
The Week's Best Stories From NPR Books
This week: Meg Wolitzer, Charles Frazier, Jo Nesbo, Nafissa Thompson-Spires and James Sexton.Lady Churchill in April 1965 Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images hide caption
How much do editors shape the final book we read? iStockphoto hide caption
Claire Vaye Watkins' new novel is Gold Fame Citrus. Heike Steiweg hide caption
NPR's Book Concierge Returns With More Than 260 Recommended Titles
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
In 'Bastards Of The Reagan Era' A Poet Says His Generation Was 'Just Lost'
A Downtrodden Protagonist Reveals Himself Room-By-Room In 'Hotels Of North America'
Maureen Corrigan's Best Books Of 2015: Short(ish) Books That Pack A Big Punch
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
From Gladiator Duels To Caesar's Last Words: The Myths Of Ancient Rome
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
A Star-Crossed 'Scientific Fact': The Story Of Vulcan, Planet That Never Was
All American Boys, by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely. Simon & Schuster hide caption
Author David Mitchell's Number9Dream and Cloud Atlas were both shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Paul Stuart /Deckle Edge hide caption