Happy Audiobook Month! Want to dive in to a great new listen but you’re not sure where to start? Here are rave reviews for some of this summer’s top audiobooks. Don’t forget to ask your local library how to access audiobooks whether in their digital collections, on CD, or even on Playaway! Happy listening!
FUNNY STORY By Emily Henry; Read by Julia Whelan
Audio Praise:
“Julia Whelan proves once again why she is one of the best! Not only does she enhance the emotion, purpose, and depth of both Daphne and Miles, Whelan also manages to create enough inflection and variation in tone, even for each minor character, that the listener will forget the narration is a one-woman show. Whelan expresses the story’s sorrow, grief, love, and humor with precision and grace. This is a performance listeners won’t soon forget. Highly recommended for fans of Whelan and Henry.”—Booklist starred review
Available in CD, audio download, hardcover, ebook, and large print.
THE PRINCESS OF LAS VEGAS By Chris Bohjalian; Read by Saskia Maarleveld & Grace Experience
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Flight Attendant and The Lioness, a Princess Diana impersonator and her estranged sister find themselves drawn into a dangerous game of money and murder in this twisting tale of organized crime, cryptocurrency, and family secrets on the Las Vegas strip.
Audio Praise:
“The plot is loud, crowded, and delightful. The listener experiences the plot through the eyes of Crissy, Marisa, and Betsy. Narrators Maarleveld and Experience are both suitable matches for their characters. Maarleveld perfects the regal tone required for Crissy, who is always “on stage” and likes to practice her British accent and slang even when not performing. Experience (fun fact: the author’s daughter IRL) takes the roles of Betsy and Marisa. Her take on Marisa, a precocious 12-year-old, is a sheer delight; Marisa may become many listeners’ favorite character. Bohjalian taking a risk with this topic pays off; it’s not for the faint of heart to make a Princess Diana impersonator the protagonist in a crypto-crime mystery! Libraries should stock up, for fans will be lining up for this great book club pick!”—Booklist starred review
Available in CD, audio download, hardcover, ebook, and large print.
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THERE’S ALWAYS THIS YEAR: ON BASKETBALL AND ASCENSION Written and Read by Hanif Abdurraqib
A “powerful” (The Guardian) reflection on basketball, life, and home—from the author of the National Book Award finalist A Little Devil in America.
Audio Praise:
“Hanif Abdurraqib’s latest book is a transcendent feat of poetry, memoir, and—well, magic. His narration is as breathless and beautiful as his prose; this book is epic in every sense of the word. It’s an ode to his hometown of Columbus, Ohio; a love letter to basketball; a meditation on home and belonging; and an exploration of faith, Blackness, music, and place. He delivers every word as if every word is a matter of life and death. You can hear the love in his voice; you can hear it get stuck in his throat. His narration is like music: rough and loud one moment, low and soft the next. A masterpiece from one of America’s most creative, generous, and rigorous living writers.”—AudioFile Earphones Award
Available in audio download, hardcover, and ebook.
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CAMINO GHOSTS By John Grisham; Read by Whoopi Goldberg with a Note read by the Author
#1 New York Times bestselling author John Grisham takes you back to Camino Island where bookseller Bruce Cable and novelist Mercer Mann always manage to find trouble in paradise.
Author and Narrator Audio Excitement:
“This is truly a delicious combination of two of my favorite things—John Grisham and audiobooks. I’m a huge fan of this series, and getting to read Camino Ghosts was, in a word, lovely.”—Whoopi Goldberg
“Thanks to Whoopi Goldberg for narrating this audiobook. Lovely Jackson is the heart of Camino Ghosts, and Whoopi’s immense talent and instantly recognizable voice are the perfect fit to tell this story. Listeners, you are in for a real treat.”—John Grisham
Available in CD, audio download, hardcover, ebook, Spanish, and large print.
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FIRST LIE WINS By Ashley Elston; Read by Saskia Maarleveld
Evie Porter has everything a nice, Southern girl could want: a perfect, doting boyfriend, a house with a white picket fence and a garden, a fancy group of friends. The only catch: Evie Porter doesn’t exist.
Audio Praise:
“Listeners will be convinced there’s a full cast delivering this fast-paced thriller. Yet it’s just one narrator, Saskia Maarleveld, who masterfully voices all the characters, male and female, Southern and not. Evie Porter has many names and personas she has adopted for her work for the mysterious Mr. Smith. Evie is a criminal with a heart and a conscience. The narrative goes back and forth in time, revealing the successful and disastrous assignments that have landed her in a small town in Louisiana, where she’s building a loving relationship with her next target, Ryan Summer–who has secrets of his own. The twists and turns will keep listeners glued to their earbuds all the way to the satisfying conclusion.” —AudioFile Earphones Award
Available in audio download, hardcover, ebook, Spanish, and large print.
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COME AND GET IT By Kiley Reid; Read by Nicole Lewis
From the celebrated New York Times bestselling author of Such a Fun Age comes a fresh and provocative story about a residential assistant and her messy entanglement with a professor and three unruly students.
Audio Praise:
“Nicole Lewis performs this sophomore novel from Booker longlisted author Kiley Reid. Millie Cousins is a senior resident assistant at the University of Arkansas, and her goal is to graduate, buy a house, and begin living her life. When Agatha Paul, a visiting professor and journalist, offers Millie money in exchange for the opportunity to eavesdrop on the dorm’s residents, Millie decides to take the risk and accept. Reid specializes in vivid dialogue, and Lewis’s performance makes these sections of the audiobook sing. She creates unique voices for all of the major characters, complete with the perfect accents and delivery of expressions. As the drama around the college dorm twists and turns, Lewis’s narration keeps listeners engaged.” —AudioFile Earphones Award
Available in CD, audio download, hardcover, ebook, and large print.
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THE DEMON OF UNREST: A SAGA OF HUBRIS, HEARTBREAK, AND HEROISM AT THE DAWN OF THE CIVIL WAR By Erik Larson; Read by Will Patton and Erik Larson
The author of The Splendid and the Vile brings to life the pivotal five months between the election of Abraham Lincoln and the start of the Civil War in this “riveting reexamination of a nation in tumult” (Los Angeles Times).
Audio Praise:
“This compelling audiobook about the beginning of the Civil War gains resonance from its parallels with today’s divisions and drift toward violence. Will Patton’s narration fits Larson’s authorial voice, which is frank, factual, and artfully judicious in tone. Patton suggests historical voices, but his delivery is nuanced and understated, never showy. Brief chapters track the months leading up to the assault on Fort Sumter. The inactivity of the outgoing Buchanan administration, the separate preparations for defense and for attack in Charleston Harbor, Lincoln’s arrival in disguise at the nation’s capital–everything marks a widening separation. The attack on Fort Sumter is usually seen as a mere curtain-raiser, a spark that could have ignited a dozen different places. This outstanding audiobook tells a very different story.”—AudioFile Earphones Award
Available in CD, audio download, hardcover, ebook, and large print.
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JAMES By Percival Everett; Read by Dominic Hoffman
A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing and darkly humorous, told from the enslaved Jim’s point of view.
Audio Praise:
“Voice is crucial to this reenvisioning, as James deliberately changes his diction depending on whether he is speaking to white people, to other enslaved people, or addressing himself. Much of the tension and drama in the story occurs when James slips and his voice accidentally, and dangerously, reveals his true self. Dominic Hoffman’s deft performance of James’s many voices reveals his complexity and humanity with more immediacy and power than simply reading the words on the page could.”—BookPage starred review
Available in audio download, hardcover, ebook, and large print.
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