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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!

'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

Review

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

May 11, 2021 • "'After the burial we can begin to heal,'" Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie recounts her mother saying. Perhaps in the reading of this book, so too will the rest of us who lost so much over this past year.

Running Press Kids

Fandom Can Be A Lot Like High School — Here's How To Avoid The Bad Stuff

May 9, 2021 • Finding a supportive fandom — a group of people who love what you love — is a great experience. But some fan communities can be toxic, so here are a few tips for kids looking for fan connections.

Doubleday

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

May 9, 2021 • Article III of the Constitution gives Supreme Court justices lifetime appointments — but doesn't cover what to do if they become incapacitated. For Abrams, that was the spark for an exciting story.

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

'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.

Compassion Is The True Test Of A Person In 'Second Place'

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Review

Compassion Is The True Test Of A Person In 'Second Place'

May 8, 2021 • Rachel Cusk follows her acclaimed Outline trilogy with this story about a woman whose lifelong obsession with a truculent painter is tested when he comes to stay at a cottage on her property.

'Things We Lost To The Water' Is A Literal And Allegorical Look At Dislocation

Knopf

Review

'Things We Lost To The Water' Is A Literal And Allegorical Look At Dislocation

May 6, 2021 • Eric Nguyen's debut novel plays off a Vietnamese word that means both country and water, examining all the ways those two things affect a family of Vietnamese refugees who resettle in New Orleans.

'Everybody' Examines The Idea That Bodies Can Confine Or Free

Everybody: A Book about Freedom, Olivia Laing W. W. Norton & Company hide caption

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W. W. Norton & Company

Review

'Everybody' Examines The Idea That Bodies Can Confine Or Free

May 6, 2021 • Olivia Laing weaves the history of people and ideas in with her own life, bringing readers on a fleet, gracious tour of bodily distress and joy that takes in Malcolm X, the Marquis de Sade and others.

A Daughter Rediscovers Her Deceased Father's Life In 'Negative Space'

Negative Space, by Lilly Dancyger Santa Fe Writer's Project hide caption

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Santa Fe Writer's Project

Review

A Daughter Rediscovers Her Deceased Father's Life In 'Negative Space'

May 5, 2021 • Lilly Dancyger's memories, coupled with her father's art and conversations with his friends, create a map she uses to navigate her past, her childhood and growing up, and her father's life and legacy.

Trees Talk To Each Other. 'Mother Tree' Ecologist Hears Lessons For People, Too

Suzanne Simard is a professor of forest ecology at the University of British Columbia. Her own medical journey inspired her research into, among other things, the way yew trees communicate chemically with neighboring trees for their mutual defense. Brendan George Ko/Penguin Random House hide caption

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Brendan George Ko/Penguin Random House

Shots - Health News

Trees Talk To Each Other. 'Mother Tree' Ecologist Hears Lessons For People, Too

Fresh Air

May 4, 2021 • Ecologist Suzanne Simard says trees are "social creatures" that communicate with each other in remarkable ways — including warning each other of danger and sharing nutrients at critical times.

Trees Talk To Each Other. 'Mother Tree' Ecologist Hears Lessons For People, Too

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3 Romance Novels Written By Stacey Abrams Will Be Reissued

In addition to running for Georgia governor and registering some 800,000 voters, Stacey Abrams has written eight romance novels under the nom de plume Selena Montgomery. Now, her first three novels will be reissued. Drew Angerer/Getty Images hide caption

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Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Book News & Features

3 Romance Novels Written By Stacey Abrams Will Be Reissued

May 4, 2021 • The novels, published under the nom de plume Selena Montgomery, have been out of print for years. They form a trilogy, each starring Black lead characters working for a U.S. espionage organization.

Elizabeth Warren Stitches The Stories She Says 'Help Us Learn To Persist'

Sen. Elizabeth Warren speaks during a Senate Finance Committee hearing in Washington on Feb. 24. Warren's latest book is called Persist. Greg Nash/AP hide caption

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Greg Nash/AP

Author Interviews

Elizabeth Warren Stitches The Stories She Says 'Help Us Learn To Persist'

May 4, 2021 • Sen. Elizabeth Warren says she isn't looking to be president. She's looking for change, she tells NPR, which happens when we talk about our stories — from sexual harassment to child care troubles.

Elizabeth Warren Stitches The Stories She Says 'Help Us Learn To Persist'

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'The Parted Earth' Traces The Impact Of India's Partition Across Generations

Hub City Press

Author Interviews

'The Parted Earth' Traces The Impact Of India's Partition Across Generations

May 4, 2021 • Partition split India and Pakistan in 1947 and affected millions of lives across decades. Journalist Anjali Enjeti's new novel explores the way people who don't process their trauma can pass it on.

'The Parted Earth' Traces The Impact Of India's Partition Across Generations

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Former 'Pregnant Girl' Builds Support To Help Other Teen Moms

Nicole Lynn Lewis is the author of Pregnant Girl: A Story of Teen Motherhood, College, and Creating a Better Future for Young Families. Elissa Nadworny/NPR hide caption

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Elissa Nadworny/NPR

Shots - Health News

Former 'Pregnant Girl' Builds Support To Help Other Teen Moms

Fresh Air

May 3, 2021 • Nicole Lynn Lewis felt overwhelmed and isolated as a young single mom in college. Now she runs a nonprofit designed to help teen parents get the financial and emotional support they need to thrive.

Former 'Pregnant Girl' Builds Support To Help Other Teen Moms

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Michael Lewis' 'The Premonition' Is A Sweeping Indictment Of The CDC

The Premonition: A Pandemic Story by Michael Lewis W. W. Norton & Co. hide caption

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W. W. Norton & Co.

Author Interviews

Michael Lewis' 'The Premonition' Is A Sweeping Indictment Of The CDC

May 3, 2021 • In a new book, author Michael Lewis writes about public health officers who tried to get others to look at the data on COVID-19 and act to make sure the virus didn't spread.

Michael Lewis' 'The Premonition' Is A Sweeping Indictment Of The CDC

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We're Russian To Finish 'Shadow And Bone'

Ben Barnes plays General Kirigan and Jessie Mei Li plays Alina Starkov in Netflix's Shadow and Bone. Netflix hide caption

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Netflix

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

We're Russian To Finish 'Shadow And Bone'

May 3, 2021 • Shadow and Bone is the latest Netflix fantasy series based on a successful set of novels. There's a lot to take in — at least six main characters, people who can wield wind and shadow and light, a Chosen One who is prophesied to defeat a great wall of darkness, and charming rogues who are out for themselves. That may sound familiar, but there's enough here that's novel to make this series worth your consideration.

We're Russian To Finish 'Shadow And Bone'

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Comics Hero Barry Windsor-Smith Is Back, And He's Brought Something Monstrous

Fantagraphics

Author Interviews

Comics Hero Barry Windsor-Smith Is Back, And He's Brought Something Monstrous

May 2, 2021 • Windsor-Smith is known for his work on Conan the Barbarian and lots of X-Men titles. Now, he's back with a passion project about a man subjected to ghastly secret government experiments.

Sharon Stone On New Memoir 'The Beauty Of Living Twice'

Knopf

Author Interviews

Sharon Stone On New Memoir 'The Beauty Of Living Twice'

May 1, 2021 • Sharon Stone is a survivor — of a stroke, and some of the worst Hollywood has to offer. She writes about her life in a funny, tender, sometimes shocking new memoir called The Beauty of Living Twice.

Sharon Stone On New Memoir 'The Beauty Of Living Twice'

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Elizabeth Warren's 'Persist' Is Generous To Her '20 Democratic Rivals (Except One)

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, still has a Plan for That and much to discuss in her new book. Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption

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Bloomberg via Getty Images

'Great Circle' Takes Flight Across Decades And Continents

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Murderbot Meets Miss Marple In 'Fugitive Telemetry'

Tordotcom

Review

Book Reviews

Murderbot Meets Miss Marple In 'Fugitive Telemetry'

May 1, 2021 • Martha Wells' new Murderbot novella is a classic locked-room mystery — only the locked room is a docked shuttle at a normally peaceful space station ill-equipped to deal with murder and mayhem.

A Joy Of Reading, Sparked By A Special Librarian Determined To 'Make A Difference'

Rich Jean; his daughter, Abigail Jean; and librarian Hasina Islam at StoryCorps in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 2016. Jhaleh Akhavan for StoryCorps hide caption

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Jhaleh Akhavan for StoryCorps

StoryCorps

A Joy Of Reading, Sparked By A Special Librarian Determined To 'Make A Difference'

April 30, 2021 • Hasina Islam fostered a love of reading and the library in Abigail Jean, who is 12. Abigail was just 3 when they met at a branch of the Brooklyn Public Library.

A Joy Of Reading, Sparked By A Special Librarian Determined To 'Make A Difference'

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2 Novels Explore The Big Romantic Bargains We Strike In The Name Of Love

Penguin Random House

Review

Book Reviews

2 Novels Explore The Big Romantic Bargains We Strike In The Name Of Love

Fresh Air

April 29, 2021 • Early Morning Riser, by Katherine Heiny and Secrets of Happiness, by Joan Silber, ruminate on love and family — particularly the family that's thrust upon you when you fall in love.

2 Novels Explore The Big Romantic Bargains We Strike In The Name Of Love

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Jhumpa Lahiri's New 'Whereabouts' Is About Places Both Geographical And Emotional

Knopf

Review

Book Reviews

Jhumpa Lahiri's New 'Whereabouts' Is About Places Both Geographical And Emotional

April 29, 2021 • Jhumpa Lahiri's new novel — which she wrote in Italian, then translated back to English herself — centers on a middle-aged Italian woman trying to figure out her place in the world.