Books

The Wise and the Wicked, by Rebecca Podos

Books
Arts

Cheating Death Will Cost You In 'The Wise And The Wicked'

5:52pm June 02, 2019

by Caitlyn Paxson

Rebecca Podos' new novel follows a girl who's inherited her family power: She can see her Time, the moment of her death. But then she discovers it's possible to evade your Time — for a painful price.

Books

'This Land Is Our Land' Argues For Migration

8:22am June 02, 2019

NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with Suketu Mehta, author of This Land Is Our Land: An Immigrant's Manifesto, which argues for more immigrants in America and elsewhere.

Books
Arts

'I Love You So Mochi' Is A Sweet But Substantial Treat

7:00am June 02, 2019

by Mallory Yu

Sarah Kuhn's new novel, about a Japanese American girl wrestling with her identity and her place in the world during a visit to Japan, is at once universally relatable and specifically Asian American.

Books

Book: 'A Good American Family: The Red Scare and My Father'

5:10pm June 01, 2019

David Maraniss speaks with NPR's Don Gonyea about his latest book — a look into his father's struggles after being blacklisted during the Red Scare.

Books
Arts

A Renaissance Fanatic Is Reborn — Again And Again — In 'Lent'

10:00am June 01, 2019

by Amal El-Mohtar

Jo Walton's new novel imagines the Florentine friar Girolamo Savonarola, living life over and over again in an attempt to change his course, save his city, his friends — and himself from damnation.

cover of On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

Books
Arts

'Start With Truth And End With Art': Poet Ocean Vuong On His Debut Novel

9:43am June 01, 2019

by Scott Simon

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, written as a letter from a son to his immigrant mother who cannot read, aims "to speak to a rich American tradition of autobiography," its author says.

I Wish You All the Best, by Mason Deaver

Books
Arts

A Nonbinary Teen Makes Their Way In The World In 'I Wish You All The Best'

7:00am June 01, 2019

by Alethea Kontis

Mason Deaver's new young adult novel follows a teenager who's kicked out of their house after coming out as nonbinary. Deaver, who's also nonbinary, says it's the book they needed to read as a kid.

This America: The Case for the Nation, by Jill Lepore

'This America' Pits Rise In Nationalism Against Championing Of Liberal Democracy

7:01am May 31, 2019

by Scott Detrow

Jill Lepore, author of These Truths, argues that supporters of free and fair liberal government can't just hold their noses and wait for voters to realize that democracy is better than autocracy.

Books
Arts

In 'What Could Be Saved,' Harmony Comes From Human Ties

7:00am May 31, 2019

by Martha Anne Toll

Gregory Spatz is both a creative writing professor and a fiddler, which gives depth to these stories about high-end stringed instruments and the people who play, love and sometimes steal them.

Dancing on the Escalator of Life (on the head of pin): The demon Crowley (David Tennant) and the angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) conspire to stave off the end of the world in Good Omens.

Books
Arts

'Good Omens' Serves Up A Cozy, Strangely Heartwarming Apocalypse

4:11pm May 30, 2019

by Glen Weldon

Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's 1990 novel about an angel and demon striving to prevent the end of the world becomes a charming, very British series that turns the apocalypse into a spot of bother.