Books

Eastwind Books, an anchor for the SF Bay Area's Asian community, shuts its doors

5:33pm May 01, 2023

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Harvey and Beatrice Dong about the closing of their Berkeley shop Eastwind Books and the decades they've spent promoting Asian-American authors.

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Deepa Varadarajan on the humor and humanity of rediscovery in 'Late Bloomers'

4:26pm May 01, 2023

NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer talks with author Deepa Varadarajan about her debut novel Late Bloomers.

How South Africa nearly descended into civil war instead of a multi-racial democracy

1:47pm May 01, 2023

by Dave Davies

Journalist Justice Malala explains how Nelson Mandela and F. W. de Klerk kept the country on a path to peace after the 1993 assassination of Chris Hani. His book is The Plot to Save South Africa.

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Books
Arts

In graphic memoir 'In Limbo,' a Korean American finds healing and humanity

10:54am May 01, 2023

by Malaka Gharib

Deb J.J. Lee's debut YA graphic memoir focuses on the author's struggles with mental health and their relationships with their family and friends during their childhood and teenage years.

Books

Claire Dederer on her book 'Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma'

7:57am April 30, 2023

by Ayesha Rascoe

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with critic Claire Dederer. She's expanded her 2017 essay "What Do We Do with the Art of Monstrous Men" in a new book about the perils - and joys - of fandom.

Toni Morrison remains the sole Black female recipient of a Nobel Prize in Literature. An exhibition at Princeton University, where Morrison was a professor, commemorates the 30th anniversary of her win. Morrison is pictured above in Paris in November 2010.

Arts
Books

Toni Morrison's diary entries, early drafts and letters are on display at Princeton

5:00am April 30, 2023

by Neda Ulaby

Toni Morrison remains the sole Black female recipient of a Nobel Prize in Literature. Princeton University, where Morrison was a professor, is commemorating the 30th anniversary of her win.

Rabbi Harold Kushner, seen here on July 10, 2008, had a way with words that resonated with readers across the world and across religions.

Rabbi Harold Kushner, author of 'When Bad Things Happen to Good People,' dies at 88

12:53pm April 29, 2023

by Juliana Kim

Kushner, whose words provided solace to millions of readers about life's most difficult questions, died on Friday while in hospice care in Canton, Mass.

Books

Author Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah on his new novel 'Chain-Gang All-Stars'

8:15am April 29, 2023

by Scott Simon

NPR's Scott Simon speaks with author Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah about his new novel, "Chain-Gang All-Stars."

Books

Max Porter on his new novel 'Shy'

7:58am April 29, 2023

by Scott Simon

NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Max Porter about his new novel, "Shy," about a teenager's attempt to escape a home for troubled boys and the inner turmoil he experiences along the way.

How Judy Blume's 'Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret' remains so timeless

4:22pm April 28, 2023

by Elizabeth Blair

Judy Blume's Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret centers around adolescent girls' angst about puberty. Blume's 50-year-old tragicomedy of that awkward, in between stage seems to be timeless.