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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.
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The Week's Best Stories From NPR Books

This week: Meg Wolitzer, Charles Frazier, Jo Nesbo, Nafissa Thompson-Spires and James Sexton.
In 'Believers', Courage And Cowardice Of Conviction

Review

You Must Read This

In 'Believers', Courage And Cowardice Of Conviction

Who says unlikable characters make for unlikable books? The prickly people in Zoe Heller's The Believers are infused with wit and intelligence. Author Meghan Daum says she has recommended the poignant satire to more friends than she can count.

In 'Believers', Courage And Cowardice Of Conviction

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Booksellers' Picks: 15 Soaring Summer Reads
Chris Silas Neal

Critics' Lists: Summer 2010

Booksellers' Picks: 15 Soaring Summer Reads

Susan Stamberg gathers recommendations from booksellers Rona Brinlee, Lucia Silva and Daniel Goldin. Their selections for summertime reading include books about small-town America, a polygamist father in over his head, and a postmistress in New England during World War II.

Booksellers' Picks: 15 Soaring Summer Reads

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Geoengineering: 'A Bad Idea Whose Time Has Come'

Geoengineering: 'A Bad Idea Whose Time Has Come'

Driving a Prius and putting up solar panels aren't the only options for cooling the earth's climate. More radical ideas include brightening clouds, creating giant algae blooms in the ocean and launching spacecraft to deploy giant sunshades. It might sound a bit far-fetched, but scientists are considering ideas like these — known as geoengineering — to alter the climate.

Geoengineering: 'A Bad Idea Whose Time Has Come'

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A Flowering Tribute To Emily Dickinson

The flower show Emily Dickinson's Garden: The Poetry of Flowers, at the New York Botanical Garden, re-creates a 19th- century-style New England garden. John Peden hide caption

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John Peden

A Flowering Tribute To Emily Dickinson

The reclusive poet Emily Dickinson was a devoted gardener and lover of flowers. Now the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx has re-created Dickinson's gardens, with poems placed between beds of flowers.

A Flowering Tribute To Emily Dickinson

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An Arranged Marriage Spirals Into Quiet Disaster

Review

An Arranged Marriage Spirals Into Quiet Disaster

Fresh Air

Private Life, the new novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jane Smiley, follows the life of a midwestern woman who moves with her new husband, an astronomer, to California at the start of the 20th century. Reviewer Maureen Corrigan says the story, which spans a half-century, is beautifully observed.

An Arranged Marriage Spirals Into Quiet Disaster

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Freshman Senators Settle Into 'The Upper House'

The early morning sun strikes the U.S. Capitol on the day before midterm elections in November 2006. Win McNamee/Getty Images hide caption

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Win McNamee/Getty Images

Freshman Senators Settle Into 'The Upper House'

In 2006, voters angry about Iraq and frustrated with President George W. Bush sent a new class of senators to Washington. In The Upper House, Terence Samuel profiles these legislators as they come to terms with the grunt work and gridlock of their new jobs.

Freshman Senators Settle Into 'The Upper House'

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'Finding Chandra' Levy Marred By Critical Mistakes

The summer of 2001 was the summer of Chandra Levy; the 24-year-old Washington intern vanished without a trace -- amid much speculation. Scott Higham and Sari Horwitz reported the case for the Washington Post. In Finding Chandra, they reexamine the murder mystery.

'Finding Chandra' Levy Marred By Critical Mistakes

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Rush Limbaugh's Conservative Charge

Rush Limbaugh's Conservative Charge

Former New York Daily News columnist Zev Chafets has written a new biography of the conservative radio host, whose talk show has been the most popular in the country for nearly 20 years. Rush Limbaugh: An Army of One tracks Limbaugh's career and his attitude toward his newest liberal opponents in the Obama White House.

Rush Limbaugh's Conservative Charge

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Roddy Doyle's Man Of Ireland At The End Of The Road

Roddy Doyle is the author of the Barrytown Trilogy, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha and The Woman Who Walked into Doors. He lives in Dublin. Mark Nixon hide caption

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Mark Nixon

Roddy Doyle's Man Of Ireland At The End Of The Road

The Dead Republic is the final installment in Roddy Doyle's trilogy about the life of Henry Smart, a former IRA assassin making his way through the first half of the 20th century. Lynn Neary talks with Doyle about the novel, which finds Henry turning his life story into a movie with film director John Ford.

Roddy Doyle's Man Of Ireland At The End Of The Road

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Bet You Didn't Notice 'The Invisible Gorilla'

The Invisible Gorilla by Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons explores how we notice a lot less than we think we do. hide caption

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Bet You Didn't Notice 'The Invisible Gorilla'

If you're intensely watching a ball game, and a gorilla walks onto the court, you'd notice him ... right? Believe it or not, there's actually a 50 percent chance you'd miss him entirely. Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons, authors of The Invisible Gorilla, explain how our brains trick us into thinking we see and know far more than we actually do.

Bet You Didn't Notice 'The Invisible Gorilla'

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