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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, and much more.

Books

A federal judge has ordered books about gender and race be returned to the shelves at school libraries on military bases in Kentucky, Virginia, Italy and Japan.

A federal judge has ordered books about gender and race be returned to the shelves at school libraries on military bases in Kentucky, Virginia, Italy and Japan. Getty Images hide caption

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Books about race and gender to be returned to school libraries on some military bases

The order is to be implemented at school libraries on military bases in Kentucky, Virginia, Italy and Japan. Students and their families claimed their First Amendment rights had been violated when officials removed the books to comply with President Trump's executive orders.

Malala Yousafzai received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 when she was 17.

Malala Yousafzai is the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate and co-founder of Malala Fund, which advocates for girls' education worldwide. Rinaldo Sata/Simon & Schuster hide caption

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Rinaldo Sata/Simon & Schuster

Goats and Soda

Just because she won a Nobel doesn't mean Malala didn't break some rules in college

In 2014, Malala Yousafzai became the youngest person to win a Nobel Prize, an honor that weighed on her when she went off to college. In Finding My Way, she writes about her life at Oxford and beyond.

FA: Malala Yousafzai

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Karine Jean-Pierre gives an interview on her new book "Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines".

Karine Jean-Pierre gives an interview on her new book "Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines". Bronson Arcuri/NPR hide caption

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Politics

Karine Jean-Pierre on why she left the Democrats — and calls herself independent

In her new book Independent, former Biden press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre writes that party infighting, bias and disloyalty drove her to leave the Democratic Party.

Karine Jean-Pierre shares why she no longer identifies as a Democrat in her new book

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Author Interviews

'Fairyland' author recalls growing up with her gay dad in pre-AIDS San Francisco

Alysia Abbott was raised by a single father at the dawn of the gay liberation era. Sofia Coppola recently adapted Abbott's memoir, Fairyland, to film. Originally broadcast in 2013.

FA: Alysia Abbott

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After Midnight, by Daphne du Maurier
Simon & Schuster

Review

Book Reviews

You know Daphne du Maurier's 'Rebecca' — but she also wrote these terrifying tales

Rebecca dominates du Maurier's legacy, but she wrote plenty of other macabre novels and short stories. A collection called After Midnight gathers 13 of these tales, with an intro by Stephen King.

FA: Book Review: After Midnight, by Daphne Du Maurier

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Julian Brave NoiseCat

Julian Brave NoiseCat is the author of We Survived the Night. Emily Kassie/Penguin Random House hide caption

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Emily Kassie/Penguin Random House

Author Interviews

Julian Brave NoiseCat's survival story is both personal and ancestral

NoiseCat is the son of an Indigenous Canadian father and white mother. After a cultural genocide, he says, living your life becomes an existential question. His new memoir is We Survived the Night.

FA: Julian Brave Noisecat

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A person wearing a black shirt, shorts and a backpack walks past a book vending machine.

LitBox provides books by local authors directly to readers through a vending machine inside Western Market in Washington, D.C., as seen on Aug. 14. Lauren Woods created LitBox to help DMV writers get noticed. Maansi Srivastava/NPR hide caption

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Book News & Features

A book vending machine provides an outlet for D.C.-area authors after funding cuts

Washington, D.C.'s vending machine LitBox distributes books, with a serving of hope as local writers struggle with arts funding cuts.

Culinary historian Michael W. Twitty’s new cookbook, Recipes from the American South, pays homage to the rich tapestry of cultures that have shaped Southern cuisine — and keeps a gimlet eye on the region’s complicated history.

Culinary historian Michael W. Twitty's new cookbook traces the history and cultural context for each recipe he shares. Maansi Srivastava/NPR hide caption

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Food

A celebration of the South's rich — and messy — heritage, delivered on a plate

In a new cookbook, culinary historian Michael W. Twitty pays homage to the rich tapestry of cultures that have shaped Southern cuisine — and keeps a gimlet eye on the region's complicated history.

A celebration of the South’s rich — and messy — heritage, delivered on a plate

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Art, faith, & your tendency to overthink it.

What does it mean to have faith? Getty Images/Getty Images hide caption

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It's Been a Minute

Art, faith, & your tendency to overthink it.

Sometimes the harshest critic is the one in your head. What if instead you had faith in yourself, and what you're making?

Is faith the key to good art?

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John T. Edge, at home in Oxford, Miss., has written extensively about the South and its food culture. Now he's turned his pen to his family's own troubled history.

John T. Edge, at home in Oxford, Miss., has written extensively about the South and its food culture. Now he has turned his pen to his family's own troubled history. Debbie Elliott/NPR hide caption

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In new memoir, John T. Edge explores Southern identity and a troubled family history

Writer John T. Edge has spent much of his career telling stories about a changing American South filtered through the lens of food and culture. Now he's talking about his troubled family's history.

In new memoir, John T. Edge explores Southern identity and a troubled family history

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M. Night Shyamalan and Nicholas Sparks join forces on 'Remain' novel and film

Author Interviews

M. Night Shyamalan and Nicholas Sparks join forces on 'Remain' novel and film

Filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan and novelist Nicholas Sparks describe their collaboration to simultaneously craft the new novel and upcoming film Remain as a unique one that's unlikely to be replicated.

Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan join forces on 'Remain' novel and film

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Nick Offerman

Nick Offerman at Maximum Fun HQ Daniel Speer/Maximum Fun hide caption

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Daniel Speer/Maximum Fun

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

Nick Offerman

Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation, Fargo, The Last of Us) returns to the show to talk about his new book, Little Woodchucks, and to share why woodworking is such a big part of his life. Plus, he gives Jesse a deep tissue massage. Yep, on the radio!

Nick Offerman

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Hungarian László Krasznahorkai has won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Hungarian László Krasznahorkai has won the 2025 Nobel Prize in literature. Nobel Committee hide caption

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Nobel Committee

Culture

László Krasznahorkai wins 2025 Nobel Prize in literature

The Hungarian writer, known for his apocalyptic works, has won the 2025 Nobel Prize in literature. He joins the ranks of Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck and Toni Morrison.

Who will win the Nobel Prize in literature?

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James Baldwin in London in 1964.

James Baldwin in London in 1964. A new biography focuses on the author's relationships. Jenkins/Getty Images hide caption

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A new James Baldwin biography explores how his lovers influenced his work

Baldwin: A Love Story, a book by Nicholas Boggs, has a singular focus on the redemptive power of devotion.

'Baldwin: A Love Story' explores how the author's love life inspired his work

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Mayci Neeley at an event with the cast of "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" at SiriusXM Studios in May.

Mayci Neeley at an event with the cast of "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" at SiriusXM Studios in May. Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images for SiriusXM hide caption

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Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images for SiriusXM

Interview highlights

'Mormon Wives' star Mayci Neeley shares her complex life in new memoir

NPR's Juana Summers talks with Mayci Neeley of Hulu's The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives about how her traumatic college days have shaped her relationship with her religion.

'Mormon Wives' star Mayci Neeley shares her complex life in new memoir

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Letter poems to friends — of all kinds — in 'Dear Acorn, (Love, Oak)'
Illustrations © 2025 by Melissa Sweet / Clarion Books

Picture This

Letter poems to friends — of all kinds — in 'Dear Acorn, (Love, Oak)'

What would an acorn write to an oak tree? Or a coat to her button? A child to his toes? A pebble to the river? Dear Acorn, (Love, Oak) is a new kids' book of letter poems to friends.

PICTURE THIS: Dear Acorn, Love Oak

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