NPR's Book of the Day

We have something a little different today. Often when we travel to new places, we look for books about the areas we'll be exploring. Whether via travel books, poetry, or fiction, reading about new places can help us understand them in all of their complexities. As summer kicks off and many start traveling, we asked experts in every state – and also D.C. and Puerto Rico – to tell us the books they think best represent where they live. From research anthologies to poetry collections and novels, their suggestions can help us explore and understand pretty much every corner of this country. 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

Leslie Fenwick is a nationally-known education policy and leadership studies scholar at Howard University. In her new book, Jim Crow's Pink Slip: The Untold Story of Black Principal and Teacher Leadership, Fenwick argues that the landmark Brown Versus the Board of Education decision ending legal segregation in American schools also resulted in the mass firing, or demotion, of Black principals and teachers. Fenwick told Michel Martin on All Things Considered that we're still living with the repercussions today, but that by acknowledging that we can help efforts to diversify the educational system. 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 last couple of years have been tough for everyone, and dealing with the plethora of emotions they have brought on can be complicated for many adults. In their new book, Big Feelings: How to Be Okay When Things Are Not Okay, Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy explore seven emotions that they found particularly difficult to overcome: uncertainty, comparison, anger, burnout, perfectionism, despair, and regret. In an interview with Juana Summers on It's Been a Minute, the authors talk about how they don't intend the book to be self-help, but rather an invitation for people to learn how to give themselves some grace. 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

Trauma isn't finite. It doesn't happen only to one person – and its effects on people and communities don't always end. Today, two books that explore the different sides of generational trauma: First, Anjali Enjeti talks about The Parted Earth, a novel that traces the impact of India's partition across several generations and explores how understanding our families' pasts can help us understand ourselves. Then, Naheed Phiroze Patel discusses her novel Mirror Made of Rain, a personal, empathetic view on mothers who society has deemed 'failures.' 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

Grady Hendrix loves horror movies, especially those old 80s slashers. And his new book is a tribute to that "final girl" at the end of so many of them: The one who doesn't necessarily survive by being smarter or stronger, but simply makes it to the end alive by not giving up. NPR's Audie Cornish interviewed him about his novel Final Girl Support Group, which is about exactly what it sounds like, a support group for women who survived psycho murderers — except it seems like someone's starting to hunt them down – again. As Hendrix says, what's the scariest thing for a "Final Girl?" A sequel. 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

Jhumpa Lahiri is best known for her fictional stories about immigration; novels that usually explore themes that arise from living in between two worlds. In her new book of essays, Translating Myself and Others, Lahiri writes about the ways in which she herself has lived between worlds, and the other kind of writing she does: translation. In an interview with All Things Considered, Lahiri spoke to Mary Louise Kelly about how her relationship to language changed with translation and how it ultimately made her a better writer. 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

For teenagers, every life question can feel existential. It was like that for Elif Batuman, who found meaning through literature and creative writing. Her new book Either/Or – the sequel to The Idiot – explores the life of an adolescent as she looks for answers to her questions in books. In an interview on Morning Edition, Batuman told Rachel Martin about living an aesthetic life, experiencing a sexual awakening through books, and how she sees herself in the protagonist. 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

During World War II, as American publishers sought ways to support the troops abroad, they began printing small, pocket-sized books that soldiers could fit anywhere. In When Books Went to War, Molly Guptill Manning tells the story of these little printed editions and how they served as a way of entertainment for soldiers looking for an escape from war. In an interview with Morning Edition, Guptill Manning told Renee Montagne about how reading helped soldiers feel like they were home. 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

Contrary to how it might feel when we're just seeing them through screens, celebrities, too, deal with very common human problems: disease, mental health concerns, complicated relationships. Today, we bring you two celebrity memoirs that show journeys in the spotlight and the human side of fame. First, Selma Blair talks about her memoir Mean Baby, in which she recounts her battles with addiction, multiple sclerosis, and more. Then, Jennifer Lewis talks about becoming The Mother of Black Hollywood – also the title of her book – and how performing ultimately masked her bipolar disorder. 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 a frightening new horror novel, a young woman reunites with her cousin after escaping from a motherhood cult. In Just Like Mother, Anne Heltzel explores many different perspectives on motherhood, from unquestioning desire to ambivalence and fear. In an interview on Weekend Edition Sunday, Heltzel told Ayesha Roscoe about how she was able to 'spread her wings in the horror genre,' and that she hopes the novel will convey a need for questioning an experience often forced onto women. 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

Most people know George Floyd through how he died, not how he lived. His Name is George Floyd, a new biography by journalists Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa, is trying to change that. Through his diary, interviews with family and friends, and research, Samuels and Olorunnipa paint a picture of who Floyd was as a man, without shying away from his imperfections. In an interview on All Things Considered, the two journalists told Adrian Florido that they hope readers understand the institutional hardships and barriers behind Floyd's story. 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 leak of the Supreme Court draft opinion on Roe v. Wade earlier this month has reignited debates about the power and reach of the highest court in the country. In his new book, Our Unfinished March, former Attorney General Eric Holder argues in favor of reforms, such as term limits and streamlining appointments, that he says would protect minorities. In an interview with Michel Martin on All Things Considered, Holder talks about how citizens can also take part by being active and engaged in politics locally. 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

If you could go back in time to when you were 16 years old, what would you change? This question is at the heart of Emma Straub's new novel, This Time Tomorrow, a story about a father-daughter relationship that gives readers a more intimate and personal exploration of time travel. In an interview with All Things Considered, Straub told Mary Louise Kelly that she wrote the novel in 2020 as a way to escape from feeling trapped in quarantine and that, in many ways,the story turned out to be autobiographical. 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

It's estimated that more than 1 million Uyghur Muslims have been detained in camps in China, where they may be subjected to forced labor, sexual violence, torture, and religious restrictions. Today, we explore two nonfiction books that help understand the crisis. First, Geoffrey Cain speaks to Scott Tong on Here and Now about his book The Perfect Police State, an overview of the surveillance technology China is employing to monitor Uyghurs. Then, Nury Turkel speaks to Ayesha Roscoe on Weekend Edition Sunday about his book No Escape, an investigation into these torture camps and the life of Uyghur refugees. 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

Just like every person has a story, every recipe has a memory. For famous chef Rick Martínez, those memories often come from his time in Mexico, where he traveled through the country's 32 states stepping into kitchens, houses, and markets learning from locals how to make true, authentic Mexican food. For Morning Edition, Martinez invited Rachel Martin into his kitchen, where they cooked Salsa de Chipotle and Chile de Árbol together as they spoke about reclaiming identity and heritage through food. 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

Can humans and sea creatures communicate? In Shelby Van Pelt's first novel, Remarkably Bright Creatures, they sure can –and they do. The story centers around an octopus in captivity and his relationship to Tova, a grieving 70-year-old woman who cleans the aquarium at night. In an interview with All Things Considered, Van Pelt told Adrian Florido that the idea came to her while thinking about the frustration animals must feel in captivity and the thoughts that might be running through their heads. But it's not only a story about freedom (or lack thereof), it's also a story about heartache, loss, and unexpected friendship. 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

Two teenagers in love, in a whole lot of trouble, and on a road trip across the country. It's the plot of Bud Smith's novel Teenager, a Bonnie and Clyde-type story that blends romance, crime, and adventure to explore the complexities of adolescent love and juvenile crime. In an interview with Scott Simon on Weekend Edition, Smith said he wanted readers to not only get to know the characters profoundly, but also feel relief from seeing how a partner can help us get through any kind of adversity. 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

As secretary of defense for President Trump, Mark Esper was privy to a lot of the inner workings of the administration. In his new book, A Sacred Oath, he brings readers into the room with him, showing how certain controversial decisions were being made and how some others were prevented. In an interview with All Things Considered, Esper told Michel Martin about the ethical dilemmas of working for Trump and the reasons why he stayed: to serve his country, avoid what he calls 'bad things from happening,' and improve the military from the inside out. 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 Pulitzer Prize is one of the most prestigious awards in the country for writers... and last year's winners were just announced this week. So today, we're looking back at two nonfiction authors whose books won the accolade. First, journalist Andrea Elliot speaks to Jane Clyson on Here and Now about her book Invisible Child, the story of how a young child's life was directed by homelessness. Then, Tufts University professor Erin Kelly speaks to Debbie Elliott about the autobiography she helped the late artist Winfred Rembert write – a story about civil rights, injustice, and coping through art. 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

Money is all things... or it can become all things, says Hernan Diaz, author of Trust. In his new book, readers are presented with narratives on wealth, reality, and a woman set on separating fact from fiction. In an interview on Weekend Edition Saturday, Diaz told Scott Simon that he thought a lot about money in the writing of this book, particularly about its power to warp and test reality. And although he wanted this story to be about money and class, he also wrote a book that gives women agency in narratives they've often been erased from. 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 aftermath of the Mexican war for independence, a new bride finds herself alone in a haunted house surrounded by people who don't believe her. It's the plot of Isabel Cañas' debut novel The Hacienda, where she blends romance, terror, and the supernatural to tell a story highly embedded with Mexican culture. In an interview with Weekend Edition Sunday, Cañas told Ayesha Rascoe about the themes she wanted to explore in her novel – colonialism, social status, the syncretism of Catholicism and indigenous practices – and her own fear of darkness. 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

Minnie Driver's experience with fame has been what she calls "surreal." She's faced the paradox of fame: she wants to be seen, but not that much. In her new memoir Managing Expectations, the British-American actress opens up about the complicated relationships in her life, her childhood, her unexpected path to acting, and her experience as a single mother. In an interview with All Things Considered, Driver told Ailsa Chang that writing this book was an interesting inner-exploration and that it helped her understand many aspects of her own life – and her mother's. 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

Despite the attention that Roe v. Wade has gotten throughout the years, there are still many details about the case that are obscure to the public. For one, the landmark case that legalized most abortions for women did not in fact end with an abortion. The baby, often referred to as Baby Roe, is Shelly Lynn Thornton, now a grown woman whose story is at the center of Joshua Prager's book The Family Roe. In an interview with All Things Considered, Prager told Michel Martin that through the family's story, he hoped to humanize the debate and help others see abortion "not through politics, but people."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

This weekend is Mother's Day, a good occasion to reflect on the art of parenting. First, comedian Glenn Boozan speaks to Celeste Headlee on Here and Now about her book There Are Moms Way Worse Than You, a joke-book that uses examples of bad parenting from the animal kingdom to soothe those who might be worried about their own child-raising skills. Then, an interview from our archives: a 1989 chat with Amy Tan on All Things Considered about her novel The Joy Luck Club, the story of four Chinese American families living in San Francisco inspired by Tan's experience as a child of immigrants. 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

Dolen Perkins-Valdez says she's attracted to what she calls "silences in the archives," or – holes in our recollection in history, particularly those in African American history. In her new historical novel Take My Hand, she tackles forced sterilizations inspired by the 1973 case of the Relf sisters. On Weekend Edition Sunday, Perkins-Valdez told Ayesha Roscoe about her decision to tell this story from a nurse's perspective, the double-edged sword of birth control for Black women, and her goals on writing from real life. 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 writing his Pulitzer Prize-winning books The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys, author Colson Whitehead needed a change of pace. So for his next novel, Harlem Shuffle, he decided to tackle topics near and dear to his heart: heists and New York real estate. In today's episode, Morning Edition host Noel King talks to Whitehead about his book's protagonist, a furniture retailer named Ray Carney, and what draws him to a double life of crime. 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

For people with autism, simply existing in a neurotypical world can be exhausting. Many learn early on to employ certain strategies to fit in with others, a tactic often referred to as masking. Social psychologist Devon Price, author of Unmasking Autism, spoke to Eric Garcia on Life Kit about the freedom that comes from doing the opposite: unmasking. Price says neurodivergent people can find greater self-acceptance by getting in touch with the person they were before they started trying to fit in. Price and Garcia, who both have autism, talk about how unmasking means progress for disability justice. 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 2017, Danica Roem became the first openly transgender woman in office when she was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. In her new memoir, Burn the Page, she writes about the experiences that got her to that moment, the women who inspired her, and the ways in which she reclaimed her own narrative. In an interview on All Things Considered, Roem told Juana Summers that she wrote about things other politicians might try to bury to take control of her own narrative. She says her motto "be vulnerable enough to be visible" has empowered and liberated her in her career. 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

Who made you the person you are? Today, we bring you two interviews from Black female authors who explore the impact that musicians, writers, and actresses had on their own artistic careers. First, Margo Jefferson, Pulitzer prize culture critic and celebrated memoirist, speaks to Ari Shapiro on All Things Considered about mixing memoir and criticism in her book to show both power and vulnerability. Then, Danyel Smith talks to Juana Summers on It's Been a Minute, about the history of Black women in music and how she hopes to give them the respect they deserve. 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

New Yorker magazine cartoonist Liana Fink grew up in a Jewish household; she went to synagogue, attended Hebrew day school, and observed Shabbat. But noticing a drift between her religious practice and her interest in its traditional stories put her on a path to reclaim her faith on her own terms. The result is 'Let There Be Light,' a graphic novel that retells the Book of Genesis starring a woman as God. In an interview on Weekend Edition Sunday, Fink told Scott Simon that reimagining God as a woman through her characteristic humorous style has helped her reconnect with her faith and religion. 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

According to Nina Jankowicz, a fellow at the Wilson Center known for her research on online disinformation, women face a disproportionate amount of attacks online. These range from physical insults to threats of violence, and they're forcing women – especially younger ones – to censor themselves out of fear of physical or emotional retribution. In her new book, How to Be a Woman Online, she offers practical advice for those who, lacking institutional help, have to address these matters solely on their own. 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

Janelle Monáe's Afrofuturistic pop album 'Dirty Computer' was nominated for a Grammy in 2019. Now, Monáe brings the sci-fi world into literature through her latest collection of short stories The Memory Librarian. In an interview with Ayesha Rascoe on Weekend Edition Sunday, Monáe spoke about the nightmare that sparked this idea and how it prompted her to reclaim her full identity as a Black, queer woman. In a radical approach to love and community, Monáe hopes to help people feel free to be themselves, especially those whose stories are often marginalized or erased. 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 more than a dozen novels and collections of short stories, Irish writer ColmTóibín recently published his first book of poetry. His new collection, Vinegar Hill, examines a wide range of subjects: from mortality, religion, and the current political climate, to the power of poetry in life's most important moments. To celebrate Poetry Month, Tóibín read some of his poems to Scott Simon on Weekend Edition Saturday, and said that he wanted to write without the usual adornments of poetry. In a way, he hopes the simplicity of his writing will have more expression and power. 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 is Earth Day, a good occasion as any to reflect on the emergencies the planet currently faces. First, Harriet A. Washington, author of A Terrible Thing to Waste: Environmental Racism and Its Assault on the American Mind, talks to NPR's Sarah McCammon about the long-term damage environmental issues can have on brain development—particularly for people of color. Next, the author David Wallace-Wells talks to NPR's Rachel Martin about his book The Uninhabitable Earth, which is a lot more hopeful than the title might suggest. He runs through the worst-case scenarios climate change could wreak, and why every effort we make against further global warming matters.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

Percival Everett's page-turning new detective novel is at once gruesome and screamingly funny. A racial allegory rooted in southern history, the book features two big-city special detectives with the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation who are sent to investigate a small town crime. The murders are hideous in detail, the language is rough, there are racial epithets of all kinds, and somehow the politically incendiary humor is real. Everett talks with NPR's Scott Simon about how — and why — he blended these styles. 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

Nobody does love and heartbreak like an Ephron. And Delia Ephron knows a lot about it. Her new memoir is Left on Tenth, and it details the trauma of loss and the incredible hopefulness of falling in love. And as she tells NPR's Scott Simon in this Weekend Edition interview, in the end, love is all that really matters. 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

When you think of an epic, what comes to mind? The Iliad, the Odyssey, maybe Beowulf? Well, author Honorée Fanonne Jeffers points out that epics are almost always about white men. She told former Morning Edition host Noel King that she didn't want to tell that story because that story has already been told...many times. So, Jeffers set out to write a different kind of epic about heroic Black women in The Love Songs of W.E.B Du Bois. 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

It's already pretty hard to tell what's really real when it comes to social media. But Jennifer Egan takes it one step further in her latest novel The Candy House where people can upload their actual memories, and let other people live in theirs. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Visit from the Goon Squad talked with NPR's Leila Fadel on Morning Edition about what it means to be "authentic." 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

Both interviews today are with author Douglas Stuart. The first about his Booker prize-winning Shuggie Bain; a story based on his own life growing up a queer son of a single mother struggling with addiction. He told NPR's Scott Simon that he hoped people could find comfort in this story. Next, Stuart spoke to NPR's Ari Shapiro about his new book, Young Mungo. It's a story about two boys separated by faith who end up falling in love with each other. Stuart told Shapiro that when he "write[s] about heartbreak or sadness, I'm really only doing that to make the tenderness and the love shine more."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

Bonnie Garmus' new novel Lessons In Chemistry has been getting a lot of buzz. Elizabeth Zott is a talented chemist but because it's the 1960s she faces sexism in her quest to work as a scientist. So instead she has a cooking show that is wildly popular. Garmus told NPR's Scott Simon that the character of Elizabeth lived in her head for many years before she started writing this novel.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

Former Homeland Security official and author Juliette Kayyem has a new book out that encourages preparedness. The Devil Never Sleeps makes the case that disasters are going to happen, and gives advice on how to manage them. Kayyem told NPR's Steve Inskeep that we need to redefine our definition of success after disasters occur.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

Author Jenny Tinghui Zhang is out with a new historical fiction novel, Four Treasures In The Sky. Set in the 1800s during the height of anti-Chinese sentiment, a young girl named Daiyu is kidnapped and brought to the U.S. Zhang told NPR's Ayesha Rascoe that she has seen a lot of reviews that refer to this book as 'timely' – and that she does not think that is a good thing when a book is about racism.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

April is National Poetry Month, so to celebrate we are bringing you a conversation with poet Ocean Vuong. His new collection, Time Is A Mother, is about his grief after losing family members. Vuong told Morning Edition's Rachel Martin that time is different now that he has lost his mother: "when I look at my life since she died in 2019, I only see two days: Today when she's not here, and the big, big yesterday when I had her."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

Writer Maud Newton could not ignore her family's white supremacist history, so she decided to reconcile with it in her new book Ancestor Trouble: A Reckoning and a Reconciliation. She told NPR's Ari Shapiro that she felt a responsibility to deal with her family's past. Next, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri's book Whereabouts is about a sense of place – even though we are never told where exactly the book takes place. Lahiri told NPR's Mary Louis Kelly that we can be too fixated on who we are and where we are from, so not naming where this novel is set was freeing.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

Viet Thanh Nguyen's novel The Committed follows the same unnamed character we met in his Pulitzer-winning thriller, The Sympathizer. The character is now in Paris; having become disillusioned with the revolution he was a part of when we last saw him, he hasn't given up on the idea entirely. Nguyen told NPR's Scott Simon the book is also about colonization: He "wanted it to be set in a Paris that was not the tourist Paris or the romantic Paris. [It's] a novel about French ideas and French Revolution and French colonialism, but it's also a crime thriller set in these immigrant neighborhoods."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 1970, a cyclone tore through Pakistan and the political lines that existed, leading to genocide and very nearly a nuclear war in the country. Author Scott Carney was curious about this catastrophe but also how these extreme weather events, which are only becoming more common, have political consequences. Carney told NPR's Steve Inskeep that we will almost certainly face similar problems in the future, so we should be wary of today's unstable political systems.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

Author Karen Joy Fowler thinks John Wilkes Booth craved attention – and that gotten his fair share of it. So her new novel, Booth, instead focuses on his family. Their history might surprise you, given how John turned out. His grandfather was a part of the Underground Railroad. Fowler told NPR's Scott Simon that because of all we know about Booth's family, the path that John took is one of life's great mysteries. And, no, she hasn't solved it.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

Writer John Schu and illustrator Veronica Miller Jamison are out with a new picture book that asks the question what exactly is school...for? Test prep? Socialization? This Is A School makes the case that it's a place for community and trying new things. Schu and Miller Jamison told NPR's Ailsa Chang that their own elementary school experiences were not like the ones in their book, but they hope kids today get to have diverse experiences.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 first interview is with author Peng Shepherd on her new mystery. A father and daughter, both cartographers, haven't spoken in seven years. But when the father is found dead his daughter must use their shared skill to solve the mystery of his death. Shepherd told NPR's Elissa Nadworny that obsession can be a stand-in for the person lost. Next, Anne Tyler on her new book which follows a family in Baltimore across several generations. Tyler told NPR's Mary Louise Kelly that she likes to write about families because they sort of have to love each other even when they annoy each other.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

Author Ladee Hubbard's new collection of short stories, The Last Suspicious Holdout, all take place in a nameless, majority Black suburb in the 90s and early 2000s. The stories all connect and intertwine with each other over time; telling the story of this community. Hubbard told NPR's Juana Summers that she was "interested in people that keep going, that survive hardships and find a way to keep believing and working towards things getting better" and those transformations were emblematic of the community as a whole.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