For Your Listening Pleasure: The Best Audiobooks of September

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

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SEPTEMBER FICTION

The Fraud by Zadie Smith| Read by Zadie Smith
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Penguin Audio | 12.5 hrs.]

Zadie Smith expertly performs her historical novel inspired by true events. It’s 1873, and Mrs. Eliza Touchet, a Scottish housekeeper, is watching the trial of a working-class Australian man claiming to be the true inheritor of a great estate and title. Mrs. Touchet begins thinking about her cousin, a formerly great novelist who she suspects never actually wrote any of his novels himself. Is her cousin a fraud, too? Smith’s performance possesses considerable emotional depth, and she delivers lines with her characteristic searing wit. Smith’s ear for accents turns into perfectly performed dialogue for characters from every corner of London.

The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff| Read by January LaVoy
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Penguin Audio | 7 hrs.]

January LaVoy gives a breathtaking narration of an astonishing historical novel. Listeners meet a servant girl in the winter of 1609 as she escapes certain death by fleeing into the unknown dangers of the forest. What follows is a beautifully wrought story of survival, narrated with precision, emotion, and a keen sense of the drama that unfolds. The girl’s past is slowly revealed, recalling her work in England, the thrill of her journey across the ocean, and the utter devastation amid the failing Jamestown colony. LaVoy puts care into every word, making this a propulsive and unforgettable listen.

Normal Rules Don’t Apply: Stories by Kate Atkinson| Read by Paterson Joseph
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Random House Audio | 5.5 hrs.]

Paterson Joseph’s remarkable performance of Kate Atkinson’s newest book transmutes the whimsical, witty, and absurdist stories from adroit to splendid. The acclaimed British actor’s light, engaging baritone and exquisite delivery offer pleasure and comfort in equal measure as he guides us through narratives that truly do not follow normal rules. They include talking animals, the end of the world, an attentive ghost, and—an Atkinson leitmotif—characters who reappear in different guises. Joseph’s warm embrace of a voice and sensitive pacing highlight the clever writing while ushering us safely through the dangerous shoals of Atkinson’s rule-free world.

Holly: Holly Gibney, Book 3 by Stephen King| Read by Justine Lupe, Stephen King [Note]
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Simon & Schuster Audio | 15.5 hrs.]

Justine Lupe brings a beloved Stephen King character, Holly Gibney, vividly to life with her narration. When a distraught mother with a missing daughter calls Holly’s investigative agency for help, quirky, brilliant Holly takes the case. She soon finds connections to other missing people and is drawn into a world of pure evil. Listeners will feel like they are part of a true-crime podcast as Lupe transports them to this relentless nightmare. King delivers his author’s note, adding to this amazing listening experience.

I’m Not Done with You Yet by Jesse Q. Sutanto| Read by Yu-Li Alice Shen, Saskia Maarleveld, Leiana Bertrand, Eunice Wong
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Penguin Audio | 10.75 hrs.]

This thrilling audiobook, delivered by a stunning ensemble of voices, will hook listeners through each twist to the very end. Jane, portrayed by Yu-Li Alice Shen, is a self-described sociopath. Shen’s deep voice and acerbic tone perfectly convey Jane’s spontaneous violent thoughts and obsessions, especially toward Thalia. Thalia takes Jane under her wing during their MFA program at Oxford—until one violent night tears them apart. Saskia Maarleveld portrays Thalia with innocence and authenticity, while Leiana Bertrand and Eunice Wong’s narrations bookend the audiobook with additional perspectives.

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SEPTEMBER NONFICTION

Battle of Ink and Ice: A Sensational Story of News Barons, North Pole Explorers, and the Making of Modern Media by Darrell Hartman| Read by Mack Sanderson
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Penguin Audio | 11.75 hrs.]

Mack Sanderson’s voice provides a luxurious soundscape to Hartman’s account of the turn-of-the-century proliferation of print media. It’s a fascinating framing of the world’s interest in “firsts,” as explorers seek to reach the North Pole. The big media outlets of the day contend with either giving the drama the public wants, or sticking more closely to the facts. Sanderson’s rich, enveloping timbre and confident gravitas are undeniably engaging as he unwinds these dual narratives of media and exploration.

The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet by Jeff Goodell| Read by L. J. Ganser
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Hachette Audio | 10 hrs.]

Presented superbly by narrator L. J. Ganser, the audiobook exposes the how and why of global heat and its devastating effects, from wildfires to melting glaciers and other events that are impacting lives around the globe. Ganser uses a bold delivery, transforming author Jeff Goodell’s investigative report into a masterpiece. This report is fascinating and provides relevance and context that enable listeners to recognize the dangers we face. Ganser’s delivery is focused, and his use of nuance and inflection make this a book for all who are concerned about our future and that of generations to come.

Young Queens: Three Renaissance Women and the Price of Power by Leah Redmond Chang| Read by Olivia Dowd
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Recorded Books | 18.5 hrs.]

Olivia Dowd is so good at delivering this history that it’s like listening to a historical novel set in the sixteenth century. Dowd gives each woman a unique voice in this true account of the lives of Catherine de’ Medici, Queen of France; her daughter, Elisabeth de Valois, Queen of Spain; and Catherine’s daughter-in-law, Mary, Queen of Scots. Dowd’s tone and intelligence make clear how these three women were able to influence history in a misogynistic world. History buffs will welcome this well-researched, well-written, superbly performed behind-the-scenes glimpse of royal courts in constant turmoil.

While You Were Out: An Intimate Family Portrait of Mental Illness in an Era of Silence by Meg Kissinger| Read by Meg Kissinger
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Macmillan Audio | 11 hrs.]

Journalist Meg Kissinger gives a stellar narration of her extraordinarily affecting memoir about growing up in the 1960s in a close-knit Irish-Catholic family of eight children, many of whom were afflicted with mental illness. Kissinger sensitively takes listeners into the climate of those times, when mental disorders were a taboo subject and those afflicted often suffered in silence and with great shame. Her memoir, especially as it moves to the present day, is filled with moments of compassion and emotional support among family members.

You Have to Be Prepared to Die Before You Can Begin to Live: Ten Weeks in Birmingham That Changed America by Paul Kix| Read by Jaime Lincoln-Smith
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Macmillan Audio | 10.25 hrs.]

This audiobook perfectly captures the extraordinary Project C, the ten-week campaign to end segregation in Birmingham, Alabama, which was crucial to the subsequent success of the 1963 March on Washington. Jaime Lincoln-Smith’s performance is exceptional. He complements the book’s historical precision with his delivery of the memorable voice of Martin Luther King, Jr., and he mixes in precise tones and a range of emotions that enhance this previously untold chronicle of the Civil Rights movement. This memorable book is crucial to understanding the events of that era and how collective activism can lead to necessary change.