M.K. Asante's performance captures the essence of what makes the audiobook medium vital: a living experience that grabs listeners from start to finish. Here, Asante's work is filled with hip-hop rhythms creating rich images that embody a journey through Black history and community via the streets of Philadelphia. Assante unfolds the story of his nephew Nasir's emergency treatment in intensive care after multiple gunshot wounds. Supporting performances by Dion Graham as Nasir's estranged father, Uzi, and Adenrele Ojo as the family matriarch are equally moving and, at times, heartbreaking. Listeners experience a collective performance that captures the power of art to touch the soul. The impact is exhilarating.
Pub Date: 2024
Duration: 5 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063275317
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Marisa Calin narrates this fraught tale of shipwreck, marriage, and survival. Maurice and Marilyn quit their jobs and embark on sailing the ocean without an engine or radio. They see it as the experience of a lifetime. When a whale sinks their boat and leaves them adrift on a raft in the Pacific, the two struggle for four months to stay alive and maintain their sanity. Calin deftly moves between their heartbreaking moments of despair and their drive for survival and belief in rescue, even as things grow desperate. Calin not only makes the factual aspects of the audiobook clear, she also grabs the listener's attention and doesn't let go until the final moments of this wild story.
Pub Date: 2025
Duration: 5 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217071739
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Randall's audiobook recounts the challenges six women bore in order to make an ascent of Denali in Alaska more than 50 years ago. The "Denali Damsels" encountered misogyny at every turn, as well as the extreme elements. Narrator Amanda Dolan guides the story with the right inflections of emotion, which are important since the women had very different personalities. Frustration and impatience, more than anything else, bubbled up along the climb, and Dolan imparts them in snappish tones. She reflects the story, the characters, and the tribulations the women endured as they braved the harsh conditions while tackling the mountain.
Pub Date: 2025
Duration: 9 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9798895948880
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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