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'The Final Revival Of Opal & Nev' Is A Faux Music History That Rocks

Simon & Schuster

'The Final Revival Of Opal & Nev' Is A Faux Music History That Rocks

Fresh Air

April 13, 2021 • Dawnie Walton's sly narrative is a story about music, race and family secrets that spans five decades, centering on an interracial rock duo who strike it big in the early '70s.

'The Final Revival Of Opal & Nev' Is A Faux Music History That Rocks

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'The Souvenir Museum' Is An Exhibit To Savor

Ecco

'The Souvenir Museum' Is An Exhibit To Savor

April 13, 2021 • Elizabeth McCracken's new story collection dazzles with verbal flexibility, insight and feeling, capturing the oddities and mixed bags, the loves and losses that make up most people's lives.

Mother-Daughter Memoir Of Autism Exemplifies The Power Of Language

I Have Been Buried Under Years of Dust: A Memoir of Autism and Hope, by Valerie Gilpeer and Emily Grodin. William Morrow hide caption

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William Morrow

Mother-Daughter Memoir Of Autism Exemplifies The Power Of Language

April 13, 2021 • Heartbreaking and uplifting in equal measure, I Have Been Buried Under Years of Dust is a chronicle of not only finding one's voice, but of learning to make others understand that voice.

For April, 3 Tales Of Love, Luck, And Happy Ever After

William Morrow

For April, 3 Tales Of Love, Luck, And Happy Ever After

April 11, 2021 • This month, our romance columnist Maya Rodale has three down-on-their-luck heroines whose fortunes change dramatically, via a dreamy bad boy, a surprise inheritance, and a revelation about the past.

Former Speaker John Boehner's Memoir Serves As A Reflection On Life In 'Crazytown'

On the House: A Washington Memoir, John Boehner St. Martin's Press hide caption

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St. Martin's Press

Former Speaker John Boehner's Memoir Serves As A Reflection On Life In 'Crazytown'

April 9, 2021 • On the House chronicles Boehner's humble rise in national politics and his front-row seat to the revolution within his Republican party that ultimately forced him out of Congress.

In The Rise And Fall Of The Sacklers' Opioid Empire, An American Dream Turns Toxic

Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe Doubleday hide caption

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Doubleday

In The Rise And Fall Of The Sacklers' Opioid Empire, An American Dream Turns Toxic

April 8, 2021 • Patrick Radden Keefe helped expose the Sackler family's role in the deadly opioid epidemic. His new book deepens the narrative, raising questions about the blurring of medicine and capitalism.

Ambition, Alchemy And Searching For Way To Fit In 'Gold Diggers'

Penguin Press

Ambition, Alchemy And Searching For Way To Fit In 'Gold Diggers'

April 8, 2021 • Sanjena Sathian's novel follows a Georgia teenager, son of Indian immigrants, as he struggles with balancing his own ambitions and those of his parents, and finding his own way to be brown in America.

Too Many 'Peaces' Overload An Otherwise Entertaining Story

Riverhead Books

Too Many 'Peaces' Overload An Otherwise Entertaining Story

April 7, 2021 • Helen Oyeyemi's new novel is a no-holds-barred mashup of Agatha Christie-style mystery oddities like mongoose genealogy, kidnapped gaming champions and a woman who chokes on emeralds in her sleep.

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

Workman

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

Fresh Air

April 6, 2021 • 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'

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Stranger Danger: An Economist's Guide To Overcoming Distrust

Pixabay

Planet Money

Stranger Danger: An Economist's Guide To Overcoming Distrust

April 6, 2021 • A new book delves into humanity's long march to overcoming distrust.

'First Person Singular' Asks A Lot Of Questions — But Shies Away From Answers

Knopf

'First Person Singular' Asks A Lot Of Questions — But Shies Away From Answers

April 4, 2021 • Haruki Murakami's plain-spoken new story collection features narrators a lot like him — male, middle-aged, recounting inexplicably strange things that have happened to them,

Hunter Biden's Memoir 'Beautiful Things' Seeks To Tell Just Where He's Been

Beautiful Things: A Memoir, by Hunter Biden Gallery Books hide caption

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Gallery Books

Hunter Biden's Memoir 'Beautiful Things' Seeks To Tell Just Where He's Been

March 31, 2021 • The account by the president's younger son is at times a harrowing journey; in the end, if not for forgiveness or sympathy, it may be about making a stand and taking whatever place he can occupy.

'A Most Remarkable Creature' Introduces The Little-Known, Charismatic Caracara

A Most Remarkable Creature: The Hidden Life and Epic Journey of the World's Smartest Birds of Prey, by Jonathan Meiburg Knopf hide caption

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Knopf

'A Most Remarkable Creature' Introduces The Little-Known, Charismatic Caracara

March 31, 2021 • Through Jonathan Meiburg's inquiring lens, readers will find themselves with a new favorite animal — a bird of prey aptly described as "one of the strangest and most wonderful animals on Earth."

In 'Girlhood,' A Writer Examines Her Youth For Signs Of The Woman She Would Become

Girlhood, by Melissa Febos Bloomsbury Publishing hide caption

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Bloomsbury Publishing

In 'Girlhood,' A Writer Examines Her Youth For Signs Of The Woman She Would Become

March 30, 2021 • Though author Melissa Febos' essays dip into her adult life, they keep trying to find the child and teenager that she was — how she learned to be, feel, believe, and react.

'The Tree In Me' Is A Blooming Good Spring Read

Penguin Kids

Are You There God? It's Me, Juanita

'The Tree In Me' Is A Blooming Good Spring Read

March 28, 2021 • As spring finally gets springing, our kids' books columnist Juanita Giles recommends The Tree in Me, a pink-splashed, exuberant celebration of kids enjoying nature.

'There's No Such Thing As An Easy Job' Takes Gentle Aim At Japan's Work Culture

Bloomsbury

'There's No Such Thing As An Easy Job' Takes Gentle Aim At Japan's Work Culture

March 25, 2021 • Kikuko Tsumura's new novel follows an unnamed protagonist who embarks on a series of odd temp jobs — and discovers that as the jobs get duller, the demands of her male supervisors get more intense.

Farcical 'Life Of The Mind' Skewers Academic Life And Adjunct 'Hell'

Penguin Random House

Farcical 'Life Of The Mind' Skewers Academic Life And Adjunct 'Hell'

Fresh Air

March 23, 2021 • A graduate student is teaching four courses while also trying to finish a dissertation. Critic Maureen Corrigan calls Christine Smallwood's new novel one of the wittiest she's read in a long time.

Farcical 'Life Of The Mind' Skewers Academic Life And Adjunct 'Hell'

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How To Make Job Interviews Less Horrible

Pixabay

Planet Money

How To Make Job Interviews Less Horrible

March 23, 2021 • A new book takes on an overlooked flaw in human judgment that can affect an organization's ability to make sound decisions about hiring and more.

In 'Night Rooms,' A Life Is Reviewed Through Memories And Movies

Night Rooms: Essays, by Gina Nutt Two Dollar Radio hide caption

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Two Dollar Radio

In 'Night Rooms,' A Life Is Reviewed Through Memories And Movies

March 23, 2021 • Writer Gina Nutt slashes to the center of issues like motherhood and depression — and ultimately emerges as the quintessential final girl of her own film.

Book Concierge: Book Club Ideas

Becky Harlan/NPR

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Book Concierge: Book Club Ideas

March 23, 2021 • Every year, NPR brings together some of the best books of the year in a searchable, explorable guide called the Book Concierge. Today, All Things Considered host Ari Shapiro gives us his recommendations for your next book club.

Book Concierge: Book Club Ideas

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