NPR's Book of the Day
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NPR's Book of the Day
In need of a good read? Or just want to keep up with the books everyone's talking about? NPR's Book of the Day gives you today's very best writing in a snackable, skimmable, pocket-sized podcast. Whether you're looking to engage with the big questions of our times – or temporarily escape from them –...
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Susan Choi’s 'Flashlight' is about an alternate-universe version of her own family
As 2025 comes to a close, we're revisiting interviews with this year's nominees and winners of some of the biggest prizes in literature. Last up: A 10...
'Feeding Ghosts' is a graphic memoir grappling with generational trauma
As 2025 comes to a close, we're revisiting interviews with this year's nominees and winners of some of the biggest prizes in literature. Tessa Hulls’...
In ‘A Guardian and a Thief,’ a mother’s love for her family threatens her own morals
As 2025 comes to a close, we're revisiting interviews with this year's nominees and winners of some of the biggest prizes in literature. Megha Majumda...
A new novel from Karen Russell is a sprawling story set during the Dust Bowl
As 2025 comes to a close, we're revisiting interviews with this year's nominees and winners of some of the biggest prizes in literature. Karen Russell...
In Rabih Alameddine’s new novel, a mother and son share a tiny Beirut apartment
As 2025 comes to a close, we're revisiting interviews with this year's nominees and winners of some of the biggest prizes in literature. First up: Raj...
Dorie Greenspan and Paul Hollywood discuss their new and nourishing cake cookbooks
If you’re feeling burnt out from your annual holiday cookie-baking marathon, don’t fear. There’s hope on the other side… in the form of cake. In today...
'Unabridged' explores the history of the dictionary – and why it’s in trouble now
Dictionaries were once bestsellers, but between the internet and artificial intelligence, its role in our culture has changed. Stefan Fatsis is out wi...
'Hiddensee' is a 'Nutcracker'-inspired novel from the author of 'Wicked'
In 2017, Wicked author Gregory Maguire set out to tell the backstory of another classic fairytale. His novel Hiddensee focuses on Herr Drosselmeyer, t...
Jeff Kinney on his iconic, now 20-book 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' series
Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid series has sold more than 300 million books since the first installment was published in 2007. The star of the seri...
Mahmood Mamdani’s 'Slow Poison' centers politics of belonging in postcolonial Uganda
Mahmood Mamdani — a professor of government at Columbia University and the father of Zohran Mamdani, NYC’s next mayor — has spent decades researching...
Revisiting ‘Waiting to Exhale’
As the film adaptation of Waiting to Exhale celebrates its 30th anniversary, B.A. Parker and Andrew Limbong, along with It’s Been a Minute host, Britt...
Paul McCartney on his band 'Wings,' plus the story of indie label Bloodshot Records
Two new memoirs zoom in on important moments in music history. First, Paul McCartney’s new book Wings reflects on the life of his post-Beatles band, w...
In this novel, the residents of a Brussels apartment building brace for Nazi invasion
33 Place Brugmann opens with a list of the residents of a Brussels apartment building. The year is 1939 and Germany’s invasion of Belgium is on the ho...
William Boyd’s 'The Predicament' is a spy thriller with a conspiratorial edge
In William Boyd’s newest novel The Predicament, lead character and travel writer Gabriel Dax becomes a secret spy, scouring the globe on British order...
Rep. Jim Clyburn’s new book 'The First Eight' traces the history of his predecessors
Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn has spent more than three decades in Congress. But he’s not the first Black congressman to represent South Carolina; there...
'The Heir Apparent' asks existential questions about Britain and its beloved crown
Becoming the queen of England wasn’t in the plan for Lexi Villiers, the heroine of The Heir Apparent. But when tragedy strikes Lexi’s family and she d...
Revisiting ‘Kitchen Confidential’
Anthony Bourdain published his memoir Kitchen Confidential in 2000 as a little-known chef. In the 25 years since its publication, his writing – and su...
‘How a Game Lives,’ ‘How to Save the Internet’ show the best and worst of life online
Two new books delve into the best and worst corners of the internet. First, Jacob Geller creates YouTube essays about art, literature, film, video gam...
A new book of poems by Kate Baer wrestles with the realities of middle age
NPR’s Scott Detrow and poet Kate Baer share a favorite bookstore in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. They recently met there to discuss Baer’s new poetry col...
In 'The Unveiling,' a disastrous cruise becomes an opportunity for cultural reckoning
Even if you’re scared of cruise ships, don’t turn away from Quan Barry’s The Unveiling. When film scout and photographer Striker boards an Antarctic c...
Deborah Willis on her seminal history of Black photography, reissued 25 years later
Deborah Willis is one of the foremost authorities on Black photography. The MacArthur “genius award” winner has dedicated her career to cataloging and...
In ‘Best Offer Wins,’ an ambitious millennial is driven mad by the homebuying process
Marisa Kashino used to report on the real estate industry in Washington, D.C. That experience inspired her debut novel, Best Offer Wins, which follows...
Revisiting Frank Herbert’s ‘Dune’
Frank Herbert’s 1965 epic Dune was once the domain of sci-fi diehards. But in recent years, the book has crossed over into the mainstream. In today’s...
In new novels, marriages are tested by a last request and a moment in the spotlight
In two new novels, marriages are tested by unusual circumstances. First, in Ann Packer’s Some Bright Nowhere, a woman dying of cancer makes a big ask...
Abby Phillip’s 'A Dream Deferred' chronicles Jesse Jackson’s rise to political esteem
Rev. Jesse Jackson is well-known as an icon of the American Civil Rights Movement, a protégé of Martin Luther King Jr., and a steadfast activist — but...
'The Devil Is a Southpaw' is a story within a story — or so its narrator says
Are all unreliable narrators self-aware? The answer might depend on the novel, but in Brandon Hobson’s The Devil Is a Southpaw, our primary narrator,...
John Fetterman on his new memoir, his mental health, and disagreements with his party
When Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) won Pennsylvania’s Senate seat in 2022, Democrats saw him as a symbol of a new direction during the Trump era. Three...
A new book looks to the writings of Renaissance-era nuns for advice on life today
Modern life can make it tempting to return to simpler times, like a 16th-century Spanish convent. In the new book Convent Wisdom, academics Ana Garrig...
Revisiting ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’
Janie Crawford – back in her hometown of Eatonville, Florida – recounts a journey of self-discovery, structured around three marriages. Their Eyes Wer...
A Claire McCardell biography and an AI sci-fi are among NPR’s top book picks of 2025
NPR’s annual Books We Love guide is back for its 13th year, sharing over 380 hand-selected reads by NPR staff and critics. In today’s post-Thanksgivin...
'My Cambodia: A Khmer Cookbook' is Nite Yun’s love letter to food and family
Some cookbooks don’t just provide recipes; they tell stories—and Nite Yun’s My Cambodia: A Khmer Cookbook is a perfect example. Yun discovered the ric...
'We Were Liars' author returns for more teenage catharsis in 'We Fell Apart'
E. Lockhart understands the struggle of being a teenager. Her first novel We Were Liars was a standout YA hit of 2014, celebrated (and at times, criti...
Comic journalist Joe Sacco on his portrait of deadly riots in Uttar Pradesh, India
In 2013, two young Hindu cousins killed a Muslim man in a rural part of Uttar Pradesh, India. What followed was a series of alternating violence in th...
Justinian Huang’s new novel follows a Taiwanese-American family intent on a male heir
Justinian Huang’s new novel Lucky Seed is about a single, gay son pressured by his Taiwanese-American family to produce a male heir. In an interview w...
Revisiting ‘Gone Girl’
Amy and Nick Dunn have the perfect life and are the perfect couple until they reach a breaking point, revealing their true selves. The book that spawn...
'The Ten Year Affair,' 'Sex of the Midwest' look at the role of sex in domestic life
Two new books examine how sex fits into suburban and small-town life, respectively. First, Erin Somers explores marriage and desire in her novel The T...
'Fire in Every Direction' is a personal work by Palestinian scholar Tareq Baconi
Tareq Baconi is a Palestinian scholar best known for Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance. But in his new memoir Fire...
Kathy Iandoli on Gucci Mane’s memoir and becoming the go-to writer for rappers
Gucci Mane’s new memoir Episodes covers a range of difficult topics: depression, mania, anxiety, drug abuse. There are even pages of the book that are...
'Bog Queen' cherishes Earth’s mossy wetlands and the bodies they preserve
You may have heard of a bog — those wet, mucky environments found mostly in the northern temperate pockets of Canada or Europe — but did you know that...
Margaret Atwood on what finally made her agree to write a memoir
Best-selling author Margaret Atwood says she originally rejected the idea of writing a memoir. But she warmed up to the idea after she began to think...