AudioFile’s Best Audiobooks of June

Each month, our friends at AudioFile Magazine share a curated list of the best audiobooks for your literary listening pleasure.

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JUNE FICTION

All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby| Read by Adam Lazarre-White
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Macmillan Audio | 13 hrs.]

Narrator Adam Lazarre-White draws listeners into the thought-provoking story of Titus Crowne, the first Black sheriff in the small Virginia county of Charon. As listeners enter Titus’s world, he is faced with a shooter at the high school, a neo-Confederate group on the march, and a serial killer terrifying the town. Lazarre-White delivers reflections on family, grief, and faith with genuine introspection and without distracting from the tense plotlines. This is a gripping, timely tale—beautifully told.

Banyan Moon by Thao Thai| Read by Cindy Kay, Catherine Ho, Elyse Dinh
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Harper Audio | 12.5 hrs.]

Narrators Catherine Ho, Cindy Kay, and Elyse Dinh work together beautifully to portray three memorable Vietnamese American women in this immersive multigenerational saga. The story shifts from 1960s Vietnam to present-day Florida and Michigan as the point of view alternates among Huong; her daughter, Ann; and Huong’s mother, Minh. Each narrator superbly creates a fully realized woman to make a winning and complex family portrait.

Translation State by Ann Leckie| Read by Adjoa Andoh
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Hachette Audio | 12 hrs.]

Adjoa Andoh narrates a complex story about identity and belonging. Qven would have become a Presgar translator were it not for a terrible incident that set them careening toward the characters Enae Athur and Reet Hluid, and to the Radch Empire. Andoh expertly navigates the emotional depths of the three main characters, each of whom comes from a background in which they have not felt part of their community. As all three claim their identities and start to heal, Andoh’s performance resonates in profound ways.

Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See| Read by Jennifer Lim, Justin Chien
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Simon & Schuster Audio | 13 hrs.]

Jennifer Lim’s immersive narration takes listeners to fifteenth-century China for a fictional account of the life of a woman doctor, Tan Yunxian. In an era when well-born women existed solely to produce heirs, Yunxian was trained by her doctor grandparents to treat the illnesses of women. After her marriage, Yunxian is devastated when her mother-in-law forbids her care. Lim’s restrained performance captures all the fascinating, if disturbing, details and the courtly intrigue surrounding aristocratic life during the Ming dynasty.

The Late Americans by Brandon Taylor| Read by Kevin R. Free
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Penguin Audio | 9.25 hrs.]

Kevin R. Free delivers a dazzling performance of a novel that centers around contemporary artists living in Iowa City. Poets, writers, and musicians sit around discussing what it means to be an artist. Their social lives are deliciously messy as they fall in and out of love, seeking companionship to rid themselves of their loneliness. Free’s narration moves between the viewpoints of the main characters with ease. His performance is completely engrossing, and his voice carries so much emotion, capturing characters’ inner lives and dialogue as they’re consumed by love, jealousy, and obsession.

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JUNE NONFICTION

The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel| Read by Edoardo Ballerini, Michael Finkel [Note]
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Random House Audio | 5.5 hrs.]

Michael Finkel narrates the opening of this memorable portrait of Stéphane Breitwieser, the sly European thief who pilfered nearly $2 billion in art objects. Finkel’s investigative role provides context and perspective, while narrator Edoardo Ballerini performs with his customary skill and artistry, enhancing the narrative’s strengths. Breitwieser’s story is dramatic, highly cinematic, but ultimately sad. One appreciates the author’s acknowledgement of the many curators, investigators, and journalists who generously assisted him, leaving with the story’s focus on recovery and restoration, rather than loss.

King: A Life by Jonathan Eig| Read by Dion Graham
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Macmillan Audio | 20.75 hrs.]

Dion Graham superbly narrates this riveting audiobook, emulating the majestic cadence of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s, speeches. He captures the Civil Rights leader’s deep, resonant tone; deliberate ministerial intonation; and, during offstage moments, his world-weariness. The author has made use of recently released tapes and reams of documents from the FBI; he did hundreds of interviews and had access to other hitherto unseen papers, including the unpublished memoir of Dr. King’s father. The result is a monumental biography performed exquisitely by a Golden Voice narrator.

Dinner with the President by Alex Prud’homme| Read by Pat Grimes
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Dreamscape | 16.25 hrs.]

For listeners who hunger for presidential trivia or who love food or history, this book on presidents and their food will be a treat. Narrator Pat Grimes serves up heaping helpings of fun facts and delectable details about presidential favorites ranging from George Washington’s squirrel stew to Donald Trump’s fast food. Grimes offers a solid narration. His voice is generally authoritative and he expresses humor and even surprise at appropriate moments. A feast for the ears.

All the Gold Stars: Reimagining Ambition and the Ways We Strive by Rainesford Stauffer| Read by Jess Nahikian
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Hachette Audio | 8 hrs.]

Jess Nahikian’s voice sounds assured, comfortable, and clear, but their real achievement is how well their performance connects with this author’s thoughtful perspectives and desire to help young people. The audiobook is a calm but persistent plea for people to resist societal messages that we should hustle more and never be satisfied with our accomplishments. This audiobook is one that will make many listeners take a hard look at overly ambitious lifestyles that don’t allow room for imagination, joy, or healthy relationships.

Honey, Baby, Mine: A Mother and Daughter Talk Life, Death, Love (and Banana Pudding) by Laura Dern, Diane Ladd, Reese Witherspoon [Fore.]| Read by Laura Dern, Diane Ladd, Reese Witherspoon [Fore.]
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Hachette Audio | 7.75 hrs.]

This genre-bending collection of searingly intimate real-life conversations exemplifies everything that is exciting about audio as a medium. When actor Diane Ladd is diagnosed with lung scarring from pesticide exposure, she’s given six months to live and told that exercise is her only chance for improvement. Ladd’s daughter, actor Laura Dern, proposes daily walks, with nothing between the two left unsaid. Recording their conversations ignites the storyteller and performer in Ladd, whose breath and spirit audibly improve as the audiobook progresses. A phenomenally crafted audio experience unlike any other.