Behind the Mic With Kirkus Reviews

Actor and narrator Steven Weber is known for his roles in “How to Get Away with Murder,” “Wings,” and “Indebted.” He has narrated audiobooks by Harlan Coben and Stephen King, and has starred in audio dramas from L.A. Theatre Works. In our bonus episode, he speaks with host Jo Reed about his career—creating engaging characters on stage and screen and his journey to becoming an audiobook narrator. D...

In Lucas Davenport’s 30th PREY title, the daughter of a U.S. Senator and the children of other politicians become social media targets for some unsavory radical groups Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Robin Whitten discuss Richard Ferrone’s long-running narration of this engaging police procedural series. His voice has matured along with the lead character, to the point where he IS Lucas Davenport for...

Narrator Almarie Guerra brings Claribel A. Ortega’s humourous, energetic ghost hunting story to life as she introduces young listeners to Lucely Luna and her firefly spirit family. AudioFile’s Emily Connelly tells host Jo Reed all about this adventurous children’s audiobook that’s perfect for kids who are ready for an exciting new listen. Lucely lives in Florida with her father and her ancestors'...

Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly discuss Jennifer Finney Boylan’s memoir, telling the story of her life centered around seven dogs she loved. Boylan is a writer, a columnist for the New York Times, and a professor at Barnard College. Kesley Navarro narrates with warmth and highlights the author’s wry humor. Each dog’s story pivots around crucial moments in Boylan’s life, from a childhoo...

Phuc Tran’s story is an American immigration story and so much more. AudioFile’s Emily Connelly and host Jo Reed discuss Tran’s memoir about growing up as a Vietnamese refugee in small-town Pennsylvania and the unusual way he discovered he could fit in. Tran’s narration is crisp and engaging as he highlights both the humor in his story and the intensity of the difficulties he faced. Two very diffe...

Skillful soundscaping and a full cast heighten the atmosphere and emotion in this audiobook inspired by the childhood of coauthor Omar Mohamed. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly talk about the audiobook that captures the intensity and tedium of life in a refugee camp in Dadaab, Kenya. Faysal Ahmed is extremely emotive as Omar, an 11-year-old boy who fled Somalia as a 4-year-old with his...

Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly applaud Elizabeth Acevedo’s newest audiobook, told in free verse and narrated with passion and heart by the author along with Melania-Luisa Marte. Two girls lose their father in a plane crash and come to discover his deepest secret — they are sisters living an ocean apart. Melania-Luisa Marte narrates as Camino, the Dominican daughter whose father comes...

History and theater create a suspenseful mix in David Haig’s dramatic tale based on the true lead-up to D-Day. AudioFile contributor Brian Price tells host Jo Reed about a favorite way to experience the drama of a theatrical production at home — with audiobook listening. A Scottish meteorologist is summoned to the headquarters of the Allied forces on the eve of the D-Day invasion of Normandy. He m...

With a vocal naturalism and a wonderful feel for the author’s prose narrator, Kitty Hendrix makes this first masterwork by Sinclair Lewis sound as fresh and real as the day it was published. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile contributor Brian Price discuss this classic American work, shared in an annotated 100th Anniversary Edition. Full of penetrating detail, memorable characters, and wry observations....

Jamie Renell’s narration of Ted Gioia’s sprawling work on music is confident and fast paced, which is just what this serious tome needs. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile contributor Brian Price discuss the author’s exploration into the many ways music touches our lives and culture. The author argues that for all of human history, the most important music starts out as subversive and only later is embrac...

Madhuri Shekar’s truly original and entertaining play won a well-deserved Audie Award in 2020. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile contributor Brian Price discuss this story told through a series of phone calls and voicemails. It centers around a mother in New Delhi who is desperately trying to steer her Americanized daughter into a proper marriage. But when the daughter thinks she’s found the perfect matc...

Fresh voice talent Dana Dae leads a cast of 15 actors who deliver a cinematic atmosphere in this intricate story set in a Caribbean resort. Host Jo Reed talks with AudioFile contributor Brian Price about how the multicast narration enhances this atmospheric listen, written by Alexis Schaitkin. A family is vacationing at an exclusive resort, and their teenage daughter goes missing. Her body is foun...

SYNC: Audiobooks for Teens has started its 2020 season! AudioFile’s Michele Cobb and host Jo Reed share the excitement about AudioFile’s 11th season partnering with publishers and OverDrive to bring free audiobooks to teens across the globe. This year SYNC includes 26 titles available over 13 weeks using Sora, the student reading app from OverDrive. Two new titles are free to download each week. V...

AudioFile’s Robin Whitten and host Jo Reed discuss a murder mystery that’s sure to delight film buffs everywhere. Marissa Dahl is a film editor who is hired to replace a recently fired editor and stumbles into a murder on a resort island off of Delaware. Julia Whelan is a magnificent narrator and delivers all the many emotional shifts—fear, comedy, romance, anxiety—with absolute certainty. The aud...

Food writer Michael Pollan investigates how we all became addicted to the most commonly used drug in the world — caffeine. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Robin Whitten discuss Pollan’s persuasive narration and writing as he mixes personal experimentation and historical research into the impact of caffeine around the world. Listeners will come away with a potful of information on the worldwide econom...

Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Robin Whitten discuss this true tale of Russian espionage from Gordon Corera, the BBC’s Security Editor. Derek Perkins is the perfect narrator, with engaging storytelling skills and the believability of a broadcast narrator. Listeners learn about Russian tradecraft: coded radio messages, bag-drops of cash, private wireless networks, and stenography. These incidents mig...

Alison Larkin is a narrator, comedian, actress, and novelist, and she joins host Jo Reed to share the ways English light verse has been a comfort to her in our present time of social isolation. Alison has narrated a wide range of award-winning audiobooks, including many classic favorites. She spoke with Jo about the limericks and nonsense poems she grew up with in Britain, many of which she’s narr...

Courtney Patterson’s lively delivery hits all the right tones of both humor and melancholy in this charming novel about a 50-year-old woman, Judy, who is trying to cope with too much change. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb talk about Judy’s unusual solution to dealing with anxiety—wearing her pet dog in a baby sling. We all deal with stressful times; why not face life’s struggles with a...

Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss the new memoir from Bess Kalb, a writer for the Jimmy Kimmel Live! show. Listeners will hear the admiration in Kalb’s voice as she expresses the determined spirit of her beloved grandmother, Bobby Bell, with whom she shared a special bond. Bobby was the primary caregiver for Bess for the first year of her life, and she was a woman with strong opini...

Cameron Esposito invites listeners along as she recounts her journey from self-identified “Little Gay Kid” to an established comedian. AudioFile’s Michele Cobb tells host Jo Reed about Esposito’s skill at telling her own story in her voice, with an ability to move from snarky to serious. Espositio is the host of the LGBTQ+ interview podcast Queery, and with this audiobook, she provides longtime fa...

Listen to an audiobook about the ultimate escape room — no one can leave until someone dies. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss this psychological thriller read with intensity by Kate Rudd. Six teens are locked together in a room and have to choose which one must die. Rudd continually turns up the heat—quite literally at a party where the thermostat is stuck on high and a bomb is ti...

The listener is taken through Natalie Wood’s life from child star to mysterious death. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss Suzanne Finstad’s updated biography of Natalie Wood, read with an intelligent interpretation by Rose McGowan. McGowan’s reading of Wood’s intense and abusive childhood is matter-of-fact, unbiased, and doesn’t over-dramatize. Finstad conducted hundreds of intervie...

Narrators Shiromi Arserio and Jason Carpenter are perfectly matched in this modern-day fairy tale with a forbidden romance. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly discuss this delightful start to a new series by Sandhya Menon that relocates Beauty and the Beast to the Colorado mountains. Princess Jaya is a new student on a mission to avenge her younger sister and is unexpectedly drawn to her...

Rick Adamson narrates as a friendly guide to Bernd Heinrich’s insights into the natural world. AudioFile’s Emily Connelly tells host Jo Reed how this audiobook centered around the many ways animals find their homes brought her comfort in these trying times. Heinrich dives into the research around how animals find their homes, how they make their homes, and how they learn how to return to their hom...

Dylan Moore’s cool, smooth narration carries listeners through this story of deception, betrayal, and the cost of guilt. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly discuss Emily St. John Mandel’s newest audiobook centered around a fictional Ponzi scheme and the impact of its inevitable collapse. This is a novel that drifts from one point of view to another, and Moore’s narration guides listeners...