The Most Anticipated Audiobooks of November

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

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AUGUST FICTION

We Love You, Bunny: Bunny, Book 2 by Mona Awad | Read by Sophie Amoss
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Simon & Schuster Audio | 20.25 hrs.]

As Mona Awad returns to the dark academia of her cult classic, Bunny, Sophie Amoss artfully handles the challenging narration. The plot unfolds mostly through monologue and dialogue. Amoss gives specific tones and styles to “the Bunnies,” the quartet of entitled MFA students who are holding fellow former grad student Samantha captive because of the way she portrayed them in her first published novel. From chirpy to authoritarian, Amoss captures the quirky, sociopathic Bunnies. This literary horror novel is fun and funny.

Bog Queen by Anna North | Read by Lily Newmark
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Bloomsbury Publishing | 7.75 hrs.]

Lily Newmark’s transcendent performance of Anna North’s remarkable novel lingers long in the memory. Three narratives intersect—a young woman of Iron Age Briton begins her first year as village Druid during the start of Roman occupation; Agnes, an American forensic anthropologist, is asked to examine a 2,000-year-old body preserved in an English peat bog; and that of the peat moss itself. Together, Newmark and North deliver drama, wonder, heartbreak, and hope while exploring how to live bravely and honestly in changing times. Don’t miss it.

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury | Read by Dion Graham
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Simon & Schuster Audio | 8.5 hrs.]

As the book world celebrates the 75th anniversary of Bradbury’s classic, Dion Graham’s stellar narration blasts off with a group of astronauts headed to Mars. Graham vocalizes each character with precision and sensitivity. Whether it’s the arrogance of the first astronauts, Ylla sharing her dream about the man from the sky, Father Peregrine seeking redemption for the Martians, or the whispery-voiced Janice discussing her fear of her trip to join her beloved on Mars, Graham imbues each character with an audible soul.

The Slip by Lucas Schaefer | Read by Shaun Taylor-Corbett, Renata Friedman
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Simon & Schuster Audio | 17.75 hrs.]

Narrators Shaun Taylor-Corbett and Renata Friedman bring to life this epic novel spanning the period from 1998 to 2014, when teen Nathanial Rothstein goes missing in Austin, Texas. At 16, Rothstein is miserable, yet through a phone-sex hotline, workouts at a boxing gym, and access to medication at a nursing home, his worldview expands in unexpected ways, particularly around race and gender. Taylor-Corbett’s and Friedman’s performances help sustain listener engagement throughout this sweeping story.

Intemperance by Sonora Jha | Read by Sneha Mathan
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Harper Audio | 9.75 hrs.]

Sneha Mathan’s mellifluous voice draws listeners into this lyrical rumination on what it means to be an intelligent woman of a certain age. Fifty-five and disabled, an Indian feminist sociology professor with two divorces behind her decides she’s tired of being alone. She decides to hold a “swayamvar,” an ancient Hindu ritual in which men perform feats of derring-do to win a woman’s hand. Couched in gorgeous prose, Jha’s humor is prickly and pervasive, and Mathan doesn’t miss a note. Serious fun.

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NOVEMBER NONFICTION

We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution by Jill Lepore | Read by Jill Lepore
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Recorded Books | 24 hrs.]

The U.S. Constitution is under threat, but it has a self-contained aspect that can right the ship of state if only we will let it: the amendment process. Harvard historian Jill Lepore contends the country’s guiding document was not born fully developed and shouldn’t be treated as a static entity. Lepore narrates her book with clarity. It’s like the best of college lectures—clear and well structured. Her pace makes it easy for listeners to absorb her main points and to appreciate the bits of humor and colorful historical tidbits that enliven her text.

Joyride by Susan Orlean | Read by Susan Orlean
[Simon & Schuster Audio | 13 hrs.]

Susan Orlean, a New Yorker columnist and one of the early writers to bring inventiveness into creative nonfiction, shows her perfect sense of timing in both the writing and the narration of her memoir. Using the same thoughtful detail and pithy wit she’s known for, Orlean now turns the lens inward, discussing her life and her extraordinary relationship with the creative process.

Nagasaki: The Last Witnesses (Embers, Book 2) by M.G. Sheftall | Read by Brian Nishii
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Penguin Audio | 14.75 hrs.]

Brian Nishii reprises his narration of Hiroshima, the first of a two-volume series that recounts the atomic bombings of Japan in August 1945. Author Sheftall draws on extensive interviews with those who survived. Nishii’s pacing, inflection, and pronunciation of Japanese are flawless. All of this adds up to a top-notch narration.

The Mission: The CIA in the 21st Century by Tim Weiner | Read by Stefan Rudnicki
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Harper Audio | 17 hrs.]

Imagine the sound of a faceless voice in a dark interrogation room. That’s the image one can’t help but hear when listening to Stefan Rudnicki’s narration of this audiobook. It’s a fitting way to experience the story of the CIA since 9/11. Golden Voice Rudnicki takes Weiner’s impeccable research and storytelling to near cinematic heights as he shares victories and losses by America’s—and the world’s—premier spy agency.

Baldwin: A Love Story by Nicholas Boggs | Read by Ron Butler
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Macmillan Audio | 24.5 hrs.]

For more than 24 stunning hours, narrator Ron Butler immerses listeners in  the world of writer James Baldwin. This detailed biography structures Baldwin’s life around his greatest loves, the people who filled so many of his thoughts. Butler’s narration is a master class in maintaining the listener’s attention over the course of a lengthy audiobook. He makes every change in tone, volume, and pace with careful purpose, creating a seamless listening experience.