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Spy Reporter Works Her 'Sources' To Write A Thriller()  

Mary Louise Kelly spent two decades traveling the world as a reporter for NPR and the BBC.

Mary Louise Kelly used to cover national security for NPR, but lately she's turned her attention to fiction. Her new novel, Anonymous Sources, draws on Kelly's own reporting experiences, including things she couldn't say when she was a journalist.

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On Morning EditionPlaylist

'Cows Save The Planet': Soil's Secrets For Saving The Earth()  

Journalist Judith D. Schwartz calls her book Cows Save The Planet "a call to action on behalf of soil."

June 17, 2013 Journalist Judith Schwartz believes that the key to addressing carbon issues and climate change lies beneath our feet. In her book Cows Save The Planet, she argues that proper management of soil could solve a long list of environmental problems.

Transcript

On Talk of the NationPlaylist

WWII 'Deserters': Stories Of Men Who Left The Front Lines()  

The Deserters is Charles Glass' second book relating to World War II. His last book, Americans in Paris, told the story of the U.S. citizens who remained in the French capital after the 1940 German invasion.

June 17, 2013 In his new book, journalist Charles Glass explores the little-known history of thousands of American and British soldiers who deserted during World War II. Glass describes how the strain of war can push a soldier to the breaking point — and how the line between courage and cowardice is never simple.

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On Fresh Air from WHYYPlaylist

Crime In The City

In Neville's Thrillers, Belfast's Violent Past Still Burns()  

Bonfires light up the Belfast skyline on July 12, 1997, as Protestant loyalists commemorate the 17th century victory of a Protestant king over his deposed Catholic predecessor. Known as the Battle of the Boyne, the confrontation is part of a long history of tensions in the region.

June 17, 2013 The capital of Northern Ireland is no longer the city of snipers that it was before the Good Friday Agreement, but novelist Stuart Neville still draws inspiration from the decades of violence. In The Ghosts of Belfast, he examines the shattered life of an IRA killer in the aftermath of The Troubles.

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On Morning EditionPlaylist

A Posthumous Tribute To Guns From A Sniper Shot To Death()  

Firearms designer John Browning submitted this design for the M1911 pistol to the U.S. Patent Office in September 1910.

June 16, 2013 Considered by many to be the most deadly sniper in American military history, Chris Kyle was killed on a Texas gun range in February. He was an outspoken advocate for both veterans and gun rights, and his book, American Gun, has just been published.

Transcript

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

Dr. Brazelton On Guiding Parents And Learning To Listen()  

Learning To Listen cover

June 16, 2013 Dr. T. Berry Brazelton has been studying babies for the better part of the last century. Now 95 years old, the renowned pediatrician is the author of more than 30 books on child development. He talks about his latest book, and how babies themselves can teach us how to be better parents.

Transcript

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

'Children' Of Iran's Activists Inherit Love, Loss And Longing()  

Children of the Jacaranda Tree cover

June 16, 2013 Sahar Delijani was born in an Iranian prison, where her parents were held as political activists. Her debut novel, Children of the Jacaranda Tree, is inspired by true stories of the post-revolutionary Iran she was born into and follows the rippling effects of oppression forward into the present.

Transcript

On Weekend Edition SundayPlaylist

Telling Stories About Ourselves In 'The Faraway Nearby'()  

White feather on blue background

June 15, 2013 "Stories are compasses and architecture," says author Rebecca Solnit. "We navigate by them, we build our sanctuaries and prisons out of them, and to be without a story is to be lost in the vastness of the world."

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On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

Family Tragedy With A Hollywood Connection In 'Run, Brother, Run'()  

Run, Brother, Run cover

June 15, 2013 Laywer David Berg's new memoir reveals the story of his most dramatic case. Run, Brother, Run is about the 1968 murder of Berg's brother, Alan, allegedly by Charles Harrelson — the father of actor Woody Harrelson — who was ultimately acquitted.

Transcript

On Weekend Edition SaturdayPlaylist

Gaiman's New 'Ocean' Is No Kiddie Pool()  

The Ocean At The End Of The Lane Cover

June 15, 2013 Neil Gaiman says his latest novel, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, started out as a short story that just didn't stop growing. Originally, it was also a simple story about a young boy — but morphed into a much darker tale about being a child in dangerous territory.

Transcript

On Weekend Edition SaturdayPlaylist

Failed Attempts At Spanking And Other Tales Of Fatherhood()  

June 14, 2013 Audie Cornish talks to Drew Magary about his new book on parenthood, Someone Could Get Hurt.

Transcript

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

Mantel Takes Up Betrayal, Beheadings In 'Bodies'()  

Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall won both the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. The sequel, Bring Up the Bodies, won this year's Man Booker Prize.

June 14, 2013 Hilary Mantel is the first woman to win the Man Booker Prize twice, first for her 2009 novel, Wolf Hall, and then for that book's 2012 sequel, Bring Up the Bodies. The novels are part of a historical fiction trilogy about Tudor England and the events surrounding the reign of King Henry VIII.

Transcript

On Fresh Air from WHYYPlaylist

NPR's Backseat Book Club

Meet 'Ivan': The Gorilla Who Lived In A Shopping Mall()  

The One and Only Ivan cover

June 13, 2013 Katherine Applegate's The One and Only Ivan was inspired by a real-life gorilla who lived in a mall in Tacoma, Wash. The author says humans have "a real obligation" to care responsibly for animals in captivity.

Transcript

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

Florida-Grown Fiction: Hiaasen Satirizes The Sunshine State()  

As with many of his novels, Hiaasen sets his latest — Bad Monkey — in his home state of Florida.

June 13, 2013 Novelist and Miami Herald columnist Carl Hiaasen writes with passion and purpose about the state he loves. His latest book, Bad Monkey, is an offbeat murder mystery set in Key West.

Transcript

On Fresh Air from WHYYPlaylist

With Space-Bound Hubbies, 'Astrowives' Became 'First Reality Stars'()  

Annie Glenn, Rene Carpenter, Louise Shepard, Betty Grissom, Trudy Cooper and Marjorie Slayton attend a luncheon held in their honor by the American Newspaper Women's Club on April 27, 1962, in Washington, D.C. Mercury Seven wife Josephine Schirra is not pictured.

June 12, 2013 On April 9,1959, the U.S. introduced its first astronauts, and then launched their wives into the spotlight. In The Astronaut Wives Club, Lily Koppel looks at how seven women coped with the attention and anxiety that came with being married to the space race.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

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Books

When's the last time you read a comic book? Writer Myla Goldberg has five recommendations.

The Funny (Touching, Fascinating) Pages: 5 Comics For Summer

When's the last time you read a comic book? Writer Myla Goldberg has five recommendations.

<em></em><em>Anonymous Sources</em> draws on<em> </em>Mary Louise Kelly's experiences reporting on national security. <em></em><em></em>

Spy Reporter Works Her 'Sources' To Write A Thriller

Anonymous Sources draws on Mary Louise Kelly's experiences reporting on national security.

The anonymous book sculptor of Edinburgh strikes again; the childhood drawings of E.E. Cummings.

Book News: VICE Draws Ire By Staging Female Author Suicides

The anonymous book sculptor of Edinburgh strikes again; the childhood drawings of E.E. Cummings.

A new e-book, <em>Hard Listening,</em> tells the tale of The Rock Bottom Remainders, a band of authors.<em></em>

Digital Scrapbook Collects Rock-Star Authors' Memories

A new e-book, Hard Listening, tells the tale of The Rock Bottom Remainders, a band of authors.

Neil Gaiman's latest, <em>The Ocean at the End of the Lane</em>, is his first adult book in eight years.

A Deceptively Simple Tale Of Magic And Peril In 'Ocean'

Neil Gaiman's latest, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, is his first adult book in eight years.

Colum McCann's 2009 novel was about a high-wire artist. His latest also has its head in the clouds.

In 'TransAtlantic,' The Flight Is Almost Too Smooth

Colum McCann's 2009 novel was about a high-wire artist. His latest also has its head in the clouds.

Journalist Charles Glass' book shows that the line between courage and cowardice is never simple.

WWII 'Deserters': Stories Of Men Who Left The Front Lines

Journalist Charles Glass' book shows that the line between courage and cowardice is never simple.

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