Accessibility links
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

In a climate rife with hate, Elliot Page says 'the time felt right' to tell his story
Flatiron Books

Author Interviews

In a climate rife with hate, Elliot Page says 'the time felt right' to tell his story

Fresh Air

For much of his life, the Canadian actor experienced gender dysphoria that made him extremely uncomfortable in his own body. "It's like a constant noise," he says. His new memoir is called Pageboy.

In a climate rife with hate, Elliot Page says 'the time felt right' to tell his story

Listen · 36:06
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1180437210/1180771926" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Two summer suspense novels delight in overturning the 'woman-in-trouble' plot
Penguin Random House

Review

Book Reviews

Two summer suspense novels delight in overturning the 'woman-in-trouble' plot

Fresh Air

Megan Abbott's Beware the Woman centers on a pregnant newlywed who finds herself isolated in her husband's family cottage. Katie Williams' My Murder is told from the perspective of a murdered woman.

Two summer suspense novels delight in overturning the 'woman-in-trouble' plot

Listen · 7:36
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1180115847/1180770356" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
How the SCOTUS 'Supermajority' is shaping policy on everything from abortion to guns

Demonstrators rally in support of abortion rights at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on April 15. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Law

How the SCOTUS 'Supermajority' is shaping policy on everything from abortion to guns

Fresh Air

Constitutional lawyer Michael Waldman says there's a growing divide between the electorate and the Court: "the country is moving in one direction ... the Court is moving fast in another direction."

How the SCOTUS 'Supermajority' is shaping policy on everything from abortion to guns

Listen · 44:20
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1180389289/1180494477" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
'Lesbian Love Story' unearths a century of queer romance

Lesbian Love Story: A Memoir in Archives by Amelia Possanza Catapult hide caption

toggle caption
Catapult

'Lesbian Love Story' unearths a century of queer romance

Amelia Possanza's debut book Lesbian Love Story: A Memoir in Archives chronicles the lives of queer couples throughout the 20th century.

'Lesbian Love Story' unearths a century of queer romance

  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1179622122/1179622637" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Books We Love: Love Stories
Beck Harlan/NPR

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Books We Love: Love Stories

Love stories are close to many of our hearts. We want to swoon, maybe laugh and cry, we want that romance. Today we're recommending great books for people who love love stories.

Books We Love: Love Stories

Listen · 8:17
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1179280585/1180102566" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
'The Red Hotel': Trying to cover World War II from a 'gilded cage' in Moscow

This 2019 photo shows the main dining room inside Moscow's iconic Metropol Hotel, just a short distance from the Kremlin. Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP

History

'The Red Hotel': Trying to cover World War II from a 'gilded cage' in Moscow

When Russia's Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, he clamped down on the media. In his new book, author Alan Philps sees parallels to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin who confined reporters in World War II.

'The Red Hotel': Trying to cover World War II from a 'gilded cage' in Moscow

Listen · 6:00
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1178662562/1180213149" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Authors Emily Henry and Bolu Babalola give their hottest summer reading recs

Authors Bolu Babalola and Emily Henry bring their recs for great summer reads. Caleb Azumah Nelson/Devyn Glista hide caption

toggle caption
Caleb Azumah Nelson/Devyn Glista

It's Been a Minute

Authors Emily Henry and Bolu Babalola give their hottest summer reading recs

It's finally summer! And what better way to celebrate than to pick up a juicy book on a nice day? Romance authors Bolu Babalola and Emily Henry join host Brittany Luse to give their recommendations for great summer reads. Plus, they play a dating game featuring literary hotties.

Authors Emily Henry and Bolu Babalola give their hottest summer reading recs

Listen · 27:42
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1179421542/1179833758" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Mary Trump, E. Jean Carroll and Jennifer Taub launch romance novel on Substack

An illustration for Backstory Serial, the Substack home for Mary Trump, E. Jean Carroll and Jennifer Taub's romance project The Italian Lesson. James Lake hide caption

toggle caption
James Lake

Mary Trump, E. Jean Carroll and Jennifer Taub launch romance novel on Substack

Love works in mysterious ways. The unlikely trio has teamed up on a story called The Italian Lesson. "An American woman goes to a hill town in Tuscany, opens a café, meets this hunk," Mary Trump says.

Mary Trump, E. Jean Carroll and Jennifer Taub launch romance novel on Substack

Listen · 3:20
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1179599933/1179850237" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Author Interviews

A novelist's time in the MMA cage informed his book on memory loss and identity

Fresh Air

John Vercher trained in mixed martial arts as a young man. His novel, After the Lights Go Out, centers on a veteran MMA fighter who struggles to remember things. Originally broadcast June 28, 2022.

A novelist's time in the MMA cage informed his book on memory loss and identity

Listen · 36:01
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1179593831/1179781433" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
NASA is sending an Ada Limón poem to Jupiter's moon Europa — and maybe your name too?

This Aug 25, 2020 image captured by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope shows the planet Jupiter and one of its moons, Europa, at left, when the planet was 406 million miles from Earth. AP hide caption

toggle caption
AP

Author Interviews

NASA is sending an Ada Limón poem to Jupiter's moon Europa — and maybe your name too?

U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón has written a poem that will fly on NASA's Europa Clipper, which will explore one of Jupiter's moons. And you can add your name to the poem.

NASA is sending an Ada Limón poem to Jupiter's moon Europa — and maybe your name too?

Listen · 2:41
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1179612115/1179612116" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Poll: Americans say teachers are underpaid, about half of Republicans oppose book bans
LA Johnson/NPR

Education

Poll: Americans say teachers are underpaid, about half of Republicans oppose book bans

Are parents, teachers and the public feeling as divided as the headlines make it seem? A pair of new NPR/Ipsos polls reveals division, to be sure, but also surprising consensus.

Poll: Americans say teachers are underpaid, about half of Republicans oppose book bans

Listen · 3:16
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1177566467/1179612177" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Our 5 favorite exhibits from 'This Is New York' — a gritty, stylish city celebration

In a town where private space is at a premium, this 1953 photo from Michael "Tony" Vaccaro taken for LOOK magazine shows off a stylish way to get a city view. Michael "Tony" Vaccaro/Museum of the City of New York hide caption

toggle caption
Michael "Tony" Vaccaro/Museum of the City of New York

Pop Culture

Our 5 favorite exhibits from 'This Is New York' — a gritty, stylish city celebration

The Museum of the City of New York is marking its centennial with an exhibition of NYC-inspired film, TV, music and fashion. But this is real New York, "not a love letter," says one of the curators.

Our 5 favorite exhibits from 'This Is New York' — a gritty, stylish city celebration

Listen · 3:09
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1178001907/1179378219" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Brandon Taylor on art, loving across class and why he writes sex scenes
Haolun Xu

It's Been a Minute

Brandon Taylor on art, loving across class and why he writes sex scenes

This week, host Brittany Luse chats with author and culture critic Brandon Taylor about his latest novel, The Late Americans. The book is set in Iowa City and follows several characters pursuing love, art and the promise of prosperity. They discuss what's so American about The Late Americans, and how it's a departure from what's currently seen as fashionable in fiction.

Brandon Taylor on art, loving across class and why he writes sex scenes

Listen · 23:57
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1178350772/1178943538" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
James Comey knows the politics of NY law enforcement. Now, he's writing about it

Former FBI director James Comey before testifying on Capitol Hill in 2018. Mark Wilson/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Main Character of the Day

James Comey knows the politics of NY law enforcement. Now, he's writing about it

Central Park West draws from James Comey's experience in the FBI and as a U.S attorney for the southern district of New York.

James Comey knows the politics of NY law enforcement. Now, he's writing about it

Listen · 7:59
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1178917703/1178937829" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Why our allergies are getting worse —and what to do about it
Getty Images

Shots - Health News

Why our allergies are getting worse —and what to do about it

Fresh Air

From excessive hygiene to low-fiber diets, author Theresa MacPhail explores the deep-rooted causes of rising allergy rates in her new book Allergic.

Why our allergies are getting worse —and what to do about it

Listen · 43:40
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1178433166/1178878715" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Browse archive or search npr.org