NPR's Book of the Day

The Hindu holiday Raksha Bandhan is just around the corner – and in a new children's book called Raashi's Rakhis, actor and activist Sheetal Sheth writes about an empowered little girl, Raashi, who asks some pretty big questions about the gender roles prescribed to one of her favorite celebrations. In today's episode, Sheth speaks with Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes about how she questioned her own parents as a first-generation Indian American, why she wanted to write from a place of inclusivity, and how she navigates some of the backlash she's gotten for doing so. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

In 1987, a Black 22-year-old named Ben Spencer was convicted of murdering a white man in Texas. In 2021, he was cleared of those charges and released from prison. A new book by former NPR reporter Barbara Bradley Hagerty, Bringing Ben Home, dives into what went wrong within the Texas legal system for Spencer to serve so much time in prison for a crime he has always said he did not commit. In today's episode, Bradley Hagerty speaks with NPR's Ailsa Chang about her own investigation into the case and the kind of criminal justice reform she says is necessary to prevent this from happening again.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

There's an app for everything. In Kat Tang's debut novel Five-Star Stranger, there's even one that allows you to hire someone you've never met to play a role in your life, like to be best man at a wedding or pretend to be the father of a child. In today's episode, Tang speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about the titular stranger at the heart of her story, who is going around New York taking on a number of roles, and how he starts to crack as he reexamines his relationship to a woman who's hired him to pretend to be her husband – and to the girl who believes she's his daughter. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

John J. Sullivan served as U.S. ambassador to Russia from 2019 to 2022. He was there during Russia's invasion of Ukraine – and he writes about that time frankly in his new memoir, Midnight in Moscow. But in today's episode, he also opens up to NPR's Mary Louise Kelly about some of the other strange, even funny moments during his service, like what it's like to sit across a table from Vladimir Putin or how difficult it is to walk into a store and buy an iPad as a diplomat in Russia. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi says her new book, The Art of Power, is not a memoir. Instead, she says, it's an inside look at specific moments in American history – like the 2008 financial crisis and January 6 – and how she navigated them. In today's episode, the Speaker Emerita sits down with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly to discuss why she didn't want to run for office in the first place, how she looks back on some of the biggest decisions she's made while in power, and what role she played in President Biden's decision to step down from the 2024 race.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

National Book Award winner M.T. Anderson has written his first novel for adults. Nicked is set in 1087 and follows a monk and treasure hunter looking to steal the bones of Saint Nicholas – this is based on true events — in hopes it will miraculously cure a plague raging through the Italian city of Bari. In today's episode, Anderson speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about why he considers the comic novel a 'medieval noir' and what it means to believe — or not believe – in miracles. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

At the start of Juli Min's debut novel, it's 2040 in Shanghai, and a wealthy real estate developer is parting ways with his wife and adult daughters at the airport. But as the story progresses, Shanghailanders moves back in time, slowly unraveling the dreams, decisions and mistakes of the members of this family all the way back to 2014. In today's episode, Min speaks with NPR's Ailsa Chang about why she decided to write the events of the book in this order, and how the city of Shanghai is a character all on its own. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Cory Richards made a name for himself taking photographs across the globe for National Geographic. His new memoir, The Color of Everything, grapples with the harsh realities of high-end climbing, fame, mortality – and some of the not-so-great things he's done. In today's episode, Richards speaks with NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer about why he jokes the book is a bit of 'memoir, mountains, mea culpa' and what it means for public figures to open up about their pitfalls. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Sarah Perry's novel, Enlightenment, recently received a Booker Prize nomination. It follows the relationship between two friends, with a 30 year age difference, as they confront the role of the church, the outside world and the cosmos in their lives over the course of two decades. In today's episode, Perry speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about her religious upbringing, her pandemic telescope and the role it played in her writing. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Today's episode highlights two books that deal with what it means to be a mom, a wife and a multi-faceted, complicated woman. First, NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben speaks with Claire Lombardo about her novel Same As It Ever Was, which jumps through different phases of protagonist Julia's life to understand her relationship with her son, her husband and an ex-best friend. Then, Danielle Kurtzleben asks Catherine Newman about Sandwich, which takes place during a family's summer vacation in Cape Cod and follows the main character Rocky finding her place between her adult children and her aging parents.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Matt Pottinger used to cover China for Reuters and The Wall Street Journal before working as a deputy national security advisor for the Trump administration. Now, he's edited a new book called The Boiling Moat: Urgent Steps to Defend Taiwan. In today's episode, Pottinger speaks with NPR's Steve Inskeep about the global fallout that could result from China annexing Taiwan and the military strategy he thinks the U.S., Australia and other countries should implement to prevent a larger conflict from breaking out.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Before he was the director behind films like Crazy Rich Asians, In the Heights and Wicked, Jon M. Chu was a teenager in Los Altos, California, playing around with a camera and working at his parents' Chinese restaurant. That's the journey behind his new memoir, Viewfinder. And in today's episode, he speaks with another kid from Los Altos – NPR's Ailsa Chang – about how his parents' attitude towards assimilation shaped his upbringing and how they ended up supporting his dreams of making movies. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

When author Sarah Manguso was going through a divorce a few years ago, she says she put her rage into writing her novel Liars. It's about the dissolution of a marriage, and a woman reckoning with the failures of her relationship on a personal and societal level. In today's episode, Manguso tells NPR's Andrew Limbong how her protagonist's experiences differ from her own, and why different characters are to blame for the lying mentioned in the title.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

A small Texas town in the late 1980s, two teenagers on the outside of the social scene, and a curse for revenge. That's the setup for Stephen Graham Jones' new novel, I Was a Teenage Slasher. But as he tells NPR's Ayesha Rascoe, the classic slasher tale at the heart of Jones' book comes with a twist for both the reader and Jones himself as the writer. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Today's episode features two page-turners full of suspense. First, NPR's Don Gonyea speaks with Todd Ritter – who publishes as Riley Sager – about Middle of the Night, a coming-of-age meets ghost story in which protagonist Ethan Marsh returns to his childhood home and is faced with the decades-old disappearance of his best friend. Then, NPR's Mary Louise Kelly asks Johanna Copeland about Our Kind of Game, and how real-life neighborhood gossip about domestic violence sparked the dark novel about power imbalances in relationships. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Today's episode is packed with recipes from Khushbu Shah's new cookbook, Amrikan. But beyond that, it's also a conversation with the author and Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes about how Indian cuisine has changed with new generations living in diaspora, and how that has led to the introduction of some unlikely ingredients – cream cheese, pickled jalapeños, shokupan — to shake up traditional dishes. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

On Sunday, President Joe Biden announced he was stepping down from his campaign for reelection this November. Soon after, he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, who is poised to become the new Democratic nominee by next month's convention. Today on the podcast, we revisit a 2019 interview between NPR's Rachel Martin and then Sen. Harris about her memoir, The Truths We Hold, her analysis of Donald Trump's popularity and her decision to become a prosecutor. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Joyce Maynard's new book, How the Light Gets In, is a sequel to her 2021 novel Count the Ways, both following a family grappling with a tragic accident, its aftermath and the expectations they have for one another. In today's episode, Maynard speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about some of the big questions behind both books – "What is a typical family? What is a good mother? Is there such a thing?" – and why she feels it's imperative for her characters to live fully in the world, which means bringing politics and current events into their stories.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Actor, producer and director Griffin Dunne grew up during a fascinating time in Hollywood history. In today's episode, he tells Here & Now's Emiko Tamagawa he remembers bowing goodnight to his parents' black-tie party guests, like his aunt Joan Didion and his father's friend, Billy Wilder. His new memoir, The Friday Afternoon Club, captures his family's story in a bygone era of the entertainment industry — including his sister Dominique Dunne's death at the hands of her boyfriend in 1982, and the way that tragedy changed her parents and siblings forever. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Today's episode focuses on two summer reads trying to piece together some pretty big questions. First, NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with J. Courtney Sullivan about The Cliffs, which follows an archivist digging through the history of a seaside Victorian house in Maine — and the generations of women who lived there — at the owner's concern that it's haunted. Then, NPR's Scott Simon asks Liz Moore about The God of the Woods, which grapples with the disappearance of a wealthy family's daughter from a summer camp in the Adirondacks in 1975. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

In 2018, Jennifer and Sarah Hart drove off a cliff in California, killing themselves and their six adopted children. While much of the media attention focused on the two women, reporter Roxanna Asgarian set off to investigate what had happened to the children's birth families, and why they'd been removed from their care. In today's episode, Asgarian speaks with Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes about her book, We Were Once a Family, and the ways the foster care and child welfare system in the United States pushed the Hart siblings into an abusive and ultimately fatal situation. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

This week, former President Donald Trump announced that Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance will be his running mate in the 2024 election. Vance rose to prominence with his bestselling 2016 memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, which captured his upbringing in Appalachia and his family's intergenerational struggle with poverty, substance abuse and trauma. In today's episode, we revisit a conversation between Vance and NPR's Steve Inskeep about the book, in which he says there are ways politicians misunderstand white, working-class Americans.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Aida Salazar's new book, Ultraviolet, has a lot in common with Judy Blume's Forever, but from the point of view of an eighth grade boy; it's all about Elio Solis grappling with his changing body, his first girlfriend and his family life. In today's episode, Salazar tells Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes how watching her own son grow up inspired the events of the middle grade book, and they discuss how conversations of consent, masculinity and sex education are just as important for young men as they are for young women. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Zach Williams' collection of short stories, Beautiful Days, has earned high praise for the unsettling way it examines mundane, everyday life. In today's episode, Williams tells NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer how becoming a dad inspired the anxiety and wonder of parenthood that shows up throughout Beautiful Days, and the two get to talking about why he chose to focus on the "quickness and musicality" of short stories over writing a novel. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Today's episode is about two emblematic musicians who take us to very different parts of the globe, from the London punk scene to the Laurel Canyon utopia of the 1960s and 70s. First, Stewart Copeland speaks to NPR's Leila Fadel about his memoir, Stewart Copeland's Police Diaries, which chronicles his time as a drummer for the legendary band. Then, Here & Now's Robin Young is joined by NPR Music's Ann Powers, who's written a biography of Joni Mitchell's expansive career called Traveling.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Foreign correspondent Peter Hessler taught in China during the country's economic boom in the 1990s, which he wrote about in his book River Town. Now, in Other Rivers, Hessler breaks down what it was like to teach there again more than two decades later. In today's episode, he and NPR international correspondent Emily Feng talk about what changed — and what stayed the same — with a new generation of students in China and how covering the country remains a challenge for so many writers and journalists. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has a new memoir out – it's about the people and experiences that shaped her version of leadership. Whitmer has led her state through a pandemic, natural disasters and the battle over reproductive rights, among many other issues. In today's episode, she speaks with NPR's Juana Summers about True Gretch: What I've Learned About Life, Leadership, and Everything in Between, her steadfast support for President Biden during his bid for reelection, and how she sees her future in the Democratic party. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Devil Is Fine, the new novel by John Vercher, follows an unnamed protagonist banging out a book pitch in a fugue state that mirrors what's happening in his own life: after the death of his son, a biracial writer inherits a plantation from the white side of his family, which has the remains of both his slave-owning ancestors and the people they enslaved. In today's episode, Vercher speaks with NPR's Lauren Frayer about why he felt magical realism made the story about American history and loss and racism more accessible, and how different layers of grief manifest in the story.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

The central character of New York Times correspondent Ed Wong's memoir, At the Edge of Empire, is not Wong himself — it's his father, who studied in Beijing in the 1950s and staunchly supported the Chinese Communist Revolution. Wong's book traces his father's disillusionment with Mao's government and eventual move to the U.S. In today's episode, he speaks with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly about intertwining his family's personal story with the greater history of his parents' home country, and what Americans can still stand to learn about Chinese citizens. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Today's episode features two interviews with Kevin Kwan, author of the Crazy Rich Asians series. First, former NPR host Lulu Garcia-Navarro spoke to the writer in 2020 about Sex and Vanity, exploring identity through the lens of a biracial character and setting a new trilogy between Europe and the U.S. Then, Here & Now's Robin Young asks Kwan about his newest novel, Lies and Weddings, and his thoughts on the fascination with wealth and power in literature. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Alexander Hamilton, the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, is somewhat of a pop culture phenomenon thanks to a hit musical about his life. But a new book called The Hamilton Scheme dives into a less-known part of Hamilton's legacy — his vision for public debt. In today's interview, author and historian William Hogeland speaks with NPR's Steve Inskeep about why Hamilton considered higher loans to be paid by the federal government a good thing, and how that can be traced to today's relationship between China and the United States.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

When science reporter Sadie Dingfelder mistakes a complete stranger in the supermarket for her own husband, she realizes something's up. The tests and research that follow result in a face blindness diagnosis and her new book, Do I Know You?. In today's episode, she speaks with NPR's Ayesha Rascoe about the different experiences of consciousness everyone has, and how understanding the brain's capacities opens up a whole new world of neurodiversity. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Yangsze Choo says she doesn't thoroughly plan out her novels – her newest, The Fox Wife, blossomed from that core idea behind the title, of a woman who also happens to be a fox. But beyond that, it's a story about a mother avenging her child, about a murder investigation in early 20th century China, and about family curses. As the author tells NPR's Scott Simon, foxes hold a wide range of intrigue and mystery in Chinese, Korean and Japanese legends — and it's these traits that broke open a whole world of secrets for her characters.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Journalist Kara Swisher, who's been covering the internet and the tech industry for decades, says she's not surprised when people like Steve Jobs or Elon Musk lie to her — but what she says they sometimes don't realize is how much they lie to themselves. Her new memoir, Burn Book, recounts what she's learned in conversation with some of the brightest minds in Silicon Valley. In today's episode, Swisher tells NPR's Steve Inskeep that as disillusioned as she is with how much harm the industry has caused, she's still optimistic about the future of tech and AI. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Today's episode features two interviews with author Morgan Talty. First, a conversation with NPR's Melissa Block about his 2022 collection of short stories, Night of the Living Rez, and how he navigates the weight of representation for the Penobscot Nation. Then, NPR's Andrew Limbong asks Talty about his new novel, Fire Exit, which takes place in the same cinematic universe as his former book but follows a white man trying to make sense of his place within an Indigenous community. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

In the 1840s, a Scottish minister named John Ferguson accepts the task of traveling to a remote island to evict Ivar, the only man who lives there. When Reverend Ferguson falls off a cliff, Ivar brings him back to life — and the two find a common understanding even as they realize they don't speak the same language. That's the basis of Carys Davies' new novel, Clear. In today's episode, NPR's Scott Simon asks the author about how she discovered a real-life extinct language called Norn, and how the historic Highland Clearances of Scotland inspired the events of the book.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Eight translators from eight countries travel to a Polish forest to begin adapting famed author Irena Rey's newest book into their respective languages. But when Irena Rey disappears, a competitive, ego-fueled search unravels in the surrounding woods and within each person. In today's episode, author Jennifer Croft speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about her new novel, The Extinction of Irena Rey, and how her own experience as an International Booker Prize-winning translator sparked an interest in the drive and desires of the people tasked with "shapeshifting" a text into their own tongue. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Memory Piece, the latest novel from National Book Award finalist Lisa Ko, kicks off in the 1980s with three teenage girls who find a deep connection to one another. Into the1990s and eventually the 2040s, the book delves into their growth as individuals and friends. In today's episode, Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes speaks with Ko about how art, gentrification and activism plays a role in each woman's life, and how memory and interdependence helps them find hope for their futures. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

The story of Saba, the protagonist of Leo Vardiashvili's novel Hard by a Great Forest, is much like the author's own. A young boy flees the Soviet Republic of Georgia with his father and brother as the country is ravaged by a war. Decades later, when his father goes back to their homeland and promptly disappears, Saba must face his family's past – and immense loss – in an effort to find him. In today's episode, Vardiashvili tells NPR's Scott Simon about being separated from his own family, and the feeling of time-travel he felt when he finally made his way back to Georgia.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Today's episode is all about what it means to "make it" – and why there's no one path to success. First, Jennifer Breheny Wallace speaks with Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes about her new book Never Enough, which examines "toxic achievement culture" and the high pressure young people are under in regards to grades and college admissions. Then, WBUR's Tiziana Dearing speaks with Mo Rocca about Roctogenarians, co-written with Jonathan Greenberg, which profiles people who reached their goals and biggest dreams later in life. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Once upon a time, author Porochista Khakpour worked as a shop girl in the luxury stores lining Rodeo Drive. She tells NPR's Ailsa Chang how excited she would get when Iranian-American customers came in — but how poorly those interactions would pan out to be. Her new novel, Tehrangeles, explores the story of one such powerful family in LA on the cusp of getting their own reality TV show. And as Khakpour and Chang discuss, it opens a whole lot of questions about whiteness, assimilation and cultural definitions of success. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

After riding out the first year of the pandemic alone in her small studio apartment in New York City, Glynnis MacNicol saw an opportunity and ran with it. Once vaccines had rolled out in 2021, she booked a flight to, and apartment in, Paris – and the food, wine and sex that followed is the fuel of her new memoir, I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself. In today's episode, MacNicol speaks with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly about pursuing pleasure, fully and unapologetically.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

In the new novel One of Our Kind, Jasmyn Williams moves her family to the planned Black utopia of Liberty, California. But things start to take a turn when Jasmyn realizes not everyone who lives in Liberty is the way she expected them to be. In today's episode, author Nicola Yoon speaks with NPR's Ayesha Rascoe about writing in the thriller genre, dismantling the idea that Black people are a monolith, and finding inspiration in The Stepford Wives.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

At the height of the Drake and Kendrick Lamar beef a few weeks back, Questlove took to Instagram to say, amongst other things, that "hip-hop is truly dead." In today's episode, he tells NPR's Rodney Carmichael where he was coming from – whether or not he actually believes that – and explains the musical shift, personal stories and cultural changes detailed in his new book, Hip-Hop Is History. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Today's episode highlights two books that grapple with hardships – and perseverance — within a family. First, Here & Now's Robin Young speaks with Michelle Horton about Dear Sister, a memoir chronicling how Horton's sister was arrested for killing her husband, the abuse she'd been suffering at his hands for years, and the family's fight to reduce her prison sentence. Then, NPR's Scott Simon speaks with journalist Lawrence Ingrassia about A Fatal Inheritance, which tracks generations of cancer in Ingrassia's family alongside research and developments in the medical field. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Comedian, TV writer and podcast host Chelsea Devantez moved around a lot as a kid. She jokes in today's episode that her mom "loved to get divorced" — but that also led to what she describes as a pretty great co-parenting situation between her mom and godmother for a while. It's one of the many stories in Devantez's new memoir, I Shouldn't Be Telling You This (But I'm Going to Anyway). She spoke to NPR's Elizabeth Blair about the book, her journey as a domestic violence survivor and the experience of being the product, in part, of a sperm donor To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

You Like It Darker is a new collection of short stories by Stephen King — and as the author tells NPR's Mary Louise Kelly, one of those stories spent decades tucked away in a desk drawer before he gave it an ending. In today's episode,the two discuss the bigger questions of destiny and morality in that story and in much of King's work, and why the writer thought several of his best-selling novels would never see the light of day. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Harriet Jacobs is one of the best-known female abolitionists and authors who wrote about their experiences of enslavement in the South. But while searching for information about Jacobs' children, literary historian Jonathan Schroeder discovered something else: The United States Governed by Six Hundred Thousand Despots, the long-lost autobiography of Jacobs' brother, John Swanson Jacobs. In today's episode, Schroeder speaks with NPR's Juana Summers about the life of the author, his escape to freedom and the blistering critique of the United States that he wrote in 1855 while living in Australia. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

The Mango Tree kicks off with a phone call: Journalist Annabelle Tometich is informed her mom has been arrested for shooting a man, with a BB gun, who was trying to take mangoes from her yard. What follows is a memoir about a rich but turbulent upbringing in a half-white, half-Filipino family in Fort Myers, Florida. In today's episode, NPR's Scott Simon asks Tometich about the moment she realized the violence in her household wasn't normal, and what that mango tree represented for her immigrant mother. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón recently edited and introduced You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World, a collection of poems by writers like Joy Harjo and Jericho Brown that pays homage to landscapes across the United States. In today's episode, Limón joins NPR's Rachel Martin to play a game for the new podcast Wild Card. They discuss some pivotal moments in Limón's life marked by natural scenery, like a creek she played in growing up and a big realization she had about her fertility while swimming in the Chesapeake Bay — and go beyond that into conversations about grandparents, memory and mortality. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy