Book News & Features

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Questions For David Levithan, Author Of 'Hold Me Closer'

2:21pm April 03, 2015

by Petra Mayer

Tiny Cooper, the breakout star of the 2010 novel Will Grayson, Will Grayson, steps center stage in its companion novel — a fully realized version of an epic musical Tiny's written about his own life.

Margaret Howe Freydburg — seen here at 104 — was still writing and publishing well past her 100th birthday.

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Centenarian Poet Was A Fearless Guide To 'The Country Of Old Age'

8:00pm April 01, 2015

by NPR Staff

Poet and author Margaret Howe Freydburg died last week at 107; she wrote and published well past her 100th birthday. Her friend Nancy Slonim Aronie has an appreciation of a remarkable woman.

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Noomi Rapace stars as heroine Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish film adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

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From 'Dragon Tattoo' To The 'Spider's Web': Stieg Larsson's Heroine Returns

7:12am April 01, 2015

by Colin Dwyer

The late novelist's Millennium series is getting an addition, The Girl in the Spider's Web. The book, written by David Lagercrantz, just got its title and a U.S. release date: Sept. 1.

Actor Mark Rylance, seen here as Thomas Cromwell in Masterpiece's Wolf Hall, views Cromwell as a survivor who knows how to manipulate power to his advantage. "He has the mind of a chess player," Rylance says.

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'Wolf Hall' On Stage And TV Means More Makeovers For Henry VIII's 'Pit Bull'

8:39pm March 31, 2015

by Lynn Neary

Hilary Mantel's popular novels breathed new life into Thomas Cromwell's legacy. Now, between a play and a miniseries, there seems to be no limit to the blacksmith's son's potential for reinvention.

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In Carrie The Musical, now being revived at a California theater, Carrie gets a jarringly Disneyesque song before her fateful prom.

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Pour A Bucket Of Blood On These New Adaptations Of 'Carrie'

6:03am March 28, 2015

by Beth Accomando

Stephen King has said his novel Carrie is about women's power and men's fear — an idea reporter Beth Accomando says has gotten lost in newer adaptations of the horror classic for stage and screen.

Writers lowered the boom on the broom — metaphorically, of course.

Books

App That Aims To Make Books 'Squeaky Clean' Draws Ire From Edited Writers

5:45pm March 27, 2015

by Colin Dwyer

Clean Reader — an app designed to find, block and replace profanity in books — has drawn considerable criticism from authors. This week, makers of the app announced they would no longer sell e-books.

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'Hausfrau' Strips Down Its Modern-Day Madame Bovary

8:12pm March 23, 2015

by Lynn Neary

Debut novelist Jill Alexander Essbaum's heroine is a deeply unhappy married woman who seeks solace in sexual encounters. Essbaum says it's through those encounters that "we see where she's busted."

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400 Years Later, Spain May Have Found 'Don Quixote' Author's Grave

10:56am March 21, 2015

Archaeologists in Madrid may have discovered the long-lost remains of Miguel de Cervantes. NPR's Scott Simon asks whether or not the bones are his, and if they'll attract tourists to the site.

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The Beloved, Bickering Bridgertons Turn 15 This Year

7:03am March 21, 2015

by Bobbi Dumas

As part of our Time Machine series coverage, NPR romance guru Bobbi Dumas introduces readers to the rosy-hued Regency of Julia Quinn's Bridgerton family books, some of the most popular romances ever.

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There's No Wrong Place To Start Reading Pratchett

4:15pm March 16, 2015

by Tasha Robinson

Terry Pratchett wrote so many books that it can be hard to know where to begin, especially with the lengthy Discworld series. Critic Tasha Robinson says there's really no wrong place to dive in.