Books

Books

Read 'The Shortest Day' To Celebrate The Winter Solstice

8:00am December 19, 2020

Susan Cooper and Carson Ellis — the Newbury and Caldecott award winning author and illustrator — talk about their picture book, The Shortest Day. Monday will be the shortest day of 2020.

Books
Arts

2020 Book Concierge: Books For Foodies

8:00am December 19, 2020

Four recommendations from NPR's Book Concierge for people who like to eat, cook, clean up after cooking or talk about food.

Jonny Sun: You're Not Alone In Feeling Lonely

9:52am December 18, 2020

by NPR/TED STAFF

For Jonny Sun, loneliness felt like being an alien on a distant planet, alone in the universe. But when he shared those feelings online, he found a community of people who felt precisely the same way.

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Arush Nand plays the young Arjie at his make-believe wedding in Funny Boy.

In 'Funny Boy,' A Young Sri Lankan Gay Man Comes Of Age As Ethnic Tensions Explode

7:49pm December 16, 2020

by Bilal Qureshi

Deepa Mehta's new film, Funny Boy, is Canada's Oscar submission. It's being distributed by Ava DuVernay's company and premieres on Netflix. It's based on the novel by Shyam Selvadurai.

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I Came As a Shadow: An Autobiography, by John Thompson with Jesse Washington

In 'I Came As A Shadow,' Georgetown's John Thompson Offers Some Surprising Moments

1:37pm December 15, 2020

by Tom Goldman

The Hall of Fame basketball coach, who died in August, leaves us with the private thoughts of a public man, one who both raged against racial injustice and embraced chances to make things better.

John le Carré, master of the spy thriller, died this past weekend at the age of 89.

Books
Arts

'He Makes Us Love George Smiley:' Robert Harris On The Legacy Of John Le Carré

7:29pm December 14, 2020

by Mary Louise Kelly

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with British writer Robert Harris about the legacy of John le Carré, whom he's called "one of the great post-war British novelists" and who died Saturday at age 89.

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Books

2020 Book Concierge: Audie Cornish Picks 'Just Us' By Claudia Rankine

3:48pm December 14, 2020

To celebrate the launch of NPR's 2020 Book Concierge, each All Things Considered host will share a favorite book. Audie Cornish's is Just Us by Claudia Rankine.

Books
Arts

Remembering John Le Carré, British Spy Turned Best-Selling Novelist

3:48pm December 14, 2020

by Terry Gross

Le Carré, who died Dec. 12, worked for MI5 and MI6 early in his career and later drew on that experience in thrillers like The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Originally broadcast in 1989 and 2017.

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English writer and spy novelist John le Carré, pictured in March 1965. He died Saturday at age 89.

Books

Spy Novelist John Le Carré Dies At 89

8:31pm December 13, 2020

by Rachel Treisman

The bestselling author of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy died Saturday at age 89; his work was informed by his own years as a spy during the Cold War.

Books

2020 Book Concierge: The Funniest Books On Our List

8:01am December 13, 2020

Need reading to help beat the winter blues? We have four recommendations from NPR's Book Concierge that could help - all for fun, and funny, books.