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January 7, 2013 2012 was the year of the big collected volume when it came to poetry. It was intimidating, even for the most hardened poetry fans. But critic Craig Morgan Teicher says 2013 will be full of slim collections that are still smart, important and powerful.

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January 7, 2013 Harold Robbins' 1966 novel The Adventurers featured the lethal and stunning man of mystery, Dax. Author Manil Suri writes that Robbins' novel was his first glimpse into an adult world. What was your first "adult" novel? Tell us in the comments.

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January 7, 2013 On the Map author Simon Garfield speaks with NPR's Steve Inskeep about the history of maps, how they can be used as political tools, and how GPS and modern mapping applications are changing the way we see ourselves and our place in the world.

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On Morning EditionPlaylist

January 6, 2013 David Esterly's life was changed in the 1970s when he came across wood carvings done by Grinling Gibbons more than 300 years earlier. Esterly became a wood carver, and even re-created one of Gibbons' pieces that was destroyed in a fire.

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On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

January 6, 2013 Robert Ingersoll was one of the most famous people in late 19th century America, but he's almost forgotten today. His crime? Biographer Susan Jacoby says Ingersoll argued against religion in public life and said "There is nothing like reading the Bible literally to make you question it."

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On Weekend Edition SundayPlaylist

January 6, 2013 WBURThe experimental Swiss mime troupe took Broadway by storm in the 1970s. Now the masked performers are bringing their hard-to-describe characters back to the U.S. for a five-month national tour celebrating the troupe's 40th anniversary.

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On Weekend Edition SundayPlaylist

January 6, 2013 After more than 20 years, The Wheel of Time series is ending with the release of the 14th volume, A Memory of Light. NPR's Petra Mayer has read all of the books — plus the prequel — and she says that while the writing is workmanlike, the vast world that author Robert Jordan created will suck you in.

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On Weekend Edition SundayPlaylist

January 6, 2013 In Jerry Spinelli's latest book, the Hokey Pokey is much more than a children's song and dance. Hokey Pokey is the name of a magical universe where kids are in charge with no adults in sight. There are herds of bikes, endless cartoons, a cuddle station and dessert for lunch every day.

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On Weekend Edition SundayPlaylist

January 6, 2013 What attracts people to fantasy? Is it the orcs and the elves, or the rich worlds they inhabit? Author Saladin Ahmed says world-building — the craft of building a believable fictional world — provides "an almost physical sense of getting lost somewhere that isn't home, but which comes to be home."

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January 6, 2013 Resurrection, Tolstory's last and perhaps least-read novel, is also his most bleak. Author George Saunders writes that it opened his eyes to the plight of the disenfranchised — in Tolstoy's Russia and the modern world. What book opened your eyes to the suffering of others? Tell us in the comments.

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January 5, 2013 Actor Alan Cumming could watch Christopher Guest's comedy Waiting for Guffman a million times. "I feel like I could go on and on and on even about the DVD extras," he says.

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On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

January 5, 2013 Author Mark Binelli knows it isn't all great, but he still claims Detroit City Is the Place to Be. His book takes readers from decay to possibility in a new look at a city we thought we already knew so much about.

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On All Things ConsideredPlaylist