Books

Journalist Discusses The Rise Of ISIS And Its Future In Syria And Iraq

1:41pm September 30, 2015

Joby Warrick, author of Black Flags, traces the Islamic State's development from an al-Qaida-related insurgency in Iraq to a successful jihadist movement that now holds territory in Syria and Iraq.

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Cover detail from Stories from the Shadows, by James O'Connell.

House Calls To The Homeless: A Doctor Treats Boston's Most Isolated Patients

11:39am September 30, 2015

James O'Connell refers to himself as a "street doctor." Since 1985, he has cared for homeless patients, sometimes making visits on park benches or in alleys. His memoir is Stories from the Shadows.

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Arts

'Zeroes' Is A Superhero Story — About Teenage Losers

10:03am September 30, 2015

by Tasha Robinson

In this new collaborative YA novel, three authors — Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan and Deborah Biancotti — each take charge of two characters, teenagers with offbeat and troublesome superpowers.

Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins.

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Arts

'Gold Fame Citrus' Holds Fear In A Handful Of Dust

8:55am September 30, 2015

by Jason Sheehan

Claire Vaye Watkins' first novel is a frighteningly believable near-future dystopia; drought has ruined the West, and two holdouts among the wreckage find their lives changed by a strange child.

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Arts

'Last Song' Is A Beautifully Orchestrated Fantasy Debut

1:54pm September 29, 2015

by Jason Heller

Ilana C. Myer creates a lush, shadowed fantasy world in Last Song Before Night, with a sprawling cast and an epic quest to restore the long-lost magic once summoned by music.

Memories Of A Maybe Angel In 'Don't Suck, Don't Die'

9:26am September 29, 2015

by Michael Schaub

Musicians Kristin Hersh and Vic Chesnutt were friends and tour buddies for years before his death from an overdose in 2009; Don't Suck is Hersh's haunting memoir of her lost friend and his pain.

As life draws to an end, compassion is more important than food.

A Nurse Reflects On The Privilege Of Caring For Dying Patients

3:47pm September 28, 2015

Palliative care nurse Theresa Brown provides in-home, end-of-life care to patients. "It's incredible the love that people evoke" at the end of their lives, she says. Brown's new book is The Shift.

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'Baru Cormorant' Will Catch You Unawares

10:56am September 28, 2015

by Amal El-Mohtar

Seth Dickinson's fantasy debut lays out pages of loans, taxes and commodity trading for his imagined empires — which turns out to be a riveting backdrop for a brutal tale of loyalty and rebellion.

Astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) gets stranded on Mars in The Martian.

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Sandstorms, Explosions, Potatoes, Oh My: 'Martian' Takes Its Science Seriously

5:00pm September 27, 2015

by NPR Staff

Programmer Andy Weir had always longed to read science fiction with a greater focus on science. So, he wrote a novel of his own — which has since become a best-seller and, now, a blockbuster film.

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After Escaping North Korea, Freedom Is 'Seriously, Deadly Hard'

9:13am September 27, 2015

by Rachel Martin

Yeonmi Park escaped from North Korea at age 13 only to find that freedom was more elusive than she'd imagined. NPR's Rachel Martin talks with Park about her new book, In Order to Live.

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