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January 28, 2013 Data is being collected about your reading habits — what kind of books you read, whether or not you finish them. Publishers say the information could improve how books are written, but some novelists are skeptical.

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On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

January 28, 2013 Nearly 13 million people head to work as temporary and contract employees each year, according to the American Staffing Association. In an opinion piece for The New York Times, sociologist Erin Hatton argues that it's time to get rid of the "anti-worker ideology that has come to accompany it."

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On Talk of the NationPlaylist

January 28, 2013 Roker won fame as the ever-smiling weatherman on NBC's Today show. But he also endured years of indignities because of his weight. Then, in 2001, he had bariatric surgery and lost more than 100 pounds. Roker speaks with NPR's Michel Martin about his experiences and his latest book, Never Goin' Back.

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On Tell Me MorePlaylist

January 28, 2013 In a new book, Nick Turse says the pressure on U.S. forces to produce a body count during the Vietnam War led to mass civilian deaths. "The idea," he says, "was that the Vietnamese, they weren't really people."

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On Fresh Air from WHYYPlaylist

January 28, 2013 As the classic novel celebrates its bicentennial, Paula Byrne's The Real Jane Austen examines some of the key objects in Austen's life and how they reveal a much more cosmopolitan awareness of the world than is commonly credited to her.

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On Fresh Air from WHYYPlaylist

January 28, 2013 When author Ally Carter found out that S.E. Hinton had been a teenager when she wrote The Outsiders, something inside her clicked. It was the first moment she realized she could be a writer. Is there a book that has inspired you to write? Tell us in the comments.

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January 28, 2013 From The Muppet Show to The Twilight Zone and a creepy animated version of Alice in Wonderland, author Neil Gaiman shares his film and television favorites for the occasional Morning Edition series Watch This. Gaiman calls the Muppets "one of the comedic glories of the human race."

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On Morning EditionPlaylist

January 28, 2013 The award for the most distinguished children's picture book of the year is announced Monday. The first winner, in 1938, was a book of illustrated animals from the Bible, but the medal has also gone to books like Madeline's Rescue and Where the Wild Things Are.

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On Morning EditionPlaylist

January 27, 2013 Bill Macumber, a respected member of his Arizona community, was convicted of a grisly 1962 double murder. Late last year, however, he was released from prison. A new book tells the story of a flawed investigation and legal process that cost Macumber 38 years of freedom.

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On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

January 27, 2013 This week marks an important milestone for anyone who swoons at the very mention of Mr. Darcy. Pride and Prejudice is turning 200, and to celebrate its bicentennial, cartoonist Jen Sorensen drew up an illustrated version of the classic.

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January 27, 2013 Author Teddy Wayne writes that the 1967 French novel Emmanuelle taught him not only about good sex, but also about good writing.

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January 26, 2013 In the early 2000s, the get-rich-quick scheme of choice for young college dropouts was online poker. In his new book Ship It Holla Ballas, Jonathan Grotenstein follows two young players as they rake in the dough.

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On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

January 26, 2013 In Dave Barry's latest novel, a bachelor dinner goes off the rails, entangling the groom to be with a colorful cast of characters — everyone from Russian mobsters to Haitian refugees to the fourth-place finisher in the Miss Hot Amateur Bod contest. Oh, and an albino Burmese python.

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On Weekend Edition SaturdayPlaylist

January 26, 2013 Written and Illustrated by Jon Klassen, This Is Not My Hat tells the story of a little fish on the run after stealing a small, blue hat from a slumbering big fish. Runners-up for the medal included a tribute to the color green and a tale of colorful yarn in a black-and-white world.

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