Books: Book Reviews, Book News, and Author Interviews NPR's brings you news about books and authors along with our picks for great reads. Interviews, reviews, and much more.

Books

School librarian Amanda Jones endured harassment and threats after speaking out in defense of a diverse selection of books in the public libraries of Livingston Parish, La. Abdul Aziz for NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Abdul Aziz for NPR

The plot thickens: The battle over books comes at a cost

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1192034923/1193633886" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

How much should a mother divulge to her daughters? Ann Patchett weighs it up

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1193256105/1193261101" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Simon & Schuster

A poet pieces together an uncertain past in 'Memoir of a Kidnapping'

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1192789607/1192980993" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Titan Comics

Jamie Lee Curtis' graphic novel shows how 'We're blowing it with Mother Nature'

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1192703489/1192750344" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

A copy of the book "And Tango Makes Three" is photographed on a bookstore shelf in Chicago in 2006. Months after access to the popular children's book about a male penguin couple hatching a chick was restricted at school libraries, a central Florida school district says it has reversed that decision. Nam Y. Huh/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Nam Y. Huh/AP

Leland has been an editor at the literary magazine The Believer since its inception in 2003. Gregory Halpern/Penguin Random House hide caption

toggle caption
Gregory Halpern/Penguin Random House

As a writer slowly loses his sight, he embraces other kinds of perception

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1192488173/1192719136" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Simon & Schuster

Poet Maggie Smith talks going viral and being confused with that OTHER Maggie Smith

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1191395134/1192335781" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Illustrations © 2023 Abhi Alwar

Hop in the minivan: 'Summer Is for Cousins' invites you on a family vacation

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1190935210/1192344027" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Yu & Me Books was a fairly new business when a fire — which broke out above the store on July 4 — caused substantial damage to the shop. Now, owner Lucy Yu is working to rebuild not just the physical bookstore, but the community around it as well. Caroline Xia/Yu & Me Books hide caption

toggle caption
Caroline Xia/Yu & Me Books

Fire devastated this NYC Chinatown bookshop — community has rushed to its aid

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1192218587/1192344021" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

C.K. Chau says the themes and conflicts in Pride and Prejudice are universal. Tony Tulathimutte hide caption

toggle caption
Tony Tulathimutte

A new take on 'Pride and Prejudice' brings readers to 2000s New York Chinatown

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1191834667/1191842321" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Richard E. Grant says he continues to have an "ongoing silent conversation" with his wife Joan Washington, who died in 2021. They are shown above attending an awards show in London in 2016. Anthony Harvey/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Anthony Harvey/Getty Images

After the death of his wife, actor Richard E. Grant vowed to find joy every day

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1190701265/1191367514" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

David Tennant as Crowley and Michael Sheen as Aziraphale in season 2 of the Prime Video series Good Omens. Mark Mainz/Prime Video hide caption

toggle caption
Mark Mainz/Prime Video

Sofreh: A Contemporary Approach to Classic Persian Cuisine is a new cookbook from chef and author Nasim Alikhani. The chapter "My Homeland," or Sarzamine Man in Farsi, includes full-page photographs that highlight the landscape and natural environment of Iran. Ahmed Belbasi/Knopf hide caption

toggle caption
Ahmed Belbasi/Knopf

Feast on 'Sofreh' — a book that celebrates Persian cooking, past and future

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1190799655/1190970534" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Author Elizabeth Acevedo's new novel, Family Lore, centers four sisters — Matilde, Flor, Pastora, and Camila — and their daughters. Keren Carrión/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Keren Carrión/NPR

In 'Family Lore,' award-winning YA author Elizabeth Acevedo turns to adult readers

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1190748767/1190910396" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

A pediatric neurosurgeon reflects on his intense job, and the post-Roe landscape

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1190511633/1190755128" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

The covers of recent Code Switch summer book picks, including Hijab Butch Blues, Alma y Como Obtuvo Su Nombre, I'm Not Done With You Yet, and The Late Americans. Dial Press/Penguin Random House/Riverhead Books hide caption

toggle caption
Dial Press/Penguin Random House/Riverhead Books

S.A. Cosby's previous books include Razorblade Tears and Blacktop Wasteland. Flatiron hide caption

toggle caption
Flatiron

Crime writer S.A. Cosby loves the South — and is haunted by it

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1189276661/1189979557" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Colson Whitehead channels the paranoia and fear of 1970s NYC in 'Crook Manifesto'

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1189739081/1189797826" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript