Editors Select | November 2021

Thriller

No secret can remain hidden forever

Ellice Littlejohn is deeply flawed. In fact, when she discovers the dead body of her boss/lover, she simply closes the door and walks away. And that’s not even the most shocking thing to happen in All Her Little Secrets, a thrilling debut from Wanda M. Morris that follows a lawyer caught up in a dangerous corporate conspiracy. Ellice is desperate to keep her secrets hidden, but as they are revealed one by one, I was impressed with her ability to hold her own and never admit defeat. Narrator Susan Dalian—who has quickly become one of my favorites for her recent thriller performances—imbues Ellice with a fiery spirit that keeps fighting to the very end.

Margaret H.

Editor Audible

Biography | Memoir

You can call him “Pal”

Paul Simon was the soundtrack of my early social life: I bought the vinyl Concert in Central Park (with my babysitting money!) and played it nonstop in middle school. No sleepover was deemed a success unless and until—strung out on pizza and unlimited ginger ale—a heartfelt group rendition of ''Bridge Over Troubled Water'' ensued. When I started high school, we chorus nerds impressed ourselves by duplicating S&G harmonies in our spare time, and the summer I graduated, the album Graceland put heart into our efforts to boycott South Africa. In Miracle and Wonder, Simon (with the help of Malcolm Gladwell) pulls back the curtain on the inspiration for the songs we love and also the artistry that has driven a lifetime of songwriting. If you are like me, this audio is a gift. If you are new to Paul Simon and his music, I envy you the richness of discovery that awaits. In either case, Simon was right about a lot of things, and especially that the music we hear in our early teens remains powerful throughout our lives.

Christina H.

Editor Audible

Romance

A feel-good love story—a dash of LGBTQIA+ history

As soon as I heard the premise of The Other Man, I knew I had to give it a listen. Set in modern-day Mumbai, this gay rom-com has it all: a wealthy and attractive hero, a story of secrets and double lives, an arranged marriage, and an incredible love story. I was also lucky enough to sit down with Farhad Dadyburjor to talk about his story, which made me love it even more! Between Ariyan Kassam’s amazing performance and the incorporation of the real-life repeal of the Indian Penal Code’s Section 377, which made it a crime to be gay, this listen is as heartwarming as it is provocative. In other words, I love just about everything about it.

Michael C.

Editor Audible

Science Fiction

A mystery wrapped in a conspiracy wrapped in thrills

It’s hard to get into too many details about Victoriano Cárdenas and Warren Langford’s sci-fi thriller Audible Original without giving too much away. So let me say this: if you enjoy near-future sci-fi, stories about tech gone awry, and that unsettling feeling of not quite knowing whether things are what they seem, I urge you not to miss this immersive and compulsive listen. The voice acting is top-notch and the sound design is evocative—both of which were recorded on location in New Mexico. Listening with eyes closed and headphones on, I could almost forget I wasn’t somehow watching this story unfold.

Sam D.

Editor Audible

Fiction

Isolation and transformation on the Galapagos

The first question I asked myself before choosing Wish You Were Here as my pick this month was, ''Is it too soon? Can I handle a COVID-19, lockdown-themed listen while (still) working from home?'' But the whole idea of spending quarantine on the Galapagos Islands, especially in the hands of a writer like Jodi Picoult, fascinated me. And with Marin Ireland narrating! I was sold. So many people out there have spent the last many, many months reevaluating life choices on all levels, and some find themselves (like the characters in this story) reemerging changed, dare I say evolved. It’s not too soon to contemplate these things. To hear how Picoult’s characters fare in these bizarre times is simultaneously gut-wrenching and comforting—and totally entertaining.

Tricia F.

Editor Audible

YA | Romance

A swashbuckling good time

The finale to Mackenzi Lee’s Montague Siblings series has arrived—though I’m not sure I’m ready to say goodbye. This series has been such an unexpected, wild adventure, and its conclusion, The Nobleman’s Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks, doesn’t disappoint. Narrator Christian Coulson returns to give voice to Adrian Montague, now a teenager, as he discovers the existence of the siblings he never knew he had, Monty and Felicity. There are pirates, there’s fantasy, there’s romance, and plenty of everything listeners have come to expect and love from Lee. If we can’t have more of the Montagues, then I hope Coulson will finally answer my pleas to narrate more audiobooks!

Katie O.

Editor Audible

Audible Original Podcast

How did we get here?

If you’ve been paying attention over the past few decades (or maybe just the last five minutes) you may have noticed an uptick in income inequality, people yelling at each other about issues petty and profound, and the weight of existential dread contributing to record rates of mental health issues. Our current state in the States has many people asking: How did we get here? How do we get away from here? Meltdown—from award-winning documentarian Alex Gibney and best-selling author and journalist David Sirota—specifically turns a sharp eye to the 2008 financial meltdown as a contributing factor in our current set of circumstances. The team digs into how regular individuals were set up to fail while big institutions were allowed to carry on with significant support despite their role in creating the crisis. This narrative might feel familiar, but what is new is how Sirota connects the dots from the Obama administration’s response to where we landed today. If you want a trip down memory lane with a cautionary tale attached, Meltdown is your next great listen.

Vanessa H.

Editor Audible

Fantasy | Audio Drama

Theater for the end of the world

I love adaptations of origin stories. Time and time again, they rehash the events that first divided our minds into right and wrong. With each listen, we rediscover who we’ve become. Though Good Omens references Eden, fans of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett know best: never trust a place to be exactly as it seems. This story asks why the end of the world would develop in a ''kids’ paradise,'' but no such place could survive to begin with. Surely the natural curiosity and boredom of children would always lead to an apple that ends it all. Kids love to ask ''why,'' and it would be a denial of our origins for adults to forget that we too learned to ask questions while growing up. As a child, I learned this lesson first through Gaiman’s Coraline, then The Graveyard Book, then The Ocean at the End of the Lane. Though I’ve revisited each of these stories, they’ve never failed to teach me something new. Expect to find fresh perspective in this full-cast recording, brought to life by David Tennant, Michael Sheen, and the many brilliant newcomers to the world of Good Omens. This listen delivers theater to your doorstep: a perfect gift for those of us missing live productions.

Haley H.

Editor Audible

Thriller

All Her Little Secrets

Could barely finish this book

No secret can remain hidden forever

Biography | Memoir

Miracle and Wonder

A lifelong companion who will never know my name

You can call him “Pal”

Romance

The Other Man

Too long, too much whining

A feel-good love story—a dash of LGBTQIA+ history

Science Fiction

Eminent Domain

Language

A mystery wrapped in a conspiracy wrapped in thrills

Fiction

Wish You Were Here

Amazing Jodi + excellent narration = 5+++

Isolation and transformation on the Galapagos

YA | Romance

The Nobleman's Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks

The first few chapters are emotionally rough.

A swashbuckling good time

Audible Original Podcast

Meltdown

Content is excellent, but Audible needs to fix

How did we get here?

Fantasy | Audio Drama

Good Omens

Brilliant and epic

Theater for the end of the world