romance. Lena returns home after losing her job to spend a peaceful Christmas with her family. However, she didn't plan for Gavin, her older brother's best friend, to be visiting, too. Gavin pushes Lena's buttons, yet she's drawn to his charm and good looks. Brentmoor's sensual... Read More

Each American poet laureate is expected to carry out at least one project, and the 24th, Ada Limón, created this anthology of poems about humans in nature. Narrated by Kim Ramirez, the audiobook includes a range of exemplary contemporary poets, including Joy Harjo, Jericho Brown, Dianne Seuss, Matthew Zapruder, and many fine (if sometimes lesser-known) others. Ramirez gives... Read More

Like a subset of other actors who are so comfortable in front of the camera or a professional microphone, Tom Selleck presents an entirely relaxed, conversational, and professional memoir that may also serve as a primer on what the ascent of a performer's career resembles--brick by brick. Selleck has a somewhat halting delivery, which may be a function of age or style.... Read More