In Episode 81, audiobook narrator Julia Whelan goes behind the scenes of narrating audiobooks.

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Highlights

• How Julia started narrating audiobooks and a bit about her career path.
• How Julia got her breakout job narrating Gone Girl.
• How Julia typically gets hired to narrate an audiobook.
• How Julia decides which audiobooks she will and won't narrate.
• How many audiobooks Julia narrates a year.
• Authors whose books she would love to record.
• Types of books Julia generally won't narrate.
• How audiobook narration auditions look.
• How much authors are involved in the recording contract.
• Julia's favorite author to narrate for.
• Julia's process from when she gets hired to narrate a book through completion.
• How involved the author is in Julia's preparation process.
• How Julia feels about narrating books written by men (and why she mostly narrates books written by women).
• How Julia feels about narrating male voices, accents, and memoirs (and details about narrating Educated by Tara Westover).
• How the increase in celebrity narrators has impacted the audiobook narration industry.
• Julia's personal reading taste.

Julia's Book Recommendations [36:53]

Two OLD Books She Loves

• The Idea of You by Robinne Lee | Buy from Amazon [37:07]
• Dreyer's English by Benjamin Dreyer| Buy from Amazon [39:11]

Two NEW Books She Loves

• Dear Emmie Blue by Lia Louis | Buy from Amazon [41:36]
• Cloudmaker by Malcolm Brooks | Buy from Amazon [43:38]

One Book She DIDN'T LOVE

• Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte | Buy from Amazon [45:25]

One NEW RELEASE She's Excited About

• People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry (May 11, 2021) | Buy from Amazon [47:26]

Last 5 Star Book(s) Julia Read [48:56]

• Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid | Buy from Amazon [49:20]
• Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel | Buy from Amazon [49:20]

Other Books Mentioned

• My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan | Buy from Amazon [1:22]
• Me Before You by JoJo Moyes | Buy from Amazon [9:18]
• Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (My Review) | Buy from Amazon [15:52]
• The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (My Review) | Buy from Amazon [15:52]
• Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid | Buy from Amazon [16:06]
• The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab | Buy from Amazon [22:34]
• The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah | Buy from Amazon [24:50]
• Educated by Tara Westover (My Review) | Buy from Amazon [28:17]
• Painted Horses by Malcolm Brooks | Buy from Amazon [43:44]
• Beach Read by Emily Henry | Buy from Amazon [47:34]

Other Links

• Bloomsbury Books in Ashland, OR
• Podcast Ep. 56: Holly Root

About Julia

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Having narrated over 400 audiobooks in all genres, Whelan is, by industry standards, considered one of the top narrators recording today. She's repeatedly featured on Audiofile Magazine's annual Best-Of Lists. She was named Audible's Narrator of the Year in 2014 and is a Grammy-nominated audiobook director. She has acquired multiple Audies and SOVAS (Society of Voice Arts) Awards, including for the performance of her own novel, My Oxford Year. She has won dozens of Earphone Awards, The Audie Award for Best Female Narrator of 2019, and was presented with Audiofile Magazine's Lifetime Achievement Golden Voice Award in 2020. She attributes her distinctive style of narration to her ongoing passion for literature fueled by her decades of acting experience.