The Most Anticipated Audiobooks of May
AudioFile Presents the Month to Come in Literary Listening
Each month, our friends at AudioFile Magazine share a curated list of the best audiobooks for your literary listening pleasure.
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MAY FICTION
Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa, Polly Barton [Trans.] | Read by Yuriri Naka
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Random House Audio | 2 hrs.]
Japanese narrator Yuriri Naka’s penetrating narration of this International Booker Prize longlisted audiobook will grip listeners. In her debut novella, Saou Ichikawa, who suffers from a congenital muscle disorder, has fashioned a persuasive denunciation of Japan’s cultural insensitivity toward disabled persons.
Its main character, Shaka, a forty-something woman who suffers from myopathy and uses a wheelchair and a ventilator, lives in a care facility. She spends her time studying for a university degree and writing erotica for an online publication. Naka precisely evokes Shaka’s every thought and experience.
The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami | Read by Frankie Corzo, Barton Caplan
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Random House Audio | 11.75 hrs.]
This dystopian novel, set in an uncomfortably near future, features an innocent woman who is incarcerated for her dreams. Exceptionally well narrated by Frankie Corzo, with brief bursts of affectless officialese delivered by Barton Caplan, the story works remarkably well as an audiobook.
Much of the narrative is the protagonist Sara’s thoughts, feelings, and reactions. Corzo perfectly nails the angsty and bewildered tone of Sara’s voice.
The Antidote by Karen Russell | Read by Elena Rey, Sophie Amoss, Mark Bramhall, Shayna Small, Jon Orsini, Natasha Soudek, Karen Russell, James Riding
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Random House Audio | 17 hrs.]
Karen Russell, the magical realism and prose virtuoso, conjures the American Dust Bowl. Her vibrant imaginings are voiced by a stellar cast. Sophie Amoss shimmers as the Antidote, a “prairie witch” who takes verbal deposits.
The audiobook’s action occurs between two immense weather events six weeks apart in 1935—an epic dust storm dubbed “Black Sunday” bookended by a torrential rain and flood.
All the Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman | Read by Georgina Sadler
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Penguin Audio | 11.25 hrs.]
Narrator Georgina Sadler’s resigned matter-of-fact delivery sets a hilariously irreverent tone in this addictive listen. Just as it seems there might finally be an opening for Florence to revive the pop band career of her youth, her son’s classmate goes missing. When he is identified as a suspect, Florence must juggle her dream of stardom with tackling the mystery.
Sadler seamlessly transitions among characters of all ages with American and British accents. Listeners will savor every minute of her dynamic narration.
The Paris Express by Emma Donoghue | Read by Justin Avoth
[Simon & Schuster Audio | 7.25 hrs.]
This thrill ride of an audiobook tells the many stories of those onboard Train 721, which crashes in Montparnasse station in October 1895. British narrator Justin Avoth narrates the drama at a good pace and keeps the story moving.
Donoghue brings her plotting skills, eloquent style, and eye for social mores to the cast of fictional people who are on the train. Tension mounts as a young anarchist carries a homemade bomb, a baby is born, and, inexorably, the train plows into the station.
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MAY NONFICTION
Boat Baby by Vicky Nguyen | Read by Vicky Nguyen
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Simon & Schuster Audio | 7.75 hrs.]
Award-winning NBC News Anchor and Chief Consumer Investigative Correspondent Vicky Nguyen delivers her memoir with the same passion and rapid-fire delivery that she brings to her television work. Born in Saigon, Nguyen fled to a Malaysian refugee camp with her family, finally immigrating to the U.S., where she continues to experience the pain of racism.
Her ambitious quest for each TV job is carefully balanced with her concern for how her family will be affected as she climbs the career ladder.
Make Magic: The Book of Inspiration You Didn’t Know You Needed by Brad Meltzer | Read by Brad Meltzer
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Harper Audio | 24 mins.]
Writer Brad Meltzer is one of those rare people whose voice exudes sincerity, honesty, and a love of humanity. This brief work is largely based on the commencement speech he gave at his son’s graduation from the University of Michigan.
He equates life with magic, which he says always involves one of four things: making something appear, disappear, switch places, or transform into something else.
Calling In: How to Start Making Change with Those You’d Rather Cancel by Loretta J. Ross | Read by Loretta J. Ross
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Simon & Schuster Audio | 8.5 hrs.]
Loretta J. Ross delivers her audiobook in an authentic-sounding voice. A longtime activist, Ross provides a detailed discussion on the practice of “calling in” people who need education and support on difficult issues.
Ross is open about her own life experiences and education, which provided insights on how to connect with people where they are. Ross’s voice reflects the compassion and intellect necessary for this work.
Memento Mori: The Art of Contemplating Death to Live a Better Life by Joanna Ebenstein | Read by Joanna Ebenstein
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Penguin Audio | 8.75 hrs.]
Author and mortality expert Joanna Ebenstein sounds lovely in this sincere and well-organized reminder that death is coming, so live now as well as you can. Performing this audiobook, she is a gentle messenger, full of grace and charm as she explains how writers, thinkers, and people in ancient cultures embraced mortality to live more honestly and in harmony with nature and our deepest priorities.
Saving Five: A Memoir of Hope by Amanda Nguyen | Read by Sura Siu, Amanda Nguyen
[Macmillan Audio | 6 hrs.]
Sura Siu’s narration brings depth and sensitivity to Amanda Nguyen’s powerful memoir about surviving sexual assault when she was in college. Siu’s measured, compassionate delivery honors Nguyen’s story, which balances the raw emotion of trauma with the strength of survival.
Siu’s performance elevates the memoir, offering an intimate and compelling listening experience that does justice to Nguyen’s inspiring fight for change.
