Books

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'Last Stop On Market Street,' 'Finding Winnie,' Win U.S. Children's Book Prizes

7:44pm January 11, 2016

by Lynn Neary

Matt de la Pena's Last Stop on Market Street won the Newbery Medal for the best children's book of 2015. Finding Winnie, the story behind A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh, has won the Caldecott Medal for the top illustrated book.

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'Last Stop On Market Street' Wins Newbery Medal, 'Finding Winnie' Takes Caldecott

6:31pm January 11, 2016

by Petra Mayer

Matt de la Peña becomes the first Hispanic author to win the Newbery award for children's literature, while the Caldecott picture-book prize went to a book about the real-life Winnie the Pooh.

The Last Interview series features conversations with Ernest Hemingway, Nora Ephron and Philip K. Dick.

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Arts

Revisiting The 'Last Interview' Of Ernest Hemingway, Philip K. Dick And Nora Ephron

1:32pm January 11, 2016

by Maureen Corrigan

A series of books published by Melville House gathers together the final interviews conducted with prominent deceased writers and thinkers. Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews the latest in the series.

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How An 1871 Disaster Helped To End America's Whaling Dynasty

5:36am January 11, 2016

David Greene talks to Peter Nichols, author Oil and Ice, a book about a fleet of 33 whaling ships trapped in Arctic ice. Whalers and their families had to escape in tiny rowboats through miles of ice.

X-Ray Audio: The Strange Story of Soviet Music on the Bone explores a curious bootlegging practice that arose in Cold War Russia.

Bones And Grooves: The Weird Secret History Of Soviet X-Ray Music

9:29am January 10, 2016

by NPR Staff

In Cold War Russia, getting your hands on an American rock record was close to impossible. But a few bootleggers found a way to hide their contraband in the last place anyone would think to look.

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Books

'Game Of Thrones': When The TV Show Outpaces The Books

8:03am January 10, 2016

George R.R. Martin hasn't finished his latest book in time for the sixth TV season. NPR's Rachel Martin talks with Amy Sullivan and Spencer Kornhaber of the Atlantic's 'Game of Thrones' roundtable.

When 'One Breath' Tests Life: Author Explores Extreme Freediving

8:03am January 10, 2016

NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Adam Skolnick about his new book about the extreme sport of freediving. It's called One Breath, and it focuses on the death in 2013 of freediver Nick Mevoli.

'Manners And Mayhem': A Darker, Snarkier Side To Domesticity

8:03am January 10, 2016

NPR's Rachel Martin speaks with Helen Ellis, author of the book American Housewife. The book of short stories begins with the line - "Inspired by Beyonce, I stallion walk to the toaster."

Books
Arts

Memories Of A Long Life Return In 'Alive, Alive Oh!'

7:00am January 10, 2016

by Annalisa Quinn

British writer Diana Athill is 98 — by her own account, a very old woman. In this slim but lovely volume, she recounts the moments that have lingered: heartbreak, yes, but also hills of bluebells.

This painting of Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart shows him at the keyboard at the age of 9.

Books
Arts

'Geography Of Genius' Explores How Surroundings Influence Ideas

5:18am January 10, 2016

by NPR Staff

Author Eric Weiner identifies Renaissance Florence, Classical Athens and Silicon Valley as "genius clusters." And he explains how the right amount of friction and competition can help geniuses thrive.