Books

Astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) gets stranded on Mars in The Martian.

Books
Arts

Sandstorms, Explosions, Potatoes, Oh My: 'Martian' Takes Its Science Seriously

5:00pm September 27, 2015

by NPR Staff

Programmer Andy Weir had always longed to read science fiction with a greater focus on science. So, he wrote a novel of his own — which has since become a best-seller and, now, a blockbuster film.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

After Escaping North Korea, Freedom Is 'Seriously, Deadly Hard'

9:13am September 27, 2015

by Rachel Martin

Yeonmi Park escaped from North Korea at age 13 only to find that freedom was more elusive than she'd imagined. NPR's Rachel Martin talks with Park about her new book, In Order to Live.

Queue Listen Now

Italian dictator Benito Mussolini holds his son, Romano, on his shoulders in 1935. After his father died, Romano went on to become a jazz musician.

What's It Like To Be A Dictator's Kid? 'They're All Marked,' Author Says

7:43am September 26, 2015

by NPR Staff

In Children of Monsters, Jay Nordlinger looks at the lives of, among others, Romano Mussolini, Saif Al-Islam Gadhafi and one man who claimed to be Hitler's son.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

Share 'The Social Sex' With One Of Your Bosom Buddies

7:03am September 26, 2015

by Genevieve Valentine

In ancient Greece, philosophers denied that women were capable of friendship. Marilyn Yalom and Theresa Donovan Brown trace the way those perceptions changed over the years in this engaging history.

Books

NPR Bestsellers: Week Of September 24, 2015

4:03pm September 25, 2015

The lists are compiled from weekly surveys of close to 500 independent bookstores nationwide.

Books

NPR Bestsellers: Hardcover Fiction, Week Of September 24, 2015

4:03pm September 25, 2015

Debuting at No. 6, Lauren Groff's Fates and Furies uses a split narrative to tell the story of a long marriage.

Books

NPR Bestsellers: Paperback Fiction, Week Of September 24, 2015

4:03pm September 25, 2015

At No. 11, David Baldacci's Memory Man follows a detective as he struggles with memories of finding his family brutally murdered.

Books

NPR Bestsellers: Paperback Nonfiction, Week Of September 24, 2015

4:03pm September 25, 2015

Fox News host Bill O'Reilly and writer Martin Dugard reconstruct the final days of a president's life in Killing Lincoln, which appears at No. 14.

Wendell Pierce is known for his roles on HBO's The Wire and Treme.

From 'Godot' To HBO, Wendell Pierce Says, Art Aided Post-Katrina Healing

2:19pm September 25, 2015

by NPR Staff

The star of The Wire and Treme remembers fleeing the storm — and returning to devastation. As his community coped with "post-traumatic stress," he says, Treme "became a group therapy in New Orleans."

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

'What We Salvage' Is A Difficult, Rewarding Punk Odyssey

7:03am September 25, 2015

by Jason Heller

If you didn't grow up in the punk subcultures of the 1980s and '90s, you might have a little trouble with David Baillie's new novel — but stick with it; the book reveals a vicious grace and honesty.