Books

NPR's Books We Love is back with some staff recommendations for novels.

NPR's Scott Simon talks to Paul Yoon about his new novel, "Etna," and its main character, a dog who becomes part of a war in an unnamed country.

Co-author Maggie Haberman talks about the new book "Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump," which reveals a president transformed from term one: more willing to take risks and operating almost entirely on instinct alone.

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with reporter Hannah Lucinda Smith about her new book Hinterlands: The New Cold War Brewing at the Peripheries of the West.

The author and translator of Taiwan Travelogue, the winner of the 2026 International Booker Prize, discuss identity and history amid the debate over Taiwan's colonial ties to Japan and escalating geopolitical pressure from China.

The renowned classics scholar caused a stir when her critical review of Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey went viral. Wilson explains her reaction to the film and why she's translating the poem again.

Road trips have always been about more than the destination. Authors Annie Hartnett and Kevin Wilson discuss their favorite road trip stories and the coincidence that linked their latest novels.

The book encourages children to look beyond mythology and explore the people, contradictions and complexities that shaped the nation.

The New York Times reporter Mike McIntire says gun companies and the NRA are broadening the scope of the Second Amendment, socializing kids to appreciate guns and marketing a new brand of masculinity.

The 2026 list includes new works from household names Douglas Stuart, Marlon James and Elizabeth Strout as well as a few debut authors.