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

Book covers of: Dorothy Parker: Poems and The Usual Desire to Kill: A Novel
NPR

Review

Book Reviews

These 2 funny books give readers a reason to smile in tough times

Dorothy Parker's posthumously published collection is Poems; Camilla Barnes' debut novel is The Usual Desire to Kill. Both affirm: sharp humor can be grounded in pain.

These 2 funny books give readers a reason to smile in tough times

Listen · 7:05
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5348912/g-s1-61928" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
This is what living on Mars could do to the human body

An image of rocks on Mars. Biologist Kelly Weinersmith and cartoonist Zach Weinersmith spent four years researching what it would look like if humans lived here. NASA/JPL/Cornell hide caption

toggle caption
NASA/JPL/Cornell

Short Wave

This is what living on Mars could do to the human body

As global warming continues and space technology improves, there is more and more talk about the growing possibility of a sci-fi future in which humans become a multiplanetary species. Specifically, that we could live on Mars.

This is what living on Mars could do to the human body

Listen · 14:14
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1246202705/1269181774" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Author Interviews

New book explores the real-life KGB spy program that inspired 'The Americans'

Fresh Air

In The Illegals: Russia's Most Audacious Spies and Their Century-Long Mission to Infiltrate the West, Shaun Walker shares how agents were trained to blend into a target country and pose as citizens.

New book explores the real-life KGB spy program that inspired 'The Americans'

Listen · 35:05
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/g-s1-60586/g-s1-60726" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Melinda French Gates

"It takes philanthropy in concert with civil society and government — massive government funding — to change things ... " says Melinda French Gates. "Philanthropy cannot do it on its own." Jason Bell/Flatiron Books hide caption

toggle caption
Jason Bell/Flatiron Books

Goats and Soda

Melinda French Gates on what billionaires with 'absurd' wealth owe back to society

Fresh Air

In a new memoir, French Gates writes about the end of her marriage to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, and her ongoing philanthropic work, directing funds and attention to women's health initiatives.

Melinda French Gates on what billionaires with 'absurd' wealth owe back to society

Listen · 36:29
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5364640/g-s1-60425" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
A spread of desserts found in the new cookbook, Malai

A spread of desserts found in the new cookbook, Malai Morgan Ione Yeager/Malai hide caption

toggle caption
Morgan Ione Yeager/Malai

Interview highlights

Pooja Bavishi shares frozen treats from her South Asian-inspired cookbook 'Malai'

NPR's Leila Fadel visits Pooja Bavishi, the author of Malai, a South Asian-inspired frozen desserts cookbook, at her D.C. shop where they sample ice cream and make their own treat.

Pooja Bavishi shares frozen treats from her South Asian-inspired cookbook 'Malai'

Listen · 7:15
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5312043/nx-s1-5413299-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Josh Gad

Josh Gad at MaxFun HQ. Daniel Speer hide caption

toggle caption
Daniel Speer

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

Josh Gad

Josh Gad joins us to talk about his new memoir In Gad We Trust: A Tell Some. He also gets into what life was like growing up in South Florida, the one time he refuses to use his Olaf voice and winning three national titles in teen oratory competitions.

Listen to this Episode

Listen · 38:42
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1244802155/1269127805" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Do what you can. A new kids' book shows how even 'The Littlest Drop' helps
Interior illustrations © 2025 by Brian Pinkney

Picture This

Do what you can. A new kids' book shows how even 'The Littlest Drop' helps

A brave hummingbird does what she can to fight a fire in Sascha Alper's new book. It was one of the last projects illustrator Jerry Pinkney worked on before he died. His son Brian finished it for him.

PICTURE THIS: The Littlest Drop

Listen · 7:13
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5252941/nx-s1-5360100-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
After 100 years, The Great Gatsby is still a staple of high school reading lists.

After 100 years, The Great Gatsby is still a staple of high school reading lists. Andrew Limbong/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Andrew Limbong/NPR

'The Great Gatsby' turns 100. What's it like teaching it today?

F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel has spent years on high school reading lists. How are literature professors teaching it today? And do students still find it relevant?

Teaching Gatsby at 100

Listen · 4:04
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5296888/nx-s1-5411695-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Who gets to be a critic? And why are some so "bad?"

Should we rethink what criticism should look like? Amr Bo Shanab/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Amr Bo Shanab/Getty Images

Perspective

It's Been a Minute

Who gets to be a critic? And why are some so "bad?"

Andrea Long Chu was once one of Brittany's favorite Sex and the City bloggers, and she's now a Pulitzer-winning critic. Andrea lends her critical eye to everything from the TV show Yellowstone to the work of Sally Rooney to pro-Palestinian protests and free speech. And she does it with wit, style, and fearlessness. Brittany chats with Andrea about her new book, Authority - a collection of some of Andrea's best work, along with two new essays. They discuss why art is a "fossil record" of desire, what kind of authority critics have, and why we might need to rethink what criticism should do for us.

Who gets to be a critic? And why are some so "bad?"

Listen · 17:43
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1263527073/1269024883" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
A first edition of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby at the London International Antiquarian Book Fair on June 13, 2013.

A first edition of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby at the London International Antiquarian Book Fair on June 13, 2013. Oli Scarff/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Oli Scarff/Getty Images

100 years later, 'The Great Gatsby' still speaks to the troubled dream of America

Great works of art are great, in part, because they continue to have something to say to the present: They're both timebound and timeless. And, boy, does Gatsby have something to say to us in 2025.

100 years later, 'The Great Gatsby' still speaks to the troubled dream of America

Listen · 7:01
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5352324/g-s1-58981" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
President Joe Biden debated former President Donald Trump on June 27, 2024. Biden's lackluster performance led to increased calls for him to drop out of the election.

President Joe Biden debated former President Donald Trump on June 27, 2024. Biden's lackluster performance led to increased calls for him to drop out of the election. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Politics

Biden's closest advisers were in 'denial' about his decline, 'Uncharted' author says

Author Chris Whipple says Biden's family and closest advisers operated in a "fog of delusion" regarding his ability to serve another term: "There's no doubt that they were protecting the president."

Biden's closest advisers were in 'denial' about his decline, 'Uncharted' author says

Listen · 37:18
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5354956/g-s1-58978" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Bar chart showing highlights from poll results. "I want my child(ren) to develop a love of reading" - 98%. "Reading is a way for me to learn about the world" - 82%. "Reading or listening to a book is relaxing for me" - 76%
NPR

Book News & Features

Most Americans want to read more books. We just don't.

When we worry about the declining rates of literacy and a lack of reading skills, it's often about children. But how often are adults reading these days? And what are we reading? A new NPR/Ipsos poll finds out.

Most Americans want to read more books. We just don’t

Listen · 2:53
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5333652/nx-s1-5411712-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Clockwise from top left, book covers of: Among Friends; Audition; Fahrenheit-182; King of Ashes; "Make It Ours"; Mark Twain; Toni at Random; Vanishing World; Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man); When Javi Dumped Mari
NPR

Review

The Book Ahead

10 books we're looking forward to this spring

A famed graphic novelist returns! A Southern-gothic crime-thriller inspired by The Godfather! An extremely in depth biography of Mark Twain! And more!

10 books we're looking forward to this spring

Listen · 4:22
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5341339/nx-s1-5410076-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Here are some of the nonfiction books we're looking forward to reading this spring

Andrew Limbong of the NPR Books team shares the nonfiction books he's most looking forward to reading this spring.

Here are some of the nonfiction books we're looking forward to reading this spring

Listen · 3:52
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5341350/nx-s1-5409616-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Browse archive or search npr.org