Books

Books
Arts

Nothing Is Going To Be OK In This Wrenching, Beautiful Story Collection

7:00am September 07, 2021

by Michael Schaub

Ye Chun's new story collection Hao takes its name from a Chinese word meaning "good," or "everything's OK" — but the characters in these stories are sick, afraid, out of time, and anything but OK.

Books

As The TV Industry Praised Michaela Coel, She Says She Felt Like A Misfit

6:14am September 07, 2021

by Sam Sanders

Michaela Coel has earned acclaim for her show: I May Destroy You, which explored sexual assault and consent. Her book, Misfits: A Personal Manifesto, details her experiences in TV.

Books

Italian Man Doesn't Just Want To Read Fantasy Books, He Wants To Live Them

5:45am September 07, 2021

Nicolas Gentile bought land in the Italian countryside and started building. His goal is to create a hobbit village, modeled after J.R.R. Tolkien's Shire. He an his family dress in hobbit clothes.

Books
Arts

A Poet-Nun Inspired This Tale Of Medieval Ambition, Pleasure And Aspiration

11:00am September 06, 2021

by Keishel Williams

Lauren Groff digs deep into the past with Matrix, based on the real-life writer Marie de France. Little is known about the real Marie, but Groff gives us an ambitious, complex, striving woman.

Books

'Red Roulette' Reveals The Inside Of China's Wealth-Making Machine

5:46am September 06, 2021

In his new book Red Roulette: An Insider's Story of Wealth, Power, Corruption, and Vengeance in Today's China, Desmond Shum writes about the disappearance of his ex-wife in China.

Books

In 'Loteria,' Life And Death Battle For A Girl's Fate

9:11am September 05, 2021

NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with Karla Valenti about her middle-grade novel, Loteria. Life and Death meet to play a game, choosing a girl who'll either live or die depending on who wins.

No Gods, No Monsters, by Cadwell Turnbull

Books
Arts

If Monsters Were Real, This Book Knows What You'd Really Do — Nothing

7:00am September 05, 2021

by Jason Sheehan

What appears to be a simple, awful police killing turns out to be much worse in Cadwell Turnbull's new No Gods, No Monsters, set in a world where monsters and magic are real, and none of it is pretty.

Books

Lauren Groff Delves Into The World Of The Nunnery In New Book

10:07am September 04, 2021

NPR's Scott Simon talks to author Lauren Groff about her new novel, Matrix, set in 12th century Europe, based on the life of the poet Marie de France.

Books

Cass Sunstein Explores The Bureaucratic Sludge That Slows Us Down In Latest Book

7:49am September 04, 2021

Red tape: it's everywhere. Public policy expert Cass Sunstein offers insight with his new book, Sludge: What Stops Us from Getting Things Done and What to Do About It.

Shugri Said Salh recounts her journey from a goat- and camel-herding nomad in Somalia to a nurse and mom of three in California in her memoir, The Last Nomad: Coming of Age in the Somali Desert.

A Onetime Nomad Reflects On The Beauty And Harshness Of Life In The Somali Desert

7:00am September 04, 2021

by Lucy Sherriff

Shugri Said Salh recounts her journey from goat- and camel-herding nomad in Somalia to nurse and mom of three in California in her memoir, The Last Nomad: Coming of Age in the Somali Desert.