Behind the Mic With Kirkus Reviews

It’s a joy to spend time with famed English horticulturalist Monty Don as he watches wildlife, tends to his garden, and generally appreciates the natural world. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Robin Whitten discuss Monty’s smooth narration of his year in the garden, giving listeners chronological observations of his time outdoors in Wales. Don, who received an O.B.E. for service to Great Britain, is...

A short but powerful audiobook collects the wisdom of the late Civil Rights activist and Congressman John Lewis. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Robin Whitten discuss this collection that touches on empathy, friendship, courage, and of course, voting. Don Cheadle narrates with a warm, approachable voice and delivers Lewis’s observations with smooth, clear emphasis. Each chapter begins with a brief pi...

In the Périgord region of France, Bruno, chief of police, uses his investigative skills to solve a murder that took place 30 years earlier during the Cold War era. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Robin Whitten discuss how narrator Robert Ian Mackenzie does a wonderful job bringing Bruno and his friends to life. Using authentic-sounding pronunciations of French names, he is particularly strong during...

Narrator Robert Bathurst returns listeners to the fictional Canadian village of Three Pines in the 17th title in Louise Penny’s Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Robin Whitten discuss the return to the compelling narrator-author duo, and all the favorite characters Bathurst voices so well. Gamache’s Christmas holiday is interrupted by the appearance of a visiting...

Narrator Rosalyn Landor beautifully portrays Katharine Parr, Henry VIII’s last wife. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Sandi Henschel discuss Alison Weir’s historical fiction audiobook that Sandi calls superb listening. Katharine plans to marry Tom Seymour, but after Henry beheads his most recent wife for adultery and treason, Henry fancies Katharine. What choice does she have? She becomes queen in a k...

Kate Moore delivers her compelling biography of Elizabeth Packard, an advocate for the rights of women and patients unjustly committed to insane asylums. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Sandi Henschel discuss how Elizabeth’s vindictive husband had her forcefully committed because he feared her intelligence, opposed her defense of women’s rights, and loathed her deviation from his religious beliefs. E...

One hundred years ago, the first all-Black musical, SHUFFLE ALONG, helped change the face of Broadway. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Sandi Henschel discuss author and narrator Caseen Gaines’s fascinating and well-researched history of the struggles of Black actors. Noble Sissle, Eubie Blake, Flournoy Miller, and Aubrey Lyels combined their talents to write SHUFFLE ALONG, a political satire that cha...

Author and narrator Tovah Feldshuh’s memoir is a highly entertaining look back at her life as a successful stage and screen actor, and an unsentimental remembrance of the force of nature that was her mother, Lily. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Sandi Henschel discuss this audiobook that does recount some sparkling open nights and backstage love affairs, but is mostly about Feldshuh’s admiration and...

Before HAMILTON, and before Lin-Manuel Miranda became a household name, there was IN THE HEIGHTS. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s new podcast contributor Sandi Henschel discuss the audiobook that recounts how the team of multicultural newcomers struggled to get their first Latino hip-hop project to Broadway and then, 10 years later, made into a Hollywood film. Here Miranda and HAMILTON co-author Jere...

Narrator Suzie Yeung brings Graci Kim’s lively fantasy adventure to life. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly discuss the fun of this story that brings together a magical world packed with Korean mythology and contemporary life in California. Twelve-year-old Riley was adopted into a clan of gifted Korean witches, but as a “saram”--one without magic--she is constantly aware of being an outs...

Author and editor Kwame Mbalia brings an outstanding ensemble of Black male and non-binary writiters together in a captivating audio anthology. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly discuss the fun of listening to narrators Amir Abdullah and Taj Leahy bringing these stories to life. Every author’s contribution--whether funny, sad, scary, or hopeful--confirms that “joy is at the center of eve...

Nancy Wu narrates with a quiet intensity that suits this climate disaster novel centered around two teen sisters who are desperate to be reunited. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly discuss Joan He’s YA novel that examines both the perils of our future and the depths of connections between sisters. Kasey is a science prodigy living in an eco-city in the sky, worried about her sister, who...

Narrator Billie Fulford-Brown enlivens Lucy Parker’s start to her new contemporary romance series featuring those who are “Palace Insiders.” Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly discuss the hilarious, sweet, and moving audiobook about rival bakers-turned-lovers. Four years earlier, Sylvie Fairchild was a contestant on Operation Cake and lost after a disastrous unicorn cake explosion glitter...

Narrator Mela Lee’s extraordinary range and dramatic style allow listeners to experience every dark, humorous, and heartbreaking moment of this fraught second-chance romance. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly discuss Tia Williams’s contemporary romance that follows two writers from their intense time together as teenagers to the present day, when sparks are still flying. Eva Mercy and Sh...

Listening to this posthumous collection of commentary by chef Anthony Bourdain on his favorite places is like joining him for one final adventure. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alan Minskoff discuss the many voices that bring the collection to life, including Laure Woolever, Bourdain’s assistant who worked with him on this project and supplied context for the many stories. Shep Gordon’s narration c...

Narrator Feodor Chin beautifully performs Tom Lin’s revenge story, set in the post-Civil War American West. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alan Minskoff discuss Chin’s masterful narration of this violent and vivid tale, capturing the lyrical flow of the text, and voicing authentic-sounding accents, while also building the mystery and tension. Ming Tsu was forcibly recruited by the Union Pacific Rail...

Essie Davis delivers a powerhouse performance of Richard Flanagan’s climate change novel. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alan Minskoff discuss the Man Booker Prize-winner’s self-described “rising scream” of a novel about human-wrought ecological havoc. The story chronicles the struggle of three adult siblings facing their mother’s mortality while the countryside burns and the oceans heat around them...

If there ever was a piece of fiction suited to becoming an audiobook, this is it. AudioFile’s Alan Minskoff tells host Jo Reed of these two distinct yet interlocking stories of what it is to be Black in America. Narrator JD Jackson’s inspired portrayal of an unnamed author on a boozy book tour has the sandy sadness of a man coming to terms with fame, race, and death. Ronald Peet, whose voice has a...

Madeleine Maby narrates Christina McDowell’s layered satirical novel with a strong sense of story and a fine ability to get inside her characters’ psyches. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alan Minskoff discuss the fast-paced story of Washington, DC’s, powerful and power hungry residents that launches with the drama of a horrific crime. The “cave dwellers,” or those with old money and old mansions, li...

Skillfully constructed, this audiobook gives Seth Rogen an opportunity to display his acting chops, and he sounds like he has fun reading his own words. AudioFile’s Michele Cobb tells host Jo Reed that this is definitely one to listen to rather than read with your eyes, as Rogen’s performance is key to the enjoyment. Rogen began his comedy career when he was a teenager, and he includes hilarious s...

The refrain throughout Lawrence Wright’s evaluation of the first year the world faced the COVID-19 pandemic? Completely predictable. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss this well-written title, narrated with a clear and documentarian approach by Eric Jason Martin. Wright frames the pandemic in historic terms while also exploring the challenges that made navigating the pandemic unique...

Narrator Natalie Naudus unites a disparate community connected by small–town secrets, fading dreams, and racial divides in this mystery by Fabian Nicieza, co-creator of DEADPOOL. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb talk about Naudus’s wry performance—she clearly gets the subtle humor needed to keep the audiobook amusing even in the darker moments. The story centers on a murder at a gas stati...

John Green’s audiobook offers a complex and insightful look at the various human experiences that shape us. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss the essays that rate everything from diet Dr. Pepper to the Internet on a 5-star scale, while also providing internal exploration into his own psyche. He gives a beautiful and poignant performance, guiding listeners through gentle moments ful...

Julia Whelan passionately narrates this family drama focused on a model and surfer named Nina, and her estranged rock legend father. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb talk about how, as with any good family story, there are secrets to hide and reveal in this audiobook. The story alternates between the events of a day in August 1983 that lead up to a party, and flashbacks that recount how N...

Jump back into Laurie R. King’s quirky mystery series brought to life by narrator Jenny Sterlin. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Robin Whitten talk about how well Sterlin knows the characters after many years of narrating the series, and the fun of the lively plot. Queen Marie of Roumania summons Sherlock Holmes and his wife, Mary Russell, to her country, which borders Transylvania, to find out who i...