Books

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Travel the world without leaving your home with these 10 books

5:06am June 30, 2022

From Lahore's red-light district and the streets of Mexico to a fantastical underwater land of Korean fable, here are some picks that can immerse you in worlds wholly unlike your own.

Books
Arts

Here are the Books We Love: 160+ great 2022 reads recommended by NPR

5:00am June 30, 2022

Books We Love is back early this year; for 2022, we're launching the first-ever summer edition, complete with 160+ recommendations from NPR staff and trusted critics.

Mat Johnson is the Philip H. Knight Chair of Humanities at the University of Oregon. His previous books include Pym and Loving Day.

Books
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Real life or satire? Novelist Mat Johnson says it can be hard to tell the difference

5:38pm June 29, 2022

by Terry Gross

Set in the future, Johnson's new satirical novel, Invisible Things, takes place on one of Jupiter's many moons, where humans have created an artificial ecosystem designed to replicate life on Earth.

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Hadero's stories feature immigrants, refugees and others struggling to belong

6:23am June 29, 2022

NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with Meron Hadero about her new book of short stories: A Down Home Meal for these Difficult Times.

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In Ian Falconer's new book, 'Two Dogs' cause mischief after being left home alone

5:17pm June 28, 2022

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with illustrator and kids book writer Ian Falconer about his new picture book, Two Dogs.

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'X' looks at a subculture that mainstream American art has frequently shied away from

3:44pm June 28, 2022

by Michael Schaub

Davey Davis' book is far from an ordinary love story — it's a shocking and moving novel about what it means to be an outsider in a world that's crumbling around you.

John Vercher is the author of the novels Three-Fifths and After the Lights Go Out.

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A novelist's time in the MMA cage informed his book on memory loss and identity

12:11pm June 28, 2022

by Dave Davies

John Vercher trained in mixed martial arts as a young man. His novel, After the Lights Go Out, centers on a veteran MMA fighter who struggles to remember everyday things.

The strange underground economy of tree poaching

6:30am June 28, 2022

by Greg Rosalsky

A new book dives deep into the fascinating criminal world of tree theft and efforts to combat it.

Books

A public library in Maryland held a fundraiser that left a lasting impression

6:23am June 28, 2022

In Anne Arundel County, book lovers had a chance to get literary-themed tattoos from the Lucky Bird tattoo shop. Forty percent of the proceeds went toward funding for the library's branches.

Books
Arts

Life in the Middles Ages is more gross than engrossing in this ruthless novel

12:35pm June 27, 2022

by Maureen Corrigan

Ottessa Moshfegh's Lapvona follows the life of Marek, a 13-year-old peasant boy who lives in a cruel world of sadism and stink, cannibalism and self-flagellation.