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Here are the Books We Love: 400+ great 2022 reads recommended by NPR

November 22, 2022 • Books We Love returns with 400+ new titles handpicked by NPR staff and trusted critics. Find 10 years of recommendations all in one place – that's more than 3,200 great reads.

Sales of romance novels were up in 2022, while overall book sales hit their first decline in three years proxyminder/Getty Images hide caption

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Love Is In The Air—And On The Shelves

February 14, 2023 • Sales of romance novels were up in 2022, with a surge of about 52 percent for sales of print copies, according to Publishers Weekly. That's despite an overall dip in book sales last year.

Love Is In The Air—And On The Shelves

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Kelvin Murray/Getty Images; Karjean Levine/Getty Images; Bria Celest; Gale Greenlee

Unlocking desire through smut; plus, the gospel of bell hooks

February 14, 2023 • This week, we're asking: do the fantasies we read in romance novels say anything about what we want in our real-life relationships? Devoted readers share how the genre has impacted their love lives. Host Brittany Luse also sits down with writer Rebekah Witherspoon to learn how she builds a world of desire.

Unlocking desire through smut; plus, the gospel of bell hooks

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Want to be a writer? This bleak but buoyant guide says to get used to rejection

Biblioasis

Review

Want to be a writer? This bleak but buoyant guide says to get used to rejection

Fresh Air

February 14, 2023 • On Writing and Failure isn't your standard meditation on the art and nobility of writing as a profession; instead, author Stephen Marche argues writers should be prepared to fail — again and again.

Want to be a writer? This bleak but buoyant guide says to get used to rejection

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'All the Beauty in the World' conveys Met guard's profound appreciation for art

Simon & Schuster

Review

'All the Beauty in the World' conveys Met guard's profound appreciation for art

February 14, 2023 • Patrick Bringley's story — he jumped off the career ladder, deliberately taking a position divorced from ambition in order to find the space for quiet contemplation — is oddly suited to our times.

'Hijab Butch Blues' challenges stereotypes and upholds activist self-care

The Dial Press

Review

'Hijab Butch Blues' challenges stereotypes and upholds activist self-care

February 13, 2023 • Lamya H's memoir is a study guide on Islam and a queer manifesto that follows them from a childhood a move to the U.S. through questions of faith, gender and sexuality.

From meet-cutes to happy endings, romance readers feel the love as sales heat up

It's a full house for this newly reconvened romance book club in Baltimore. Catie Dull/NPR hide caption

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Catie Dull/NPR

From meet-cutes to happy endings, romance readers feel the love as sales heat up

February 13, 2023 • Romance novel sales are surging, even as overall book sales experience their first decline in years. And no, fans are not embarrassed by their love of the genre.

From meet-cutes to happy endings, romance readers feel the love as sales heat up

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3 books in translation that have received acclaim in their original languages

Meghan Collins Sullivan/NPR

Review

3 books in translation that have received acclaim in their original languages

February 10, 2023 • On a Woman's Madness and Forbidden Notebook have been highly lauded in their original languages for decades but, like the more recent Black Foam, inaccessible to English readers — until now.

Greta Thunberg's 'The Climate Book' urges world to keep climate justice out front

Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg waits in Erkelenz, Germany, to take part in a demonstration at a nearby a coal mine on Jan. 14. Michael Probst/AP hide caption

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Michael Probst/AP

Review

Greta Thunberg's 'The Climate Book' urges world to keep climate justice out front

February 9, 2023 • Activist Greta Thunberg was just 15 when she called on the world to take action on the climate crisis. Just as impressively, she has now pulled together essays by 100 scholars on what's needed now.

How Stokely Carmichael and the Black Panthers changed the civil rights movement

Stokely Carmichael, shown here in 1967, helped popularize the term "Black Power!" in 1966. AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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AFP via Getty Images

How Stokely Carmichael and the Black Panthers changed the civil rights movement

Fresh Air

February 8, 2023 • Journalist Mark Whitaker says that much of what's happening in American race relations today traces back to 1966, the year the Black Panthers were formed. His new book is Saying It Loud.

How Stokely Carmichael and the Black Panthers changed the civil rights movement

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Random House

Salman Rushdie's 'Victory City' is a triumph, independent of the Chautauqua attack

February 7, 2023 • Rushdie submitted the final edits for his 15th novel before he was stabbed onstage in August 2022. It tells the story of a sorceress and poet who dreams a civilization into existence from magic seeds.

Salman Rushdie's 'Victory City' is a triumph, independent of the Chautauqua attack

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A showbiz striver gets one more moment in the spotlight in 'Up With the Sun'

Penguin Random House

Review

A showbiz striver gets one more moment in the spotlight in 'Up With the Sun'

Fresh Air

February 7, 2023 • Author Thomas Mallon's sweeping new historical novel captures a slice of gay life in mid-to-late 20th century America as it reimagines the life — and violent death — of B-list actor Dick Kallman.

A showbiz striver gets one more moment in the spotlight in 'Up With the Sun'

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'Brutes' captures the simultaneous impatience and mercurial swings of girlhood

Catapult

Review

'Brutes' captures the simultaneous impatience and mercurial swings of girlhood

February 7, 2023 • In plunging us into the collective mind of a group of girls watching the search for a missing girl, author Dizz Tate creates an original, stylistically ambitious take on well-trodden subject matter.

A Wife of Bath 'biography' brings a modern woman out of the Middle Ages

The Wife of Bath from The Ellesmere Manuscript, one of the earliest manuscripts of Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. The Huntington Library hide caption

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The Huntington Library

A Wife of Bath 'biography' brings a modern woman out of the Middle Ages

February 4, 2023 • Dreamed up by Geoffrey Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales more than 600 years ago, the Wife of Bath was known for her lusty appetites, gossipy asides and fondness for wine.

A Wife of Bath 'biography' brings a modern woman out of the Middle Ages

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Eddie Hernandez Photography

Activist Alice Wong reflects on 'The Year of the Tiger' and her hopes for 2023

February 4, 2023 • In the Year of the Tiger: An Activist's Life, Alice Wong shares pieces of her story and experience as a disabled Asian American through a collection of essays, interviews, photos and illustrations.

What's making us happy: A guide to your weekend viewing

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HBO Max

What's Making Us Happy: Recommendations From 'Pop Culture Happy Hour'

What's making us happy: A guide to your weekend viewing

February 3, 2023 • Each week, the guests and hosts on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. This week: The Last of Us, The Looney Tunes Show and Ice Merchants.

Novelist Julie Otsuka draws on her own family history in 'The Swimmers'

Fresh Air

February 3, 2023 • Otsuka has recently been awarded the Carnegie Medal for Excellence for her novel about a Japanese American woman who's lost much of her memory to dementia. Originally broadcast Feb. 22, 2022.

Novelist Julie Otsuka draws on her own family history in 'The Swimmers'

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'Black on Black' celebrates Black culture while exploring history and racial tension

Hanover Square Press

Review

'Black on Black' celebrates Black culture while exploring history and racial tension

February 2, 2023 • Daniel Black's essays call for an overhaul of the U.S. criminal justice system, of the Black church, of the way Black people see themselves, and of the country itself — and do so with authority

Pamela Anderson Takes Control Of Her Life Story

Pamela Anderson attends the premiere of Netflix's "Pamela, a love story". Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images hide caption

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Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images

Pamela Anderson Takes Control Of Her Life Story

February 1, 2023 • Pamela Anderson has had an incredibly rich, and varied, career. She's an actress, the author of several books, and a prominent activist - especially for animal rights.

Pamela Anderson Takes Control Of Her Life Story

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How 'modern-day slavery' in the Congo powers the rechargeable battery economy

An artisanal miner carries a sack of ore at the Shabara artisanal mine near Kolwezi, DRC, on Oct. 12, 2022. Junior Kannah/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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How 'modern-day slavery' in the Congo powers the rechargeable battery economy

Fresh Air

February 1, 2023 • Phone and electric car batteries are made with cobalt mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Cobalt Red author Siddharth Kara describes the conditions for workers as a "horror show."

How 'modern-day slavery' in the Congo powers the rechargeable battery economy

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5 YA books this winter dealing with identity and overcoming hardships

Meghan Collins Sullivan/NPR

Review

5 YA books this winter dealing with identity and overcoming hardships

February 1, 2023 • The pale daylight and early darkness of winter create a space for stories — in particular for stories that ask the reader to mull themes and ideas that can sometimes be difficult.

Junk food companies say they're trying to do good. A new book raises doubts

As soda consumption has dropped in the West, companies are making an effort to woo new customers in other places. This Coke bottle ad is in Mozambique. Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images hide caption

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Goats and Soda

Junk food companies say they're trying to do good. A new book raises doubts

February 1, 2023 • As the marketing of soda and fast food ramps up around the world, the companies involved forge partnerships to help the poor. The new book 'Junk Food Politics' casts a critical eye at their efforts.

We royally wade into the Harry and Meghan discourse

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were engaged in 2017 Chris Jackson/Getty Images hide caption

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Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Pop Culture Happy Hour

We royally wade into the Harry and Meghan discourse

February 1, 2023 • It was a game changer when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped down as senior members of the royal family. Since then, they've given interviews, secured lucrative multimedia deals, and launched several personal projects — Harry recently published the highly anticipated memoir Spare. And they've done it all while bringing long-overdue conversations about race and the royal family's legacy to the forefront. So how, exactly, do we process all of this?

We royally wade into the Harry and Meghan discourse

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Trump sues Bob Woodward for releasing audio of their interviews without permission

Former President Donald Trump is suing Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward over Woodward's latest book, The Trump Tapes. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Audi Canada and Scott Eisen/Getty Images hide caption

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Politics

Trump sues Bob Woodward for releasing audio of their interviews without permission

January 31, 2023 • The former president has made good on his threat to sue the Washington Post reporter over his use of interview recordings. The lawsuit seeks nearly $50 million in damages.