Books

There's Something About Sweetie, by Sandhya Menon

Books
Arts

'There's Something About Sweetie' — Something Irrepressibly Joyous

10:00am May 19, 2019

by Alethea Kontis

Sandhya Menon's followup to her hit young adult novel When Dimple Met Rishi follows a young woman with a big voice, a big personality — and to her family's dismay (though not her own), a big body.

Books

Grappling With Identity In 'Fieldnotes On Ordinary Love'

8:28am May 19, 2019

NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks with poet and video game designer Keith S. Wilson about his new collection of poetry, Fieldnotes On Ordinary Love, which explores space, race and physics.

Books
Arts

Buckle Up For This 'Million Mile Road Trip'

7:00am May 19, 2019

by Jason Sheehan

We're trying not to make the "long, strange trip" joke about Rudy Rucker's new novel, but it's about three teens in a beat-up purple wagon with a dark energy motor, traveling across dimensions, so ...

Mind and Matter: A Life in Math and Football, by John Urschel

From The Gridiron To Multigrid Algorithms In 'Mind And Matter'

5:45pm May 18, 2019

by Michel Martin

MIT mathematician and former Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman John Urschel has a new memoir out about how he combined his two very different talents into a successful and varied career.

The Candle and the Flame, by Nafiza Azad

Books
Arts

Language Has Magic In 'The Candle And The Flame'

10:00am May 18, 2019

by Caitlyn Paxson

Nafiza Azad creates a fantastical yet believable Silk Road city in her new young adult novel, building a world of humans and djinns, spices and sounds, woven through with Urdu, Arabic and Hindi.

Books

The Chateau Marmont's Place In Hollywood History

8:12am May 18, 2019

NPR's Scott Simon discusses the glamorous LA hotel Chateau Marmont with Shawn Levy, author of The Castle on Sunset.

Books

Short Stories In 'Orange World'

8:12am May 18, 2019

NPR's Scott Simon speaks with author and Pulitzer Prize finalist Karen Russell about her new, otherworldly, collection of short stories, Orange World.

Red, White & Royal Blue, by Casey McQuiston

Books
Arts

'Red, White & Royal Blue' Reigns As Must-Read Romance

7:00am May 18, 2019

by Kamrun Nesa

Casey McQuiston's tale of a British prince who falls for the son of the U.S. president (who's a woman, by the way) is a snappy, banter-packed rom-com that's also empowering and uplifting.

Novelist Herman Wouk, pictured here in 1955, wrote about a variety of subjects, including World War II, the publishing world and a fictional Caribbean island.

Books
Arts

Herman Wouk, 'The Jackie Robinson Of Jewish-American Fiction,' Dies At 103

5:15pm May 17, 2019

by Rose Friedman

Wouk was famous for writing The Winds of War, Marjorie Morningstar and The Caine Mutiny, which won a Pulitzer Prize. He also helped popularize themes that writers like Philip Roth later tackled.

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Books
Arts

Novelist Stephen McCauley Embraces Life On A 'Small, Everyday Scale'

1:24pm May 17, 2019

by Terry Gross

McCauley's novel, My Ex-Life, is a comedy about a couple whose marriage ended years ago when the husband came out as gay. "All relationships evolve," he says. Originally broadcast June 20, 2018.

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