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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.

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New Book: Vaccines Have Always Had Haters

This did not really happen. Cows' heads did not emerge from the bodies of people newly inoculated against smallpox. But fear of the vaccine was so widespread that it prompted British satirist James Gillray to create this spoof in 1802. Institute of the History of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University hide caption

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Institute of the History of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University

Goats and Soda

New Book: Vaccines Have Always Had Haters

That's one of the themes in the new book 'Between Hope and Fear: A History of Vaccines and Human Immunity.'

How The Myers-Briggs Personality Test Began In A Mother's Living Room Lab
Cameron Pollack/NPR

Author Interviews

How The Myers-Briggs Personality Test Began In A Mother's Living Room Lab

"The language of type can be immensely clarifying," says author Merve Emre. In The Personality Brokers she describes how a mother-daughter duo started a multi-million dollar "people sorting" industry.

How The Myers-Briggs Personality Test Began In A Mother's Living Room Lab

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Lorraine Hansberry: Radiant, Radical — And More Than 'Raisin'

Imani Perry, author of Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry Sameer A. Khan hide caption

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Sameer A. Khan

Code Switch

Lorraine Hansberry: Radiant, Radical — And More Than 'Raisin'

A new biography of the African-American playwright shows that she was so much more than her most famous work: A Raisin in the Sun.

Lorraine Hansberry: Radiant, Radical — And More Than 'Raisin'

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The Impostor

Javier Cercas Uncovers The Truth Behind Spain's 'Impostor'

In his new book, The Impostor, Javier Cercas unravels the lies that created the life of Enric Marco — a man who for years portrayed himself as a Holocaust survivor and Spanish Civil War hero.

Javier Cercas Uncovers The Truth Behind Spain's 'Impostor'

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From 'Everything Under' To 'Overstory': The 2018 Man Booker Prize Shortlist

The books on the shortlist for the 2018 Man Booker Prize, from top to bottom: The Long Take, by Robin Robertson; Milkman, by Anna Burns; Washington Black, by Esi Edugyan; Everything Under, by Daisy Johnson; The Mars Room, by Rachel Kushner; and The Overstory, by Richard Powers. Jack Taylor/Getty Images hide caption

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Jack Taylor/Getty Images

Book News & Features

From 'Everything Under' To 'Overstory': The 2018 Man Booker Prize Shortlist

Just half a dozen authors remain in contention for the prestigious fiction award: Anna Burns, Esi Edugyan, Daisy Johnson, Rachel Kushner, Richard Powers and Robin Robertson.

Khaled Hosseini Says A Succinct 'Sea Prayer' For A Refugee's Journey
Riverhead Books

Author Interviews

Khaled Hosseini Says A Succinct 'Sea Prayer' For A Refugee's Journey

The novelist known for his epic works about Afghanistan turns his attention to the human impact of the Syrian refugee crisis in a slim, poetic, illustrated book.

Khaled Hosseini Says A Succinct 'Sea Prayer' For A Refugee's Journey

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Pure

Religion

Memoirist: Evangelical Purity Movement Sees Women's Bodies As A 'Threat'

Fresh Air

In Pure, Linda Kay Klein reflects on the "deep, long-lasting shame" caused by churches that claim women and girls are responsible for the sexual desires of men.

Memoirist: Evangelical Purity Movement Sees Women's Bodies As A 'Threat'

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