What a way to end the year 🥳
I’m delighted to share that Chained Birds has been named Best Crimemoir of 2025 by AudioBookReviewer!
Honestly, I’d forgotten I had even entered into the awards program, so when I received the news, it felt like an unexpected gift to cap off this incredible year. And fun fact: my book was under its old title (and cover) when it was up for award consideration, so serendipity has struck by having my relaunched Chained Birds: A Crimemoir win in AudioBookReviewer’s Crimemoir category (a subset of its memoir selections).
This recognition means so much to me—not just as validation for the book, but because it honors the story itself and the voices that need to be heard. Chained Birds is more than my personal journey; it’s a window into the American prison system and the lives caught within it. Knowing that both the story and my narration have resonated with listeners makes all those hours in the recording booth worthwhile.
AudioBookReviewer praised the audiobook’s “rich and authentic dialogue,” noting how the narration allowed listeners to become “fully immersed in the narrative.” They highlighted how the “smooth flow, deliberate pauses, and sighs effectively conveyed the emotions felt by each character” and described the overall presentation as “captivating.”
(To read AudiobookReviewer’s full review, see this blog post I wrote in August.)
If you haven’t yet experienced Chained Birds in audio format, I hope you’ll give it a listen. There’s something uniquely powerful about hearing this story in the voice of the person who lived it.
You can explore all of this year’s AudioBookReviewer Award winners here—there are some incredible audiobooks being celebrated! Congratulations to everyone on the list 👏👏👏
And thank you to everyone who has supported Chained Birds and continues to spread the word. Here’s to ending 2025 on a high note! 🎉📚
Carla Conti is a former journalist and the award-winning author of Chained Birds: A Crimemoir. Her true crime debut won multiple 2025 national book awards, including 1st Place in True Crime from the Next Generation Indie Book Awards, Winner in True Crime from the Indie Reader Discovery Awards, Silver in True Crime from the Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY), Finalist in True Crime from the National Indie Excellence Awards, and a 1st Place Nellie Bly Journalism award from the Chanticleer International Book Awards. Carla is at work on her next true crime book, The Jacklighter, scheduled for release in 2026. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, who supports her true crime habit.
