The Week's Best Stories From NPR Books : NPR

A Wintry Mix: Alan Cheuse Selects The Season's Best

Nishant Choksi

Review

A Wintry Mix: Alan Cheuse Selects The Season's Best

November 29, 2012 • Critic Alan Cheuse maps out a winter wonderland of fiction and poetry — from ancient Greece to the near-future visions of Walter Mosley, a selection of the best books to give and receive this holiday season. Cheuse says these five books strike the perfect balance between lyricism and narrative.

A Wintry Mix: Alan Cheuse Selects The Season's Best

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A Warrior's Welcome In 'Billy Lynn'

November 28, 2012 • Ben Fountain's newest book, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, takes place over the course of a single day in the life of Spc. William Lynn. Author Jonathan Evison writes that this is a book so vivid he felt like he lived it. Have you ever read a book that felt real? Tell us in the comments.

After Decades Of Dreaming, Dolly Parton Says, 'Dream More'

Dolly Parton, known as "The Queen of Country Music," has won eight Grammys and sold more than 100 million records. Brendon Thorne/Getty Images hide caption

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After Decades Of Dreaming, Dolly Parton Says, 'Dream More'

November 27, 2012 • When Parton told her high-school classmates that she planned to go to Nashville and become a star, the whole class burst into laughter. In her book Dream More, Parton explains the principles behind her success and describes how she became one of the best-selling recording artists of all time.

After Decades Of Dreaming, Dolly Parton Says, 'Dream More'

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Librarian Nancy Pearl's Picks For The Omnivorous Reader

Nishant Choksi

Review

Librarian Nancy Pearl's Picks For The Omnivorous Reader

November 27, 2012 • The only thing that these books have in common is that NPR's go-to librarian likes them a lot. Nancy Pearl's self-described "higgledy-piggledy" list includes a book of cartoons, a Civil War history, a coming-of-age story, a spy novel and more.

Librarian Nancy Pearl's Picks For The Omnivorous Reader

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Short Stories To Savor On A Winter Weekend

Nishant Choksi

Review

Short Stories To Savor On A Winter Weekend

November 26, 2012 • Author Hortense Calisher once called the short story "an apocalypse in a teacup." Critic Jane Ciabattari presents her favorite mini-apocalypses of 2012, from veteran authors like Sherman Alexie to newcomer Claire Vaye Watkins, who combines a unique voice and a shadowed family history in her debut collection.

Short Stories To Savor On A Winter Weekend

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'Round House' And 'Beautiful Forevers' Win National Book Awards

November 15, 2012 • The National Book Awards, announced Wednesday night, honored both longtime writers and new authors, from Louise Erdrich for her novel The Round House, to Katherine Boo for her debut nonfiction work, Behind the Beautiful Forevers.

'Round House,' 'Forevers' Win National Book Awards

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A Young Reporter Recounts Her Descent Into Madness

Susannah Cahalan is a reporter and book reviewer at the New York Post. Julie Stapen/Free Press hide caption

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A Young Reporter Recounts Her Descent Into Madness

Fresh Air

November 14, 2012 • In her memoir, Susannah Cahalan writes about the month she descended into madness, experiencing seizures, paranoia, psychosis and catatonia. At first, her family was frightened, and her doctors, baffled. The eventual prognosis? A rare autoimmune disease that was attacking her brain.

A Young Reporter Chronicles Her 'Brain On Fire'

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Hear The 2012 National Book Award Nominees

November 14, 2012 • What are the best of the books? NPR Books looks at this year's National Book Award nominees for fiction and nonfiction. These 10 books — which tell the stories of a young drug smuggler, lovable philanderers, holograms in the Saudi desert and more — inspired, informed and entertained readers.

Listen to Anne Applebaum read from Iron Curtain.

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'Antidote' Prescribes A 'Negative Path To Happiness'

November 13, 2012 • In his new book, Oliver Burkeman shuns motivational seminars and the power of positive thinking in favor of uncertainty, insecurity and even pessimism. "Trying to let [negative] feelings be and not always struggling to stamp them out is a more fruitful alternative," he says.

'Antidote' Prescribes A 'Negative Path To Happiness'

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'Testament Of Mary' Gives Fiery Voice To The Virgin

November 13, 2012 • Irish writer Colm Toibin's novella recounts familiar stories of the New Testament, as seen through the eyes of Jesus' mother. But this isn't the iconic blushing virgin you're used to seeing. Toibin's Mary is modeled after the fierce heroines of Greek tragedies — and she is filled with anger.

'Testament Of Mary' Gives Fiery Voice To The Virgin

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Ian McEwan's 'Sweet Tooth' Leaves A Sour Taste

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Ian McEwan's 'Sweet Tooth' Leaves A Sour Taste

Fresh Air

November 12, 2012 • The novelist's latest novel, earns the ire of critic Maureen Corrigan, who usually numbers among McEwan's fans but finds herself dismayed by this book's attitudes toward women.

Ian McEwan's 'Sweet Tooth' Leaves A Sour Taste

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Reading 'Dune,' My Junior-High Survival Guide

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Review

Reading 'Dune,' My Junior-High Survival Guide

November 7, 2012 • The cult favorite 1965 novel Dune was a classic of sci-fi literature. But author Leigh Bardugo says that when she was 12, Dune wasn't just an escape — it changed her world. Has a book ever opened your eyes to an alternate reality? Tell us in the comments.

Oliver Sacks, Exploring How Hallucinations Happen

Oliver Sacks is a physician, author and professor of neurology at NYU School of Medicine. He also frequently contributes to The New Yorker. Elena Seibert/Knopf hide caption

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Oliver Sacks, Exploring How Hallucinations Happen

Fresh Air

November 6, 2012 • The famed neurologist talks to Fresh Air about how grief, trauma, brain injury, medications and neurological disorders can trigger hallucinations — and about his personal experimentation with hallucinogenic drugs in the 1960s.

Oliver Sacks, Exploring How Hallucinations Happen

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'Flight Behavior' Weds Issues To A Butterfly Narrative

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Review

'Flight Behavior' Weds Issues To A Butterfly Narrative

November 6, 2012 • Barbara Kingsolver's seventh novel addresses global warming and the failings of public education through the story of a Tennessee woman whose thus-far disappointing life changes when 15 million monarch butterflies alight in the woods near her home.

Nick, Nora (And Asta) Return In 'Thin Man' Novellas

Myrna Loy and William Powell (and a wire-haired terrier) starred as Nick and Nora Charles (and Asta) in the 1934 film adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's The Thin Man. The Kobal Collection hide caption

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The Kobal Collection

Author Interviews

Nick, Nora (And Asta) Return In 'Thin Man' Novellas

November 3, 2012 • Dashiell Hammett's The Thin Man invented a new kind of crime fiction. It was hard-boiled, but also light-hearted; funny, with a hint of homicide. Now, for the first time, the stories of After the Thin Man and Another Thin Man have been published as novellas.

Nick, Nora (And Asta) Return In 'Thin Man' Novellas

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