An Unlikely Pair Form A Wily Duo In 'Crooked Heart'
An orphan boy becomes friends with the scheming woman who takes him in in Lissa Evans' new novel, Crooked Heart. NPR's Scott Simon speaks with her about her WWII-era novel.
Books
'Fresh Air' Remembers 'Billy Bathgate' Author E. L. Doctorow
Doctorow, who died Tuesday at the age of 84, was the author of dozens of novels, many of which combined fictional characters and real people in a historical context. Originally broadcast in 1989.
Retracing Ralph Waldo Emerson's Steps In A Now 'Unchanged Eden'
A century and a half ago, the poet and philosopher headed to New York's Adirondack Mountains with some notable pals. Today, we follow his journey with a new crew, the help of a painting and a book.
NPR Bestsellers: Week Of July 23, 2015
The lists are compiled from weekly surveys of close to 500 independent bookstores nationwide.
NPR Bestsellers: Hardcover Fiction, Week Of July 23, 2015
Harper Lee's novel To Set a Watchman, is set two decades after her Pulitzer Prize–winning masterpiece, To Kill a Mockingbird. It debuts at No. 1.
NPR Bestsellers: Hardcover Nonfiction, Week Of July 23, 2015
Ta-nehisi Coates' new book Between The World And Me is written as an open letter to his teenage son. It debuts at No. 2.
NPR Bestsellers: Paperback Fiction, Week Of July 23, 2015
At No. 10, Jodi Picoult's Leaving Time tells the story of an abandoned teen's search for answers about her disappeared parents.
NPR Bestsellers: Paperback Nonfiction, Week Of July 23, 2015
At No. 9, You Are A Bad Ass is an irreverent guide to achieving happiness by eliminating self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviors.
Infidelity Is Steeped In Suspense In 'Among The Ten Thousand Things'
Julia Pierpont's debut novel opens with a young girl's discovery of her father's infidelity. Maureen Corrigan says that what follows is so unexpected and tense that it's a "fresh pleasure to read."
Shirley Jackson Gets To The Heart Of The Home In 'Let Me Tell You'
This collection of the author's early fiction, unpublished stories and personal essays is a delightfully uneasy mix of wry family observation and the chills her eerie later work is known for.