close
 

archive

Grace

Grace

A Memoir

by Grace Coddington

Hardcover, 333 pages, Random House Inc, $35, published November 20 2012 | purchase
close

Purchase Featured Books

  • Grace
  • A Memoir
  • Grace Coddington

An influential creative director of American Vogue magazine traces her decades in the fashion industry, recounting her early years as a model under the tutelage of Norman Parkinson, unexpected rise to fame and associations with numerous fashion luminaries, including a young Wintour.

News and Reviews
Great Expectations

Great Expectations

The Sons And Daughters Of Charles Dickens

by Robert Gottlieb

Hardcover, 256 pages, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $25, published November 27 2012 | purchase
close

Purchase Featured Books

  • Great Expectations
  • The Sons And Daughters Of Charles Dickens
  • Robert Gottlieb

Opening a unique window to Victorian England, this thought-provoking study of the author as a father and as a man highlights the strange and surprising stories of each of Dickens' 10 children — from Kate, who became a successful artist, to Frank, who died after serving in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

News and Reviews
Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

How To Cook It Well

by Sam Sifton and Sarah C. Rutherford

Hardcover, 133 pages, Random House Inc, $18, published October 23 2012 | purchase
close

Purchase Featured Books

  • Thanksgiving
  • How To Cook It Well
  • Sam Sifton and Sarah C. Rutherford

A former New York Times restaurant critic and Thanksgiving Help Line contact presents an accessible and authoritative guide to cooking and surviving a stylish Thanksgiving dinner, drawing on his extensive experiences to counsel home cooks on everything from different ways to prepare a turkey and selecting accompanying wines to managing difficult relatives and timing side dishes.

News and Reviews
The First Four Notes

The First Four Notes

Beethoven's Fifth And The Human Imagination

by Matthew Guerrieri

Hardcover, 304 pages, Knopf, $26.95, published November 13 2012 | purchase
close

Purchase Featured Books

  • The First Four Notes
  • Beethoven's Fifth And The Human Imagination
  • Matthew Guerrieri

A music critic presents a revelatory work of music history that analyzes Beethoven's iconic symphony, assessing the composer's influences and legacy while challenging popular beliefs that Beethoven was deaf at the time of the Fifth's composition.

News and Reviews
Margaret Sanger

Margaret Sanger

A Life of Passion

by Jean H. Baker

Paperback, 349 pages, Hill and Wang, $17, published November 13 2012 | purchase
close

Purchase Featured Books

  • Margaret Sanger
  • A Life of Passion
  • Jean H. Baker

A portrait of a forefront leader in the birth control movement by the author of Sisters seeks to restore her position in feminist history in an account that includes coverage of such topics as the nursing experiences that inspired her beliefs, her pioneering of a first family-planning clinic and her relationships with such figures as John Reed, Mabel Dodge and H. G. Wells.

News and Reviews
Drop Dead Healthy

Drop Dead Healthy

One Man's Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection

by A.J. Jacobs

Paperback, 402 pages, Simon & Schuster, $16, published November 13 2012 | purchase
close

Purchase Featured Books

  • Drop Dead Healthy
  • One Man's Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection
  • A.J. Jacobs

In Drop Dead Healthy, author A.J. Jacobs attempts to become the healthiest man in the world. Structuring his life around a deluge of diets and fitness regimens that often contradict each other, he experiences the logical conclusion of our culture's health obsessions. NPR Bestseller

News and Reviews
I Didn't Ask To Be Born

I Didn't Ask to Be Born

But I'm Glad I Was

by Bill Cosby

Paperback, 195 pages, Center Street, $14.99, published November 20 2012 | purchase
close

Purchase Featured Books

  • I Didn't Ask to Be Born
  • But I'm Glad I Was
  • Bill Cosby

The legendary entertainer and funnyman provides insights on life including how to handle a teenage daughter who refuses to clean her room and a discussion of his antique Bible collection.

News and Reviews
Zona

Zona

A Book About a Film About a Journey to a Room

by Geoff Dyer

Paperback, 228 pages, Vintage, $15, published November 13 2012 | purchase
close

Purchase Featured Books

  • Zona
  • A Book About a Film About a Journey to a Room
  • Geoff Dyer

A wide-ranging analysis of Andrei Tarkovsky's Stalker describes the author's 30-year fascination with the film and evaluates how it reflects both European cinema and the deepest desires of the human psyche.

News and Reviews
The Color of Christ

The Color of Christ

The Son of God & The Saga of Race in America

by Paul Harvey and Edward J. Blum

Hardcover, 340 pages, Univ of North Carolina Pr, $32.50, published September 21 2012 | purchase
close

Purchase Featured Books

  • The Color of Christ
  • The Son of God & The Saga of Race in America
  • Paul Harvey and Edward J. Blum

The Color of Christ explores the dynamic nature of Christ worship in the U.S., addressing how his image has been visually remade to champion the causes of white supremacists and civil rights leaders alike, and why the idea of a white Christ has endured.

News and Reviews
Help, Thanks, Wow

Help, Thanks, Wow

The Three Essential Survival Prayers

by Anne Lamott

Hardcover, 102 pages, Penguin Group USA, $17.95, published November 13 2012 | purchase
close

Purchase Featured Books

  • Help, Thanks, Wow
  • The Three Essential Survival Prayers
  • Anne Lamott

Help, Thanks, Wow describes the three simple prayers — asking for assistance from a higher power, expressing gratitude and feeling awe — that help to deal with the hardships of daily life.NPR Bestseller

News and Reviews
A Man of Misconceptions

A Man of Misconceptions

The Life of an Eccentric in an Age of Change

by John Glassie

Hardcover, 335 pages, Riverhead Hardcover , $26.95, published November 8 2012 | purchase
close

Purchase Featured Books

  • A Man of Misconceptions
  • The Life of an Eccentric in an Age of Change
  • John Glassie

Athanasius Kircher, the legendary 17th-century priest-scientist, was either a genius or a raving lunatic. This fascinating portrait traces his rise, success and eventual fall.

News and Reviews
Living With Guns

Living With Guns

A Liberal's Case for the Second Amendment

by Craig R. Whitney

Hardcover, 285 pages, PublicAffairs, $28.99, published November 13 2012 | purchase
close

Purchase Featured Books

  • Living With Guns
  • A Liberal's Case for the Second Amendment
  • Craig R. Whitney

Living With Guns examines the war over gun control in America as well as the rigid ideologies that have informed the debate on both sides for over 50 years.

News and Reviews
Roll Me Up book cover

Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die

Musings from the Road

by Willie Nelson and Kinky Friedman

Hardcover, 192 pages, William Morrow, $22.99, published November 13 2012 | purchase
close

Purchase Featured Books

  • Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die
  • Musings from the Road
  • Willie Nelson and Kinky Friedman

In 1971 Nashville, after a life-changing experience, Willie Nelson decides to do things his own way, reinventing himself and resurrecting his career. In this holiday tale, Nelson recounts his colorful adventures.

News and Reviews
Walkable City

Walkable City

How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time

by Jeff Speck

Hardcover, 312 pages, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $27, published November 13 2012 | purchase
close

Purchase Featured Books

  • Walkable City
  • How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time
  • Jeff Speck

Brimming with keen observations and real-world examples, a city planner and architectural designer who advocates for smart growth and sustainable design presents a practical, necessary and achievable plan for making American cities work.

News and Reviews
Elsewhere

Elsewhere

A Memoir

by Richard Russo

Hardcover, 246 pages, Knopf, $25.95, published October 30 2012 | purchase
close

Purchase Featured Books

  • Elsewhere
  • A Memoir
  • Richard Russo

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire Falls presents an upbeat personal account of his youth, his parents and the 1950s upstate New York town they struggled to escape. He recounts the encroaching poverty and illness that challenged everyday life and the dreams his mother instilled that inspired his career.NPR Bestseller

News and Reviews
African American Faces of the Civil War

African American Faces of the Civil War

An Album

by Ronald S. Coddington and J. Matthew Gallman

Hardcover, 338 pages, Johns Hopkins Univ Pr, $29.95, published August 20 2012 | purchase
close

Purchase Featured Books

  • African American Faces of the Civil War
  • An Album
  • Ronald S. Coddington and J. Matthew Gallman

Uses archival photographs to introduce African American men who fought in the Civil War, whose roles ranged from servants and laborers to junior officers, and includes details on each man's life through military records and personal files.

News and Reviews
I Could Pee on This

I Could Pee On This

And Other Poems By Cats

by Francesco Marciuliano

Hardcover, 111 pages, Chronicle Books, $12.95, published August 15 2012 | purchase
close

Purchase Featured Books

  • I Could Pee On This
  • And Other Poems By Cats
  • Francesco Marciuliano

Francesco Marciuliano, author of the comic strip Sally Forth, gives voice to the thoughts and feelings of cats in this collection of poems attributed to felines.NPR Bestseller

News and Reviews
The Signal and the Noise

The Signal And The Noise

Why So Many Predictions Fail — But Some Don't

by Nate Silver

Hardcover, 534 pages, Penguin Group USA, $27.95, published September 27 2012 | purchase
close

Purchase Featured Books

  • The Signal And The Noise
  • Why So Many Predictions Fail — But Some Don't
  • Nate Silver

The founder of FiveThirtyEight.com challenges myths about predictions in subjects ranging from the financial market and weather to sports and politics, profiling the world of prediction to explain how to distinguish true signals from hype.NPR Bestseller

News and Reviews
Hallucinations

Hallucinations

by Oliver Sacks

Hardcover, 288 pages, Random House Inc, $26.95, published November 6 2012 | purchase
close

Purchase Featured Books

  • Hallucinations
  • Oliver Sacks

An investigation into the types, physiological sources and cultural resonances of hallucinations traces everything from the disorientations of sleep and intoxication to the manifestations of injury and illness.NPR Bestseller

News and Reviews
Wild

Wild

From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

by Cheryl Strayed

Paperback, 315 pages, Random House Inc, $15.95, published March 26 2013 | purchase
close

Purchase Featured Books

  • Wild
  • From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
  • Cheryl Strayed

At 22, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother's death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life. With no experience or training, driven only by blind will, she would hike more than 1,000 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington state — and she would do it alone.NPR Bestseller

News and Reviews
The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

by Deb Perelman

Hardcover, 321 pages, Knopf, $35, published October 30 2012 | purchase
close

Purchase Featured Books

  • The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook
  • Deb Perelman

The award-winning blogger for Smitten Kitchen presents a long-awaited first cookbook of 100 new and favorite recipes — from Mushroom Bourguignon and Pancetta to Buttered Popcorn Cookies and Chocolate Hazelnut Layer Cake — in a volume that features adapted options for busy home cooks.NPR Bestseller

News and Reviews
Waging Heavy Peace

Waging Heavy Peace

A Hippie Dream

by Neil Young

Hardcover, 502 pages, Blue Rider Press, $30, published September 25 2012 | purchase
close

Purchase Featured Books

  • Waging Heavy Peace
  • A Hippie Dream
  • Neil Young

Two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Neil Young presents the story of his career against a backdrop of 40 years of history. He discusses such topics as his collaborations with fellow artists, his creative process and his activist work with Farm Aid and The Bridge School.NPR Bestseller

News and Reviews
America Again

America Again

Re-Becoming The Greatness We Never Weren't

by Stephen Colbert

Hardcover, 240 pages, Grand Central Publishing, $28.99, published October 2 2012 | purchase
close

Purchase Featured Books

  • America Again
  • Re-Becoming The Greatness We Never Weren't
  • Stephen Colbert

The political satirist, comedian and host of The Colbert Report puts his signature humorous spin on health care, the economy and food, promising that this book will single-handedly fix an America that is broken and has lost its way.NPR Bestseller

News and Reviews
Killing Lincoln

Killing Lincoln

The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever

by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

Hardcover, 324 pages, Henry Holt & Co, $28, published September 27 2011 | purchase
close

Purchase Featured Books

  • Killing Lincoln
  • The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever
  • Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

Fox News host Bill O'Reilly and writer Martin Dugard focus on the life, death and legacy of the 16th president in their book Killing Lincoln. The authors reconstruct the final days of Lincoln's life and examine the plot against the president at the end of the Civil War in April 1865.NPR Bestseller

News and Reviews
Unbroken

Unbroken

A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

by Laura Hillenbrand

Hardcover, 473 pages, Random House Inc, $27, published November 16 2010 | purchase
close

Purchase Featured Books

  • Unbroken
  • A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
  • Laura Hillenbrand

Unbroken tells the gripping true story of a U.S. airman who was the sole survivor when his bomber crashed into the sea during World War II. He faced thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft and an even greater trial. NPR Bestseller

News and Reviews
In the Garden of Beasts

In The Garden Of Beasts

Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin

by Erik Larson

Paperback, 448 pages, Random House Inc, $16, published May 1 2012 | purchase
close

Purchase Featured Books

  • In The Garden Of Beasts
  • Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin
  • Erik Larson

The best-selling author of Devil in the White City documents the efforts of William E. Dodd, the first American ambassador to Hitler's Germany, to acclimate to a residence in an increasingly violent city where he is forced to associate with the Nazis while his daughter pursues a relationship with Gestapo chief Rudolf Diels. NPR Bestseller

News and Reviews
The Swerve

The Swerve

How the World Became Modern

by Stephen Greenblatt

Paperback, 356 pages, W. W. Norton & Co., Inc., $16.95, published September 4 2012 | purchase
close

Purchase Featured Books

  • The Swerve
  • How the World Became Modern
  • Stephen Greenblatt

A humanities professor describes the impact of the translation of the last remaining manuscript of On the Nature of Things by Roman philosopher Lucretius, which fueled the Renaissance and inspired artists, great thinkers and scientists.NPR Bestseller, Literary Award Winner

News and Reviews
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)

by Mindy Kaling

Paperback, 222 pages, Three Rivers Press, $14, published September 18 2012 | purchase
close

Purchase Featured Books

  • Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)
  • Mindy Kaling

The writer and actor best known for her role on The Office shares observations on everything from favorite male archetypes and her hatred of dieting to her relationship with her mother and the haphazard creative process of The Office's writers' room.NPR Bestseller

News and Reviews
Bossypants

Bossypants

by Tina Fey

Paperback, 275 pages, Little Brown & Co, $15.99, published January 3 2012 | purchase
close

Purchase Featured Books

  • Bossypants
  • Tina Fey

The breakout star of Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock gives a humorous account of her life, as well as behind-the-scenes stories from her hit shows.NPR Bestseller

News and Reviews
Team of Rivals

Team Of Rivals

The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Paperback, 916 pages, Simon & Schuster, $21, published October 16 2006 | purchase
close

Purchase Featured Books

  • Team Of Rivals
  • The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
  • Doris Kearns Goodwin

An analysis of Abraham Lincoln's political talents identifies the strengths and abilities that enabled his election and describes how he used those same abilities to rally former opponents to win the Civil War.NPR Bestseller

News and Reviews
Catherine the Great

Catherine The Great

Portrait Of A Woman

by Robert K. Massie

Paperback, 639 pages, Random House Trade Paperbacks, $20, published September 18 2012 | purchase
close

Purchase Featured Books

  • Catherine The Great
  • Portrait Of A Woman
  • Robert K. Massie

The Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer of Peter the Great presents a reconstruction of the 18th century empress's life that covers such topics as her efforts to engage Russia in the cultural life of Europe, her creation of the Hermitage art collection and her numerous scandal-free romantic affairs.NPR Bestseller

News and Reviews
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

by Rebecca Skloot

Hardcover, 369 pages, Random House Inc, $26, published February 2 2010 | purchase
close

Purchase Featured Books

  • The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
  • Rebecca Skloot

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks documents the story of how scientists took cells from an unsuspecting descendant of freed slaves and created a human cell line that has been kept alive indefinitely, enabling numerous medical and scientific discoveries.NPR Bestseller

News and Reviews

NPR thanks our sponsors

Become an NPR Sponsor

Podcast + RSS Feeds

Podcast RSS

  • Books