NPR Books Podcast
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This podcast, published by National Public Radio, consists of book reviews, news and author interviews - for people who love to read...
| Title | Podcast Description | Author/Reader | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr. Seuss, Reads For Your Inner Geek, 'Predatory' Amazon... | 1) It's Not Too Late To Learn Music; 2) Don't Fly To North Pole In A Balloon; 3) Three Reads For Your Inner Geek; 4) A 'Predatory' Amazon; 5) Taft 2012': Presidential Time Warp; 6) Dr. Seuss: 'On Mulberry Street'; 7) A Ball For 'Daisy' The Dog. | National Public Radio | 00:34:55 |
| Hell-Raising Heroines, Diaries Of New Yorkers, more | 1) Imprisoned In A Mistaken Identity, 2) Growing Up Muslim And Midwestern, 3) Hell-Raising Heroines, 4) New York Through The Ages, 5) Left-Handedness: No Longer Suspect, 6) Three Tales Of A Terrifying Future | National Public Radio | 00:38:36 |
| Downton Abbey, Bill Cosby, True Crime Comics, more | 1) 'Into The Silence' Scales Everest, 2) A Gritty, California Classic, 3) 3 Comics Based On Real Crimes, 4) Bill Cosby - Silent Night, 5) A New 'Downton' Season, 7) 2011's Best Science Fiction. | National Public Radio | 00:22:16 |
| Sherlock Holmes, William F. Buckley and more | 1) The Popularity Of Sherlock Holmes 2) "The Dead Witness": Victorian Crime Fiction 3) "Breadcrumbs": A Wintry Tale 4) The Chitlin' Circuit 5) William F. Buckley | National Public Radio | 00:45:43 |
| 'Man Seeks God,' 'Salvage The Bones' and more | 1) 'Man Seeks God,' Finds Wayne Of Staten Island 2) 'Pemberley:' James Picks Up Where Austen Left Off 3) Short, Sweet Status Updates 4) 'Salvage The Bones:' Family's Story Of Survival 5) The Man Behind U.S. Cold War Policy | National Public Radio | 00:38:36 |
| Hedy Lamarr, Death Comes to Pemberley, more | 1) Hedy Lamarr: 'Most Beautiful Woman' By Day, Inventor By Night; 2) 'Pride And Prejudice' Meets 'Clue' At 'Pemberley'; 3) 'Conviction' To Fixing Government; 4)Micro' Picks Up Where Michael Crichton Left Off; 5) Kids' Book Club Takes 'Tollbooth' To Lands Beyond | National Public Radio | 00:37:48 |
| Kurt Vonnegut, Self-Styled Superheroes, Cookbooks... | 1) The Real Mr. Incredible: Self-Styled 'Superheroes', 2) 2011's Best Cookbooks, Tested And Tasted, 3) Small Book, Big Story: Bronte Manuscript Discovered, 4) Kurt Vonnegut Was Not A Happy Man. 'So It Goes', 5) Parenting Advice For The 20-Something Years, 6) Speak, Memory: 'An Ending' That Uncovers The Past | National Public Radio | 00:34:18 |
| Mindy Kaling, John Hodgman, Neil Gaiman... | 1) Mindy Kaling On Diets, etc. 2) John Hodgman And Robert Siegel Consider 'All' Things, Some Dubious 3) Didion Mourns Her Daughter 4) The Funny 50: A Cavalcade Of Comic Writers 5) Kids' Book Club: A 'Graveyard' Tour | National Public Radio | 00:38:25 |
| Steve Jobs, 'Brandwashed', Jane Austen and more | 1) New Bio Quotes Jobs On God, Gates And Design; 2) Are We 'Brandwashed'?; 3)'El Narco': The Trade Driving Mexico's Drug War; 4) 'Jane Austen Made Me Do It' - Authors Claim; 5) Israel's Oz On 'Village Life' | National Public Radio | 00:36:48 |
| Zombie Apocalypse, Body Snatchers, the Real 'Sybil' | 1) The Real 'Sybil' 2) 'Estrella's' Star Power 3) Income Disparity And The 'Price Of Civilization' 4) The Sad Lesson Of 'Body Snatchers' 5) Whitehead's 'Zone' 6) 'Why Read Moby-Dick?' 7) 'The Breakfast Club' Meets Hell In 'Damned' | National Public Radio | 00:44:08 |
| Catch-22, Paula Deen, Harry Belafonte and more | 1) 'Catch-22' Turns 50, 2) Drunk On Words: Literary Escape From Adolescence, 3) 'Lost Memory Of Skin' Goes Where Most Fiction Won't, 4) Deen Does 'Southern' Fare, 5) Harry Belafonte, 6) Quest For The Holy Doughnut | National Public Radio | 00:40:21 |
| Michael Lewis Returns with 'Boomerang', Justice Stevens and more | 1) Eugenides Spins A Modern 'Marriage Plot' 2) Novel Chronicles A California Dream Divided 3) Stevens Chronicles 'Five Chiefs' Of The Supreme Court; 4) In 'Boomerang,' Cheap Credit Exposes Nations' Flaws; 5) The Old Man And The Boat: Hemingway On The Pilar | National Public Radio | 00:32:22 |
| Lincoln, Rin Tin Tin, A Comic Take On History, more | 1) 'Heart And Soul': An African-American History 2) Bill O'Reilly: 'Abraham Lincoln Was Our Best Leader' 3) 'Hark!': From DNA To JFK, A Comic Take On History 4) Rin Tin Tin: From Battlefield To Hollywood, A Story Of Friendship 5) 'Book Of CIA Humor' Declassifies Top-Secret Jokes | National Public Radio | 00:35:50 |
| Roger Ebert, Shel Silverstein | 1) Shel Silverstein's Poems Live On, 2) Lucretius, Man Of Modern Mystery, 3) Roger Ebert: A Critic Reflects On Life, 4) In Taseer's 'Noon', 5) America's 'Quest' For Energy 6) Ideas That Rooted The Renaissance | National Public Radio | 00:41:12 |
| Roger Ebert, Night Circus, Wonderstruck | 1) Ebert: A 'Life' Still Being Lived, And Fully; 2) 'Night Circus' Comes To Town; 3) Patricia Marx Tells A Tale Of Sweet, Unbalanced Love; 4) 'Wonderstruck': A Novel Approach To Picture Books | National Public Radio | 00:25:33 |
| Thomas Friedman, Young Adult Lit for The Whiz Kid | 1) A Libyan Son Mourns His Father's 'Disappearance'; 2) Young Adult Lit For The Whiz Kid; 3) Thomas Friedman; 4) Know This Headline's Font? | National Public Radio | 00:29:34 |
| Athens Cop Searching For Modern Greece, Moscow | 1) Cop On The Trail Of Modern Greece; 2) Immerse Yourself In An Innocent Love; 3) In A Time Of Fear; 4) Appreciating Adolescence; 5) What Makes A School Good; 6) Book Review: 'The Lotus Singers' | National Public Radio | 00:28:16 |
| Revolutionizing Modern Retail, Travel Secrets, more | 1) 'The Great A&P': Revolutionizing Modern Retail 2) A Frequent Flier Shares His Travel Secrets 3) 'Madness' And Leadership, Hand In Hand 4) Master Hacker Kevin Mitnick Shares His 'Addiction' | National Public Radio | 00:23:22 |
| Cocktail Hour, Antagonizing Protagonists, and more | 1) Fuller's 'Cocktail Hour': This Memoir's For Mom 2) Teens, Sex And Tech Tear A 'Beautiful Life' Apart 3) The Fraught, Fictional Road To A Sept. 11 Memorial 4) Antagonizing Protagonists You'll Love To Hate 5) Searching For Black Utopia In Antarctica | National Public Radio | 00:33:38 |
| New Teen Novels, Terry Pratchett, Vampires, Werewolves, more | 1) Hooray For YA: Teen Novels For Readers Of All Ages 2) Discworld's Terry Pratchett On Death And Deciding 3) A Delightful Portrait Of The Screwball 'Family Fang' 4) Wall Street Meets Classic Caper In 'Thick As Thieves' 5) The Late L.A. Banks: Beyond Vampires, Werewolves | National Public Radio | 00:31:13 |
| Crime In Vermont, D.C., Seattle, 'Starman' David Bowie, more | 1) Brattleboro: Vermont's Hotbed Of Fictional Crime 2) Taking On Crime In A Racially Divided D.C. 3) Against All Odds: 3 Triumphant Tales Of Survival 4) A Former Cop Sets His Crime Scene In Seattle 5) 'Starman' Tracks David Bowie's Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes 6) Writer's Mystery Endures, Long After He Vanished | National Public Radio | 00:42:54 |
| Juan Williams, Scandinavia's Dark Side, Broetry, more | 1) In 'Muzzled,' Williams Tells His Side Of The Story 2) Crime Writers Expose Scandinavia's Dark Side 3) Rescue Your Reading With 3 Superhero Sagas 4) 'Stone Arabia': The Cost Of Artistic Commitment 5) Yo, Bro! Belly Up To The Bar And Recite 'Broetry' 6) 'Nothing Daunted': From Society Women To Pioneers | National Public Radio | 00:31:46 |
| Gone With The Wind, Diana's Untold Story, Josh Ritter, more | 1) Margaret Mitchell's 'Gone With The Wind' Turns 75 2) 'Untold Story': What If Princess Diana Had Survived? 3) Josh Ritter: First A Songwriter, Now A Novelist 4) Isolation Proves Dangerous On 'Rat Island' 5) A Harsh Tale Of War, But An Unforgettable Read | National Public Radio | 00:33:58 |
| Simon Pegg, Terrific Summer Reads, Demon Fish and more | 1) Nancy Pearl Presents 10 Terrific Summer Reads 2) Love, Betrayal, Humiliation: A Coming-Of-Age Affair 3) Hidden Gems And 'Killer Stuff': A Flea Market How-To 4) Sympathy For The 'Demon Fish' 5) 'Nerd Do Well': Simon Pegg On 'Becoming A Big Kid' 6) 'State Of Wonder' Deftly Twists, Turns Off The Map | National Public Radio | 00:34:52 |
| Tweeting 'Ulysses,' 'Guilty Passion,' & more... | 1) Asia - Perils Of Aborting Girls 2) Tweeting 'Ulysses': A Twist On Bloomsday 3) 'Guilty Passion' Leads A Housewife To Homicide 4) For A Navy SEAL, Balance Between 'Heart' And 'Fist' 5) A Century Of Atrocities, Through A Psychiatrist's Eyes | National Public Radio | 00:32:59 |
| Summer Cookbooks, Pop Nostalgia, and more | 1) 2011's Simple, Summery Cookbooks 2) The Sweet Taste Of 'Pop' Culture Nostalgia 3) Ann Patchett Journeys To The Amazon With 'Wonder' 4) Drug Smugglers' Party Days - A Prelude To War 5) 'Farishta': Afghan Fiction From The Foreign Service | National Public Radio | 00:31:28 |
| Summer Reads, Vonnegut, Ellen Willis and more | 1) Transporting You Back In Time 2) Father Finishes Book After Son's Death 3) Kurt Vonnegut: Still Speaking To The War Weary 4) Ellen Willis Wrote About Rock 5) Spanish-Language Books 6) Huxley's Children's Tale 7) Revisiting Vietnam | National Public Radio | 00:39:21 |
| Dick Van Dyke, Little House Revisited, E-Books and more | 1) Dick Van Dyke Talks About His 'Lucky Life' And What Stan Laurel Left Him 2) An Author Returns To 'The Little House' 3) Publishers Navigate The 'Open Road' Of E-Books 4) 'Big Girl Small': Humiliation, High School Style 5) A Celebration Of 'Vinyl' And Pop Critic Ellen Willis | National Public Radio | 00:29:24 |
| Blood, Bones & Butter, Damn You, Autocorrect! | 1) Three Books To Rescue Nordic Lit From The Dark Side 2) The 'Blood, Bones & Butter' Of Restaurant Work 3) Accidentally, 'Autocorrect' Makes Good Texts Go Bad 4) Ian Rankin Switches To A New Hero In 'Complaints' | National Public Radio | 00:24:18 |
| Swamplandia, Shakespeare, and an Army of Princesses | 1) A Lack Of Rigor Leaves Students 'Adrift' In College 2) Saving Our Daughters From An Army Of Princesses 3) Collecting Garbage, Memories On Chicago's Streets 4) 'Weird Sisters' Quote Shakespeare To Communicate 5) Wrestling Gators And Language In 'Swamplandia! | National Public Radio | 00:31:47 |
| Bobby Fischer, Scorecasting, Harlem and more | 1) The Troubled Genius of Bobby Fischer 2) How Bad Weather Built The 'World's Biggest Markets' 3) 'Scorecasting': Saying Sports Cliches Ain't So 4) Dreams And Reality Forever Intertwined In 'Harlem' | National Public Radio | 00:39:50 |
| New Salinger Biography, A Presidential Novel, Why Leaders Lie, more | 1) Digging For Pearls In The New Salinger Biography 2) 'A Presidential Novel' Hidden Behind Anonymity 3) Reagan's Son Sees His 'Father At 100' 4) Math Isn't So Scary With Help From These Monsters 5) 'Why Leaders Lie,' Whether You Believe It Or Not | National Public Radio | 00:29:33 |
| Tina Brown's Must-Reads, Modern Fables, Books For Motorcycle Trips | 1) Tina Brown's Must-Reads: On Choice And Control 2) Three Modern Fables To Capture Your Imagination 3) 'American Rising': When Slaves Attacked New Orleans 4) Son Of Jim And Tammy Faye Finds His Own 'Grace' 5) Three Books For Your Motorcycle Road Trip | National Public Radio | 00:30:54 |
| William Trevor, Last Exit To Brooklyn, Alan Lomax, more | 1) William Trevor: A Short-Story Master's Life Work 2) Tiger Mothers: Raising Children The Chinese Way 3) In 'Last Exit,' Brooklyn Is A Character, Too 4) As The Facts Win Out, Vaccinations May, Too 5) Alan Lomax: Recording The World | National Public Radio | 00:34:33 |
| Net Delusion, Figment Of My Imagination, India Calling, and more | 1) Tragic Loss And Love Affirmed In 'An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination' 2) In The 'Net Delusion,' Internet Serves Oppressors 3) 'India Calling': The New 'Land Of Opportunity'? 4) 'If I Stay': Trapped Between Life And Death 5) The Enduring Allure Of Chanel No. 5 | National Public Radio | 00:34:55 |
| Nostalgia Books, A.G. Gatson, Robert Morris and more | 1) Elegantly Old School: Nostalgia Books On The Rise 2) 'Bird Songs Bible' Tweets, The Old-Fashioned Way 3) A.G. Gaston: From Log Cabin To Funeral Home Mogul 4) Robert Morris: America's Founding Capitalist 5) Barbara Newhall Follett, Disappearing Child Genius | National Public Radio | 00:32:28 |
| Maya Angelou's Cookbook, The Future Of Bookstores and more | 1) End Of Days For Bookstores? Not If They Can Help It 2) Kids' Books Make The Leap Off The Page And Online 3) Killer Confesses To Pluto's Murder In Tell-All Book 4) Maya Angelou's Cooking Advice: Ignore The Rules 5) App-etizing: Cookbooks And Recipes Go Mobile | National Public Radio | 00:37:43 |
| Maureen Corrigan's Favorite Book's of 2010 and Guilty Reads | 1) Howard Jacobson: Finding Humor In Jewish Nerves 2) On Banks of Seine, Niche Booksellers Fight to Survive 3) Fresh Delivery: Indie Booksellers Pick 2010 Favorites 4) Maureen Corrigan's Favorite Books of 2010 5) Sex, Drugs, and 'Life' - The Year's Best Guilty Reads | National Public Radio | 00:27:23 |
| 'Titanic Thompson,' 'Unbroken' and more | 1) Gambling Legend Wasn't Always a Winner 2) The 'Unbroken' Spirit of an Ordinary Hero 3) Twain's Summer Home: Visiting Elmira, N.Y 4) How to 'Thrive': Dan Buettner's Secrets of Happiness | National Public Radio | 00:24:43 |
| Mark Twain, Franklin & Eleanor, Jane Austen and more | 1) 'The Autobiography Of Mark Twain': Satire To Spare 2) 'Franklin And Eleanor': A Marriage Ahead Of Its Time 3) 'The Dirty Life': From City Girl To Hog Butcher 4) Was Jane Austen Edited? Does It Matter? 5) 'Revival' Author Outlines White House Identity Crisis | National Public Radio | 00:35:42 |
| Cleopatra, Dinaw Mengestu, Judd Apatow, more | 1) The True Love Story Of Lady Antonia And Her Harold 2) Cleopatra: 'A Life' Misunderstood 3) 'Vast Ocean Of Stories' In Biography Of The Atlantic 4) From Dinaw Mengestu, A 'How To' With Few Answers 5) From Funnyman Judd Apatow, A Few Solid Laughs | National Public Radio | 00:36:20 |
| All Facts Considered, Jane Austen, Gary Trudeau, more | 1) 'All Facts Considered' By NPR's Longtime Librarian 2) Manuscripts Suggest Jane Austen Had A Great Editor 3) Trudeau Reflects On Four Decades Of 'Doonesbury' 4) Sci-Fi's Cory Doctorow Separates Self-Publishing Fact From Fiction 5) 'Tamil Pulp': Sexy, Gory Fiction, Now In English | National Public Radio | 00:27:57 |
| Amish Romance, Israeli Identity, more | 1) Garry Wills' Adventures As An 'Outsider Looking In' 2) Amish Romance: More Faith And No Sex In This Slice Of Christian Fiction 3) 'To The End' A Solemn Exploration Of Israeli Identity 4) 'Heaven Bears' Author Finds Beauty In 'The Air' | National Public Radio | 00:26:13 |
| Condoleezza Rice, Enlightened Panda and more | 1) Condoleezza Rice Details Her Civil Rights Roots 2) Enlightened Panda Imparts Wisdom In 'Zen Ghosts' 3) 'Finkler' Questions The Meaning Of Jewishness 4) Simplicity Served In 'One-Dish' Dinnertime Wonders. | National Public Radio | 00:26:14 |
| David Sedaris, National Lampoon, Per Petterson | 1) David Sedaris, Anatomizing Us In 'Squirrel' Tales 2) Brilliant To Dead: The High Art Of 'Lampoon' Satire 3) 'Geometry Of Pasta': Full Of All Shapes And Sauces 4) Per Petterson: A Family Approach To Fiction | National Public Radio | 00:27:15 |
| Man-Eating Tigers, The Runaways, more | 1) The True Story Of A Man-Eating Tiger's 'Vengeance' 2) This Graphic Novel Will Turn You Into A Teen Again 3) History Through A Supreme Court Justice's Lens 4) Star-Crossed Lovers Get A Makeover In 'Juliet | National Public Radio | 00:25:38 |
| Investigating The Real Charlie Chan, Zardoz and more | 1) Investigating The Real Detective Charlie Chan 2) Gary Shteyngart's Nerd Passion For 'Zardoz' 3) Children's Book Finds Hope In Haiti's Rubble 4) 'Phantom Tollbooth' Creators Reunited By An 'Ogre' | National Public Radio | 00:27:35 |
| Scott Simon's Adoption Story, David Mitchell, more | 1) 'Meant For Each Other': Scott Simon's Adoption Story 2) Moving 'Beyond Katrina' Through Poetry And Prose 3) How David Mitchell Brings Historical Fiction To Life 4) An Alphabetical Urban Tour Teaches 'Barrio ABCs'| National Public Radio | 00:24:26 | |
| Escaping Summer Heat In Bookmobile, Nordic Lit, more | 1) Sun Valley Sheriff Finds Murder On The Mountain; 2) Larsson's Just The Tip Of The Nordic Literary Iceberg; 3) Escaping The Summer Heat In A Bookmobile; 4) Ties That Bind: A Bittersweet Tale Of Friendship. | National Public Radio | 00:26:21 |
| Periodic Table, Hamlet's BlackBerry | 1) Fun And Intrigue With The Periodic Table 2) Sir Thomas Lipton And His Empire Of Tea 3) 'Hamlet's BlackBerry': To Surf Or Not To Surf? 4) 'Cookbook Collector': Updated Austen Hits The Spot. | National Public Radio | 00:29:43 |
| Penicillin, CIA Insiders, Humorist Sloan Crosley | 1) Former CIA Insider Pens First Novel 'Intelligence' 2) Gerritsen On Follett's Repellent, Fascinating 'Needle' 3) Humorist Sloane Crosley's Got Your 'Number' 4) 'McKay's Bees' Alive With Wit And Wonder 5) Penicillin Comes Of Age In 'A Fierce Radiance' | National Public Radio | 00:27:23 |
| 'To Kill A Mockingbird' At 50, Bookless Libraries | 1) 50 Years On, 'Mockingbird' Still Sings America's Song 2) Stanford Ushers In The Age Of Bookless Libraries 3) A 'Thousand Autumns' In The Land Of The Rising Sun 4) 'The Madonnas Of Echo Park': Residents, Reinvented | National Public Radio | 00:24:23 |
| Cobain's Journals, 'Double Take' Author | 1) 'Double Take' Author: Skiing Hard And Staring Back 2) Cobain's Journals: The Writer Behind The Rock Star 3) 'Pearl Buck In China': A Child Across The Good Earth | National Public Radio | 00:18:36 |
| Summer Books, India's Faiths, Donner Party | 1) Summer Books That Make The Critics' Cut 2) India's Diverse Faiths, As Told Through 'Nine Lives' 3) Tamsen Donner: Pioneer Dame Of The Donner Party | National Public Radio | 00:19:35 |
| Summertime Escapes, Haunted River, M.J. Rose | 1) Fiction, Long And Short, For Summertime Escapes 2) Haunted 'River' Waters Flow Below A Grand Hotel 3) On Tour With Best-Selling Suspense Writer M.J. Rose | National Public Radio | 00:21:27 |
| Facebook, Vampires, Native American Folk Tales | 1) Native American Folk Tales Take A Graphic Turn 2) Vampire Stories: Two New Twists On An Old Nemesis 3) Author Explores The Evolution Of Facebook | National Public Radio | 00:17:50 |
| 15 Summer Reads, Books for World Cup Fever, and more | 1) Booksellers' Picks: 15 Soaring Summer Reads 2) 'The Shallows': This Is Your Brain Online 3) In 'Believers', Courage And Cowardice Of Conviction 4) Three Books To Ignite Your World Cup Fever | National Public Radio | 00:21:40 |
| Rush Limbaugh, Emily Dickinson, more | 1) Zev Chafets talks about his new biography of conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, 'An Army of One.' 2) The New York Botanical Garden has an exhibit that re-creates the gardens of poet Emily Dickinson. 3) Maureen Corrigan reviews 'Private Life,' by Jane Smiley. | National Public Radio | 00:19:25 |
| Bottled Water, Real Life Terror, Roddy Doyle | 1) Mohsin Hamid found parallels between his novel and the life of the suspected Times Square bomber. 2) Freshwater expert Peter Gleick defines bottled water - and why we drink it - in the book 'Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water.' 3) 'The Dead Republic,' the final chapter of Roddy Doyle's Henry Smart trilogy, finds Henry reflecting on his life. | National Public Radio | 00:21:45 |
| Ian McEwan, Walter Mosley and Nella Larsen | 1) The main character in Ian McEwan's 'Sola' is a brilliant climate scientist whose work masks a lack of morality. 2) Walter Mosley's latest book 'Known To Evil,' explores heroes and redemption. 3) Heidi Durrow recommends Nella Larsen's 1929 novel about two light-skinned, African-American women. | National Public Radio | 00:21:35 |
| Tony Judt on Lou Gehrig's Disease, Hellraisers and more. | 1) Tony Judt talks about life with ALS, which he calls a "progressive imprisonment without parole." 2) Sarah Rose's 'For All the Tea in China' tells how England hijacked tea production in the 19th century. 3) In 'Hellraisers,' biographer Robert Sellers tells tales from the intersection of talent and wretched excess. | National Public Radio | 00:23:50 |
| Abraham Lincoln Vampire Slayer, 3 Minute Fiction, more | 1) Abraham Lincoln Reborn As A Vampire Slayer 2) Three-Minute Fiction Round Three: The Winner Is ... 3) In New Serial Thriller, Everyone's Hands Are Bloody. | National Public Radio | 00:20:14 |
| Poisoner's Handbook, Desmond Tutu | 1) Picking The Poison: The Story Of Forensic Medicine; 2) Desmond Tutu, Insisting We Are 'Made For Goodness;' 3) One Scientist's Prescription: Grow Your Own Drugs | National Public Radio | 00:23:41 |
| Alice In Wonderland, Lucille Clifton and more | 1) Heidi Durrow's critically acclaimed debut novel 'The Girl Who Fell From The Sky' explores biracial identity in young adulthood; 2) 'Alice I Have Been' is Melanie Benjamin's story of the real girl behind 'Alice In Wonderland;' 3) Susan Jane Gilman offers suggestions for six great books that won't embarrass you in airports; 4) The poet Lucille Clifton addressed tough issues of race and sexism. | National Public Radio | 00:21:43 |
| 'Union Atlantic,' 'The Whale' and more | 1) Investigation of 19 gruesome deaths takes readers from a small Swedish village to China to Africa in Henning Mankell's latest book, 'The Man from Beijing;' 2) Philip Hoare's book, 'The Whale,' is an exploration of the role that the great animals have played in human history, from Moby-Dick to lamp oil; 3) A first novel 'Union Atlantic,' by much-honored short-story writer Adam Haslett, imagines a financial system on the verge of collapse. Yet he wrote it before the current financial crisis. | National Public Radio | 00:22:18 |
| Gladiators and Do-Good Vampires | 1) The autobiography of Dan Clark is his wince-inducing story on doing anything to get big. 2) Immortality is one thing. But for NPR's Margot Adler, it's modern vampire 'morality' that appeals. 3) The main character in Joshua Ferris' second novel, 'The Unnamed,' can't stop walking. 4) Maaza Mengiste tells the story of the 1974 revolution that ended a 3,000-year-old monarchy. | National Public Radio | 00:25:33 |
| Don DeLillo, Louise Erdrich and More | 1) DeLillo's Man In The Desert, Up Against The Wall 2) From Erdrich, A Page Turner With Deceit At Heart 3) Three Americans In London, Fighting For War 4) Sci-Fi Novels To Keep You Awake At Night | National Public Radio | 00:23:14 |
| Shedding Light on A-Bomb Decision; 'Game Change' and more | 1) 'Hell To Pay' Sheds New Light On A-Bomb Decision 2) 'Game Change' Authors Say No Need To Name Sources 3) Are We Overlooking The Black Power Behind Obama? 4) Two Authors, One Legendary New England Connection | National Public Radio | 00:23:02 |
| Padgett Powell, Atul Gawande and Tracy Chevalier | 1) The author Padgett Powell's new book, 'The Interrogative Mood,' is composed entirely of questions. 2) Atul Gawande's new book about avoiding medical complications is called 'The Checklist Manifesto.' 3) Her new novel, 'Remarkable Creatures,' is about Mary Anning, a 19th century fossil hunter. | National Public Radio | 00:20:48 |
| Charle Dickens, Toni Morrison and more | 1) Charles Dickens' manuscript of 'A Christmas Carol' is marked up with changes he made when performing his famous story. 2) A few years before her death, Barack Obama's mother completed her doctoral dissertation. Nearly two decades later, S. Ann Dunham's fieldwork has been published - a fulfillment of her dream, courtesy of her daughter. 3) Alan Cheuse reviews 'Nadirs' by the 2009 literature prize winner, Herta Mueller. 4) Author Toni Morrison discusses 'Black Book,' a scrapbook that captures the African-American experience. | National Public Radio | 00:20:09 |
| Holday Reading Picks, Raymond Carver and Walter Kirn | 1) Reading recommendations from people who know - booksellers from around the nation. 2) Author Susan Jane Gilman reviews the new biography "Raymond Carver: A Writer's Life" 3) The novelist Walter Kirn discusses airlines, dollar signs, and his book Up In The Air. | National Public Radio | 00:21:23 |
| Story Specialists, Mad Scientists and News Satirists | 1) Lynn Neary speaks with two doctors who are also fiction writers, Abraham Verghese and Terrence Holt, about the link between medicine and writing literature. 2) The work of an agency known as DARPA is the topic of a new book by tech writer Michael Belfiore. 3) Commentator Rod Dreher says Sarah Palin's new book sells her personality, not a political platform. 4) America's Finest News Source 'The Onion' has released a new book celebrating its 21 years of satire (with a wink). | National Public Radio | 00:23:24 |
| The Scariest American Stories And Guilty Pleasure Foods | 1) Food writer Nigella Lawson says one of the best ways to be warm and comfortable during winter is to indulge in rich, tasty foods that some might call guilty pleasures. 2) In his new book, 'Eating Animals,' Jonathan Safran Foer grapples with the morality of meat. 3) Author Peter Straub spent two years researching the best American stories. | National Public Radio | 00:20:02 |
| Wimpy Kids, Walmart and the Best British Writer You've Never Heard Of | 1) Jeff Kinney's book series centers on a smart-mouthed sad sack who just can't seem to win. 2) Walmart, Amazon and Target are cutting the price of some best-selling books. 3) 'What to Expect When You're Expected' is a tongue-in-cheek take on life in utero. 4) Novelist Jane Gardam may be the best British writer you've never heard of. | National Public Radio | 00:20:04 |
| NPR Books: October 19, 2009 | 1) Amy Efaw's new novel, 'After,' tells the story of a girl who tries to murder her newborn baby. 2) The Institute of Noetic Sciences president realized recently she's the heroine in Brown's new novel. 3) Jeff Kinney's latest graphic novel, 'Dog Days,' gets kids and adults laughing. | National Public Radio | 00:16:09 |
| NPR Books: October 9, 2009 | 1) Once the center of an obscenity trial, William S. Burroughs' novel 'Naked Lunch' chronicles heroin addiction. 2) Ex-Wife Of D.C. Sniper, Mildred Muhammad says the sniper wanted to kill her and divert suspicion to a crazed gunman in new memoir, 'I Was The Enemy.' 3) Dan Chaon's latest novel, 'Await Your Reply,' weaves together three separate narratives. | National Public Radio | 00:29:55 |
| NPR Books: October 1, 2009 | 1) Audrey Niffenegger, the author of 'The Time Traveler's Wife' says she's attracted to themes of death and dying. 2) The Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Richard Russo recommends four fictional takes on office life. 3) In 'Read My Pins, ' Madeleine Albright, the former secretary of state reveals how she used jewelry as a diplomatic tool. | National Public Radio | 00:19:57 |
| NPR Books: September 17, 2009 | 1) Writer John Geiger chronicles phantom presences that lead to safety in his new book, 'The Third Man Factor: Surviving the Impossible. 2) Jon Krakauer's latest book sheds new light on the death of NFL player turned soldier Pat Tillman. 3) In Dan Brown's new novel 'The Lost Symbol,' hero Robert Langdon uncovers esoteric mysteries even as he dismisses them. | National Public Radio | 00:23:20 |
| NPR Books: September 11, 2009 | 1) Susan Stamberg talks with linguist Deborah Tannen who interviewed 100 women (including her own big sisters) for her new book. 2) Lorrie Moore's new novel is a powerful tale of a young college student who becomes a nanny. 3) Both the beauty and the brutality of the country are captured in the memoir 'God Sleeps in Rwanda. | National Public Radio | 00:22:27 |
| NPR Books: September 3, 2009 | 1) 'Dying Up Here' Chronicles Golden Age Of Stand-Up 2) Doctorow's Fictional Take On Real-Life Eccentricity 3) 'Reading Rainbow' Reaches Its Final Chapter | National Public Radio | 00:20:11 |
| NPR Books: August 20, 2009 | 1) Ready to become engrossed in a good book? Try these mysteries you may have missed. 2) A new interactive novel allows readers to e-mail and telephone characters from the book. 3) Tina Brown, the Daily Beast editor talks about what you need to read on the web. | National Public Radio | 00:19:36 |
| NPR Books: August 13, 2009 | 1) Lev Grossman's new novel reads like a Harry Potter tale, but with more shades of gray. 2) Children's book author Lesley Blume recommends timeless books that both kids and parents will enjoy. 3) Fancy a cozy whodunit set in the English countryside? Don't read any of Mark Billingham's novels. | National Public Radio | 00:17:17 |
| July 30, 2009 | 1) David Balducci writes crime novels that take place in Washington, D.C.. 2) A writer for The Onion talks about his new memoir and how marrying his humor and his depression makes for an insane, dark comedy. 3) Crime writer Gabriel Cohen takes us on a tour around Brooklyn, New York pointing out sites where his characters murder and die. 4) One cookbook author says you don't need recipes as long as you know ratios. 5) Some of the best books for beach reading are the ones which tell tales about the specific beach you're sitting on. | National Public Radio | 00:32:40 |
| NPR Books: July 24, 2009 | 1) Despite the economic downturn, one kind of story is still selling better than many other forms of adult fiction. 2) In a kind of supermarket Cinderella story, a cashier in France has become a literary sensation. 3) 'Young Woman and the Sea' shows how Gertrude Ederle's fame grew, then evaporated. | National Public Radio | 00:19:15 |
| NPR Books: July 16, 2009 | 1) The murder of wildlife activist and filmmaker Joan Root was never solved, but her life and violent death is the subject of a new book, 'Wildflower: An Extraordinary Life and Untimely Death in Africa'. 2) Writer Neil Gaiman talks with Neal Conan about "Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader." | National Public Radio | 00:24:52 |
| NPR Books: July 10, 2009 | 1) Author Colin Ellard says you can train yourself to be more conscious of your surroundings. 2) Author Jag Bhalla discusses the unique turns of phrase that different cultures use. 3) In a new book, Nick Reding describes why the working class in Oelwein, Iowa, started using meth. | National Public Radio | 00:19:27 |
| NPR Books: July 2, 2009 | 1) 'Touch' tells of the conflicting accounts that arise after a girl is groped on a school bus. 2) Author Gigi Levangie Grazer talks about her new novel, 'Queen Takes King.' 3) 'The Photographer' is an unusual graphic novel that tells the story of a photojournalist's harrowing trip to Afghanistan. | National Public Radio | 00:20:49 |
| NPR Books: June 25, 2009 | 1) Retrace the strands that led to a lot of current American satire, and you end up at Harvey Kurtzman. 2) Nikita Khrushchev starred in his own travel comedy back in 1959. Peter Carlson's new book, 'K Blows Top,'documents the Communist leader's unusual tour through the United States. 3) Dean Olsher, author of 'From Square One,' weighs in on the appeal of the crossword. | National Public Radio | 00:21:21 |
| NPR Books: June 19, 2009 | 1) Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro's new novel merges vampire folklore with the very modern paranoia over pandemics. 2) Looking to cozy up with some good books? Librarian Nancy Pearl has some great suggestions. 3) A multivolume dictionary five decades in the making collects the nation's linguistic treasures. | National Public Radio | 00:20:39 |
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