Travel to a fantastical New York, thirteenth-century Mongolia, the wilds of Florida, or even your own backyard with these audiobooks, all from the comfort (and safety) of your home. Skilled narrators bring you to faraway historical, magical and natural worlds. Listen, and let yourself be swept away.
The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin | read by Robin Miles | Hachette Audio
An AudioFile Earphones Award Winner
Robin Miles gives voice to everything New York in this fantastical celebration of the city’s spirit. As the novel opens, New York City is going through a transformation — it’s becoming sentient, embodied by six human avatars who represent the city’s five boroughs plus New York as a whole. Miles goes all-in with her energizing performance, making listening a joy. | Read Review | More Audiobooks by N.K. Jemisin
The Mirror & The Light by Hilary Mantel | read by Ben Miles | Macmillan Audio
An AudioFile Earphones Award Winner
Hilary Mantel brings historical fiction to a new level with her rich sense of period detail and her ability to bring historical characters and voices to life. Actor Ben Miles’s characterization of Henry VIII — aging, petulant and self-pitying, wrought with pain from a festering injury, and exceedingly dangerous — is a narrative achievement of the highest order. | Read Review | More Audiobooks by Hilary Mantel
Cat Tale by Craig Pittman | read by Mike Chamberlain | Harlequin Audio
Pittman describes the near extinction of the Florida panther, a subspecies of the mountain cougar, caused by both individuals and groups who put the economic development of southern Florida before the well-being of Florida’s state animal. Narrator Mike Chamberlain keeps listeners involved in an excruciating tug-of-war that dragged on for years as the panthers disappeared one by one. An audiobook for anyone who watched Tiger King and was more interested in the feline protagonists than the human ones. | Read Review | More Audiobooks About Contemporary Culture
The Jetsetters by Amanda Eyre Ward | read by Thérèse Plummer | Recorded Books
An AudioFile Earphones Award Winner
Narrator Thérèse Plummer masterfully expresses the poignancy in this audiobook about a well-intentioned widowed mother who invites her three unsettled adult children on a European cruise. Plummer enables listeners to empathize with the characters as old wounds resurface and they struggle to resolve their difficulties and reconnect with each other. Her lively evocation of life aboard a cruise ship will leave listeners longing for the smell of sea air. | Read Review | More Audiobooks by Amanda Eyre Ward
The Immortals of Tehran by Ali Araghi | read by Peter Ganim | Random House Audio
Peter Ganim is a confident, steady voice for this family epic, which takes place in the Iranian countryside. The story follows the patriarch, Nasser, as he returns from war and moves to the birth and coming-of-age of Ahmad, who soon takes center stage with his own family. Ganim delivers the large doses of magical realism featuring such enchantments as overbearing mothers, family curses, and more. | Read Review | More Historical Fiction Audiobooks
A Hero Born by Jin Yong, Anna Holmwood [Trans.] | read by Daniel York Loh | Macmillan Audio
Actor/filmmaker Daniel York Loh draws from his British/East Asian background to bring a unique cross-cultural graphic novel voice and energy in this Chinese version of a super hero saga. A boy destined for greatness takes refuge on the plains of thirteenth-century Mongolia and is tutored in ancient combat techniques by craggy-voiced Shaolin masters and the crazy-talking Seven Heroes of the South. | Read Review | More Fantasy Audiobooks
Nature Obscura by Kelly Brenner | read by Erica Sullivan | Blackstone Audio
Nature writer Brenner takes listeners on a tour of Seward Park, Puget Sound, and other sites, including her own backyard. Narrator Erica Sullivan can’t help sounding delighted as she recounts the author’s experiences sifting through green slime in search of invertebrates or turning a bug zapper into a moth light. There’s plenty of advice here for anyone who wants to explore nature close to home. | Read Review | More Audiobooks About Contemporary Culture
This story appears through BookTrib’s partnership with AudioFile.
The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin
The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin
The Mirror & The Light by Hilary Mantel
read by Robin Miles
Cat Tale by Craig Pittman
An AudioFile Earphones Award Winner
Robin Miles gives voice to everything New York in this fantastical celebration of the city’s spirit. As the novel opens, New York City is going through a transformation — it’s becoming sentient, embodied by six human avatars who represent the city’s five boroughs plus New York as a whole. Miles goes all-in with her energizing performance, making listening a joy.
A Hero Born by Jin Yong, Anna Holmwood
The Mirror & The Light by Hilary Mantel
Nature Obscura by Kelly Brenner
read by Ben Miles
An AudioFile Earphones Award Winner
Hilary Mantel brings historical fiction to a new level with her rich sense of period detail and her ability to bring historical characters and voices to life. Actor Ben Miles’s characterization of Henry VIII — aging, petulant and self-pitying, wrought with pain from a festering injury, and exceedingly dangerous — is a narrative achievement of the highest order.
Cat Tale by Craig Pittman
read by Mike Chamberlain
Pittman describes the near extinction of the Florida panther, a subspecies of the mountain cougar, caused by both individuals and groups who put the economic development of southern Florida before the well-being of Florida’s state animal. Narrator Mike Chamberlain keeps listeners involved in an excruciating tug-of-war that dragged on for years as the panthers disappeared one by one. An audiobook for anyone who watched Tiger King and was more interested in the feline protagonists than the human ones.
The Jetsetters by Amanda Eyre Ward
read by Thérèse Plummer
An AudioFile Earphones Award Winner
Narrator Thérèse Plummer masterfully expresses the poignancy in this audiobook about a well-intentioned widowed mother who invites her three unsettled adult children on a European cruise. Plummer enables listeners to empathize with the characters as old wounds resurface and they struggle to resolve their difficulties and reconnect with each other. Her lively evocation of life aboard a cruise ship will leave listeners longing for the smell of sea air.
The Immortals of Tehran by Ali Araghi
read by Peter Ganim
Peter Ganim is a confident, steady voice for this family epic, which takes place in the Iranian countryside. The story follows the patriarch, Nasser, as he returns from war and moves to the birth and coming-of-age of Ahmad, who soon takes center stage with his own family. Ganim delivers the large doses of magical realism featuring such enchantments as overbearing mothers, family curses, and more.
A Hero Born by Jin Yong, Anna Holmwood [Trans.]
read by Daniel York Loh
Actor/filmmaker Daniel York Loh draws from his British/East Asian background to bring a unique cross-cultural graphic novel voice and energy in this Chinese version of a super hero saga. A boy destined for greatness takes refuge on the plains of thirteenth-century Mongolia and is tutored in ancient combat techniques by craggy-voiced Shaolin masters and the crazy-talking Seven Heroes of the South.
Nature Obscura by Kelly Brenner
read by Erica Sullivan
Nature writer Brenner takes listeners on a tour of Seward Park, Puget Sound, and other sites, including her own backyard. Narrator Erica Sullivan can’t help sounding delighted as she recounts the author’s experiences sifting through green slime in search of invertebrates or turning a bug zapper into a moth light. There’s plenty of advice here for anyone who wants to explore nature close to home.
