Book News & Features

Kate DiCamillo's career as an author of children's literature took off after she moved from Florida to Minnesota.

Books
Arts

Kate DiCamillo, Chronicler Of The Hard Truths Of Youth

4:45pm November 26, 2018

by Euan Kerr

She's hugely popular and comes across as something of a smart aleck, but the children's author says she retains the timidity of her youth. She says that helps her connect to her young readers.

Queue Listen Now

The Aspen Words literary prize is given to works of fiction that address contemporary issues.

Books
Arts

Exclusive: 'Friday Black,' 'There There' And More Longlisted For Aspen Words Prize

11:00am November 19, 2018

by Petra Mayer

Other titles include Ling Ma's Severance and Elaine Castillo's America is Not the Heart. This is the second year for the prize, which focuses on fiction that addresses contemporary issues.

Books
Arts

Sigrid Nunez, Elizabeth Acevedo Among 2018 National Book Award Winners

10:28pm November 14, 2018

by Colin Dwyer

Nunez and Acevedo won for fiction and young people's literature, respectively. The prestigious literary prize also honored Jeffrey C. Stewart, Justin Phillip Reed, Yoko Tawada and Margaret Mitsutani.

Stan Lee, American comic book writer, editor, publisher and former President of Marvel Comics, attends the premiere of Doctor Strange in 2016. Lee died Monday at the age of 95.

Books
Arts

A True Believer Remembers Stan Lee

6:25pm November 12, 2018

by Glen Weldon

Stan Lee — born Stanley Martin Lieber — co-created many beloved Marvel Comics characters, but he became the company's tireless, beloved figurehead. NPR's Glen Weldon offers a remembrance.

Lee at Comic-Con in San Diego on July 19, 2013.

A Marvel Of A Man: Stan Lee Dead At 95

4:27pm November 12, 2018

by Beth Accomando

Lee gave us over six decades' worth of superheroes we could identify with, characters like Spider-Man and The Incredible Hulk, who reacted to superpowered crises in believably flawed, human ways.

Queue Listen Now

NPR host Audie Cornish interviews former first lady Michelle Obama about her memoir Becoming in Chicago, Ill., Nov. 2.

EXCLUSIVE: Michelle Obama Reads From Her Forthcoming Memoir 'Becoming'

10:09am November 12, 2018

by Meghan Collins Sullivan

In two audio clips from her memoir, set to hit shelves Tuesday, the former first lady reads about her life at Princeton and about her difficulties having a baby.

Haruki Murakami, appearing at Waseda University in Tokyo on Nov. 4, 2018. The author was there to announce that he will donate his archives to the school, his alma mater.

Author Haruki Murakami Will Donate A Record Collection 'Beyond The Bounds Of Sanity'

3:14pm November 08, 2018

by Andrew Flanagan

Music is as intrinsic to the soul and spirit of Murakami's books as it is to the author's own.

In the jacket art for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry faces off against Voldemort. It's among the items on display in a new exhibit at the New-York Historical Society.

Books
Arts

Inside The Ever-Expanding Wizarding World: Harry Potter At 20

8:17am October 28, 2018

by Barrie Hardymon

It's hard to remember a world before Harry Potter. But it's been 20 years since readers in the U.S. were first introduced to the boy wizard, whose story has captivated audiences since.

The 2018 Kirkus Prize winners (from left to right): Severance, by Ling Ma; Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut, by Derrick Barnes and Gordon C. James; Call Them by Their True Names, by Rebecca Solnit.

Books
Arts

Here Are The Winners Of The 2018 Kirkus Prizes

7:06pm October 25, 2018

by Colin Dwyer

Ling Ma's debut, Severance, won for fiction. Crown earned Derrick Barnes and Gordon James the young readers' prize. And Rebecca Solnit's essays, Call Them by Their True Names, won nonfiction laurels.

Books
Arts

'Ruth Bader Ginsburg' Reminds Us Why The Justice Is A True Legal Icon

12:29pm October 18, 2018

by Michelle Olsen

Jane Sherron De Hart's biography sheds light on personal and professional challenges Ginsburg faced on the way to the top and puts the Supreme Court justice's life in context.