Books

Every year, we ask NPR staff and book critics to share their favorite titles in our annual Books We Love guide. Here are 8 fiction picks that were standout stars.

NPR's A Martinez speaks with Paul McCartney about his new book, "Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run," an oral history of the band McCartney formed after The Beatles broke up.

A 1960s pop song, a must-have soft toy and a global anime hit are among the leaders on YouTube's year-end trends list.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist has been kidnapped and thrown from a car. Still, Addario says, parenting two young kids can be more challenging than war reporting.

A woman with a terminal diagnosis asks her husband to leave the house in Ann Packer's new novel. Some Bright Nowhere is an absorbing book about end-of-life care and what the living owe the dying.

Nobel winners Olga Tokarczuk and Peter Handke bring us a reissue and a new book respectively this week. Also, a story from a fictional African country and a commentary on beauty.

The 2025 selection follows its predecessors, "brain rot" from 2024, "rizz" from 2023 and "goblin mode" from 2022.

The Oscar-winning costume designer has been enchanted by Oz and Munchkinland for most of his life. He created more than 1,000 looks for Wicked: For Good — including Elphaba's "sex cardigan."

Author Christine Kuehn's late grandfather, grandmother and aunt were spies for the Japanese in the run-up to the attack on Pearl Harbor.

We're taking stock of this year's notable holiday movies, with titles including such gems as Oy to the World!, Christmas at the Catnip Cafe, A Merry Little Ex-Mas, and A Pickleball Christmas.