Books

Books

'Southern League': Birmingham Barons Break Racial Divide

7:09am August 20, 2013

By 1964, Birmingham, Ala., gained infamy as the center of the civil rights struggle. In the midst of that tension, one of the city's major institutions broke through the racial divide. The Birmingham Barons minor league baseball club became the first integrated professional sports team in the state. David Greene talks to author Larry Colton, whose book, Southern League, traces how this milestone affected the city.

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Scott Anderson is a novelist and veteran war correspondent. His previous novels include Moonlight Hotel and The Man Who Tried to Save the World.

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'Lawrence' Of Arabia: From Archaeologist To War Hero

5:52pm August 19, 2013

by NPR Staff

T.E. Lawrence, the British officer who played a key role in the Middle East during World War I, served as one of that war's few romantic champions. Scott Anderson's Lawrence in Arabia explains how Lawrence used his knowledge of Arab culture and medieval history to advance British causes.

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The Tyson Library in Ludlow, Vt., is required to support itself independently; public libraries in Vermont receive no state funding.

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For You To Borrow, Some Libraries Have To Go Begging

4:14pm August 19, 2013

by Neda Ulaby

Most Americans say public libraries are important to the community — but eight states don't actually support them. Texas has cut budgets drastically; in Vermont, local librarians must go hand in hand to town meetings every year. Neda Ulaby reports on the landscape of library funding across the U.S.

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Debbie Macomber's latest book is Rose Harbor in Bloom.

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Fans Are Like Friends To 'Reigning Queen' Of Women's Fiction

6:12pm August 18, 2013

by Petra Mayer

Debbie Macomber's books don't get a lot of critical attention, but they've sold in the hundreds of millions. Her fans feel like they know and love the woman behind the words, so her publisher threw a party for them.

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A luxury home in an unfinished subdivision

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A Dystopian View Of America's 'Fallen' Suburbs

6:03pm August 18, 2013

by NPR Staff

Patrick Flanery's taut new novel, Fallen Land, delves into the housing crisis, creeping corporate surveillance and a "crisis of neighborliness" in American life. The backdrop: a half-built and crumbling subdivision outside of an unnamed American city.

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Mark Lee Gardner's has appeared on the History Channel, PBS' American Experience and BBC Radio.

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What Drove Wild West's Jesse James To Become An Outlaw?

5:57pm August 17, 2013

by NPR Staff

In Shot All To Hell, author Mark Lee Gardner explores the roots of James' life of crime following the Civil War.

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Taylor Schilling plays Piper in Netflix's Orange Is the New Black, which is based on Piper Kerman's memoir of her year in prison.

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Behind 'The New Black': The Real Piper's Prison Story

11:18am August 16, 2013

When she was 24, Piper Kerman dated a woman who was part of a drug smuggling ring. Years later, after being named as part of that ring, Kerman served time in a federal prison and at one point shared a cell with her former girlfriend. Her memoir of that experience inspired the Netflix series.

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A Gossipy, Nostalgic History Of A Publishing 'Hothouse'

3:28pm August 15, 2013

by Maureen Corrigan

The prestigious publishing company Farrar, Straus and Giroux helped define the intellectual life of post-World War II America. Boris Kachka's book explores the company's history, from its founding in 1946 to its sale to a German conglomerate in 1994 and beyond.

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Of Neurons And Memories: Inside The 'Secret World Of Sleep'

2:13pm August 15, 2013

Think of everything your brain processes in a single day: your breakfast, a stain on a book cover, a meeting at work. If you remembered all those things, your brain would reach capacity. Author and neuroscientist Penelope Lewis says sleep helps sort through the memories that are worth keeping.

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The Santa Barbara County Courthouse, a Spanish-Moorish landmark, was built in 1929.

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In 'Alphabet' Mysteries, 'S' Is Really For Santa Barbara

9:27am August 15, 2013

by Mandalit del Barco

Private investigator Kinsey Millhone is one of the most well-known characters in modern crime fiction, but there's another star in Sue Grafton's thrillers: the fictional city of Santa Teresa, based on Santa Barbara, Calif.

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