The Most Anticipated Audiobooks of July
What to Listen To As Summer Kicks In
Each month, our friends at AudioFile Magazine share a curated list of the best audiobooks for your literary listening pleasure.
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JULY FICTION
Atmosphere: A Love Story by Taylor Jenkins Reid | Read by Julia Whelan, Kristen DiMercurio, Taylor Jenkins Reid
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Random House Audio | 10 hrs.]
Julia Whelan and Kristen DiMercurio beautifully narrate a queer love story. Whelan, the main narrator, portrays Joan, a professor of astronomy with a quiet life. But her whole world changes when she’s accepted as an astronaut candidate at NASA in 1980.
Whelan’s rich narration makes each character come to life for listeners, and she excels at portraying Joan’s romance with her fellow astronaut Vanessa, a confident and charismatic engineer, portrayed by Kristen DiMercurio. An absolute must-listen.
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury | Read by Penn Badgley
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Simon & Schuster Audio | 4.5 hrs.]
Bradbury’s 1953 title is timeless. Penn Badgley, pleasant-voiced and convincing, is an outstanding narrator. His tone resonates with personality, and his subtle character shifts are effective, especially as he portrays this novel’s antihero, a fireman whose job is to burn books.
Badgley’s pace is quick yet easy to follow. He can offer a warm observation one minute and turn into a cold commentator the next, skillfully making Bradbury’s message accessible.
The Director by Daniel Kehlmann, Ross Benjamin [Trans.] | Read by Nicholas Boulton
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Simon & Schuster Audio | 11.5 hrs.]
The impact of this powerful novel is heightened by Golden Voice narrator Nicholas Boulton’s keen understanding of its author’s purposes. G.W. Pabst, a leading European director, discovers Greta Garbo and Louise Brooks.
But when he immigrates to Hollywood, he is misused and rejected. Returning to Vienna just as war breaks out, Pabst and his family become trapped, and are menaced by a succession of well-rendered Nazi zealots and toadies.
The Devil Three Times by Rickey Fayne | Read by James Fouhey, Robin Miles, Joniece Abbott-Pratt
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Hachette Audio | 14.75 hrs.]
Where there’s slavery, the Devil can’t be far behind, and in this ambitious novel magical realism, historical fiction, and biblical imagery seamlessly mix with a multigenerational tale that connects the coasts of Africa to the Reconstruction era and to the urban streets of post-Civil Rights America.
All three narrators pour their considerable talent and, seemingly, their very souls into every word. Absolutely spellbinding.
The Usual Desire to Kill by Camilla Barnes | Read by Harriet Walter
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Simon & Schuster Audio | 6.25 hrs.]
It’s possible that another performer could make this delicious audiobook more fun than Harriet Walter has, but hard to see how. “The usual desire to kill” is the emotion felt by two English sisters who are trying to cope with their aging and blithely infuriating parents who have moved themselves to a ramshackle stone house in rural France.
Walter’s astringent delivery is deadpan funny. It’s mad fun, but also far more than skin deep.
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JULY NONFICTION
Mark Twain by Ron Chernow | Read by Jason Culp
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Penguin Audio | 44.5 hrs.]
Twain’s twang, as delivered by Jason Culp, runs through this compelling and comprehensive audiobook like a vein of gold. He convincingly portrays the great humorist in all his guises—raconteur, lecturer, parent, public figure, wit, and philosopher—homespun and not.
Culp expertly narrates the exposition (and in a forty-four-hour biography there’s plenty) and modulates his voice and pitch for different speakers. But it’s in his emulation of the tone and timing of the old rakehell himself that Culp sparkles.
Ocean: Earth’s Last Wilderness by Sir David Attenborough, Colin Butfield | Read by Sir David Attenborough, Colin Butfield
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Hachette Audio | 8.75 hrs.]
No one is better than Sir David Attenborough at communicating authentic awe and wonder at discoveries in the natural world. So it’s no surprise that this audiobook on ocean ecosystems is an intimate and wildly informative joy ride into the sea.
Attenborough, at age ninety-nine, reflects on his iconic career, including the horrific declines and astonishing recoveries he’s witnessed over decades of immersion in the planet’s diverse oceanic ecology. Listeners will gain a deeper appreciation for both marine life and Attenborough’s extraordinary body of work.
No One Has Seen It All: Lessons for Living Well from Nearly a Century of Good Taste by Betty Halbreich, Rebecca Paley, Lena Dunham [Fore.] | Read by Suzanne Toren, Helen Laser
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Hachette Audio | 5.25 hrs.]
Suzanne Toren’s slower pacing, mature vocal timbre, and suffer-no-fools confidence make her performance a perfect fit for the late author’s last audiobook, a collection of works written in the five years before Halbreich’s death at ninety-six. Toren captures the full measure of class, wisdom, and charm of the New York City icon who was well known for her style and the wardrobes she curated for her admiring customers at Bergdorf Goodman.
The advice and personal reflections she shares in this lovely audiobook affirms that approaching life with confidence and class pays off in myriad ways.
Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin by Sue Prideaux | Read by Elizabeth Wiley
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Tantor Media | 16.75 hrs. ]
Elizabeth Wiley narrates this extensive biography based on new research on the French artist Paul Gauguin as if it were a wondrous adventure tale. Gauguin began as a Post-Impressionist and Symbolist but is best known for his unique paintings of Tahitian women and his tumultuous friendship with Van Gogh.
Wiley’s expressive voice is full of color and animation befitting Gauguin’s bold use of color, native island themes, and uninhibited lifestyle.
I Regret Almost Everything: A Memoir by Keith McNally | Read by Richard E. Grant
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Simon & Schuster Audio | 11 hrs.]
Richard E. Grant showcases the compelling life of legendary restaurateur Keith McNally, who does not shy away from the complicated stories that make up his life and choices. Having started out in the film industry, McNally discovered true theater in building successful restaurants, including New York’s Balthazar, where the right environment and staff made the perfect dining experience.
Then, a debilitating stroke made speaking almost impossible. Happily, Grant brings a commanding narration to the proceedings.
