Books

Colleen McCullough at home on Australia's remote Norfolk Island in 1990 — she told an interviewer she moved there to escape her difficult family.

Books
Arts

Remembering 'Thorn Birds' Author Colleen McCullough

1:20pm January 31, 2015

by Lynn Neary

Australian writer Colleen McCullough has died at 77; she was best known for her doomed Outback romance saga The Thorn Birds, famously adapted for TV with Richard Chamberlain as a passionate priest.

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Arts

A Mismatched Crew Dreams Of Swashbuckling In 'We Are Pirates'

1:20pm January 31, 2015

Acclaimed writer Daniel Handler, a.k.a. Lemony Snickett, drew criticism last year for a racist comment at a literary event. NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Handler about his new novel, We Are Pirates.

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Arts

Rod McKuen, The Cheeseburger To Poetry's Haute Cuisine

1:14pm January 31, 2015

by Scott Simon

Poet Rod McKuen was loved by millions but mocked by literary critics. He died this week at age 81.

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Why A Black Man's Murder Often Goes Unpunished In Los Angeles

7:51pm January 30, 2015

by NPR Staff

From witnesses to reluctant gang members, Jill Leovy says, "everybody's terrified." Her book, Ghettoside, uses the story of one murder to explore the city's low arrest rate when black men are killed.

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Books

NPR Bestsellers: Week Of January 29, 2015

4:03pm January 30, 2015

The lists are compiled from weekly surveys of close to 500 independent bookstores nationwide.

Books

NPR Bestsellers: Hardcover Fiction, Week Of January 29, 2015

4:03pm January 30, 2015

In Lily King's Euphoria, three young anthropologists in 1930s New Guinea are caught in a love triangle. It debuts at No. 13.

Books

NPR Bestsellers: Hardcover Nonfiction, Week Of January 29, 2015

4:03pm January 30, 2015

Debuting at No. 14, Diane Muldrow's Everything I Need to Know About Love I Learned From a Little Golden Book offers insights on the world of romance.

Books

NPR Bestsellers: Paperback Fiction, Week Of January 29, 2015

4:03pm January 30, 2015

At No. 15, Chris Pavone's The Accident follows literary agent Isabel Reed as she races through a mysterious manuscript while the CIA simultaneously tries to bury the story.

Books

NPR Bestsellers: Paperback Nonfiction, Week Of January 29, 2015

4:03pm January 30, 2015

In How to Love, Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh instructs on the essentials of mindfulness practice and understanding the many different kinds of love. It appears at No. 14.

Books

Are We Having Fun Yet? New Book Explores The Paradox Of Parenting

2:29pm January 30, 2015

Kids can be magical and maddening. The title of Jennifer Senior's book — All Joy and No Fun — contrasts the strains of day-to-day parenting with the transcendent experience of raising a child.

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