Behind the Mic with AudioFile Magazine

A perfect audiobook. The former first lady shares her intimate, powerful, and inspiring memoir, and listeners experience it as if she were sitting beside them.

Stephanie Plum is still burning down the house and taking names after 25 episodes. Lula and Stephanie go undercover at the Red River Deli. Evanovich’s sassy comic mystery series is even more memorable in Lorelei King’s performances.

Return to Panem to celebrate the 10th anniversary of THE HUNGER GAMES with a captivating new production, narrated by actress Tatiana Maslany (“Orphan Black”). Her portrayal of Katniss gets the gritty determination and fierce protectiveness.

Learn the history of the musical “Chicago” with narrator Joel Froomkin as your delightful guide. Author Ethan Mordden gives us lots of juicy backstory about the famous and infamous and their assorted connections to the characters in the play.

New L.A. noir featuring Isaiah Quintabe (IQ), a struggling PI who knows how to get around L.A.’s South Central neighborhoods. Two previous episodes with IQ will also appeal to listeners, with Sullivan Jones giving Earphones-worthy narration.

Broadcast journalist Meredith Viera invites fellow book lovers to join her in discovering and rediscovering the 100 books discussed in the PBS series “The Great American Read.” Robin Miles adds a smoothly delivered audiobook spin.

Donna Andrews continues her series of cozy mysteries with avian themes. Amateur sleuth Meg Langslow deals with the discovery of a live baby in a nativity creche. Narrator Bernadette Dunne has narrated all 24 audiobooks in the series.

A year’s worth of comics transformed into a “movie for your mind” with a dynamic full cast of actors and a giddy array of sound effects. Each character—Avengers and X-men—gets a special voice and point of view in a fascinating audio comic adventure.

Jason Reynolds’s celebrated Track series—GHOST (National Book Award finalist), PATINA, and SUNNY—concludes with Lu, the fast, flashy “fine-o albino” co-captain of the Defenders track team. Another great choice for middle-grade listeners.

Science Fiction and fantasy author N.K. Jemisin offers her first collection of short fiction with themes such as feminism, otherness, relationships, motherhood, power, fertility, and dreams. A stellar cast of seven narrators amplifies the stories.

Author Sarah Perry (THE ESSEX SERPENT) offers a haunting postmodern Gothic tale. Jan Cramer wraps listeners in the dark cloak of this fantasy of the elusive dark-robed figure of Melmoth, who watches humanity’s dark deeds.

Audio is the perfect medium for the adventures, goofy songs, and deadpan wit with the kids at this camp for Hardcore Lady-Types. Narrator Cobb makes the Lumberjanes perfect family listening, making the transition from comics to audiobooks with aplomb.

On our 2018 Best Science Fiction & Fantasy list, Heath Miller’s narration of SPACE OPERA shines. Heath discusses narrating this intergalactic spectacle written by Catherynne Valente, creating an unforgettable and hilarious listening experience.

Science Fiction & Fantasy favorites from Lara Elena Donnelly, Catherynne M. Valente, Naomi Novik, Stephen King, R.F. Kuang, and Jesse J. Holland all made it onto our list of 2018 Best Audiobooks. See the full list at audiofilemagazine.com/bestof/

Memoirs by Michelle Obama, Tara Westover, Ndaba Mandela, Cecile Richards, Seymour M. Hersh, and Deborah Levy are winners for this year’s AudioFile Magazine Best Audiobooks. Get the full list of 2018 Best Audiobooks at audiofilemagazine.com/bestof