Emily Raboteau reads with purpose, a clear voice, and a conversational tone that works well for the personal essays on “Mothering Against ‘the Apocalypse’” in this satisfying audiobook. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alan Minskoff discuss how Raboteau moves her prose and delivery between her varied subjects; a sense of wonder at identifying birds, exasperation at dealing with New York City real estate, and empathy for a water-starved Palestinian family. The lessons in this text are hard earned and elegantly expressed.

Read the full review of the audiobook on AudioFile’s website. Published by Macmillan Audio.

Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website.

Support for AudioFile’s Sound Reviews comes from Hachette Audio, and the audiobook edition of RELENTLESS by Luis A Miranda Jr, featuring a foreword read by none other than Lin-Manuel Miranda. To find out more about this, and any other Hachette Audio productions, please visit www.hachetteaudio.com, or @HachetteAudio 

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Anthony Rey Perez has just the right tone for this satirical debut novel, especially as he aptly mimics the protagonist’s self-justifying voice and truth twisting. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alan Minskoff discuss how Perez’s pace moves the story forward—no matter the circumstance. Javi Perez succeeds until he doesn’t by playing the victim “trifecta”: tragic circumstance (his drug-dealer father is gunned down); struggling economics; and being a person of color. This first-person novel about his rise and fall is compelling, and Anthony Rey Perez’s excellent narration makes it a memorable audiobook. 

Read the full review of the audiobook on AudioFile’s website. Published by Random House Audio.

Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website.

Support for AudioFile’s Sound Reviews comes from Hachette Audio, and the audiobook edition of RELENTLESS by Luis A Miranda Jr, featuring a foreword read by none other than Lin-Manuel Miranda. To find out more about this, and any other Hachette Audio productions, please visit www.hachetteaudio.com, or @HachetteAudio

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Deepa Samuel reads crisply and does well with the various languages in this globe-spanning audiobook. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alan Minksoff discuss how her carefully articulated style makes this history/memoir with travel stories vivid. The author, a Muslim Indian woman now living in Brooklyn, brings a unique point of view to this “irreverent history of travel.” As a woman of color, she has experienced what she describes as distinctly inferior treatment as compared to her white-skinned husband. She argues we are no longer travelers but, rather, tourists with iPhone cameras.  

Read the full review of the audiobook on AudioFile’s website. Published by Tantor Media. 

Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website.

Support for AudioFile’s Sound Reviews comes from Hachette Audio, and the audiobook edition of RELENTLESS by Luis A Miranda Jr, featuring a foreword read by none other than Lin-Manuel Miranda. To find out more about this, and any other Hachette Audio productions, please visit www.hachetteaudio.com, or @HachetteAudio.

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Journalist Nicholas Kristof delivers his monumental memoir—by turns harrowing (think gunfire, rats, Darfur) and inspiring (he mentors young journalists, starts a nonprofit, and champions rural America). Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alan Minskoff discuss Kristof’s thoughtful narration as he covers his long and distinguished career. He’s worked four decades as a reporter, foreign correspondent, bureau chief, and, indelibly, an opinion writer for THE NEW YORK TIMES. A compelling and satisfying audiobook.

Read the full review of the audiobook on AudioFile’s website. Published by Random House Audio.

Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website.

Support for AudioFile’s Sound Reviews comes from Hachette Audio, and the audiobook edition of RELENTLESS by Luis A Miranda Jr, featuring a foreword read by none other than Lin-Manuel Miranda. To find out more about this, and any other Hachette Audio productions, please visit www.hachetteaudio.com, or @HachetteAudio  

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Alma Cuervo’s warm, rich timbre and measured style suit Julia Alvarez’s captivating audiobook. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alan Minskoff discuss this story of an author with a magical twist. A novelist leaves Vermont and returns to her native Dominican Republic to bury her untold (unfinished) works. She creates a cemetery for the stories, and their imaginary characters take over. Alvarez has crafted a fantastical world, packed with local color and expressions, and Cuervo ensures that it’s enjoyable on audio.

Read the full review of the audiobook on AudioFile’s website. Published by Recorded Books.

Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website.

Support for AudioFile’s Sound Reviews comes from Hachette Audio, and the audiobook edition of RELENTLESS by Luis A Miranda Jr, featuring a foreword read by none other than Lin-Manuel Miranda. To find out more about this, and any other Hachette Audio productions, please visit www.hachetteaudio.com, or @HachetteAudio.

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Narrating his own work, Salman Rushdie offers an emotionally resonant account of the shocking knife attack that almost ended his life. Host Jo Reed and AudioFIle’s Michele Cobb discuss his memoir of the attack, its immediate aftermath, and the difficult recovery. Interwoven throughout are musings on literature, writing, politics, friendship, religion, and more, delivered with passion and more than a little humor. Wide-ranging and deeply insightful, this meditation on life, love, and resilience makes for compelling listening.

Read the full review of the audiobook on AudioFile’s website. Published by Random House Audio.

Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website.

Support for AudioFile’s Sound Reviews comes from Hachette Audio, and the audiobook edition of RELENTLESS by Luis A Miranda Jr, featuring a foreword read by none other than Lin-Manuel Miranda. To find out more about this, and any other Hachette Audio productions, please visit www.hachetteaudio.com, or @HachetteAudio

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Amy Lin’s performance of her memoir is so staggeringly beautiful it will break your heart. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss Lin’s story of loss. Lin’s husband Kurtis was running a virtual half-marathon when he dropped dead for no discoverable reason. He was 32 years old. She was left absolutely broken. She tells her memoir in vignettes of meeting and losing Kurtis, and her grief is so obviously raw and her memories of their life together so full of love that it’s astonishing the author was physically and emotionally able to read the work aloud. Lin teaches us, or reminds us, that sitting with someone in their sadness is far more helpful than a futile attempt to distract someone from their grief.

Read the full review of the audiobook on AudioFile’s website. Published by Zibby Books.

Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website.

Support for AudioFile’s Sound Reviews comes from Hachette Audio, and the audiobook edition of RELENTLESS by Luis A Miranda Jr, featuring a foreword read by none other than Lin-Manuel Miranda. To find out more about this, and any other Hachette Audio productions, please visit www.hachetteaudio.com, or @HachetteAudio

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Journalist Kara Swisher specializes in reporting on the Internet, and she narrates her memoir with urgency and focus. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss this history of Silicon Valley from Swisher’s perspective. With more than a decade of podcasting experience, Swisher has developed a well-honed, rapid-fire delivery; an aura of journalistic integrity; and a firsthand knowledge of tech history. Swisher serves as the Valley's outlier conscience—fearful of the future and optimistically pessimistic.

Read the full review of the audiobook on AudioFile’s website. Published by Simon & Schuster.

Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website.

Support for AudioFile’s Sound Reviews comes from Hachette Audio, and the audiobook edition of RELENTLESS by Luis A Miranda Jr, featuring a foreword read by none other than Lin-Manuel Miranda. To find out more about this, and any other Hachette Audio productions, please visit www.hachetteaudio.com, or @HachetteAudio

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Entertainer Whoopi Goldberg’s raspy timbre and amused tone make her the only person appropriate to narrate her memoir. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss what Michele calls an “audio must.” The story of Goldberg’s career is skillfully woven into anecdotes featuring her exceptional mother, Emma Johnson, and her unique older brother, Clyde. All will remain in listeners’ thoughts after hearing this singular memoir and performance.

Read the full review of the audiobook on AudioFile’s website, and hear from Whoopi herself in her video interview with Michele. Published by Blackstone Audio.

Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website.

Support for AudioFile’s Sound Reviews comes from Hachette Audio, and the audiobook edition of RELENTLESS by Luis A Miranda Jr, featuring a foreword read by none other than Lin-Manuel Miranda. To find out more about this, and any other Hachette Audio productions, please visit www.hachetteaudio.com, or @HachetteAudio

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Narrating her memoir, Sloane Crosley delivers ironic humor that balances the horror of back-to-back traumas. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss the bite that Crosley brings to her memoir. Admitting the unlikelihood and disorientation of what happened, Crosley links the vulnerability she felt at a burgled apartment and, a month later, at the suicide of her boss and friend, Russell Perrault. Crosley’s wit and sometimes witlessness are as reconcilable and relatable as her raw reactions and wishful imaginings.

Read the full review of the audiobook on AudioFile’s website. Published by Macmillan Audio.

Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website.

Support for AudioFile’s Sound Reviews comes from Hachette Audio, and the audiobook edition of RELENTLESS by Luis A Miranda Jr, featuring a foreword read by none other than Lin-Manuel Miranda. To find out more about this, and any other Hachette Audio productions, please visit www.hachetteaudio.com, or @HachetteAudio.

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Hanako Footman performs this quiet novel featuring Koishi and her father, Nagare. They run the Kamogawa Diner, a small restaurant on a side road in Kyoto. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Kendra Winchester discuss Hisashi Kashiwai’s story of food and connections. Koishi and Nagare help customers find lost meals from their past, researching down to the most minute details. Footman’s narration captures the story’s cozy atmosphere and nostalgic tone as Nagare and Koishi track down each customer’s unique meal.

Read the full review of the audiobook on AudioFile’s website. Published by Penguin Audio.

Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website.

Support for AudioFile’s Sound Reviews comes from Hachette Audio, and the audiobook edition of RELENTLESS by Luis A Miranda Jr, featuring a foreword read by none other than Lin-Manuel Miranda. To find out more about this, and any other Hachette Audio productions, please visit www.hachetteaudio.com, or @HachetteAudio

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