THE HEAVEN & EARTH GROCERY STORE by James McBride
Dominic Hoffman fully inhabits the characters in McBride’s fresh, vital, beautifully written historical novel, resulting in a deeply immersive listening experience. The story is set largely in the 1930s in Chicken Hill, a predominantly Black and Jewish neighborhood in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Hoffman varies his accent and intonation and delivers many different languages for the large cast of characters who impact each other’s lives. With his mesmerizing performance, Hoffman makes it clear that this interconnectedness is the point.
TOM LAKE by Ann Patchett
Meryl’s Streep’s captivating performance of Ann Patchett’s new novel transforms the fine book into a must-listen. As the Nelson family isolate together on their Michigan cherry farm in the first year of the Covid pandemic, Lara entertains her daughters with memories of working in summer stock theater at nearby Tom Lake and dating an actor who became a famous movie star. Streep narrates with breathtaking sensitivity to those emotional truths. Never overdramatizing, she speaks with warmth, savoring with us the novel’s many lessons and satisfactions.
CODENAME CHARMING by Lucy Parker
Anne-Marie Piazza offers a charming, flexible narration of this hearty romance. Petunia has been enjoying her quaint life as an assistant to a royal named Johnny, but after she stumbles into an awkward situation with the tabloids, she’s given the choice to fake a relationship with Johnny’s brooding bodyguard, Matthias, to avoid further scandal—or to lose her job. Piazza portrays Petunia as sweet and bubbly, which is a fine contrast to Matthias’s stoic seriousness. While the couple’s dynamic is colorful and entertaining, Johnny’s bumbling personality adds another layer to a lively performance.
THE BOOKBINDER by Pip Williams
Annabelle Tudor completely inhabits the English characters at the center of this engrossing tale of gender, class, and war. Peggy and Maude are bookbinders at Oxford University Press. Peggy’s intellectual curiosity is discernible in her voice; she chafes at the reminder that her job is to bind the books, not read them. Maude, who is neurodivergent, has a knack for parroting the core words of every conversation. Tudor gives a fabulous performance highlighting a wonderful story.
GIVE ME A SIGN by Anna Sortino
Narrator Elizabeth Robbins’s remarkably youthful voice whisks listeners away to a summer of outdoor adventure and romance as Lilah, a teenager with hearing loss, becomes a junior counselor at a camp for Deaf and blind kids. Lilah is ecstatic, though self-conscious about her American Sign Language skills. When a character is using ASL, the sounds of hands moving to form the signs are heard underneath the narrator’s voice. Additionally, Lilah’s hearing loss is often expressed through muffled audio. This detailed and thoughtful production is a compelling sensory experience for young listeners.
CAMP DAMASCUS by Chuck Tingle
Mara Wilson expertly narrates a queer horror novel about an evangelical religious community in Montana and the gay conversion therapy camp at its heart. Rose Darling is 20, and while she never went to Camp Damascus, she knows people who have—though they don’t talk about it. Wilson narrates with emotional depth, conveying all of Rose’s intelligence, inquisitiveness, and fear as inexplicable things start happening and she’s hunted by otherworldly beings. Rose, who is autistic and, she comes to realize, queer, fights to discover the truth about the rot at the center of all she’s been taught.
SUCH KINDNESS by Andre Dubus III
Tom Lowe is broke, rudderless, and approaching toxic levels of bitterness as this audiobook opens. Once he proudly defined himself as a devoted husband, father, and carpenter; now, following an accident, he can’t define himself at all. Dubus works narrative magic here. Without giving too much away, know that Tom’s story is ultimately a satisfying one, and Dubus navigates that transformation admirably. As Tom’s outlook brightens, Dubus’s voice quietly lightens. Dubus artfully delivers dialogue, humor, sorrow, and Tom’s personal meditations with depth and alacrity. An outstanding performance of an excellent story.
BEYOND THE STORY: 10-Year Record of BTS by BTS, Myeongseok Kang, Anton Hur, Clare Richards, Slin Jung
Primarily narrated by Kim Young-Gi, this biographical audiobook celebrates the ten-year-long career of the Korean boy band BTS. Kim’s tender narration details the band’s immense trials and unprecedented successes. He approaches the content with a voice full of wonder and admiration throughout their joys and quiet sympathy when detailing their tribulations. The audiobook also features in-depth interviews with the members of BTS, voiced by Park Chan-won with a conversational and colloquial narration.
THE INVISIBLE HOUR by Alice Hoffman
This fascinating historical fiction is performed dynamically by Jessie Mueller. Mia lives in the Community, a cult that restricts contact with the outside world. All she has known comes into question when she reads THE SCARLET LETTER and observes how the story mysteriously reflects her sheltered and oppressed life. Mueller expertly delivers a unique performance. Mia is depicted as a complex character full of intrigue as she navigates her way through a compelling story. Mueller’s performance will transport listeners back in time.
AFTER THAT NIGHT: Will Trent, Book 11 by Karin Slaughter
Kathleen Early delivers a captivating performance in Slaughter’s 11th in the Will Trent series. Emergency Department doctor Sara Linton encounters a dying rape victim and promises her justice. With the support of her fiancé, Georgia Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Will Trent, Linton embarks on a mission to fulfill her promise. Early skillfully transitions among characters using tone, accent, and pace. Listeners will be enthralled by the twists and turns of the investigation and form a deep connection with the expertly portrayed characters. It’s nonstop engagement from start to finish.
This story appears through BookTrib’s partnership with AudioFile and contains material originating from the AudioFile website.
