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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, the NPR Bestseller Lists, New in Paperback and much more.

Books

Dawn Wacek: How Can Libraries Be A Path Toward Inclusivity And Forgiveness?

Librarian Dawn Wacek speaks from the TED stage. TED hide caption

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TED

TED Radio Hour

Dawn Wacek: How Can Libraries Be A Path Toward Inclusivity And Forgiveness?

Are overdue library book fines necessary? Librarian Dawn Wacek wants all libraries to do away with overdue fines to make library services more inclusive and welcoming to all readers.

Dawn Wacek: How Can Libraries Be A Path Toward Inclusivity And Forgiveness?

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V: How Can An Authentic Apology Lead To Healing?

The playwright V, formerly known as Eve Ensler, speaks at TEDWomen 2019. TED hide caption

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TED

Opinion

TED Radio Hour

V: How Can An Authentic Apology Lead To Healing?

The playwright V, formerly known as Eve Ensler, survived horrific sexual violence as a child. Years later, she decided to write what she needed to hear most: a true apology in the words of her abuser.

V: How Can An Authentic Apology Lead To Healing?

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No Reading, No Peace: The Power Of Black Stories Out Loud

Summer Poll judge Andrea Davis Pinkney says the first book she remembers her parents reading out loud was Ezra Jack Keats' classic The Snowy Day. Christine Simmons/Scholastic hide caption

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Christine Simmons/Scholastic

NPR Books Summer Poll 2020: Kids' Books

No Reading, No Peace: The Power Of Black Stories Out Loud

The difference between owning a book by a Black author and experiencing its power lies in reading it aloud — particularly for kids' books, which can help kids speak up about their own experiences.

Lightbulbs Strike Back

Ainissa Ramirez is the author of the book The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another. Bruce Fizzell hide caption

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Bruce Fizzell

Short Wave

Lightbulbs Strike Back

Encore episode. Humans have a long history of inventions that shape the world around us: electricity, telephones, computers, music — the list goes on. But as Ainissa Ramirez explains in her new book, The Alchemy of Us, those inventions are shaping us, too.

Lightbulbs Strike Back

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'Jane Eyre' Meets 'Dracula' In This Sharp, Inventive 'Mexican Gothic' Tale
Del Rey

'Jane Eyre' Meets 'Dracula' In This Sharp, Inventive 'Mexican Gothic' Tale

Fresh Air

A young woman tries to free her cousin from a dangerous living situation in a crumbling family mansion in Silvia Moreno-Garcia's new novel. Mexican Gothic injects fresh blood into a classic genre.

'Jane Eyre' Meets 'Dracula' In This Sharp, Inventive 'Mexican Gothic' Tale

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'Me And White Supremacy' Helps You Do The Work Of Dismantling Racism
Therrious Davis for NPR

Life Kit

'Me And White Supremacy' Helps You Do The Work Of Dismantling Racism

There's been a lot of talk about the work white people need to do to understand their role in racism. Layla Saad's book, Me and White Supremacy, helps readers do just that. Saad explains why it's important to dig into the uncomfortable work, why being an ally isn't enough, and ideas to combat white supremacy in your everyday life.

'Me And White Supremacy' Helps You Do The Work Of Dismantling Racism

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Dana Canedy Is 1st Black Person To Head Major Publishing Imprint

Dana Canedy announces 2019 Pulitzer winners at a ceremony in New York. Bebeto Matthews/AP hide caption

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Bebeto Matthews/AP

America Reckons With Racial Injustice

Dana Canedy Is 1st Black Person To Head Major Publishing Imprint

Simon & Schuster has named Dana Canedy executive vice president and publisher of its namesake imprint. She is the first Black person and the third woman to hold that position.

Dana Canedy Is 1st Black Person To Head Major Publishing Imprint

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'The Stakes Are Far Higher Than They've Ever Been': Trump's Niece Pens Tell-All

President Trump, seen last week at the White House, is the subject of another scathing book that also faced a court battle. The release date for the new book by his niece, Mary Trump, has been moved up to July 14. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images hide caption

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Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Book News & Features

'The Stakes Are Far Higher Than They've Ever Been': Trump's Niece Pens Tell-All

Mary Trump offers a scathing portrait of the president in a book that very nearly was blocked from publication. Now its publisher is bumping up the release date.

'We've Got To Learn From Our History,' 'Demagogue' Author Warns

Sen. Joseph McCarthy (right) consults with attorney Roy Cohn, circa 1954. In the 1970s, Cohn would become a mentor and lawyer to Donald Trump. Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images hide caption

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Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Politics

'We've Got To Learn From Our History,' 'Demagogue' Author Warns

Fresh Air

Author Larry Tye chronicles Sen. Joseph McCarthy's infamous smear campaign in a new book. He says both McCarthy and Trump are "bullies" who exploit fears and "point fingers when they're attacked."

'We've Got To Learn From Our History,' 'Demagogue' Author Warns

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'Want' Captures The Precariousness Of America's Middle Class

Want, by Lynn Steger Strong Macmillan hide caption

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Macmillan

Review

Book Reviews

'Want' Captures The Precariousness Of America's Middle Class

Fresh Air

The family at the center of Lynn Steger Strong's novel is on the brink of bankruptcy. Want is a portrait of how close to the edge people are — despite the seeming safeguard of middle-class jobs.

'Want' Captures The Precariousness Of America's Middle Class

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Journalist Kim Wall's Parents Show She Was More Than A Victim In 'A Silenced Voice'

Ingrid Wall and Joachim Wall, parents of murdered journalist Kim Wall, are interviewed at the inaugural grant ceremony for The Kim Wall Memorial Fund at Superfine on March 23, 2018 in New York City. Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

Review

Book Reviews

Journalist Kim Wall's Parents Show She Was More Than A Victim In 'A Silenced Voice'

Kim Wall was 30 when she was killed by a source. Her parents are working to make sure her name will not be a warning but a tag under ambitious investigative pieces, a line on resumes, a calling card.

Chelsea Handler On White Privilege

Chelsea Handler's latest book is Life Will Be the Death of Me...and You Too! Emily Shur hide caption

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Emily Shur

It's Been a Minute with Sam Sanders

Chelsea Handler On White Privilege

Last year, comedian Chelsea Handler made a documentary on Netflix called, Hello Privilege. It's Me, Chelsea, where she explored the idea of white privilege. Which happens to be a thing that a lot of people are talking about again... right now, in 2020.

Chelsea Handler On White Privilege

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Privilege Takes Many Forms In 'Friends And Strangers'
Knopf

Author Interviews

Privilege Takes Many Forms In 'Friends And Strangers'

J. Courtney Sullivan's new novel examines the relationship between a mother and her child's caregiver — both women with significant degrees of privilege, despite their surface economic differences.

Privilege Takes Many Forms In 'Friends And Strangers'

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This Book Teaches Kids 'How To Solve A Problem' Like A Rock Climber Would

"I dug my fingers there and here and stretched my arms like ropes. I threw my body through the air and caught myself in all the ways I'd imagined, a bright path of thinking." Yao Xiao/Make Me a World hide caption

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Yao Xiao/Make Me a World

Picture This

This Book Teaches Kids 'How To Solve A Problem' Like A Rock Climber Would

Nineteen-year-old Ashima Shiraishi may be one of the most talented rock climbers in the world, but lofty titles aside, she wants kids to know that most of climbing — and life — is "just falling."

This Book Teaches Kids 'How To Solve A Problem' Like A Rock Climber Would

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D. L. Hughley: 'Everybody Knows' Independence Day Didn't Free Us All
Angela Weiss/Getty Images

America Reckons With Racial Injustice

D. L. Hughley: 'Everybody Knows' Independence Day Didn't Free Us All

In his new book, Surrender, White People!, Hughley suggests we consider whether our national holidays speak to the entire nation — along with other bitingly funny ideas for addressing injustice.

D. L. Hughley: 'Everybody Knows' Independence Day Didn't Free Us All

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A Doctor Confronts Medical Errors — And Flaws In The System That Create Mistakes

Dr. Danielle Ofri, author of When We Do Harm: A Doctor Confronts Medical Error, says medical mistakes are likely to increase as resource-strapped hospitals treat a rapid influx of COVID-19 patients. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption

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Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Shots - Health News

A Doctor Confronts Medical Errors — And Flaws In The System That Create Mistakes

Fresh Air

Dr. Danielle Ofri says medical errors are more common than most people realize: "If we don't talk about the emotions that keep doctors and nurses from speaking up, we'll never solve this problem."

A Doctor Confronts Medical Errors — And Flaws In The System That Create Mistakes

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