AudioFile awards Earphones to exceptional audio experiences—it’s our version of a starred review, specifically for the audiobook. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Laura Rossi discuss three recent Earphones Award-winning audiobooks and why they are well worth your listening time. Elmore Leonard’s classic, GET SHORTY, gets a fresh narration from actor Joe Mantegna, just in time for Leonard’s centennial celebration in October 2025. Brian Nishii gives an exceptional performance of Shigehiro Oishi’s LIFE IN THREE DIMENSIONS: How Curiosity, Exploration, and Experience Make a Fuller, Better Life. And Jason Culp will make you want to spend 44 hours with Mark Twain in Ron Chernow’s latest blockbuster biography.

Read our reviews of the audiobooks at our website: 

GET SHORTY Published by Harper Audio

LIFE IN THREE DIMENSIONS Published by Random House Audio

MARK TWAIN Published by Penguin Audio

Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website .  

Support for Behind the Mic comes from Hachette Audio and NIGHT WATCHER, by Daphne Woolsoncroft (of the Going West podcast), who read an audio-exclusive author's note before the stunning dual-narration by Will Collyer and Helen Laser.

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