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Column Archive - 2007-2019

2020 Past Columns
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Audie Awards’® 25th Anniversary



The 2020 Finalists & Winners

AUDIOBOOK OF THE YEAR

Angels in America - Tony Kushner   (Penguin Random House Audio)
Narrated by Andrew Garfield, Nathan Lane, Susan Brown, Denise Gough.
Becoming - Michelle Obama   (Penguin Random House Audio)
Narrated by Michelle Obama

Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White  (Penguin Random House Audio)
Narrated by Meryl Streep with a full cast.

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett  (HarperAudio)
Narrated by Tom Hanks

WINNER: The Only Plane in the Sky - Garrett M. Graff  (Simon & Schuster Audio)
Narrated by a full cast with Holter Graham

The Testaments - Margaret Atwood    (Penguin Random House Audio)
Narrated by Ann Dowd, Bryce Dallas Howard, Mae Whitman, Derek Jacobi, Tantoo Cardinal, and Margaret Atwood



AUDIO DRAMA

The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey - James Lecesne    (Audible Originals)
Performed by James Lecesne

WINNER: Angels in America - Tony Kushne    (Penguin Random House Audio)
Performed by Andrew Garfield, Nathan Lane, Susan Brown, Denise Gough, Beth Malone, James McArdle, Lee Pace, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Bobby Cannavale, and Edie Falco

Birthday Suit - Lauren Blakely    (Lauren Blakely Books)
Performed by Andi Arndt, Sebastian York, January LaVoy, Julia Whelan, R.C. Bray, Shane East, Joe Arden, Erin Mallon, Dion Graham, Savannah Peachwood, Jason Clarke, and Robin Miles, published by

Have a Nice Day - Billy Crystal and Quinton Peeples    (Audible Originals)
Performed by Justin Bartha, Annette Bening, Dick Cavett, Auli’l Cravalho, Billy Crystal, Rachel Dratch, Darrell Hammond, Christopher Jackson, Kevin Kline, Robin Thede, and a full cast.

Puss in Boots - Neil Fishman, Harvey Edelman, and Khristine Hvam   (HarperCollins)
Performed by Jim Dale, Mark Aldrich, Barret Leddy, Nick Sullivan, Brian Holden, Al Fallick, Lisa Livesay, Meredith Inglesby, Lynn Norris, John E. Brady, and Johnny Heller



AUTOBIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR

WINNER: Becoming - Michelle Obama   (Penguin Random House Audio)
Narrated by Michelle Obama

From Scratch, - Tembi Locke   (Simon & Schuster Audio)
Narrated by Tembi Locke
Me: Elton John Official Autobiography - Elton John   (Macmillan Audio)
Narrated by Taron Egerton and Elton John
MotherStruck! Staceyann Chin   (Audible Originals)
Narrated by Staceyann Chin

Too Much Is Not Enough - Andrew Rannells   (Penguin Random House Audio)
Narrated by Andrew Rannells



BEST FEMALE NARRATOR

All the Lost Things - Michelle Sacks   (Hachette Audio)
Narrated by Cassandra Morris
The Boy - Tami Hoag   (Brilliance Publishing)
narrated by Hillary Huber
WINNER: Nothing to See Here - Kevin Wilson   (HarperCollins)
Narrated by Marin Ireland

Prime Suspect - Lynda La Plante   (Zaffle)
Narrated by Rachel Atkins

The Ten Thousand Doors of January - Alix E. Harrow   (Hachette Audio)
Narrated by January LaVoy



BEST MALE NARRATOR

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett   (HarperCollins)
Narrated by Tom Hanks
Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathon Safran Foer  (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Narrated by Robert Petkoff
WINNER: Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny   (MacMillan Audio)
Narrated by Robert Bathurst
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead    (Penguin Random House Audio)
Narrated by JD Jackson

Watership Down by Richard Adams    (Blackstone Publishing)
Narrated by Peter Capaldi



BUSINESS/PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

The Barefoot Spirit - Michael Houlihan, Bonnie Harvey, Rick Kushman   (Footnote Press)
Narrated by Alamada Karatihy and a Full Cast featuring Ed Asner
Calm the F*ck Down - by Sarah Knight (Hachette Audio)
Narrated by Sarah Knight
Nine Lies About Work - Marchus Buckingham & Ashley Goodall (Gildan Media, a Division of Recorded Books)
Narrated by Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall
WINNER: So You Want to Start a Podcast? - Kristen Meinzer (HarperCollins)
Narrated by Kristen Meinzer

Wolfpack - Abby Wambach  (Macmillan Audio)
Narrated by Abby Wambach



FAITH-BASED FICTION & NON-FICTION

Breathe Again - Niki Hardy   (Oasis Audio)
Narrated by Niki Hardy
Conscious - Annak Harris   (HarperCollins)
Narrated by Annaka Harris
Dare to See - Katie Brown   (Hachette Audio)
Narrated by Katie Brown
WINNER: How the Light Gets In - Jolina Petersheim    (Oasis Audio)
Narrated by Tavia Gilbert

Jezebel: The Prequel - Jacquelin Thomas   (The Audio Flow LLC)
Narrated by Janina Edwards



FANTASY

Beasts of the Frozen Sun - Jill Criswell   (Blackstone Publishing)
Narrated by Alana Kerr-Collins and Tim Campbell
Black Leopard, Red Wolf - Marlon James (Penguin Random House Audio)
Narrated by Dion Graham
Ninth House - Leigh Bardugo   (Macmillan Audio)
Narrated by Michael David Axtell and Lauren Fortgang
WINNER: The Ten Thousand Doors of January - Alix E. Harrow   (Hachette Audio)
Narrated by January LaVoy

Time’s Children - D.B. Jackson   (Dreamscape Media, LLC)
Narrated by Helen Keeley



FICTION

The Age of Light - Whitney Scharer (Hachette Audio)
Narrated by Therese Plummer
Cilka’s Journey - Heather Morris   (Macmillan Audio)
Narrated by Louise Brealey
WINNER: City of Girls - Elizabeth Gilbert   (Penguin Random House Audio)
Narrated by Blair Brown
Colombiano - Rusty Young  (Bolinda Publishing)
Narrated by Rusty Young & Brian J. Ramos

The House We Grew Up In - Lisa Jewell   (Dreamscape Media)
Narrated by Karina Fernandez



HISTORY/BIOGRAPHY

WINNER: American Moonshot - Douglas Brinkley     (HarperCollins)
Narrated by Stephen Graybill
The First Conspiracy - Brad Meltzer & Josh Mensch    (Penguin Random House Audio)
Narrated by Scott Brick
Furious Hours - Casey Cep    (Penguin Random House Audio)
Narrated by Hillary Huber
The Queen - Josh Levin   (Hachette Audio)
Narrated by January LaVoy

Theodore Roosevelt for the Defense - Dan Abrams & David Fisher  (Harlequin)
Narrated by Roger Wayne & Dan Abrams



HUMOR

Dear Girls - Ali Wong      (Penguin Random House Audio)
Narrated by Ali Wong and Justin Hakuta
Idiot - Laura Clery    (Simon & Schuster Audio)
Narrated by Laura Clery
WINNER: More Bedtime Stories for Cynics by Kirsten Kearse, Gretchen Enders, Aparna Nancherla, Cirocco Dunlap, and Dave Hill     (Audible Originals)
Narrated by Nick Offerman, Patrick Stewart, Alia Shawkat, Ellen Page, Jane Lynch, John Waters, Anjelica Huston, Wendell Pierce, Mike Birbiglia, Rachel Dratch, Matt Walsh, Nicole Byer, Harry Goaz, Aisling Bea, and Gary Anthony Williams
Riding the Elephant - Craig Ferguson   (Penguin Random House Audio)
Narrated by Craig Ferguson

A Woman First - Selina Meyer   (Penguin Random House Audio)
Narrated by Selina Meyer



LITERARY FICTION & CLASSICS

Milkman by Anna Burns    (Dreamscape Media )
Narrated by Brid Brennan
Mythos - Stephen Fry    (Chronicle Books)
Narrated by Stephen Fry
The Night Tiger - Yangsze Choo    (Macmillan Audio)
Narrated by Yangsze Choo
Red at the Bone - Jacqueline Woodson   (Penguin Random House Audio)
Narrated by Jacqueline Woodson, with Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Peter Francis James, Shayna Small, and Bahni Turpin

WINNER: The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates   (Penguin Random House Audio)
Narrated by Joe Morton



MIDDLE GRADE

WINNER: Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White    (Penguin Random House Audio)
Narrated by Meryl Streep and a full cast
New Kid - Jerry Craft   (HarperCollins)
Narrated by Jerry Craft, Jesus Del Orden, Nile Bullock, Robin Miles, Guy Lockard, Peyton Lusk, Rebecca Soler, Dan Bittner, Phoebe Strole, Marc Thompson, Miles Harvey, and Ron Butler
Our Castle by the Sea - Lucy Strange    (Scholastic Audio)
Narrated by Lucy Strange

Roller Girl - Victoria Jamieson   (Penguin Random House Audio)
Narrated by Almarie Guerra and a full cast

The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise - Dan Gemeinhart (Macmillan Audio)
Narrated by Khristine Hvam



MULTI-VOICED PERFORMANCE

200 Women by Geoff Blackwell, Ruth Hobday, Sharon Gelman, Marianne Lassandro, and Kieran Scott  (Chronicle Books)
Narrated by a full cast
Daisy Jones & The Six - Taylor Jenkins Reid  (Penguin Random House Audio)
Narrated by Jennifer Beals, Benjamin Bratt, Judy Greer, Pablo Schreiber, and a full cast,

Dooku: Jedi Lost (Star Wars) - Cavan Scott  (Penguin Random House Audio)
Narrated by Orlagh Cassidy, Euan Morton, Marc Thompson, Pete Bradbury, Jonathan Davis, Neil Hellegers, Sean Kenin, January LaVoy, Saskia Maarleveld, Carol Monda, Robert Petkoff, and Rebecca Soler

Hey, Kiddo - Jarrett J. Krosoczka  (Scholastic Audio)
Narrated by Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Jeanne Birdsall, Richard Ferrone, Jenna Lamia, and a full cast

WINNER: The Only Plane in the Sky - Garrett M. Graff (Simon & Schuster Audio)
Narrated by a full cast with Holter Graham



MYSTERY

Along Came a Spider - James Patterson (25th anniversary edition) (Hachette Audio)
Narrated by Taye Diggs
The Boy - Tami Hoag   (Brilliance Publishing)
Narrated by Hillary Huber
WINNER: The Chestnut Man - Soren Sveistrup   (HarperCollins)
Narrated by Peter Noble
The Lost Man - Jane Harper   (Macmillan Audio)
Narrated by Stephen Shanahan

The New Iberia Blues - James Lee Burke    (Simon & Schuster Audio)
Narrated by Will Patton



NARRATION BY AUTHOR OR AUTHORS

Becoming - Michelle Obama     (Penguin Random House Audio)
Narrated by Michelle Obama
Inside Out - Demi Moore    (HarperCollins)
Narrated by Demi Moore

Madame Badobedah - Sophie Dahl   (Bolinda Publishing)
Narrated by Sophie Dahl

Shortest Way Home - Pete Buttigieg     (HighBridge, a divison of Recorded Books)
Narrated by Pete Buttigieg  

Tough Love - Susan Rice   (Simon & Schuster Audio)
Narrated by Susan Rice  

WINNER: With the Fire on High - Elizabeth Acevedo   (HarperCollins)
Narrated by Elizabeth Acevedo   


NON-FICTION

WINNER: Grace Will Lead Us Home - Jennifer Berry Hawes   (Macmillan Audio)
Narrated by Karen Chilton and Jennifer Berry Hawes
Mama’s Last Hug - Frans de Waal  (Recorded Books)
Narrated by L.J. Ganser, published by Recorded Books
The Perfect Predator - Steffanie Strathdee, Thomas Patterson, and Teresa Barker  (Hachette Audio)
Narrated by Christine Lakin with Dan Woren
Talking to Strangers - Malcolm Gladwell (Hachette Audio)
Narrated by Malcolm Gladwell

We Are the Weather - Jonathan Safran Foer   (Macmillan Audio)
Narrated by Jonathan Safran Foer



ORIGINAL WORK

WINNER: Evil Eye - Madhuri Shekar   (Audible Originals)
Narrated by Nick Choksi, Harsh Nayaar, Annapurna Sriram, Bernard White, and Rita Wolf
I Eat Men Like Air - Alice Berman   (Audible Originals)
Narrated by Elizabeth Evans
Lustily Ever After: The Audiobook Musical - Stephanie Bentley & Miranda Ray   (ACX)
Narrated by Stephanie Bentley, Carolyn Jania and Henry Kaiser, with additional vocals from Christiana Lynette and Aaron Wilson
Our Harlem: - Marcus Samuelsson    (Audible Originals)
Narrated by Marcus Samuelsson

Nevertheless We Persisted: Me Too - (Blunder Woman Productions)   Em Jae, E., Deepti Gupta, Suzanne Barbetta, Dee, Samantha MacLeod, Bronwyn Green, Rachel Fulginiti, Mary Caroline Smith, Jackie Rosenfeld, Tor Thom, Francesca Amari, Charlotte, Samantha Greene, Rachel Wisley, K.E. White, Emily Lawrence, Kali, Marie Christy, Carol Schneider, Anonymous, Sal, and Sahana Kumar

Performed by: Christa Lewis, Tanya Eby, Neil Hellegers, Emily Beresford, Hillary Huber, Deepti Gupta, Suzanne Barbetta, Beth Stewart, Madeleine Maby, Tavia Gilbert, Lisa Flanagan, Rachel Fulginiti, Donna Postel, Carly Robins, Tor Thom, Nicol Zanzarella, Caitlin Kelly, Erin Mallon, Karen White, Francesca Amari, Emily Lawrence, Megan Tusing, Cassandra Campbell, Carol Schneider, Sal, Lauri Jo Daniels, and Siiri Scott,

Chorus performed by: Lauri Jo Daniels, Matt Godfrey, Amanda Dolan, Melissa Moran, Khristine Hvam, Jesse Vilinsky, Andrea Emmes, Ralph Lister, Angie Hickman, Stuart Poltrock, Joe Hempel, Laura Bannister, Natalie Naudus, Greg Tremblay, Elizabeth Wiley, Eve Passeltiner, Rosemary Benson, Emily Durante, Karen Commins, Helen Lloyd, Amy McFadden, Sophie Amoss, Suzanne Elise Freeman, Jane Oppenheimer, Lori Prince, David Stifel, Lacy Laurel, Denice Stradling, Pamela Lorence, Suzie Althens, Kelley Ernst, Becca Ballenger, Lauren Ezzo, Sarah Mollo Christensen, Patrick Lawlor, Carol Jacobanis, Rich Miller, Anne Flosnik, Shiromi Arserio, Meghan Kelly, Kate Rudd, and Caroline McLaughlin



ROMANCE

The Bride Test - Helen Hoang   (Dreamscape Media)
Narrated by Emily Woo Zeller
WINNER: Devil’s Daughter - Lisa Kleypas (HarperCollins)
Narrated by Mary Jane Wells, published by
The Friend Zone - Abby Jimenez  (Hachette Audio)
Narrated by Teddy Hamilton and Erin Mallon
Gimme Some Sugar - Molly Harper   (Audible Originals)
Narrated by Amanda Ronconi

Red, White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston  (Macmillan Audio)
Narrated by Ramon de Ocampo



SCIENCE FICTION

WINNER: Emergency Skin - N.K. Jemisin    (Brilliance Publishing)
Narrated by Jason Isaacs
Hollow Kingdom - Kira Jane Buxton   (Hachette Audio)
Narrated by Robert Petkoff
The Last Astronaut - David Wellington, (Hachette Audio)
Narrated by Megan Tusing
The Lesson - Cadwell Turnbull  (Blackstone Publishing)
Narrated by Ron Butler & Janina Edwards

Permafrost - Alastair Reynolds   (Macmillian Audio)
Narrated by Natasha Soudek



SHORT STORIES/COLLECTIONS

Evidence of the Affair - Taylor Jenkins Reid   (Brilliance Publishing)
Narrated by Julia Whelan, George Newbern, James Daniels, and Dara Rosenberg
Forward - Veronica Roth, Blake Crouch, N.K. Jemisin, Amor Towles, Paul Tremblay, and Andy Weir (Brilliance Publishing)
Narrated by Evan Rachel Wood, Rosa Salazar, Jason Isaacs, David Harbour, Steven Strait, and Janina Gavankar
WINNER: Full Throttle - Joe Hill   (HarperCollins)
Narrated by Zachary Quinto, Wil Wheaton, Kate Mulgrew, Neil Gaiman, Ashleigh Cummings, Joe Hill, Laysla De Oliveira, Nate Corddry, Connor Jessup, Stephen Lang, and George Guidall
I’m Telling the Truth But I’m Lying - Bassey Ikpi    (HarperAudio)
Narrated by Bassey Ikpi

Kabu Kabu - Nnedi Okorafor & Whoopi Goldberg (foreword)
Narrated by Yetide Badakim    (Tantor Audio, a division of Recorded Books)



THRILLER/SUSPENSE

Blood in the Water - Jack Flynn (Recorded Books)
N arrated by Dion Graham
Freefall - Jessica Barry (HarperCollins)
Narrated by Hillary Huber, Karissa Vacker, and MacLeod Andrews
WINNER: The Institute - Stephen King   (Simon & Schuster Audio)
Narrated by Santino Fontana
Lady in the Lake - Laura Lippman (HarperCollins)
Narrated by Susan Bennett

Winter Dark - Alex Callister    (Audible Originals)
Narrated by Ell Potter



YOUNG ADULT

WINNER: Hey, Kiddo - Jarrett J. Krosoczka   (Scholastic Audio)
Narrated by Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Jeanne Birdsall, Richard Ferrone, Jenna Lamia, and a Full Cast
Like a Love Story - Abdi Nazemian (HarperCollins)
Narrated by Lauren Ambrose, Vikas Adam, and Michael Crouch
Lovely War - Julie Berry   (Penguin Randow House Audio)
Narrated by Jayne Entwistle, Allan Corduner, Julie Berry, and a Full Cast
On the Come Up - Angie Thomas (HarperCollins)
Narrated by Bahni Turpin

With the Fire on High - Elizabeth Acevedo (HarperCollins)
Narrated by Elizabeth Acevedo



YOUNG LISTENERS

How to Read a Book - Kwame Alexander (HarperCollins)
Narrated by Kwame Alexander
The Lion King - Elizabeth Rudnick and Disney Press   (Blackstone Publishing)
Narrated by Janina Edwards
WINNER: The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! - Mo Willems  (Weston Woods)
Narrated by Mo Willems
Rumple Buttercup - Matthew Gray Gubler  (Penguin Random House Audio)
Narrated by Matthew Gray Gubler

We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga - Traci Sorell   (Live Oak Media)
Narrated by Lauren Hummingbird, Agalisiga (Choogie) Mackey, Ryan Mackey, Traci Sorell, and Tonia Weavel

The Word Collector - Peter H. Reynolds   (Weston Woods)
Narrated by Guy Lockard


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