1,535 episodes
Behind the Mic with AudioFile Magazine AudioFile Magazine
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- Arts
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4.6 • 123 Ratings
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Find your next great audiobook on our podcast, Behind the Mic with AudioFile Magazine. Every Monday through Friday, AudioFile Editors recommend the best in audiobook listening. All in 6 minutes or less. It’s short, sweet, and just what your ears need. Want more? Listen to our bonus episodes featuring conversations with the best voices in the audiobook industry.
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LESSONS FOR SURVIVAL by Emily Raboteau, read by Emily Raboteau
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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VICTIM by Andrew Boryga, read by Anthony Rey Perez
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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AIRPLANE MODE by Shahnaz Habib, read by Deepa Samuel
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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CHASING HOPE by Nicholas D. Kristof, read by Nicholas D. Kristof
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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THE CEMETERY OF UNTOLD STORIES by Julia Alvarez, read by Alma Cuervo
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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KNIFE by Salman Rushdie, read by Salman Rushdie
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
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Customer Reviews
Fantastic!
Great way to find new books I might not read otherwise.
Make it part of your morning routine!
I’ve been listening to his show since it’s started. While I continue to enjoy it, I’m beginning to detect an air of elitism, particularly with the host. She will often dismiss non-professional narrators (often the authors themselves) as “annoying” or some variation of that. I think it’s important to embrace the human qualities of the diverse voices we hear before the publishers decide the only “perfect” performance is AI-generated.
Sound meter issues
Love the show, but the volume of the speakers is irratic. Not only do the different speakers seem to be set at different sound levels; the same speaker can fade from quiet to loud, as though the speaker is moving her head away from and toward the microphone. Given the title of the podcast, I find the sound production especially annoying.