AudioFile’s Best Audiobooks of October

Each month, our friends at AudioFile Magazine share a curated list of the best audiobooks for your literary listening pleasure.

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OCTOBER FICTION

We Came to Welcome You: A Novel of Suburban Horror by Vincent Tirado| Read by iiKane
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Harper Audio | 13.5 hrs.]

Narrator iiKane shows astounding vocal versatility in this suburban horror audiobook about a bizarre Homeowners Association. Sol and her wife, Alice, finally purchased a home in a gated community. But nosy neighbors, microaggressions, and tree roots growing where they don’t belong are unsettling.

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark| Read by Lynnette R. Freeman
[Recorded Books | 7.5 hrs.]

Lynnette R. Freeman narrates a fantasy featuring assassins and gods. Even is a member of the Dead Cat Tail Assassins Guild, and one of the best assassins in the city of Tal Abisi. When her newest commission puts her in an unforeseen quandary, she must use all her wits to survive.

Freeman’s performance is breathtaking, hitting emotional notes that range from anger to resignation and to glee.

The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard| Read by Juliet Stevenson, Shirley Hazzard
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Spiegel & Grau by Spotify Audiobooks | 15.5 hrs.]

Juliet Stevenson’s voice in this production is like a spa tub, soothing and stimulating at the same time. The fact that she is narrating a masterpiece will keep listeners from being soothed to inattention.

The Transit of Venus does have some astronomy in the background, but it is mostly a study of many of the forms of love, focused on the inhabitants of an English country house, beginning one summer in the 1950s and following them for the next three decades.

Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid| Read by Imani Jade Powers
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Random House Audio | 9.25 hrs.]

Expertly narrated by Imani Jade Powers, this speculative fiction enters the mind and motives of Lady Macbeth. While she’s reminiscent of Shakespeare’s character, many of the events depart from the play’s, allowing us to see things through her eyes. Seventeen-year-old Roscille, allegedly cursed by witches, drives men mad after one look into her eyes. Against her will, she’s forced to marry the brutish Macbeth.

Powers creates a gothic ambiance with occult overtones and credible supernatural occurrences.

The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia| Read by Victoria Villarreal, Caitlin Kelly, Atlanta Amado, Arthur Morey, Andrew Eiden, Kristen DiMercurio, Frankie Corzo, Lauren Fortgang, Javier Prusky, Fred Sanders, Lee Osorio, Cassandra Campbell
[Random House Audio | 11.75 hrs.]

Victoria Villarreal and an ensemble cast narrate a thrilling epic set in 1950s Hollywood. Sword-and-sandal films are all the rage, so when an unknown actress—from Mexico, no less—is chosen to play Salome in the latest picture, tempers flare. Villarreal capably portrays the three main characters: Vera Larios, the unknown Mexican ingénue; Nancy Hartley, a bit player who feels cheated out of a starring role; and Salome herself. 

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OCTOBER NONFICTION

The Stalin Affair: The Impossible Alliance that Won the War by Giles Milton| Read by Giles Milton
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Macmillan Audio | 11.25 hrs.]

Author Giles Milton’s voice is not schooled or melodious; it has the bark and urgency of a wartime announcer. This illuminating account of the wartime dealings among Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin has a flavor no professional narrator could convey. All, especially Stalin, are sharply etched, legends and monsters brought to human scale.

We Were Illegal: Uncovering a Texas Family’s Mythmaking and Migration by Jessica Goudeau| Read by Jessica Goudeau
[Penguin Audio | 12.5 hrs.]

Author Jessica Goudeau narrates in a clear, calm voice that listeners will grow to appreciate as she investigates and shrewdly analyzes the often brutal history of the state of Texas. Using fascinating details of her own family history, Goudeau begins in Colonial times. Her thoughtful and sometimes sympathetic research will deepen the understanding of anyone interested in present-day Texas.

Paris ’44: The Shame and the Glory by Patrick Bishop| Read by Peter Noble
AudioFile Earphones Award
[Signal | 14.5 hrs.]

Peter Noble brings subtlety and nuance to this richly detailed account of the German occupation of Paris during WWII and its exuberant liberation by the Allies in August 1944. The narrative is filled with celebrity names—among them Picasso, Hemingway, and Salinger.

Character is the defining element, and Noble, with his measured, expressive delivery, builds a memorable portrait of a city in which both occupation and liberation became a test of character.

Challenger : A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham| Read by Jacques Roy
[Simon & Schuster Audio | 17 hrs.]

Jacques Roy adeptly treads the line between measured and conversational in this excellent performance of Higginbotham’s investigation of the 1986 Challenger catastrophe. Roy maintains the listener’s attention through detailed accounts of the science and engineering underlying the NASA space program while also bringing to life the people involved.

The hubris of NASA will remain with listeners, as will smaller moments like crew member Ron McNair playing his saxophone in space.

The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore by Evan Friss| Read by Jay Myers
[Penguin Audio | 10.25 hrs.]

Jay Myers narrates this fascinating audiobook about American bookstores with enthusiasm for its subject, neutrality toward its facts, and admiration for its stories. The wealth of topics discussed is astounding: early bookstores, past and present bibliophiles, particular bookstores’ scents, and more.

Whether he’s recounting anecdotes from Ben Franklin about early publishing, sharing the difficulties of today’s independent bookstores as they try to survive amid behemoths like Amazon, or illuminating the passions of authors like Ann Patchett, who own their own bookstores—listeners can count on Myers to maintain their engagement.