Book News & Features

Books
Arts

Get Ready To Astro-Blast Off With 'The Last Kids On Earth'

1:21pm September 25, 2019

by Juanita Giles

This month, our kids' books columnist Juanita Giles is thinking about how hard it is to race through a series — as her son did with The Last Kids on Earth — and have to wait for the next book.

Audrey Hepburn appears as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady. In a letter to director George Cukor, she raved about the script.

Books
Arts

In Golden Age Hollywood, Film Stars Slid Into Each Others' Telegrams

5:03am September 25, 2019

by Susan Stamberg

The new book Letters from Hollywood offers a peek inside the inner workings of the film industry through 137 communiques from luminaries like Audrey Hepburn, Bette Davis and a very young Jane Fonda.

The Ties That Bind: Bruce Springsteen And The Wide Divide

6:00am September 23, 2019

by A.O. Scott

A Springsteen concert "created a civic space in which two antithetical sentiments could coexist and communicate with each other," writes A.O. Scott. The Boss turns 70 years old today.

Fifty books made the cut for the 2019 National Book Award longlists. Winners will be announced in November.

Books
Arts

Here Are The Nominees For The 2019 National Book Awards

1:58pm September 20, 2019

by Colin Dwyer

Colson Whitehead and Marlon James headline the longlists of names in contention for the literary prize. Altogether, 50 books across five categories stand a chance at winning in November.

Books

'She Said' Documents The Reporting Leading To Harvey Weinstein's Arrest

11:51am September 09, 2019

The new book, She Said, by two New York Times reporters, reveals the lengths to which Harvey Weinstein went to silence women who claimed sexual harassment, and how his allies looked the other way.

Queue Listen Now

Margaret Atwood says reader questions about the world of The Handmaid's Tale — and the world we live in now — inspired The Testaments.

Books
Arts

Hear Margaret Atwood Read From 'The Testaments,' Her Sequel To 'The Handmaid's Tale'

7:18am September 04, 2019

by Petra Mayer

In this recording, exclusive to NPR, Atwood returns to the world of The Handmaid's Tale, reading from her long-awaited sequel. Some 15 years after the first book, it introduces a few new voices.

Jenna Bush Hager promotes her August book club pick, Patsy, by Nicole Dennis-Benn.

Books
Arts

For Many Authors, Celebrity Book Clubs Are A Ticket To Success

5:02pm September 03, 2019

by Lynn Neary

Booksellers often talk about discoverability — the ability to help readers find books publishers want them to buy. And increasingly, celebrity book clubs are a way to get books into readers' hands.

Queue Listen Now

Clockwise from top left: Quichotte by Salman Rushdie; Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann; An Orchestra of Minorities by Chigozie Obioma; 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak; Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo; and The Testame

Books
Arts

Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie Headline 2019 Booker Prize Shortlist

4:11pm September 03, 2019

by Colin Dwyer

Atwood made the list for her sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, and Rushdie for his reimagining of Don Quixote. Chigozie Obioma, Elif Shafak, Lucy Ellmann and Bernardine Evaristo round out the finalists.

Books
Arts

These 5 Fire-Breathing Books Will Warm The Hearts Of Dragon Fans

10:30am August 30, 2019

by Jason Heller

Has the end of Game of Thrones and the long wait for the next Song of Ice and Fire book got you, uh ... dragon? We've rounded up some of this year's best scales-and-wings reads to help fill the void.

Books
Arts

On Making Friends With Raina Telgemeier

1:43pm August 26, 2019

by Juanita Giles

Our kids' books columnist Juanita Giles says the cartoonist Raina Telgemeier is almost like a personal friend to her own children, who fight over tattered copies of Telgemeier's graphic novels.