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The Week's Best Stories From NPR Books This week: Meg Wolitzer's latest, Charles Frazier returns to the Civil War, the pressures of being the only black person in the room, a new Macbeth, and marriage-saving tips from a divorce lawyer.
books

The Week's Best Stories From NPR Books

This week: Meg Wolitzer, Charles Frazier, Jo Nesbo, Nafissa Thompson-Spires and James Sexton.
With 'Sophia,' A Forgotten Suffragette Is Back In The Headlines

Book News & Features

With 'Sophia,' A Forgotten Suffragette Is Back In The Headlines

We get hundreds of books in the mail every week, and some always fall through the cracks. NPR's Petra Mayer singles out a biography of a Sikh princess turned suffragette for a second look.

With 'Sophia,' A Forgotten Suffragette Is Back In The Headlines

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How Clementine Churchill Wielded Influence As Winston's Wife

Lady Churchill in April 1965 Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images hide caption

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Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images

History

How Clementine Churchill Wielded Influence As Winston's Wife

Biographer Sonia Purnell says Clementine once remarked that she "would have loved to have been a statesman in her own right if only she had been born with trousers rather than petticoats."

How Clementine Churchill Wielded Influence As Winston's Wife

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What Exactly Does An Editor Do? The Role Has Changed Over Time

How much do editors shape the final book we read? iStockphoto hide caption

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iStockphoto

Book News & Features

What Exactly Does An Editor Do? The Role Has Changed Over Time

Earlier this year it became clear that Harper Lee had extensively revised To Kill a Mockingbird on the advice of her editor. That made us wonder: How much do editors shape the books we read?

What Exactly Does An Editor Do? The Role Has Changed Over Time

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Whom Do You Write For? 'Pandering' Essay Sparks A Conversation

Claire Vaye Watkins' new novel is Gold Fame Citrus. Heike Steiweg hide caption

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Heike Steiweg

Book News & Features

Whom Do You Write For? 'Pandering' Essay Sparks A Conversation

Novelist Claire Vaye Watkins recently published an essay called "On Pandering," about realizing she was writing to appeal to white men. She and author Marlon James discuss responses to the piece.

Whom Do You Write For? 'Pandering' Essay Sparks A Conversation

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NPR's Book Concierge Returns With More Than 260 Recommended Titles
NPR

Books

NPR's Book Concierge Returns With More Than 260 Recommended Titles

Petra Mayer, an editor at NPR Books, joins host Audie Cornish to talk about the latest edition the Book Concierge. It's a filterable list of great reads, recommended by NPR staff and book critics.

NPR's Book Concierge Returns With More Than 260 Recommended Titles

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In 'Bastards Of The Reagan Era' A Poet Says His Generation Was 'Just Lost'

Reginald Dwayne Betts serves as a national spokesman for the Campaign for Youth Justice. He is also the author of A Question of Freedom and Shahid Reads His Own Palm. Four Way hide caption

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Four Way

Author Interviews

In 'Bastards Of The Reagan Era' A Poet Says His Generation Was 'Just Lost'

Fresh Air

After being convicted of carjacking as a teenager, Reginald Dwayne Betts spent eight years in an adult prison. Since his release, he has become a poet and a Yale law student.

In 'Bastards Of The Reagan Era' A Poet Says His Generation Was 'Just Lost'

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Author Interviews

A Downtrodden Protagonist Reveals Himself Room-By-Room In 'Hotels Of North America'

Fresh Air

Rick Moody discusses his new novel, which is told solely in the form of online hotel reviews. The narrator of Hotels Of North America is increasingly down on his luck — and may even be homeless.

A Downtrodden Protagonist Reveals Himself Room-By-Room In 'Hotels Of North America'

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Maureen Corrigan's Best Books Of 2015: Short(ish) Books That Pack A Big Punch
Nataliya Arzamasova/iStockphoto

Review

Book Reviews

Maureen Corrigan's Best Books Of 2015: Short(ish) Books That Pack A Big Punch

Fresh Air

This year, short stories and fragmented intense memoirs — along with the incredible true story of a short-haired dog — dominate Maureen Corrigan's best books list.

Maureen Corrigan's Best Books Of 2015: Short(ish) Books That Pack A Big Punch

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From Gladiator Duels To Caesar's Last Words: The Myths Of Ancient Rome

Historian Mary Beard says real gladiator competitions were probably not as brutal as the film Gladiator (starring Russell Crowe) would have us believe. Still, she says, "I loved Gladiator and I thought its depiction of gladiatorial combat, although it was an aggrandizing picture, was cleverly and expertly done." Universal/Getty Images hide caption

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Universal/Getty Images

Author Interviews

From Gladiator Duels To Caesar's Last Words: The Myths Of Ancient Rome

Fresh Air

Historian Mary Beard says many of our popular notions about the empire are based on culture — like the play Julius Caesar or the film Gladiator — rather than fact. Her new book is called SPQR.

From Gladiator Duels To Caesar's Last Words: The Myths Of Ancient Rome

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No Meekness Here: Meet Rosa Parks, 'Lifelong Freedom Fighter'

Rosa Parks joins in a march at the South African Embassy in Washington, Dec. 10, 1984, protesting that country's racial policies. She's famous for refusing to give up her seat on a bus in 1955, sparking the Montgomery boycotts — but her activism spanned her entire life. AP hide caption

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AP

Race

No Meekness Here: Meet Rosa Parks, 'Lifelong Freedom Fighter'

As the 60th anniversary of the historic Montgomery Bus Boycott approaches, author Jeanne Theoharis says it's time to let go of the image of Rosa Parks as an unassuming accidental activist.

No Meekness Here: Meet Rosa Parks, 'Lifelong Freedom Fighter'

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A Star-Crossed 'Scientific Fact': The Story Of Vulcan, Planet That Never Was
iStockphoto

Author Interviews

A Star-Crossed 'Scientific Fact': The Story Of Vulcan, Planet That Never Was

For decades, astronomers believed there was another planet in our solar system, tucked just out of sight. Then Albert Einstein figured out it wasn't there. Author Thomas Levenson explains.

A Star-Crossed 'Scientific Fact': The Story Of Vulcan, Planet That Never Was

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Soul-Sucking Vampires Of David Mitchell's 'Slade House' Started On Twitter

Author David Mitchell's Number9Dream and Cloud Atlas were both shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Paul Stuart /Deckle Edge hide caption

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Paul Stuart /Deckle Edge

Author Interviews

Soul-Sucking Vampires Of David Mitchell's 'Slade House' Started On Twitter

Fresh Air

Mitchell compares tweeting the story of his latest novel to escaping a straitjacket. "I like what I had to do to circumvent [Twitter's] restrictions," he says.

Soul-Sucking Vampires Of David Mitchell's 'Slade House' Started On Twitter

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'This Old Man' Looks Back On A Full Life
Brigitte Lacombe/Doubleday

Author Interviews

'This Old Man' Looks Back On A Full Life

Roger Angell's latest book is a collection of his writings from The New Yorker, centered on "This Old Man," his memorable essay about the pains and pleasures of living into your 90s.

'This Old Man' Looks Back On A Full Life

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