Our friends at AudioFile Magazine present the best audiobooks of the year:
Audiobook sales continue to see strong growth for another year, and the crossover with podcast listeners has added a dimension to the growth of both audiences. (AudioFile also reached out to the narrators and spoke with them for short podcast episodes on Behind the Mic with AudioFile Magazine.) Changes in work and lifestyle habits seem to have added to the appetite for audiobook listening.
Within the nonfiction choices of AudioFile's 2021 Best, author-read titles had a strong showing, including Beginner's Mind by Yo-Yo Ma (Audible Originals) and Mary Roach's Fuzz (Brilliance Audio). In memoirs, more authors lent their own voices: Quiara Alegría Hudes's My Broken Language (Random House Audio), Ashley C. Ford's Somebody's Daughter (Macmillan Audio), and Ron and Clint Howard's Hollywood memoir, The Boys (Harper Audio).
Sometimes a serendipitous connection occurs between narrator and the subject. Narrator George Guidall recorded most of Tony Hillerman's mysteries, and this year, he had the opportunity to record James Morris McGrath's biography Tony Hillerman: A Life (Recorded Books). Publishers made strong efforts to establish cultural connections between the narrator and the story. For example, Isabella Star LaBlanc answered a casting call for a Native American actor, succeeding brilliantly with Firekeeper's Daughter (Macmillan Audio).
Highlights from the nine subject categories--including fiction, history & biography, memoir, romance, mystery, and young adult--are featured below:
Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead, read by Dion Graham (Random House Audio). Dion Graham's performance invites listeners into the world of New York in the early 1960s. As his voice captures the feel of the times, he skillfully brings listeners the coffee shops, storefronts, and conversations of the era. Whitehead's audiobook centers on Ray Carney, who operates a struggling furniture store but is unable to escape his background in crime.
Facing the Mountain: A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II by Daniel James Brown, read by Louis Ozawa (Penguin Audio). Louis Ozawa narrates this true story about Japanese-Americans at home and abroad during World War II. He modulates between hope and despair with the deftness of a film composer. These heartbreaking stories shine a much-needed light on the way those of Japanese heritage were treated during the war, and Ozawa's deft narration makes them even more compelling and hard to forget.
Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain, read by JD Jackson, Kevin R. Free, January LaVoy, Robin Miles, Dion Graham, Angela Y. Davis, Nikole Hannah-Jones, and a full cast (Random House Audio). An outstanding cast brings these essays and poems vividly to life. Ninety entries, including 10 poems, encapsulate the African-American experience from 1619 to 2019. The authors tell stories both little and well known that together give the listener a symphony of voices that bring the complex, often horrific, history of Black people in the U.S. into relief.
Eartha & Kitt: A Daughter's Love Story in Black and White by Kitt Shapiro and Patricia Weiss Levy, read by Karen Chilton (Dreamscape). Entertainment icon Eartha Kitt's daughter, Kitt Shapiro, offers a stirring and nuanced memoir of both her mother and herself--their lives were so very intertwined. Narrator Karen Chilton's performance is a showstopper, at once superb, stunning, evocative, and moving. The love shared by mother and daughter is most palpable throughout the transfixing bravura narration.
The Sandman: Act II by Neil Gaiman, Dirk Maggs, read by James McAvoy, Neil Gaiman, Kat Dennings, Michael Sheen, David Tennant, John Lithgow, and a full cast (Audible). Anchored by Neil Gaiman's hypnotic storyteller's voice, the second act of The Sandman bewitches. As Morpheus, Lord of Dreams, James McAvoy sounds both imperious and weary, otherworldly and very human. The star-filled cast of actors and lush production guide listeners back and forth in time and in and out of fantastic worlds. Sound effects and original music make for a completely immersive experience.