Books

Books
Arts

Author Hopes Holocaust-Themed Picture Book Will Prompt Conversations

6:27pm May 02, 2015

by NPR Staff

Jane Yolen's latest is a children's book about a family trying to survive the Holocaust in France. "I consider Stone Angel a kind of starting place for parents to talk to their kids," she says.

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A September 1995 photo shows Ruth Rendell, in London. The prolific crime writer died Saturday at the age of 85.

Novelist Ruth Rendell, Author Of 'Wexford' Books, Dies At 85

2:05pm May 02, 2015

by Scott Neuman

She is credited with being a pioneer of the psychological thriller and wrote more than 60 books.

A Veteran Scientist Dreams Boldly Of 'Earth And Sky'

10:26am May 02, 2015

by NPR Staff

Famous — and occasionally controversial — physicist Freeman Dyson's new essay collection ranges from scientific history to today's hot-button issues like climate change and genetic engineering.

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'Outsider Baseball': Tells Tales Of Obscure Baseball Characters

10:26am May 02, 2015

Gary Cieradkowski's new book is an illustrated compendium of baseball's forgotten characters. He talks to NPR's Scott Simon about The League of Outsider Baseball.

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It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel like reading a book.

Books
Arts

Does Post-Apocalyptic Literature Have A (Non-Dystopian) Future?

7:03am May 02, 2015

by Jason Heller

Store shelves and libraries are packed with post-apocalyptic, dystopian novels right now. Critic Jason Heller has some suggestions to help you wade through the floods. And the fires. And the fallout.

Books
Arts

Understanding The Dark Side Of Enlightenment On 'Diamond Mountain'

4:08pm May 01, 2015

by NPR Staff

Author Scott Carney's new A Death on Diamond Mountain unravels the complicated paths that led an American Buddhist seeker not to nirvana, but to his death in a cave in the Arizona desert.

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Arts

Searching For Buried Treasure In China, A Writer Discovers Himself

4:06pm May 01, 2015

by NPR Staff

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Huan Hsu's great-great-grandfather buried his vast porcelain collection to protect it. Hsu went to find it 70 years later, on a trip about more than missing china.

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Books
Arts

Scott Simon: 'We Don't Fully Grow Up' Until We Lose Our Parents

4:05pm May 01, 2015

by NPR Staff

"There are some lessons that only grief and responsibility can teach us," says Weekend Edition host Scott Simon. His new memoir, Unforgettable, is about the life and death of his mother.

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Books

NPR Bestsellers: Week Of April 30, 2015

4:03pm May 01, 2015

The lists are compiled from weekly surveys of close to 500 independent bookstores nationwide.

Books

NPR Bestsellers: Hardcover Nonfiction, Week Of April 30, 2015

4:03pm May 01, 2015

Jon Krakauer's Missoula chronicles a series of sexual assaults in a Montana college town. It debuts at No. 5.