Listening to Contemporary Fiction

Host Jo Reed and contributor Leslie Fine discuss three new works of fiction that take listeners from 1980s New York to midcentury Florida and, finally, to a complicated homecoming in the present-day Adirondacks. Dion Graham returns to Ray Carney’s world in Colson Whitehead’s Cool Machine, bringing rhythm, humor, and depth to Ray’s divided life in Harlem. Amanda Stribling gives Laura Moriarty’s novel Sunlight Finds You the intimacy of a memoir, subtly carrying Nora from childhood into adulthood while grounding the novel’s larger emotional turns. And Richard Russo’s Under the Falls unfolds through an ensemble cast whose performances keep this story of a musician’s uneasy return home engaging as old relationships, resentments, and secrets begin to surface. Together, the three audiobooks show just how much the meeting of narrator and novel can shape the listening experience.   Audiobooks Discussed: Cool Machine by Colson Whitehead, read by Dion Graham (Random House Audio) Sunlight Finds You by Laura Moriarty, read by Amanda Stribling (Penguin Audio) Under the Falls by Richard Russo, read by Zachary Chastain, Emma Ladji, Matt Godfrey, Fred Berman & Leeanna Albanese (Random House Audio)   This is the final episode of Behind the Mic. Many thanks to everyone who made this podcast possible, both in front of and behind the mic—and, of course, to everyone who has been listening. Continue following Kirkus’s flagship podcast, Fully Booked, hosted by Megan Labrise, for the conversations and insights that will help you find your next great book, whether you’re reading or listening. Support for Kirkus’s Behind the Mic comes from Harper Audio, producer of audiobooks by HarperCollins Focus and HarperCollins Christian Publishing, publishers of some of your favorite authors, including Reba McEntire, Bob Goff, Savannah Guthrie, Max Lucado, Lysa TerKeurst, and so many more!   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jo Reed talks with contributor Alan Minskoff about three memoirs shaped by home and the complicated question of where we belong. In All That’s Unseen, Emilee Hackney narrates the story of her journey from an insular Pentecostal community in Southwest Virginia to Harvard University, with an Appalachian accent that keeps her connection to home unmistakably present, even as her world expands. Vincent Coppola’s Gowanus Crossing, narrated by Paul Bellantoni, takes listeners to the Brooklyn neighborhood of Coppola’s childhood, capturing its Italian American families, Catholic schools, street life, and the rough world surrounding the Gowanus Canal. Earphones Award winner Bellantoni particularly shines when he takes on the voices and rhythms of the neighborhood. And in Scavenging Beauty, Angelica Glass narrates her account of walking nearly 2,900 miles through Santa Cruz County, using the landscape and the act of walking to look back at a difficult childhood. Three lives become stories about the places that form us—and how we carry those places with us as we move on.   Audiobooks Discussed: All That’s Unseen, written and narrated by Emilee Hackney (Penguin Audio) Gowanus Crossing: A Brooklyn Boyhood by Vincent Coppola, read by Paul Bellantoni (Macmillan Audio) Scavenging Beauty, written and read by Angelica Glass (Penguin Audio)   Support for Kirkus’ Behind the Mic comes from Harper Audio, producer of audiobooks by HarperCollins Focus and HarperCollins Christian Publishing,  publishers of some of your favorite authors, including Reba McEntire, Bob Goff, Savannah Guthrie, Max Lucado, Lysa TerKeurst, and many more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jo Reed talks with Laura Rossi about three Earphones Award–winning audiobooks that showcase the range and power of great narration. In Caro Claire Burke’s Yesteryear, Rebecca Lowman gives surprising dimension to a deeply unlikable trad-wife influencer whose carefully constructed life takes an unexpected turn. Jenny Jackson’s The Shampoo Effect, read by Marin Ireland, follows four complicated women through a summer in coastal Massachusetts, with Ireland making each character distinct through subtle shifts in rhythm, pitch, and attitude. And in Transcendent, Laverne Cox narrates her own story with vulnerability and candor, sharing painful experiences from her childhood and reflecting on gender, race, and the struggle to live as her authentic self. Three very different audiobooks, each offering its own reminder of what makes listening such a distinctive experience.   Audiobooks Discussed: Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke, read by Rebecca Lowman (Random House Audio) The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson, read by Marin Ireland (Penguin Audio) Transcendent: A Memoir written and read by Laverne Cox (Simon & Schuster Audio)   Support for Behind the Mic with Kirkus Reviews comes from Harper Audio, producer of audiobooks by HarperCollins Focus and HarperCollins Christian Publishing, publishers of some of your favorite authors, including Reba McEntire, Bob Goff, Savannah Guthrie, Max Lucado, Lysa TerKeurst, and so many more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jo Reed and Michele Cobb dig into three Earphones Award–winning police procedurals, each pairing a compelling investigator with a narrator who knows how to build suspense. In Missing by E.A. Jackson, Nicola Walker’s understated, magnetic performance and English accent capture Detective Inspector Martha Allen’s intelligence and persistence as a decades-old case pulls her back in. Dervla McTiernan’s Three Reasons for Revenge, read by Alison McGirr and set in Melbourne, Australia, follows Detective Sergeant Judith Lee through a brutal, psychologically driven investigation, with McGirr handling both the emotional stakes and the novel’s mounting tension. And in Michael Connelly’s Ironwood, narrator Will Damron returns as Detective Sergeant Stilwell, bringing a steady sense of urgency to an investigation on Catalina Island—with welcome appearances from Renée Ballard and Harry Bosch. Three very different detectives, three accomplished narrators, and three mystery audiobooks that earned their Earphones Awards.   Audiobooks Discussed: Missing by E.A. Jackson, read by Nicola Walker (Simon & Schuster Audio) Three Reasons for Revenge by Dervla McTiernan, read by Alison McGirr (Harper Audio) Ironwood by Michael Connelly, read by Will Damron (Hachette Audio) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jo Reed talks with contributor Stephen Cummings about three memoirs created with audio at their center, using performance, archival clips, live recordings, and the human voice to tell their stories. Billy Eichner looks back at his Queens childhood, his rise through Billy on the Street, and the creation of the film Bros in Billy on Billy, an audio-only memoir that mixes his narration with clips from his career and reveals a more reflective side of the famously confrontational comedian. In Peeing in an Empty Bottle, comedian Roz Hernandez takes listeners along on a solo tour through the South and Midwest, combining exuberant narration with live performances and recorded conversations that explore comedy, community, and the realities of traveling through America as a transgender woman. Voice actor Billy West draws on his extraordinary vocal range in Voice-A-Versa, a memoir in which his honesty is as striking as his virtuosity. West moves from a painful childhood to the many characters he created for dozens of commercials and TV programs such as The Ren & Stimpy Show and Futurama (among many others), as well as his years on The Howard Stern Show. Together, the three audiobooks show what happens when memoir is conceived for the ear, making the voices, performances, and sounds of a life part of the storytelling itself.   Audiobooks Discussed: Billy on Billy: An Audio Memoir, written and read by Billy Eichner (Macmillan Audio) Peeing in an Empty Bottle (And Other Glamorous Shenanigans of an Almost-Famous Transgender Comedienne on the Road), written and read by Roz Hernandez (Simon & Schuster Audio) Voice-A-Versa: Finding My Voice(s) Behind the Mic, written and read by Billy West (Recorded Books Inc.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Host Jo Reed and contributor Leslie Fine explore three distinctive novels and the narrators who shape the listening experience. In Sarah Damoff’s The Burning Side, Stacy Gonzalez, Timothy Andrés Pabon, and Jackie Sanders portray members of a family in crisis, with Sanders’ warm, multidimensional performance as the family matriarch a particular standout. Elizabeth Strout’s extraordinary The Things We Never Say finds an ideal interpreter in Golden Voice Robert Petkoff, whose beautifully restrained Earphones Award–winning performance captures Artie’s loneliness and vulnerability while allowing Strout’s remarkable portrait of community, connection, and ordinary life to speak for itself. And in Emma Straub’s American Fantasy, Marin Ireland brings humanity and personality to three very different characters aboard a boy-band nostalgia cruise, making a light, pleasant novel considerably richer in audio. Jo and Leslie consider what happens when narrators know exactly how much—or how little—to do, and how the right performance can deepen an already exceptional novel or add dimension to a lighter one.   Audiobooks Discussed: The Burning Side by Sarah Damoff, read by Stacy Gonzalez, Timothy Andrés Pabon & Jackie Sanders (Simon & Schuster Audio) The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout, read by Robert Petkoff (Random House Audio) American Fantasy by Emma Straub, read by Marin Ireland (Penguin Audio) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Host Jo Reed talks with contributor Kendra Winchester about three audiobooks that explore disability and offer distinct perspectives on community, resilience, and belonging. They begin with Mother Tongue by Sara Nović, narrated by Lisa Flanagan, a memoir that blends personal experience with Deaf history and culture while using inventive audio production to incorporate ASL into the listening experience. Next is A Way Home by Cinelle Barnes, read by the author, a brilliantly written, emotionally layered memoir that interweaves recovery from a brain aneurysm, an overdue return to the Philippines, and a search for home and self, with Barnes’ authentic narration adding another dimension to the listening experience. They conclude with All My Dead Cats and Other Losses by s.e. smith, performed by Em Grosland, which uses the stories of the author's cats as springboards for a thoughtful exploration of grief, disability, memory, and the many ways we mourn, with Grosland’s restrained, deeply empathetic narration giving Smith's reflections room to resonate. Together, these three audiobooks invite listeners to rethink disability—not as a single experience but as a rich and varied part of what it means to be human.   Audiobooks Discussed Mother Tongue by Sara Nović, read by Lisa Flanagan (Random House Audio) A Way Home: A Memoir of Losing Yourself, and the Beauty of Returning written and read by Cinelle Barnes (Brilliance Audio) All My Dead Cats and Other Losses: Practicing Good Grief in a Culture That Fears Mourning by s.e. smith, read by Em Grosland (Harper Audio) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Host Jo Reed and Kirkus young readers’ editor Laura Simeon discuss three audiobooks for young listeners that use sports to explore identity, family, culture, and social change. In Medicine Wheels by Byron Graves, narrator Meegwun Fairbrother captures both the turmoil and the exhilaration of an Ojibwe teenager who discovers skateboarding—and a new connection to his late father. Eva Kaminsky brings clarity and urgency to Elizabeth Rusch’s A Greater Goal, a gripping account of the U.S. women’s soccer team’s fight for equal pay and the solidarity that sustained it. Finally, in Malia Maunakea’s The Shark Prince, narrator Noah Keawekane captures the humor and vulnerability of a Native Hawaiian teenager trying to understand both his changing body and his dangerous inheritance as a descendant of the shark king. Together, these audiobooks move beyond the action of skateboarding, soccer, and surfing to explore family ties, cultural identity, and the power of solidarity.   Audiobooks Discussed: Medicine Wheels by Byron Graves, read by Meegwun Fairbrother (Harper Audio) A Greater Goal: The Epic Battle for Equal Pay in Women’s Soccer—And Beyond by Elizabeth Rusch, read by Eva Kaminsky (Harper Audio) The Shark Prince by Malia Maunakea, read by Noah Keawekane (Listening Library) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Three audiobooks explore people whose patience, curiosity, and determination changed how we understand—and protect—the natural world. Contributor Alan Minskoff joins host Jo Reed to discuss Homesick for a World Unknown: The Life of George B. Schaller by Miriam Horn, a biography of the pioneering wildlife biologist whose decades of patient fieldwork transformed our understanding of animals in the wild. Timothy Andrés Pabon's restrained narration mirrors Schaller's own quiet, methodical approach, allowing the extraordinary scope of his life and work to unfold naturally. Next comes Bernd Heinrich's The Common Uncommon: A Forest Journey, warmly yet authoritatively read by Steve Marvel, which blends memoir, science, and quiet delight in the natural world, inviting listeners to experience it with Heinrich’s infectious sense of wonder. Rounding out the episode is James H. McCommons’ The Feather Wars: And the Great Crusade to Save America’s Birds, narrated by Colin White, whose calm, measured narration keeps the focus on the remarkable history of America’s birds, the people who nearly destroyed them, and the unlikely coalition that fought to save them. Together, these audiobooks make a fascinating trio about discovery, conservation, and the enduring rewards of paying close attention.   Audiobooks Discussed: Homesick for a World Unknown: The Life of George B. Schaller by Miriam Horn, read by Timothy Andrés Pabon & Claudia Dunn (Penguin Audio) The Common Uncommon: A Forest Journey by Bernd Heinrich, read by Steve Marvel (Tantor Media) The Feather Wars: And the Great Crusade to Save America’s Birds by James H. McCommons, read by Colin White (Tantor Media) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Host Jo Reed talks with contributor Alex Richey about three audiobooks whose outstanding narrators bring emotional depth to stories of ghosts, murder, and terrifying change. They begin with The Girl with a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean, in which Natalie Naudus’ emotionally precise narration guides listeners through a haunting tale set in wartime Hong Kong, balancing gothic fantasy and historical fiction. Next is Craig DiLouie’s The Summer Fun Massacre; here narrator Garrett Michael Brown anchors a grisly summer camp mystery with understated authority, while Elizabeth Cappuccino’s brief appearances as survivors add an intimate counterpoint. Jo and Alex conclude with Luke Dumas's Nothing Tastes as Good, where Graham Halstead’s deeply empathetic performance and an ensemble cast narrating news reports and social media posts transform a horror novel into a thoughtful examination of fatphobia, shame, and public judgment. Whether confronting ghosts, revisiting old crimes, or exploring the consequences of impossible choices, these audiobooks demonstrate how exceptional narration adds emotional depth to even the darkest stories.   Audiobooks Discussed: The Girl With a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean, read by Natalie Naudus (Macmillan Audio) The Summer Fun Massacre by Craig DiLouie, read by Garrett Michael Brown and Elizabeth Cappuccino (Hachette Audio) Nothing Tastes as Good by Luke Dumas, read by Graham Halstead with Ali Andre Ali, Raquel Beattie, Cassandra Campbell, and James Anderson Foster (Simon & Schuster Audio) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices