Books

Leitzel is remembered as the first true circus diva.

Books
Arts

Lillian Leitzel, The High-Flying 'Queen' Of The Circus

7:52pm June 29, 2013

by NPR Staff

In the golden age of the circus, aerialist Lillian Leitzel captivated crowds around the world with her effortless, high-flying stunts under the big top. Dean Jensen's new book, Queen of the Air, chronicles Leitzel's difficult but glamorous life, and the lives of her performing family.

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'Empire Falls' Author Richard Russo Gives E-Publishing A Try

3:44pm June 29, 2013

by NPR Staff

The author admits he was once weary of e-book publishing, but when he found himself writing a novella — too short for a book, too long for a magazine — he decided to test it out. He says he's happy with the experience, both economically and artistically.

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For the sweetest, smoothest strawberry jam, author Kevin West suggests staying as far away as possible from what he calls "Pamela Anderson fruit": the big strawberries found in regular supermarkets. He prefers picking small, red berries from farm stands,

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Arts

Preserving The Season's Fruits With A Canning Evangelist

3:44pm June 29, 2013

by Jessica Naudziunas

Kevin West, author and blogger, takes NPR's Lynn Neary to a farmers market to choose the summer's best produce for canning. "You take this experience ... and you put it in the jar. And six months from now we will re-experience that moment," West says.

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'Americanah' Author Explains 'Learning' To Be Black In The U.S.

3:02pm June 27, 2013

When the novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie moved from Nigeria to the United States for college, she was suddenly confronted with the idea of what it meant to be a person of color in America. Her new novel explores issues of race in contemporary America.

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In 'Sisterland,' Familial Fissures And A Pair Of Psychic Twins

5:34am June 27, 2013

by Sloane Crosley

Curtis Sittenfeld's Sisterland, about a pair of adult psychic twins in St. Louis, is more about sibling rivalry than the supernatural. Reviewer Sloane Crosley says Sittenfeld handles the psychic realm with a light and logical touch that keeps the book artfully within the bounds of believability.

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At a San Jose, Calif. library, a young reader browses a shelf of books featuring a variety of main characters: ducks, hens, white kids, black kids. Libraries help drive demand for children's books with nonwhite characters, but book publishers say there ar

Books
Arts

As Demographics Shift, Kids' Books Stay Stubbornly White

11:14am June 25, 2013

by Elizabeth Blair

Nearly a quarter of all public school kids are Latino, but only 3 percent of kids' books are by or about Latinos. There's a similar dearth of Native American, black and Asian characters. Why? One editor says librarians, with their high demand for multicultural books, don't drive best-seller lists.

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In his new memoir, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson describes his life in music — and how he mimicked beats at just 10 months old.

Questlove's Roots: A 'Meta' Memoir Of A Lifetime In Music

4:55pm June 24, 2013

Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, the co-founder of and drummer for the hip-hop band The Roots, has been a musician since he was a teen. In Mo' Meta Blues, he explains how his musician father groomed him for a life in show business from an early age.

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Louise Monaghan was previously a senior travel consultant. She's currently a full-time mother.

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Arts

A Mother Rescues Her Daughter From War-Torn Syria

6:51pm June 23, 2013

by NPR Staff

When her abusive ex-husband kidnapped their daughter and returned to Syria, Louise Monaghan went after them. The story of how she escaped with her life and her daughter is the subject of her new book, Stolen.

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Oliver Sacks, Exploring How Hallucinations Happen

2:28pm June 21, 2013

The famed neurologist talks to Fresh Air about how grief, trauma, brain injury, medications and neurological disorders can trigger hallucinations — and about his personal experimentation with hallucinogenic drugs in the 1960s.

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Sarah Dunant is also author of the novels The Birth of Venus and Sacred Hearts.

Books

'Blood & Beauty' Breathes New Life Into The Borgias

12:48pm June 21, 2013

by NPR Staff

In the 1500s, Italy was bursting with some of the most influential and vivid figures in history. In her latest book, Blood & Beauty: The Borgias, novelist Sarah Dunant explores the story of the powerful and notorious family.

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