Behind the Mic with AudioFile Magazine

What does it take to steal priceless works of art? The Met’s former Chief Security Officer has entertaining tales to share in this memoir, including famous heists from the Met and beyond—and all the work that goes into preventing thefts.

The comedy is amplified through the author’s memorable performance of an audiobook that is part memoir, part career advice, and 100% going to make you laugh. Get a behind-the-scenes look into Tina Fey’s life in this AudioFile favorite listen.

Acevedo’s performance chops pull the listener into Xiomara’s world. X is a first-generation Dominican-American girl who finds her voice through poetry. Hearing the author narrate this award-winning audiobook is the ideal way to experience the novel.

The true story of four black women who helped pave the way for space exploration. Robin Miles does an excellent job of voicing the women clearly and separately, and her narration brings out the heart in a story built on science.

“Hamilton: the Musical” is a cultural phenomenon, and this audiobook is a must-listen to learn all about how a musical is made. Narrated by superfan Mariska Hargitay along with Lin Manuel Miranda himself reading the libretto footnotes.

The wounds of slavery run deep in this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, thoughtfully narrated by the author herself. A compelling and complicated tale with an emotional punch and a musical pace that will stay with the listener.

Alan Furst offers one of his finest spy novels. In Paris in the late 1930s, journalist Carl Weisz takes over an antifascist newspaper and is swept deeper into the international émigré community and the increasing danger of work for the Resistance.

Trevor Noah, the host of “The Daily Show,” injects his candor and uses his wry humor with his innate storytelling and mimicry to leaven his memoir of his South African childhood. This author-read memoir is an AudioFile Favorite.

Listeners start in a coastal Italian town in the 1960s with a young innkeeper and move through present-day Hollywood with dozens of unforgettable characters. Lovers and dreamers, superstars and losers are warmly and vividly portrayed by Edoardo Ballerini.

Fans of AMERICAN GODS or GOOD OMENS may not know about Neil Gaiman’s children’s audiobooks. Host Jo Reed and Robin Whitten chat about why THE GRAVEYARD BOOK has garnered multiple awards and is an AudioFile Favorite.

The audiobook we’ve recommended for 20 years—THE GOLDEN COMPASS—gets a new shout-out for the exceptional full-cast performance. Listen or re-listen before the BBC/HBO series “His Dark Materials” debuts later this fall.

Discover a truly remarkable chapter of American history. Josh Hamilton narrates the story of Ford, Edison, John Burroughs, and their ten years of summer road trips across the U.S. in the early 1900s—adventures that changed the way we travel.

An unlikely yet lively audiobook. Narrator Pam Ward’s expressive narration delights as she recounts a tale of grammar’s most misunderstood punctuation mark, the semicolon. It’s a listen that’s brisk, witty, and provocative; a genuine pleasure for the ear.

When a newcomer to Amy’s neighborhood starts blackmailing her, she finds herself in a battle to conceal her deepest, darkest secret. Author Joshilyn Jackson breathes life into her characters, setting the scene in the Florida Panhandle.

An engrossing and commanding historical epic about one immigrant family’s shifting fortunes in Washington state. Bronson Pinchot’s extraordinary ear for language and his nuanced delivery enliven the prose and capture the heart of the listener.