Books: Book Reviews, Book News, and Author Interviews : NPR

Episode #1903

54:00

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Review

'Ghost Wall' Is An Eerie Coming-Of-Age Tale That Begs For A Second Read

Fresh Air

January 15, 2019 • Sarah Moss' beautifully written novel is set in the 1970s in the rugged countryside of the far north of England, where a group of campers are reenacting the daily lives of Iron Age Britons.

'Ghost Wall' Is An Eerie Coming-Of-Age Tale That Begs For A Second Read

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Review

'Inheritance' Investigates A Family Secret, With Self-Discovery At The Core

January 15, 2019 • Dani Shapiro, at age 54, is shocked to learn that the man she thought was her biological father wasn't a blood relative. Her memoir, a quest for the truth, reads like an emotional detective story.

Review

'Muhammad: Forty Introductions' Isn't Setting Out To Satisfy

January 15, 2019 • Michael Muhammad Knight's new book on the religious figure is designed to seduce, educate, and irritate its audience into curiosity about Islam and Muhammad — and on all three fronts it succeeds.

A Surgeon Reflects On Death, Life And The 'Incredible Gift' Of Organ Transplant

Surgeons performed more than 21,000 kidney transplants and 8,000 liver transplants in 2018, according the United Network for Organ Sharing. shapecharge/shapecharge/Getty Images hide caption

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A Surgeon Reflects On Death, Life And The 'Incredible Gift' Of Organ Transplant

Fresh Air

January 14, 2019 • Joshua Mezrich has performed hundreds of kidney, liver and pancreas transplants. He shares stories from the operating room in his book, When Death Becomes Life.

A Surgeon Reflects On Death, Life And The 'Incredible Gift' Of Organ Transplant

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After 24 Years, Scholar Completes 3,000-Page Translation Of The Hebrew Bible

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After 24 Years, Scholar Completes 3,000-Page Translation Of The Hebrew Bible

January 14, 2019 • Literary scholar Robert Alter says he didn't think the existing English translations of the Bible did justice to the original Hebrew. So he spent nearly a quarter century writing his own — by hand.

After 24 Years, Scholar Completes 3,000-Page Translation Of The Hebrew Bible

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Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber Gets 'Shameless' About Sex

January 13, 2019 • Bolz-Weber's new book pulls from her own experiences, stories told by her parishioners and the Bible itself for an examination of the way conservative Christian ideas about sex affect our lives.

Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber Gets 'Shameless' About Sex

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Review

Keeping A Famous Theater's Myth Alive In 'Showtime At the Apollo'

January 13, 2019 • This new graphic adaptation of Ted Fox's history of the Apollo Theater captures countless electrifying performances, but goes easy on the grittier aspects of the fabled theater.

'Cat Person' Author's New Book Evokes #MeToo Themes

January 13, 2019 • NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks with Kristen Roupenian, the author of a new book of short stories called You Know You Want This. Roupenian's short story "Cat Person" went viral in 2017.

'Cat Person' Author's New Book Evokes #MeToo Themes

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Review

'The Water Cure' Makes Toxic Masculinity Literal

January 13, 2019 • In Sophie Mackintosh's tart, twisted fairy tale, a family hides away on a remote island to escape a world in which men may actually be toxic. But their lives are upended when three castaways wash up.

Inside 'The World's Most Beautiful Bookstore' In Argentina

When the Gran Splendid Theater in Buenos Aires was converted into a branch of the Ateneo bookstore, the stage became a cafe. It was just named "the world's most beautiful bookstore" by National Geographic. Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Book News & Features

Inside 'The World's Most Beautiful Bookstore' In Argentina

January 12, 2019 • National Geographic has named El Ateneo Grand Splendid the top shop in the world. But that's only where the history of the 100-year-old Buenos Aires building, once a palatial theater, begins.

Inside 'The World's Most Beautiful Bookstore' In Argentina

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Book Reviews

'Untouchable' Delivers Twisty Turny Romantic Thrills

January 12, 2019 • Romantic suspense stalwart Jayne Ann Krentz's latest — it's part of a series, but works as a standalone — will keep you flipping pages with its complex bad guy and tangled but propulsive plot.

'Bluff City' Captures Photographer Ernest Withers During Civil Rights Movement

January 12, 2019 • NPR's Scott Simon asks Bluff City author Preston Lauterbach about the undisclosed life of Ernest Withers, a celebrated civil rights photographer and FBI informant.

'Bluff City' Captures Photographer Ernest Withers During Civil Rights Movement

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A Celebrated Chinese Novelist Dreams Up A Nightmare Sci-Fi Allegory

Grove Press

Author Interviews

A Celebrated Chinese Novelist Dreams Up A Nightmare Sci-Fi Allegory

January 12, 2019 • Yan Lianke's newest book The Day the Sun Died is now available in English in the United States. "Certainly it's a very sharp critique of contemporary society," he says.

A Celebrated Chinese Novelist Dreams Up A Nightmare Sci-Fi Allegory

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Review

Book Reviews

For January, 3 Romances That Understand It's Complicated

January 12, 2019 • Yes, a romance novel has to have a happy ending — but that doesn't mean the stories take place in a fantasy land. This month, we're showcasing three books that draw on the challenges of real life.