NPR Bestsellers: Paperback Nonfiction, Week Of January 15, 2015
Elizabeth Kolbert discusses five mass extinctions and the coming of a sixth in The Sixth Extinction, which appears at No. 6.
Books
Skeptic Takes A Tour Of Self-Help's 'Promise Land'
Despite being the daughter of a child psychologist and self-help author, Jessica Lamb-Shapiro has spent her life recoiling from the self-help industry. She talks about how the industry helped her.
Boy Says He Didn't Go To Heaven; Publisher Says It Will Pull Book
The young man at the center of The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven, Alex Malarkey, said this week that the story behind the 2010 book was all made up.
History Goes To The Illustrators: 'A Contrarian History Of The United States'
Lalo Alcaraz and Ilan Stavans' new book isn't just hilarious; it's also important. Like all good history books, it makes a point to say something important about the present and the future.
The Consolations (And Controversies) Of Philosophy In 'The Just City'
In Jo Walton's new novel, the goddess Athene assembles a history-spanning group of thinkers and sets them to creating Plato's famed Just City — but then she makes the mistake of inviting Socrates.
'Binary Star' Is A Hard, Harrowing Look Into Inner Space
Sarah Gerard's new novel follows a young woman suffering from an eating disorder, and her alcoholic boyfriend. Reviewer Jason Heller says the book balances real-world issues and emotional punch.
Why OCD Is 'Miserable': A Science Reporter's Obsession With Contracting HIV
David Adam has had obsessive-compulsive disorder for 20 years. In The Man Who Couldn't Stop, he chronicles his experiences — and how medical understanding and treatment of OCD have changed over time.
The Daily Texture Of Life Becomes Art In 'The First Bad Man'
Miranda July's new novel The First Bad Man defies neat summaries; reviewer Annalisa Quinn calls July "a master of the intimate weirdnesses of human thought," who treats dusty mental corners with care.
Fact And Fiction Blur In Frustratingly Opaque 'Swarm'
Fantasy master Michael Moorcock makes himself a character in his new novel The Whispering Swarm, but reviewer Tasha Robinson says the story doesn't fully satisfy either as biography or fantasy.
Perry Wallace, Who Broke Basketball Barriers, Didn't Set Out To Be A Pioneer
Strong Inside tells the story of the first black player in college basketball's Southeastern Conference. Wallace says the hard work of integration is "a gritty, dirty, ugly business."