NPR Books
Writing On The Sly, Nathaniel Rich's Secret Debut
It took over five years for Nathaniel Rich to finish his first novel — maybe because he was writing The Mayor's Tongue secretly, first as a college student, and then while writing film criticism during the day.
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Books Your Kid Might Give Up Video Games To Read
It's finally summer and for many kids that means swimming, video games and vacations. But a lot of parents hope their kids will to do some extra reading during the break. Host Michel Martin is joined by three moms in the literary world with summer book suggestions
Book News: VICE Draws Ire By Staging Female Author Suicides
The anonymous book sculptor of Edinburgh strikes again; the childhood drawings of E.E. Cummings; Jonathan Franzen on literary sexism.
The Funny (Touching, Fascinating) Pages: 5 Comics For Summer
When's the last time you read a comic book? Here are five for summer, covering everything from tiny Finnish critters to Viennese punk rockers and musings on Anna Wintour. Writer Myla Goldberg says they represent a golden age in comic art.
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Spy Reporter Works Her 'Sources' To Write A Thriller
Mary Louise Kelly used to cover national security for NPR, but lately she's turned her attention to fiction. Her new novel, Anonymous Sources, draws on Kelly's own reporting experiences, including things she couldn't say when she was a journalist.
Digital Scrapbook Collects Rock-Star Authors' Memories
If any story screams out for a multimedia e-book treatment, it's the tale of The Rock Bottom Remainders, a small band of best-selling authors — including Amy Tan, Dave Barry and Stephen King — who yowled out rock standards. Hard Listening is a digital scrapbook about their years as musicians.
A Deceptively Simple Tale Of Magic And Peril In 'Ocean'
Neil Gaiman's latest, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, is the story of an artist who returns to his childhood home and recalls a magical struggle he was involved in as a young boy. Reviewer Annalee Newitz says the book balances "frenetic action with wistful self-knowledge."
'Cows Save The Planet': Soil's Secrets For Saving The Earth
Journalist Judith Schwartz believes that the key to addressing carbon issues and climate change lies beneath our feet. In her book Cows Save The Planet, she argues that proper management of soil could solve a long list of environmental problems.
WWII 'Deserters': Stories Of Men Who Left The Front Lines
In his new book, journalist Charles Glass explores the little-known history of thousands of American and British soldiers who deserted during World War II. Glass describes how the strain of war can push a soldier to the breaking point — and how the line between courage and cowardice is never simple.
In 'TransAtlantic,' The Flight Is Almost Too Smooth
Colum McCann won the National Book Award for his 2009 novel, Let the Great World Spin, about a high-wire artist. Critic Maureen Corrigan says McCann's new novel, TransAtlantic, also has its head in the clouds.
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Book News: 'Tweet,' 'Geekery' Make The Oxford English Dictionary
Also: Judy Blume gets her own holiday; Michael Chabon considers the superhero costume; the best books coming out this week.
June 17-23: 1980s Edinburgh, 1590s Venice And A Study Of Dishonesty
In softcover fiction, Irvine Welsh gives us a prequel to Trainspotting, and Regina O'Melveny tells the story of a 16th-century Renaissance woman. In nonfiction, Dan Ariely discovers what keeps us dishonest.
In Neville's Thrillers, Belfast's Violent Past Still Burns
The capital of Northern Ireland is no longer the city of snipers that it was before the Good Friday Agreement, but novelist Stuart Neville still draws inspiration from the decades of violence. In The Ghosts of Belfast, he examines the shattered life of an IRA killer in the aftermath of The Troubles.
This Blumesday Celebrates Judy, Not Joyce
Loyal fans of young adult novelist Judy Blume have riffed on Bloomsday — a celebration of James Joyce's Ulysses — and created Blumesday to honor the author of Are You There God? It's Me Margaret, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and Blubber.
A Posthumous Tribute To Guns From A Sniper Shot To Death
Considered by many to be the most deadly sniper in American military history, Chris Kyle was killed on a Texas gun range in February. He was an outspoken advocate for both veterans and gun rights, and his book, American Gun, has just been published.
Dr. Brazelton On Guiding Parents And Learning To Listen
Dr. T. Berry Brazelton has been studying babies for the better part of the last century. Now 95 years old, the renowned pediatrician is the author of more than 30 books on child development. He talks about his latest book, and how babies themselves can teach us how to be better parents.
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Dr. Brazelton On Guiding Parents And Learning To Listen
Dr. T. Berry Brazelton has been studying babies for the better part of the last century. Now 95 years old, the renowned pediatrician is the author of more than 30 books on child development. He talks about his latest book, and how babies themselves can teach us how to be better parents.
Evelyn Waugh's 'Scoop': Journalism Is A Duplicitous Business
The fictional tale about war correspondents will make you laugh till the person next to you on the subway thinks you have problems. It is also, according to writer Alexander Nazaryan, an all-too-real parody of the glory days of print journalism.
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'Children' Of Iran's Activists Inherit Love, Loss And Longing
Sahar Delijani was born in an Iranian prison, where her parents were held as political activists. Her debut novel, Children of the Jacaranda Tree, is inspired by true stories of the post-revolutionary Iran she was born into and follows the rippling effects of oppression forward into the present.
Telling Stories About Ourselves In 'The Faraway Nearby'
"Stories are compasses and architecture," says author Rebecca Solnit. "We navigate by them, we build our sanctuaries and prisons out of them, and to be without a story is to be lost in the vastness of the world."
