Book Reviews, Book News, and Author Interviews : NPR (2024)

Alicia Zheng/NPR

Here are the nonfiction books NPR staffers have loved so far this year

June 17, 2024 • We asked around the newsroom to find favorite nonfiction from the first half of 2024. We've got biography and memoir, health and science, history, sports and much more.

Alicia Zheng/NPR

NPR staffers pick their favorite fiction reads of 2024

June 17, 2024 • At work: hardworking news journalists. At home: omnivorous fiction readers. We asked our colleagues what they've enjoyed most this year and here are the titles they shared.

'Satchel' recalls the iconic pitcher who helped integrate Major League Baseball

June 14, 2024 • Hall of Famer Satchel Paige started his career pitching in the Negro leagues and later became a major league star. Author Larry Tye tells his story inSatchel. Originally broadcast in 2010.

William Morrow

'Horror Movie' questions the motivation behind evil acts

June 12, 2024 • Paul Tremblay's latest tale is dark, surprisingly violent, and incredibly multilayered — a superb addition to his already impressive oeuvre showing he can deliver for fans and also push the envelope.

Latoya Okuneye/Lionsgate

Queenie's second life on screen gives her more room to grow

June 11, 2024 • An irresistible new Hulu series follows the quarter-life growing pains of a lonely South Londoner.It's based on a 2019 novel by showrunner Candice Carty-Williams.

Pantheon

In 'Consent,' an author asks: 'Me too? Did I have the agency to consent?'

June 10, 2024 • Jill Ciment wrote about a relationship she had with a teacher when she was very young – that turned into a marriage – in Half a Life. Now, eight years after his death at 93, she reconsiders their relationship in light of the #MToo movement.

Ted Shaffrey/AP

What’s a book ban anyway? Depends on who you ask

June 10, 2024 • The term "book ban" is used a lot in media and elsewhere when addressing the rise in challenges to certain books being allowed in schools and public libraries. But is it more political hyperbole or a censorship alarm bell?

Europa Editions

'Forgotten on Sunday' evokes the heartwarming whimsy of the movie 'Amélie'

June 8, 2024 • Like her other books, French writer Valérie Perrin's third novel to be translated into English, centers on the life-changing magic of friendships across generations.

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‎/Slaughterhouse Media

With Maybelline Mocha and an Afro wig, white author explores 'Blackness' in a new book

June 7, 2024 • Reactions have been brutal to Canadian writer Sam Forster, who disguised himself as a Black man and traveled the U.S. to document how racism persists in society.

Fabian Di Corcia/Fabian Di Corcia

Drag queen Kyne Santos explores how math is 'beautiful' in new book 'Math in Drag'

June 7, 2024 • Kyne Santos was a student at the University of Waterloo when she began her math and her drag careers. She compares her double life to Hannah Montana, doing math equations at school by day and drag at night. You may already know Kyne from TikTok, where she makes educational videos about math, science, history and drag. And now, in her new book Math in Drag, Kyne explores the connections between math and drag: How both can be creative, beautiful and most of all, fun.

Tin House Books

In 'Fire Exit,' a father grapples with connection and the meaning of belonging

June 6, 2024 • Morgan Talty's debut novel is a touching narrative about family in which the past and present are constantly on the page as we follow a man's life, while also entertaining what that life could have been.

Eoneren/Getty Images/E+

7 surprising facts about dreams -- why we have them and what they mean

June 2, 2024 • Dreaming is often misunderstood. But in a new book, a neuroscientist argues that it’s one of the most vital functions of the human brain, and just about anyone can tap into dreams’ insights.

For 'Such Kindness' novelist Andre Dubus III, chronic pain is a fact of life

May 31, 2024 • Dubus talks about the injuries he faced as a carpenter and his relationship with his dad. His a new collection of personal essays is Ghost Dogs: On Killers and Kin. Originally broadcast in 2023.

Andrew Dias Nobreafp via Getty Images; Thomas Coexafp via Getty Images; Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy./.

What's the recipe for fame? For one, you need more than talent

May 29, 2024 • Why is the Mona Lisa the most famous painting in the world? Why are The Beatles, well, The Beatles? Behavioral economist Cass Sunstein explores the alchemy of fame.

Illustrations © 2024 by Brian Cronin/Rocky Pond Books

When Baby Sloth tumbles out of a tree, Mama Sloth comes for him — s l o w l y

May 25, 2024 • Did you know on average a sloth will fall out of a tree once a week for its entire life? It's true — and the inspiration for Brian Cronin and Doreen Cronin's new children's book, Mama in the Moon.

JGI/Daniel Grill/Getty Images

What’s better for the climate: A paper book, or an e-reader?

May 25, 2024 • Books take a lot of resources to make. Digital readers do, too. What's the more sustainable option? The answer isn't straightforward.

Courtesy Caleb Carr

Caleb Carr, author of 'The Alienist', dies at 68

May 24, 2024 • The New York-based author's books explored the origins of violence.

Sourcebooks

'The Last Murder at the End of the World' is a story of survival and memory

May 24, 2024 • Stuart Turton’s bizarre whodunit also works as a science fiction allegory full of mystery that contemplates the end of the world and what it means to be human.

St. Martin's Press

'Rednecks' chronicles the largest labor uprising in American history

May 23, 2024 • Taylor Brown's Rednecks is a superb historical drama full of violence and larger-than-life characters that chronicles the events of leading to the Battle of Blair Mountain.

Ashley Lima/Hardie Grant

Palestinian chef Fadi Kattan offers a tour of Bethlehem in his new cookbook

May 23, 2024 • Bethlehem: A Celebration of Palestinian Food is a love letter to Kattan's boyhood home — and the scents and flavors that made it a special place to learn how to cook.

One World

What's it like to live in a vacation spot when tourists leave? 'Wait' offers a window

May 22, 2024 • Set during a uniquely stressful summer for one Nantucket family, Gabriella Burnham's second novel highlights the strong bonds between a mom and her daughters.