Not that anyone needs an excuse to sink into the blissful pleasures of audio, but June is national audiobook month. Here are some particular delights to share with listeners.

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams; read by Shvorne Marks (Blackstone Audio).
A master class in accents and the importance of expressing a novel's tone, Marks demonstrates the synergy possible when the right reader is matched with the right book. Here, Marks narrates Carty-Williams's story on self and identity with great sympathy and even more verve.

Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow by Henry Louis Gates Jr.; read by Dominic Hoffman (Penguin Audio).
Gates's important book addresses the harrowing quest for equality after the Civil War. Hoffman's riveting performance—clear, perfectly pitched and paced—captures listeners in Gates's vital history, pulling them deep into the account.

Cemetery Road by Greg Iles; read by Scott Brick (HarperAudio).
Two names long respected in their fields, Illes and Brick make a mesmerizing duo. Illes provides a story of a small Southern town, murder, and corruption, while Brick's voice works its way firmly into the locale and delivers a punch.

The Other Americans by Laila Lalami; read by a full cast (Random Audio).
A novel full of voices deserves a reading by multiple voices, and this recording delivers. The arresting performance immerses listeners in Lalami's reverberating "of the moment novel"—a story of America, immigration, hit-and-run murder, and love.

Miracle Creek by Angie Kim; read by Jennifer Lim (Macmillan Audio).
In her debut novel, Kim offers a legal story with lots of threads to follow,  lies to unravel, and a depth of meaning that lifts it out of the courtroom and into contemporary American life. Lim reads with perfect pacing and a gripping, involving expressionism.