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Looking for some pandemic-era writing? We have spooky and we have sweet.
Knopf/Milkweed

NPR's Book of the Day

Looking for some pandemic-era writing? We have spooky and we have sweet.

Our first interview today is about a novel that, believe it or not, was actually written before the coronavirus pandemic even started. The End of October, written by Lawrence Wright, is about...a pandemic. But Wright told NPR's Mary Louise Kelly he wishes he hadn't gotten so much of it right. The second interview is with two friends, Marilyn Hacker and Karthika Nair, who were separated by the pandemic. So to connect with each other, they wrote a book of poetry called A Different Distance. They told former NPR host Noel King that the collaboration actually strengthened their friendship.

Looking for some pandemic-era writing? We have spooky and we have sweet.

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22 tips for 2022: To fight "laziness," slow down and focus on your values
Ana Galvañ for NPR

22 tips for 2022

22 tips for 2022: To fight "laziness," slow down and focus on your values

Feeling "lazy" is probably more a sign of needing to take a break, not do more. Try the values clarification exercise to help get rid of the guilt of not doing "enough."

22 tips for 2022: To fight "laziness," slow down and focus on your values

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Anger and grief after Hurricane Maria in 'Velorio'
HarperVia

NPR's Book of the Day

Anger and grief after Hurricane Maria in 'Velorio'

Author Xavier Navarro Aquino's new novel, Velorio, takes place in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. This is not a tale of strength and resilience, however. It's about processing grief and being angry at the hand you've been dealt. Aquino told NPR's Eyder Peralta that there is a stereotype about Puerto Ricans being joyful no matter the circumstances but he wanted to show the complete picture, which involved a lot of pain.

Anger and grief after Hurricane Maria in 'Velorio'

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Get the most out of that noggin with 'Supercharge Your Brain'
Bantam Press

NPR's Book of the Day

Get the most out of that noggin with 'Supercharge Your Brain'

Author James Goodwin has written about brain trauma, which, as you can guess, is something you want to avoid at all costs. His new book, Supercharge Your Brain: How to Maintain a Healthy Brain Throughout Your Life, looks at both the effects of brain damage and how you can boost your brain's health. He told Morning Edition's A Martinez that keeping your brain in good working condition is easier than you might think.

Get the most out of that noggin with 'Supercharge Your Brain'

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Language is power in 'Beasts of a Little Land'
Ecco

NPR's Book of the Day

Language is power in 'Beasts of a Little Land'

Juhea Kim's debut novel, Beasts of a Little Land, is about Korea's decades-long fight for independence and the lives it impacted. Kim wanted the novel to focus on people who often get overlooked, which is why one of the main characters in the novel is a courtesan, or a sex worker. Kim told NPR's Elissa Nadworny that "these characters show how we can live in a meaningful way, even when the world is falling apart, even when the sky is falling down."

Language is power in 'Beasts of a Little Land'

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For this Latinx graphic novelist, superheroes can be real. They can even be family

An illustration of Henry Barajas and his great-grandfather, Ramon Jaurigue, in the graphic novel La Voz De M.A.Y.O.: Tata Rambo. J. Gonzo hide caption

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J. Gonzo

For this Latinx graphic novelist, superheroes can be real. They can even be family

Graphic novelist Henry Barajas is finding success by incorporating Mesoamerican history — and his own family's past — into his work.

For this Latinx graphic novelist, superheroes can be real. They can even be family

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Actor Kal Penn isn't afraid to take chances, on screen or in life

Kal Penn speaks at the Global Citizen Festival in New York's Central Park on Sept. 28, 2019. Charles Sykes/Invision/AP hide caption

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Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

Author Interviews

Actor Kal Penn isn't afraid to take chances, on screen or in life

Fresh Air

Penn got his start in stoner comedies, then took a hiatus from acting to work for the Obama administration. He shares stories from his life and career in the memoir You Can't Be Serious.

Actor Kal Penn isn't afraid to take chances, on screen or in life

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The Late Archbishop Desmond Tutu never lost his faith in humanity
Harper

NPR's Book of the Day

The Late Archbishop Desmond Tutu never lost his faith in humanity

Archbishop Desmond Tutu passed away at the age of 90 at the end of 2021. We look back at his legacy by revisiting his 2010 book Made For Goodness. Even after decades of fighting apartheid and seeing the cruelty people were capable of, he still believed that humans were mostly good at their core. Tutu told NPR's Renee Montagne that he was constantly bowled over by people's willingness to forgive.

The Late Archbishop Desmond Tutu never lost his faith in humanity

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WaaaAAH! Rraak! 'Everybody in the Red Brick Building' is awake!
HarperCollins Children's Books/Balzer + Bray

Picture This

WaaaAAH! Rraak! 'Everybody in the Red Brick Building' is awake!

Baby Izzie howls, Rayhan's parrot screeches, Benny and his friends play flashlight tag, and Natalia launches her rocket in the new children's book by author Anne Wynter and illustrator Oge Mora.

WaaaAAH! Rraak! 'Everybody in the Red Brick Building' is awake!

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Tricia Elam Walker, Ekua Holmes, and Clint Smith take us across the country
Anne Schwartz Books/Little, Brown and Company

NPR's Book of the Day

Tricia Elam Walker, Ekua Holmes, and Clint Smith take us across the country

Today's interviews are about transporting you to different places. The first is with cousins Tricia Elam Walker and Ekua Holmes who wrote a children's book, Dream Street, about the neighborhood where they grew up in Roxbury, Mass. They told NPR's Scott Simon and producer Samantha Balaban that the characters in the book were inspired by people in their lives. Our next interview is with writer Clint Smith, who traveled to different locations across the country for his book on slavery, How the Word is Passed. He told NPR's Mary Louise Kelly he wanted to talk about places that still exist because slavery wasn't that long ago.

Tricia Elam Walker, Ekua Holmes, and Clint Smith take us across the country

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Actress Sharon Gless on life's ups and downs in 'Apparently There Were Complaints'
Simon & Schuster

NPR's Book of the Day

Actress Sharon Gless on life's ups and downs in 'Apparently There Were Complaints'

Actress Sharon Gless, who starred in the 80s cop procedural, Cagney and Lacey, is out with a new memoir: Apparently There Were Complaints. The book looks back at her life and career, both the good and the not-so-great moments, like her struggles with alcoholism while filming the show. Gless told NPR's Rachel Martin that she is very strong despite it all: "I have good stuff in here. And I can survive it all."

Actress Sharon Gless on life's ups and downs in 'Apparently There Were Complaints'

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The global supply chain is amazingly efficient. So why did it break down?

The container ship Hyundai Hope is loaded in Norfolk, Va., on Dec. 1, 2021. Steve Helber/AP hide caption

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Steve Helber/AP

Author Interviews

The global supply chain is amazingly efficient. So why did it break down?

Fresh Air

"Americans went on a shopping spree as soon as lockdown started, and we haven't really stopped," journalist Christopher Mims says. His book, Arriving Today, goes inside the global supply chain.

The global supply chain is amazingly efficient. So why did it break down?

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