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

For This Palestinian Cook, The Kitchen Is A 'Powerful Place' — Not A 'Life Sentence'

Cookbook author Reem Kassis says that many foods that are considered Middle Eastern or Israeli actually originated as Palestinian dishes. Dan Perez/Phaidon Press hide caption

toggle caption
Dan Perez/Phaidon Press

Food

For This Palestinian Cook, The Kitchen Is A 'Powerful Place' — Not A 'Life Sentence'

Fresh Air

Reem Kassis began gathering family recipes after the birth of her first child. The recipes, she says, "could be the story of any and every Palestinian family." Her new book is The Arabesque Table.

For This Palestinian Cook, The Kitchen Is A 'Powerful Place' — Not A 'Life Sentence'

Listen · 43:21
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/984991700/985087988" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
In 'Caul Baby,' A Rare Gift Becomes A Double-Edged Sword
HarperCollins

Author Interviews

In 'Caul Baby,' A Rare Gift Becomes A Double-Edged Sword

In Morgan Jerkins' novel, a family of Black women has a gift; they're born with a caul, a layer over their skin that protects them from harm. They can share and sell the caul — which brings trouble.

In 'Caul Baby,' A Rare Gift Becomes A Double-Edged Sword

Listen · 7:30
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/984507462/984830016" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
A Daughter Struggles To Escape Her Mother's Shadow In 'Libertie'
Workman

Review

Book Reviews

A Daughter Struggles To Escape Her Mother's Shadow In 'Libertie'

Fresh Air

What if a child doesn't share a parent's ambition? Kaitlyn Greenidge's novel is inspired by the life of Dr. Susan Smith McKinney-Steward, the third Black woman to earn a medical degree in the U.S.

A Daughter Struggles To Escape Her Mother's Shadow In 'Libertie'

Listen · 6:42
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/983091110/984792446" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Memoir Offers Advice On 'How To Raise A Feminist Son'

Sonora Jha, author of How to Raise a Feminist Son. Sonora Jha hide caption

toggle caption
Sonora Jha

Author Interviews

Memoir Offers Advice On 'How To Raise A Feminist Son'

A feminist son, says author Sonora Jha, means "a boy who believes in the full humanity of women and girls around him." It also means recognizing that as they grow older, they can be led by women.

Memoir Offers Advice On 'How To Raise A Feminist Son'

Listen · 7:17
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/984477598/984656736" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Singer Brandi Carlile Talks Ambition, Avoidance And Finally Finding Her Place

"Queer people love country music," singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile says. "... We just don't think that it's going to open its doors to us. And when it does, it's wildly satisfying." Austin Hargrave/AUGUST hide caption

toggle caption
Austin Hargrave/AUGUST

Editors' Picks

Singer Brandi Carlile Talks Ambition, Avoidance And Finally Finding Her Place

Fresh Air

The six-time Grammy winner got her start as a kid, singing backup for an Elvis impersonator. Her new memoir, Broken Horses, is about her early life and the family she's built.

Singer Brandi Carlile Talks Ambition, Avoidance And Finally Finding Her Place

Listen · 42:46
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/983815671/984481121" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Through Decades Of Addiction, Hunter Biden Says His Family Never Gave Up On Him

Hunter Biden, at the time serving as board chairman of World Food Program USA, with then-Vice President Joe Biden in 2016. Hunter Biden says his addictions worsened after his brother Beau's death in 2015. Teresa Kroeger/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Teresa Kroeger/Getty Images

Author Interviews

Through Decades Of Addiction, Hunter Biden Says His Family Never Gave Up On Him

Hunter Biden's new memoir is a story of his years of alcohol and drug addiction. He tells NPR that the one constant was the love of his family: "Their light was never not seeking me out."

Through Decades Of Addiction, Hunter Biden Says His Family Never Gave Up On Him

Listen · 7:01
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/983385027/984353214" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Old Ways Cradle A New Life In 'I Sang You Down From The Stars'
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Author Interviews

Old Ways Cradle A New Life In 'I Sang You Down From The Stars'

Caldecott Medal-winning artist Michaela Goade's Tlingit heritage her illustrations for I Sang You Down From the Stars, about a woman following Indigenous customs as she prepares for motherhood.

Old Ways Cradle A New Life In 'I Sang You Down From The Stars'

Listen · 5:07
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/983855305/984203846" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Journalist Investigates Amazon Warehouse Life And The Pitfalls Of 'One-Click America'

Amazon tractor-trailers line up outside an Amazon Fulfillment Center on Staten Island in New York City in April 2020. The pandemic has been good for the company's bottom line. Mark Lennihan/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Mark Lennihan/AP

Business

Journalist Investigates Amazon Warehouse Life And The Pitfalls Of 'One-Click America'

Fresh Air

Alec MacGillis, author of the new book Fulfillment, says a union vote by Amazon workers in Alabama could determine "what life is going to look like for the working class in America in years to come."

Journalist Investigates Amazon Warehouse Life And The Pitfalls Of 'One-Click America'

Listen · 36:23
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/982750146/983110457" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Camping Is An Adventure For All Americans In 'Fatima's Great Outdoors'

Fatima's Great Outdoors, by Ambreen Tariq and Stevie Lewis Kokila hide caption

toggle caption
Kokila

Author Interviews

Camping Is An Adventure For All Americans In 'Fatima's Great Outdoors'

Ambreen Tariq's new children's book explores the immigrant experience of America's great outdoors — it's based on her own childhood experiences of family camping trips.

Camping Is An Adventure For All Americans In 'Fatima's Great Outdoors'

Listen · 7:56
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/982718940/982805775" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Hanif Abdurraqib's Rabbit Holes into Great Black Performance

Author Hanif Abdurraqib Megan Leigh Barnard/Megan Leigh Barnard hide caption

toggle caption
Megan Leigh Barnard/Megan Leigh Barnard

It's Been a Minute with Sam Sanders

Hanif Abdurraqib's Rabbit Holes into Great Black Performance

Hanif Abdurraqib's latest book is A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance. In it, Abdurraqib researches the impact of Black performers on American culture throughout the past several hundred years, touching on everything from minstrel shows to Soul Train, the concept of the "Magical Negro," and playing spades. Sam talks to Abdurraqib about lesser-known performers like Ellen Armstrong, the first Black woman magician, and they revisit the mythology of household names like Whitney Houston. Plus, they share aspects of Black performance they've missed most in this pandemic year.

Hanif Abdurraqib's Rabbit Holes into Great Black Performance

Listen · 25:50
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/981791906/982579858" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
How Rodney Scott Learned To Cook – And Went For It, Whole Hog

Rodney Scott checks racks of ribs as they cook on July 3, 2018 in Charleston, S.C. The Washington Post/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
The Washington Post/Getty Images

Food

How Rodney Scott Learned To Cook – And Went For It, Whole Hog

Pitmaster Rodney Scott describes his lifelong journey as a chef and his hope for the future. "I want to take over the world with barbecue," the James Beard Award winner tells NPR.

How Rodney Scott Learned To Cook – And Went For It, Whole Hog

Listen · 6:44
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/980008705/982350053" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Browse archive or search npr.org