Chanté McCormick and Torian Brackett narrate this collection, dividing the stories between them. The intensely emotional audiobook focuses on the experiences of immigrant and first-generation Americans in Newark, New Jersey, and all kinds of relationships. McCormick takes a gentle tone in her performances, subtly developing diverse character voices and going all-out on the emotive elements. She can deftly deliver phrases that haunt and provoke empathy with just a nuanced note on a syllable. Brackett, too, is a skilled narrator. Clear and well-paced, his performance is easy to listen to but flatter when it comes to the emotional elements. The collection provides thoughtful portraits of the lives of our fellow Americans, and it resonates with humanity.
Pub Date: April 9, 2024
Duration: 6 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781666662214
Publisher: Dreamscape
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Fans will welcome Free’s performance of this brief addition to the Murderbot universe.
Maintaining the same sardonic tone that works so well for the Murderbot Diaries audiobooks, Kevin R. Free narrates this story that, for once, isn’t told from Murderbot’s perspective. The crew of Perihelion, an intelligent research transport ship, is preparing for a mission aboard a space station. Peri sounds delightfully snotty in its interactions with Iris and the rest of the crew. The ship is implementing new strategies to keep its crew safe, and it’s being cagey about what inspired them—but we slowly realize that it’s because of Peri’s experience with a certain rogue SecUnit in a previous installment of the series. Sound effects, including beeping computers and whooshing air, add to the SF atmosphere.
Fans will welcome Free’s performance of this brief addition to the Murderbot universe.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2026
Duration: 53 mins
DD ISBN: 9781250489241
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2026
This uneven story collection can be difficult to follow on audio, making for a challenging listening experience.
Row's collection of 14 stories takes on academia, art, elitism, divorce, current events, and politics. Narrator Jim Meskimen takes an informal approach, portraying the various characters, from spouses to writers to edgy young folks, with distinctive vocal rhythms and effects. The variety in Meskimen’s performance can be distracting, and the stories vary in coherence, with an abundance of stream-of-consciousness passages and details that feel extraneous. In general, the stories share a satirical and scornful view of the cultural norms of the bourgeoisie.
This uneven story collection can be difficult to follow on audio, making for a challenging listening experience.Pub Date: Aug. 11, 2026
Duration: 6 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063491670
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2026
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