Behind the Mic With Kirkus Reviews

Host Jo Reed talks with contributor Leslie Fine about three audiobooks that circle around questions of identity, family, and belonging. In Kin by Tayari Jones, dual narrators Angel Pean and Ashley J. Hobbs give distinct
voices to two lifelong friends shaped by maternal absence as well as the racial and class realities of the 1950s South. Boy From the North Country,
written and read by Sam Sussman, blends autofiction and grief as a son returns home to his dying mother, while My Other Heart by Emma Nanami Strenner, narrated by Joy Ozymanski, follows two teenagers navigating questions of heritage, class, and family.  Three very different audiobooks, each asking—through story and performance—how we come to understand
where we belong.

 

Audiobooks Discussed:

Kin by Tayari Jones, read by Angel Pean and Ashley J. Hobbs (Random House Audio)

Boy From the North Country written and read by Sam Sussman (Penguin Audio)

My Other Heart by Emma Nanami Strenner, read by Joy Osmanski (Penguin
Audio)

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Host Jo Reed is joined by Michele Cobb to look at three audiobooks that use multiple narrators to tell stories from distinct perspectives. In Joan Silber’s Mercy, a cast of voices traces how an experience reverberates across lives and decades, with narration providing the emotional throughline. Rachel Hawkins’s The Storm leans into suspense and atmosphere, with strong performances sharpening a layered, true-crime-tinged mystery. And in Craig Thomas’s That’s Not How It Happened, four narrators bring clarity and texture to the story of a family and the uneasy overlap between private life and public storytelling.  Three very
different books, each shaped by shifting perspectives—and in each case, it’s the narration that makes the whole story cohere.

 

Audiobooks Discussed:

Mercy
by Joan Silber, read by L.J. Ganser, Nan McNamara, Christina Moore, Alyssa Bresnahan, Helen Laser & Nick Walther (Recorded Books Inc.)

 

The Storm by Rachel Hawkins, read by Stephanie Németh-Parker, Alex Knox, Cathi Colas, Dan Bittner, Jane Oppenheimer, Patti Murin, and Petrea Burchard (Macmillan Audio)

 

That’s Not How It Happened by Craig Thomas, read by Marli Watson, Cobie
Smulders, Josh Radnor, and Kevin Iannucci (Harlequin Audio)

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Host Jo Reed is joined by Kirkus fiction editor Laurie Muchnick for a deep dive into Rachel Reid’s six-book Game Changers series. The basis for the HBO sensation Heated Rivalry, the books are a blend of pro hockey, queer romance, and unapologetic “spice.” The conversation zeroes in on two key audiobooks—Game Changer, read by Tor Thom, and The Long Game, read by Cooper North—highlighting how each narrator shapes character, tone, and emotional depth in very different ways. Along the way, Jo and Laurie consider what these romances promise (yes, a happily-ever-after), what they explore (from homophobia in sports to mental health), and how
listening—especially to scenes of intimacy—changes the experience. A lively look at a very hot series—where performance shapes the story as much as the writing, and the chemistry comes through loud and clear.

 

Audiobooks Discussed:

Game Changer by Rachel Reid, read by Tor Thom (Tantor Media)

The Long Game by Rachel Reid, read by Cooper North (Harlequin Audio)

 

Other audiobooks in the Game Changers series by Rachel Reid:

 Heated Rivalry and Tough Guy, read by Tor Thom (Tantor Media)

Common Goal and Role Model, read by Cooper North (Harlequin Audio)

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Lauren Groff’s narration of Brawler brings listeners directly into the cadence and emotional undercurrent of her prose. In this episode of Behind the Mic, she talks with host Jo Reed about building a collection as a series of evolving questions, from the opening story “The Wind” to the final piece “Annunciation,” which, as she puts it, is “shining a light outward” while gesturing back toward what comes before.  The conversation also
explores how reading her work aloud—both while writing and in the recording studio—sharpens rhythm, shifts meaning, and keeps every sentence in motion. In an interview interspersed with excerpts of the audiobook, Lauren reflects on voice, structure, and the intimacy of hearing a writer tell her own stories.

 

Audiobooks Discussed:

Brawler, written and read by Lauren Groff (Penguin Audio)

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Kirkus young readers’ editor Laura Simeon suggests three
middle-grade audiobooks that invite listening across generations, beginning with Anna James’s Alice With a Why, where Kristin Atherton’s graceful, finely tuned narration captures both the whimsy and emotional intelligence of this return to Wonderland. Jodi Meadows’ Confessions From the Group Chat offers a sharply observed look at middle-school dynamics, with Eevin Hartsough delivering a natural, conversational performance that makes Virginia’s missteps feel immediate and deeply human. And in Relic Hamilton, Genie Hunter, British author and former Children’s Laureate Joseph Coelho narrates his own fast-moving, imaginative adventure with energy and warmth, anchoring its time travel and mythmaking in a voice that feels personal and inviting. These are three engaging middle-grade stories, elevated by narrators who bring clarity, nuance, and a strong sense of voice to every moment.

 

 Audiobooks Discussed:

Alice With a Why by Anna James, read by Kristin Atherton (Listening Library)

Confessions From the Group Chat by Jodi Meadows, read by Eevin Hartsough (Recorded Books)

Relic Hamilton, Genie Hunter by Joseph Coelho, read by Joseph Coelho
(Dreamscape)

 

Support for Behind the Mic comes from HarperCollinsFocus and HarperCollinsChristianPublishing, publishers of some of your favorite audiobooks and authors, including Colleen Coble, Mark Harmon, Jennie Allen, Max Lucado, Lysa TerKeurst, and many more.

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