Walter Mosley Remembers The Watts Riots: You Could Feel The Rage
Fifty years ago this week, race riots broke out in Watts, a Los Angeles neighborhood. Renee Montagne talks to author Walter Mosley about his memories of that time.
Books
Muslim Feminists Rewrite Boundaries On The Street And At Home
Mona Eltahawy says as a female in Saudi Arabia you have two options: "To lose your mind or become a feminist." Rafia Zakaria says it's crucial to reclaim the identity of the modern Muslim woman.
'Dark, Dark' Doings In A Slick Debut Thriller
Ruth Ware's In A Dark, Dark Wood brings together a group of 20-something women in an isolated rural house for a bachelorette party — a perfect setting for buried secrets and terrible deeds.
Social Satire, Spiked With Schadenfreude In 'Everybody Rise'
Stephanie Clifford's debut novel, about the desperate social strivings of a young woman in Manhattan, has its roots in the tragic, old-money fascinations of Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth.
Pop Culture Happy Hour Small Batch: The End Of The Tour
Glen Weldon and Katie Presley discuss the new film, which is based on a series of interviews between David Lipsky and the late writer David Foster Wallace.
In Life After Life, 'Incarnations' Spins A Sinuous Tale Of Soul Mates
In Susan Barker's novel, a few strange letters bloom into a saga of two souls' reincarnations. Barker says her characters' many lives gave her an instrument to explore China — both past and present.
Lesbian Cartoonist Alison Bechdel Countered Dad's Secrecy By Being Out And Open
The musical and graphic novel Fun Home describe Bechdel's coming out, and her dad's closeted homosexuality. She says, "In many ways ... my professional career has been a reaction to my father's life."
Take It From David Brooks: Career Success 'Doesn't Make You Happy'
The New York Times columnist wrote The Road to Character after seeing the gratitude for life of people who tutor immigrants. He thought, "I've achieved career success ... but I haven't achieved that."
Farewell To The Legendary League Of The Pink Carnation
This week, we're setting the NPR Books Time Machine for the Napoleonic Wars, and Lauren Willig's swashbuckling Pink Carnation series, about florally themed spies battling it out across Europe.
NPR Bestsellers: Week Of August 13, 2015
The lists are compiled from weekly surveys of close to 500 independent bookstores nationwide.