Seven enthusiastic narrators join author Valerie Fridland in this entertaining and educational apologia for speaking like, um, a regular, you know, person. Fridland, a professor of linguistics, explores the role and often surprising history of language placeholders and other speech habits. With chapters on everything from "like" and "you know" and "they" as a singular pronoun (not as newfangled as many believe) to women's use of vocal fry, this is an audiobook for all kinds of language lovers. Fridland, who writes in an approachable yet scholarly style, is well served by Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Keylor Leigh, Andrew Eiden, Christopher Grant, Ellen Archer, Eileen Stevens, and Nicky Endres. They present with clarity and energy, helping to make the erudite material truly fun. I mean, ya know, bro?
Pub Date: April 18, 2023
Duration: 8 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9780593670828
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Kozol’s shocking exposé of inequities in the funding of our public schools contrasts white suburban schools with those serving black and Hispanic populations. Interviews with students, teachers, and school administrators add eloquent testimony to Kozol’s disturbing presentation of facts. Narration by Jack Winston is clear and brisk, but the pace is unrelenting, with little pause for transition between scenes or chapters. Winston’s cool, detached voice contrasts with Kozol’s impasssioned and outraged message. The sheer repetition and magnitude of Kozol’s damning evidence is numbing; the narration gives no relief. Powerful medicine, most easily taken in small doses. Music signalling tape changes is jarringly inappropriate.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 8 hrs
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
The road to online romance has victims on both sides of the ocean.
Nathan Luwa’s mastery of Nigerian accents lends authenticity to his narration and humanizes the four digital scammers profiled in this nonfiction exposé. Flush with wired money and gift cards, these youths (nicknamed Yahoo Boys) spend their nights trolling lonely Americans on the internet and their days living off hotel room service, buying Gucci for girlfriends and watered-down champagne for friends. They share backstories of extreme poverty and an inability to envision a future; Yahoo Boys don’t save or plan ahead, living from one romance scam to the next. The author has a personal stake in all this—his mother gave thousands of dollars to a Yahoo Boy posing as a U.S. soldier—and he spent months embedded among Yahoo Boys in Lagos.
The road to online romance has victims on both sides of the ocean.Pub Date: June 9, 2026
Duration: 9 hrs, 4 mins
DD ISBN: 9781250459060
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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