Booklist Editors' Choice: Media

In this trip back in time, a high-school teacher is shown a portal to 1958 and given the task of stopping the assassination of JFK. Wasson’s sympathetic voicing of King’s quirky, charming characters draws listeners into this carefully plotted tale filled with twists and turns.

Featuring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Martin Sheen, and other well-known actors, this audio presentation of a play based on the closing arguments of a California court case to overturn a same-sex marriage amendment is marked by stirring performances and thought-provoking subject matter.

In friendly, comfortable tones, Obama reads the bulk of this title, in which she talks about the White House “learning garden” and her motivation for creating the White House kitchen garden. The down-to-earth mood is enhanced with short segments read by the garden beekeeper and others.

Employing tones of bemusement leavened with wry detachment, Graham delivers both humor and angst in his reading of this compelling first novel, set at a small Wisconsin college

Plainchants and an isolated monastery frame this eighth Inspector Gamache mystery. Penny’s gorgeous prose sings, thanks to Cosham’s masterful, hypnotic reading in accents appropriate to the French Canadian setting.

Vance masterfully reads this impressive tale of war, loss, and redemption that begins with 15-year-old Jonas coming to the U.S. from an unnamed Muslim country following an attack that wiped out his village.

Rowling’s first foray into adult fiction, set in a picturesque British village where Barry Fairbrother’s unexpected death causes a casual vacancy on the village council, is read in various British dialects by Hollander, who does a bang-up job with all of the characters.

Amato’s husky, mesmerizing British-laced reading draws listeners into this heartfelt, richly detailed novel chronicling the life and influence of Jaquetta Woodville, mother and grandmother of English queens.

In gravelly tones, Graham channels legendary jazz trumpeter Davis, enriching this profane, humorous, and insightful memoir.

Prebble’s pitch-perfect British-accented reading authentically fits Hitchens’ recollections of his “year of living dyingly” as he watches his body surrender to cancer and shares his hard-won wisdom.