Books

Notes from the Burning Age, by Claire North

Books
Arts

In 'Notes From The Burning Age,' We're The Ones On Fire

5:00am July 21, 2021

by Jason Sheehan

Claire North's new Notes from the Burning Age is set far in the future — but the titular burning age is our own, an age of waste and exploitation from which only fragments of knowledge remain.

Landslide: The Final Days of the Trump Presidency, Michael Wolff

Michael Wolff's Third Strike At Trump White House Has Hits And Misses

4:40pm July 20, 2021

by Ron Elving

The author has gifts as a writer: a novelistic eye for scene and detail, an ear for dramatic dialogue. His story keeps moving, free of constraints common to courtroom lawyers or newspaper reporters.

Until Proven Safe: The History and Future of Quarantine, by Geoff Manaugh and Nicola Twilley

Echoes Across Centuries Are Reminders That The Next Quarantine Is A Matter Of When

8:31am July 20, 2021

by Annalisa Quinn

There's something that feels impossible about leaving behind the place in which we slunk our way through the last year plus. Until Proven Safe takes us to the places others lingered through time.

Books

Kitamura Is Out With Another Novel That Transcends Languages And Borders

8:17am July 20, 2021

NPR's Noel King speaks to author Katie Kitamura about her new novel: Intimacies. It's about an interpreter who works at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

'I Alone Can Fix It' Chronicles Trump's Chaotic Final Year In Office

4:44pm July 19, 2021

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Washington Post journalists Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker about their new book, I Alone Can Fix It, which chronicles the final year of the Trump presidency.

Books
Arts

Memoirist Details Growing Up In A Utopian Community That Wasn't So Ideal

1:55pm July 19, 2021

by Terry Gross

Akash Kapur was raised in an intentional community in India, then moved to the U.S. at age 16. He writes about the reality of utopian communities in Better to Have Gone.

Queue Listen Now

Radha & Jai's Recipe for Romance, by Nisha Sharma

Books
Arts

'Radha And Jai' Is A Toe-Tapping Dance Romance Treat

5:00am July 19, 2021

by Alethea Kontis

Nisha Sharma's new YA novel follows two Indian American teenagers who overcome differing backgrounds to find love while prepping for an important dance competition — a perfect teen movie setup.

Books

A Sickness Spreads, A Parent Dies, And A Mystery Unfolds In 'For Your Own Good'

8:02am July 18, 2021

Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with author Samantha Downing about her latest novel, "For Your Own Good." It's a mystery set at an elite private school.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built, by Becky Chambers

Books
Arts

A Monk And A Robot Meet In A Forest ... And Talk Philosophy In This New Novel

5:00am July 18, 2021

by Amal El-Mohtar

Becky Chambers comes down to earth for her new series, about a world where humans and robots diverged so long ago that now each group is just a myth to the other, and robots propagate themselves.

Rachel Johnson Talks New Memoir Detailing 'Political Mid-life Crisis'

5:02pm July 17, 2021

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Rachel Johnson, sister of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, about her memoir, Rake's Progress: The Madcap True Tale of My Political Midlife Crisis.