Behind the Mic With Kirkus Reviews

Amy Landon’s lively narration unites present-day Ohio and Perceforest, a fairy-tale realm, in Alix. E Harrow’s immersive reimagining. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly discuss this novella that explores the Sleeping Beauty story from the perspective of Zinnia Gray, a chronically ill 21-year-old who has been given “weeks, not months” to live. On her birthday, Zinnia is transported into a...

Natalie Naudus narrates Sue Lynn Tan’s sweeping, romantic saga inspired by Chinese mythology. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly discuss Naudus’s skill at bringing this fantasy to life for listeners. Xingyin was raised on the moon by her mother Chang’e, but makes her way to the Celestial Kingdom to try and earn her mother’s freedom. Naudus captures Xingyin’s blossoming confidence and cont...

Inaugural poet Amanda Gorman delivers her collection of poetry with precision and purpose. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly discuss listening to Gorman performing her work, which offers her perspective on current social and global issues and delves into history. Gorman calls forth hope and light amid every hardship that fills our present-day lives. Closing with a powerful recitation of...

Nineteen prize-winning crime and mystery short stories are narrated by nine highly experienced voice actors. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Robin Whitten discuss the fun of listening to stories published from 1985 to 2020, compiled by Maxim Jakubowski. While the deep tones of Stefan Rudnicki and John Lee may be the most familiar to listeners, all the narrators vocally embrace these stories filled wi...

January LaVoy narrates Ken Follett’s epic novel packed with interconnected plots and political intrigue. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Robin Whitten discuss LaVoy’s skill capturing the voice of each character, keeping listeners engaged and attuned to the story. It’s a cautionary tale that strikes on a visceral level as global misunderstandings snowball into the threat of nuclear war. Listeners will...

Fiona Hardingham showcases her great range in her enchanting and touching narration of Patti Callahan’s historical novel. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Robin Whitten discuss this must-listen for every fan of Narnia and C.S. Lewis. The story is set in 1950s Worchester and Oxford, England, and Megs Devonshire is on a mission to discover the origins of Narnia for her young brother, George. Hardingham’...

Erin Bennett’s spirited narration breathes life into Debby Applegate’s richly detailed biography of America’s most celebrated brothel keeper, Polly Adler. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile Magazine’s Robin Whitten discuss Adler’s life during the Jazz Age as told by Applegate. Adler is a fascinating, colorful figure, and Bennett, who clearly knows a good story when she has one, gives the narration her all...

Narrator Bianca Amato, a South African actress, gives listeners an opportunity to once again enjoy the wit, warmth, and wisdom of Precious Ramotswe in the latest No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency adventure. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Robin Whitten discuss the fun of hearing a new narrator take on Alexander McCall’s Smith’s long-running series. Detective Mma Ramotswe deals with a shaky business plan...

Tyla Collier delivers Kekla Magoon’s narrative of how centuries of abuse to Black Americans led to deep unrest and the founding of the Black Panther Party. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss this National Book Award finalist for Youth literature. The Black Panthers’ “power to the people” was less about militancy and more about gaining equity in education, health care, justice, and p...

Karis Campbell narrates a chillingly familiar story taking place in an unexpected setting called Arcadia Gardens. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss Catherynne M. Valente’s slim thriller that is expertly narrated and will definitely ramp up your heart rate. Sophia and her husband are perfect for each other. In fact, everything is perfect – or is it? As the story unfolds, Campbell sh...

Alessandra Narváez Varela narrates her own poignant, evocative young adult novel in verse. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss this expressive novel that is inspired by the author’s own life growing up in Juarez. Anamaria is a Mexican 13-year-old from Juarez who meets her 30-year-old self and wants nothing to do with her. Thirty gives strange advice, and isn’t the doctor that Anamari...

Will Smith tells all in this memoir of his spectacular journey from growing up in Philadelphia to his career as a rap star, and then as a Hollywood movie mogul. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb talk about the surprisingly relatable story Smith shares, and the power of hearing his story in his own words. His charisma comes through as he narrates both lighthearted moments and deeper revelat...

A fine example of an audio autobiography and biography from Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam, and Paul Simon. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss this intimate and conversational audiobook that is full of music, letting listeners hear Paul Simon’s stories told through songs. Malcolm Gladwell intersperses historical and biographical facts that give greater context to the musician’s com...

Narrator Dion Graham delivers John Edgar Wideman’s discursive stream-of-consciousness stories in a powerful, resonant style. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alan Minskoff discuss Wideman’s compelling combination of memoir, fiction, and essays, told sometimes in a stream-of-consciousness style that gives listeners insights into life as a Black American. Janina Edwards contributes to the narration as w...

Jeremy Arthur strikes the right balance between dramatic storytelling and a journalistic tone in Porter Fox’s remarkable audiobook about climate change. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alan Minskoff discuss this audiobook that features author Fox’s globe-trotting climate reporting, which includes stops in the Cascades, Alaska, Greenland, and Switzerland. He interviews experts and aficionados ranging...

Dan Bittner narrates Seth Kantner’s eloquent evocation of life in the Alaskan outback in the clearest of tones and an assured style. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alan Minskoff discuss how Bittner’s voice expresses the elemental beauty and fierce exigencies of growing up in the wilds of the tundra, accompanied by the planet’s vastest herd of caribou. Kantner bears witness to how his home state—and...

Born in South Africa, narrator Peter Noble eloquently delivers an inspired performance of this compelling audiobook from Damon Galgut, which won the 2021 Booker Prize. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alan Minskoff discuss this novel that unpacks three generations of South African white people as they adjust—or don’t—to changes in their class system and political power. Noble is adept at voicing the c...

Nikole Hannah-Jones, herself a persuasive narrator, has brought together a remarkable mosaic of voices, stories, and poems that tell the story of America through the lens of slavery. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alan Minskoff discuss the impressive collection of history, journalism, and creative fiction works, all delivered on audio by outstanding narrations. The variety of voices and views deepen...

Robert Ian Mackenzie narrates a sweeping romance set against the early years of the Jacobite cause in the mid-1700s. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile contributor Sandi Henschel discuss Susanna Kearsley’s tale rich in history, politics, and religion, as well as love and loyalty. A young widow’s claim to collect her husband’s death benefit sets off an inquiry into its legitimacy, and while investigating,...

Grover Gardner creates a wonderful narration for the final episode of Andrea Camilieri’s bestselling Inspector Montalbano series. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile contributor Sandi Henschel discuss the metafictional twist that plunges Montalbano and author Camilieri into the heart of the novel’s action. Gardner deftly slips between “the author” whose books made Montalbano a famous TV detective and Monta...

Rob Shapiro deftly narrates this Chekhovian study of Sasha, a Russian-American writer; his Russian-American wife, Masha, a psychiatrist; and their precocious 8-year-old adopted daughter, Natasha. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile contributor Sandi Henschel talk about this story set during the start of the Covid pandemic, when a group of friends is invited to stay at an upstate NY bungalow colony “until t...

Narrator Marin Ireland takes listeners on a journey they won’t soon forget. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile contributor Sandi Henschel discuss this novel concerning Diane, a woman whose long-awaited dream vacation to the Galapagos becomes something very different when the Covid pandemic hits. Ireland sounds truly flummoxed as Diana’s luggage is lost, her wi-fi becomes spotty, and money runs low. Irelan...

Louise Erdrich never disappoints in this engrossing, beautifully written novel. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Sandi Henschel discuss Erdrich’s engrossing and often funny narration. Tookie works at Birchbark Books, Erdrich’s own bookstore, and Tookie is being haunted by the ghost of her most annoying customer, Flora. Erdrich chronicles the dwindling awareness of Native language and identity, the eve...

Cindy Kay masterfully narrates this unique audiobook, which combines a variety of genres to tell a moving story of self-acceptance and finding safety even in the bleakest of times. AudioFile’s Emily Connelly tells host Jo Reed about getting completely absorbed in Ryka Aoki’s audiobook featuring interstellar wars, a violinist’s deal with a demon, and donuts. Listeners dip into the minds of many cha...

Shaun Taylor-Corbett and Kinsale Hueston give lively, animated performances in this Young Adult fantasy celebrating friendship and the power of storytelling. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly discuss Darcie Little Badger’s new novel that centers around Nina, a Lipan Apache teenager, and Oli, an animal-person from the spirit world. Hueston voices Nina with a teenager’s bubbly energy, and...