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NPR's Favorite Books Of 2020: The Book Concierge Is Back With 380+ Great Reads

December 1, 2020 • Find eight years of recommendations all in one place: Here are nearly 2,500 titles, hand-picked by NPR staff and trusted critics — with handy filters to help you find the perfect book!

In 'Better, Not Bitter,' One Of The Central Park Five Tells His Own Story

Better, Not Bitter: Living on Purpose in the Pursuit of Racial Justice, Yusef Salaam Grand Central Publishing hide caption

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Grand Central Publishing

Review

Book Reviews

In 'Better, Not Bitter,' One Of The Central Park Five Tells His Own Story

May 18, 2021 • In 1989, five kids were falsely accused of the brutal rape of a Central Park jogger. Yusef Salaam writes about systemic racism — and how his family and faith got him through seven years in prison.

'Love Letter To Black Boys': Memoir Explores Masculinity Against Appalachian Backdrop

Brian Broome's debut memoir is Punch Me Up To The Gods. Andy Johanson Photography hide caption

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Andy Johanson Photography

Author Interviews

'Love Letter To Black Boys': Memoir Explores Masculinity Against Appalachian Backdrop

May 18, 2021 • Punch Me Up To The Gods opens with Brian Broome's father beating him when he was 10. The blows by his father were meant to pound manliness into him — to be the "toughest guy in the room."

'Love Letter To Black Boys': Memoir Explores Masculinity Against Appalachian Backdrop

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'Dead Souls' Is A Smart Book, In Some Ways A Good One — Also, It's Unreadable

Catapult

Review

Book Reviews

'Dead Souls' Is A Smart Book, In Some Ways A Good One — Also, It's Unreadable

May 18, 2021 • English publisher and poet Sam Riviere's debut novel is a long monologue from a poet, disgraced for plagiarism, unburdening himself to a self-obsessed poetry magazine editor in a seedy hotel bar.

Questions For Zen Cho, Author Of 'Black Water Sister'

Ace

Author Interviews

Questions For Zen Cho, Author Of 'Black Water Sister'

May 17, 2021 • In Zen Cho's new novel, a young woman begins to hear a voice in her head: It's the dead, estranged grandmother she never knew. Wronged in life, the grandmother wants revenge after death.

'The Underground Railroad' Is A Brutal Yet Beautiful Ride

Barry Jenkins' The Underground Railroad looks unflinchingly at the brutality of life as a slave through the eyes of Cora, played by Thuso Mbedu. Kyle Kaplan/Amazon Studios hide caption

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Kyle Kaplan/Amazon Studios

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'The Underground Railroad' Is A Brutal Yet Beautiful Ride

May 17, 2021 • The new Amazon series The Underground Railroad is the latest project from Barry Jenkins, who directed Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk. It's the story of Cora, a runaway slave in the antebellum South, who escapes a vicious Georgia plantation and sets off on a journey toward freedom aboard the mysterious and entirely literal underground railroad. It's many contradictory things at once: lyrical yet brutal, luminous yet horrifying.

'The Underground Railroad' Is A Brutal Yet Beautiful Ride

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Andrew McCarthy Recalls His Brat Pack Years In A New Memoir

Grand Central Publishing

Author Interviews

Andrew McCarthy Recalls His Brat Pack Years In A New Memoir

May 16, 2021 • The star of movies like St. Elmo's Fire and Pretty in Pink writes about his tumultuous 20s in Brat: An '80s Story. Of that era's movies, he says the emotions are timeless, the hair not so much.

Andrew McCarthy Recalls His Brat Pack Years In A New Memoir

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Paris Bookstores Are Designated Essential — But These Landmarks Struggle To Survive

The first Gibert bookstore in 1908. Family Archives hide caption

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Family Archives

The Coronavirus Crisis

Paris Bookstores Are Designated Essential — But These Landmarks Struggle To Survive

May 16, 2021 • Gibert Jeune, which held a prominent place in Parisians hearts, is one of the latest to close. The pandemic is only one pressure on independent bookstores, but some have found ways to survive.

Paris Bookstores Are Designated Essential — But These Landmarks Struggle To Survive

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'The Plot' Works As Literary Satire, But Its Mystery Fizzles

Celadon Books

A Boy And His Grandfather Visit Home 'On The Trapline'

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'The Rock Eaters' Explores The Boundaries Of Emotion, Possibility And Longing

Penguin

Lee Mokobe: How Can We Make Sense Of Ourselves Through Poetry?

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Amanda Gorman: Using Your Voice Is A Political Choice

Mark Leibowitz

TED Radio Hour

Amanda Gorman: Using Your Voice Is A Political Choice

May 14, 2021 • Poet Amanda Gorman has often been asked to write poems that aren't "political." In her 2018 TED Talk, she explains why her writing inherently carries messages greater than her words.

Amanda Gorman: Using Your Voice Is A Political Choice

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In 'Sorrowland,' The Story Gets Lost In The Forest

MCD

Reality TV Inspired This Poetic Look At People And The Things They Hoard

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'Son Of The Storm' Explores Power And Its Transformations

Orbit Books

Review

Book Reviews

'Son Of The Storm' Explores Power And Its Transformations

May 12, 2021 • Suyi Davies Okungbowa's new novel seems like a familiar epic fantasy setup-- in fact, it's anything but. Son of the Storm explores power: Who has it, who wants it, and who's shut out from it.

'Notes On Grief' Makes Visceral The Experience Of Death And Grieving

Notes On Grief, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Knopf hide caption

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Knopf

A Constitutional Quirk Inspired Stacey Abrams' New Thriller, 'While Justice Sleeps'

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'The Most Beautiful Girl In Cuba' Steps Out Of The Headlines And Onto The Page

Berkley

Review

Book Reviews

'The Most Beautiful Girl In Cuba' Steps Out Of The Headlines And Onto The Page

May 8, 2021 • The Spanish-American war serves as the backdrop for Chanel Cleeton's new novel, which follows a real-life rebel named Evangelina Cisneros, who attracted a lot of attention from American newspapers.