Every month, AudioFile Magazine reviewers and editors select the best new audiobooks for BookTrib’s readers. If you’ve been stuck inside in the face of April showers, longing for a good audiobook to keep you company, look no further! Here are ten great listens to tune into.
FUNNY STORY by Emily Henry
Read by Julia Whelan
[Penguin Audio | 11.5 hrs.]
Julia Whelan tells a funny story, much like a Shakespearean comedy is a funny story, of a woman who falls in love with her ex-fiancé’s new girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend. When Daphne’s fiancé, Peter, realizes he is in love with his formerly platonic best friend, Petra, just days before their wedding, Daphne recognizes she has built her whole life around Peter. Whelan accentuates Daphne’s devastation with believable sobs and sniffles. She especially shines in the second half of the story with well-matched voices to likable secondary characters.
ALL THE WORLD BESIDE by Garrard Conley
Read by Pete Cross, Garrard Conley | AudioFile Earphones Award
[Penguin Audio | 9.5 hrs.]
Pete Cross performs this debut novel of a star-crossed love affair between minister Nathaniel Whitfield and physician Arthur Lyman in Puritan New England. Pete Cross’s narration captures the intense relationship between the two men; he performs their dialogue with deep emotion. As the two men’s families begin to suspect their secret, Cross imbues his performance with tension, communicating both families’ anxiety and feelings of helplessness. Cross’s narration creates a truly heartfelt listening experience of this beautifully devastating novel.
SHOGUN, PART ONE: The Asian Saga, Book 1.1 by James Clavell
Read by Ralph Lister | AudioFile Earphones Award
[Blackstone Audio | 24.25 hrs.]
Like the captain of a historical sailing ship, Ralph Lister takes command of this sprawling 1975 bestseller about culture clash. He gives a tough, resilient voice to the hero, Captain John Blackthorne, while providing memorable voices for the dozens of characters ranging from Japanese samurai and courtesans to Spanish and Portuguese people. Details abound on warfare, religion, marriage, sex, and even bathing. Inspired by historical events, Shogun is a masterwork of popular fiction delivered by a masterful voice talent.
THE LADY OF LAKE COMO by Terrance Williamson
Read by Paul Bellantoni | AudioFile Earphones Award
[Tantor Media | 14.5 hrs.]
Paul Bellantoni impeccably presents a small village and its superstitious inhabitants in this look at WWII from an Italian perspective. Listeners join Ezio, who’s dedicated to his job as a policeman despite needing a cane. When Ezio arrests a longtime Jewish resident, his conscience requires him to help the man and his daughter. Delightful snippets of Ezio’s father’s aria performances while cooking and much needed humor showcase Bellantoni at his finest. Audio lets listeners savor rich Italian and guttural German accents in this humane story, based on true events.
THE CEMETERY OF UNTOLD STORIES by Julia Alvarez
Read by Alma Cuervo | AudioFile Earphones Award
[Recorded Books | 9 hrs.]
Alma Cuervo’s warm, rich timbre and measured style suit this captivating audiobook about a novelist whose nom de plume is Scheherazade. She leaves Vermont and returns to her native Dominican Republic to bury her untold (unfinished) works. The plot takes a satisfying turn to magical realism when she creates a cemetery for the stories and their imaginary characters take over to tell them. Julia Alvarez has crafted a fantastical world, packed with local color and expressions, and Cuervo ensures that it’s enjoyable on audio.
THE MARS HOUSE by Natasha Pulley
Read by Daniel de Bourg
[Bloomsbury Publishing | 18.5 hrs.]
Listeners will find it hard to pause this sci-fi political thriller — and unlikely love story. January is a climate refugee who has relocated to a colony on Mars. In London, he was a professional ballet dancer; on Mars, because he’s dangerously “Earthstrong” in the lower gravity, he must wear a metal exoskeleton that inhibits his strength. With his British accent and confiding delivery, Daniel de Bourg convincingly inhabits January’s point of view. De Bourg’s naturalistic narration effortlessly propels the twisty plot and fascinating world-building and illuminates the wonders and dangers that January encounters. It’s all absolutely riveting.
CHASING BEAUTY: The Life of Isabella Stewart Gardner by Natalie Dykstra
Read by Maggi-Meg Reed
[Harper Audio | 16 hrs.]
The privileged world of the spirited Isabella Stewart Gardner is aptly captured by the patrician voice of narrator Maggi-Meg Reed. Born in 1840 to a wealthy family in New York City, Isabella married Boston Brahmin Jack Gardner and proceeded to both dazzle and confuse proper Boston elites. Reed softens her tone when “Mrs. Jack” suffers the death of her only child; to recover, she sets off on a lifetime of world travels, collecting art for her several grand homes. Reed’s careful pacing and expression elicit genuine admiration for the eccentric and sometimes scandalous Isabella.
LOVERS AT THE MUSEUM: A Short Story by Isabel Allende
Read by Nicholas Boulton | AudioFile Earphones Award
[Brilliance Audio | 38 mins.]
Nicholas Boulton delights in this story of passionate lovers. It’s told from the perspective of a detective who is determined to charge them with a crime following their torrid night of lovemaking in Spain’s Guggenheim Museum. Boulton speaks brusquely as Detective Larramendi separately interviews the couple. As the woman, Boulton gushes with earnestness; as her lover, he conveys similar honesty but with a matter-of-factness that belies the fantastic nature of the couple’s excuse. Despite his crusty nature, Detective Larramendi cannot help being captivated by the magically implausible story that the lovers tell. Neither will listeners.
CHARLIE HUSTLE: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball by Keith O'Brien
Read by Ellen Adair, Keith O’Brien
[Random House Audio | 14.75 hrs.]
Ellen Adair handles this biography of Pete Rose beautifully, with clear enunciation and pronunciation, letting the rich and troubled life of baseball’s all-time hits leader stand for what it is. Rose was a homegrown Cincinnati guy who went on to star for the Reds. But his off-field pursuits — gambling, an extramarital affair, and a lack of solid friendships — mar his legacy. Adair narrates this fascinating, well-researched audiobook with a consistent tone and no imitations of quotes.
THE LIMITS by Nell Freudenberger
Read by Rebecca Lowman | AudioFile Earphones Award
[Random House Audio | 11.75 hrs.]
Set in New York City and French Polynesia in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, this mesmerizing audiobook is flawlessly narrated by Rebecca Lowman. Pia is the 15-year-old daughter of Stephen, a cardiologist at a New York City hospital, and Natalie, a marine biologist. Hoping to attend high school in person, Pia relocates from the island where Natalie is conducting research to the posh New York City apartment of her father. Lowman’s flexible, emotive delivery and steady pace settle listeners into this contemplative story exploring medicine, environmental devastation, colonialism, family dynamics, and the impact of privilege during the pandemic.
