A visual feast: 5 favorite art books of 2021
Most readers spend a lot of time happily immersed in words. But for a change of pace, these gorgeous art books provide hours of blissful visual diversion.
Books
Mel Brooks says his only regret as a comedian is the jokes he didn't tell
Brooks wrote countless edgy jokes over the years, but he doesn't regret any of them. He calls comedy his "delicious refuge" from the world. "I hide in humor," he says. His new memoir is All About Me!
Greg Tate, a powerful chronicler and critic of Black life and culture, has died at 64
Tate was a longtime staff writer at The Village Voice, where he documented Black art and culture. He eventually became a leading figure in cultural criticism.
Books We Love: Ailsa Chang picks 'Empire Of Pain' by Patrick Radden Keefe
NPR is celebrating Books We Love from 2021. Ailsa Chang shares one of her favorite reads from the year: Patrick Radden Keefe's deep dive into the Sackler dynasty, Empire of Pain.
These NYC kids have written the history of an overlooked Black female composer
A group of sixth, seventh and eighth grade students realized there was no children's book about the composer Florence Price. So they wrote, illustrated and published their own.
Sharon Gless shares work and family stories in her new memoir
NPR's Rachel Martin talks to actress Sharon Gless — of Cagney & Lacey fame — about her new memoir: Apparently There Were Complaints.
3 YA graphic novels that highlight the timelessness of teenage themes this autumn
Among the flood of titles aimed at the high-school set this fall, a few stand apart for their unorthodox stories, deft artwork and potent themes.
No black-tie dinner with the Swedish king for this year's Nobel Prize winners
Instead, most of the laureates are receiving their awards in their home countries because the pandemic has disrupted the ceremonies yet again.
Encore: Bette Midler discusses her children's book, 'The Tale Of The Mandarin Duck'
NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Bette Midler about her children's book, The Tale of the Mandarin Duck.
In debut poetry collection, Amanda Gorman looks at America today through its past
The youngest presidential inaugural poet writes about how looking at our history tells us what our bodies are made of – and of how collective memory of strength re-energizes us in our darkest moments.