The Week's Best Stories From NPR Books : NPR

In 'Hustling Hitler,' A Jewish Vaudevillian Scams The Third Reich

June 28, 2016 • It seems everyone has one: the eccentric relative much gossiped about. For Walter Shapiro, it's his great-uncle, Freeman Bernstein. The vaudeville manager, boxing promoter, card shark and stock swindler managed to scam the Third Reich. Shapiro writes about this in his new book, Hustling Hitler.

In 'Hustling Hitler,' A Jewish Vaudevillian Scams The Third Reich

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'Nobody Is Immune': Bracing For Zika's First Summer In The U.S.

Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which have been known to carry the Zika virus, buzz in a laboratory in Cucuta, Colombia. Ricardo Mazalan/AP hide caption

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Ricardo Mazalan/AP

'Nobody Is Immune': Bracing For Zika's First Summer In The U.S.

Fresh Air

June 28, 2016 • Author Donald. G. McNeil Jr. predicts that 2016 will be the worst year for Zika transmission in the U.S. "After this year, a fair number of people will be immune, and ... immunity will grow," he says.

'Nobody Is Immune': Bracing For Zika's First Summer In The U.S.

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Annelise Capossela

Human Or Machine: Can You Tell Who Wrote These Poems?

June 27, 2016 • Can a computer write a sonnet that's indistinguishable from what a person can produce? A contest at Dartmouth attempted to find out. With our online quiz, you too can give it a try.

Human Or Machine: Can You Tell Who Wrote These Poems?

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A Toast To The Toast, The Site That Was Just For You. Yes, Even You

This lady (whom we found here) expresses our feelings on the demise of the Toast. Wikimedia Commons hide caption

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Wikimedia Commons

A Toast To The Toast, The Site That Was Just For You. Yes, Even You

June 27, 2016 • The Toast — the funny, literary feminist website, gleeful kneecapper of high culture, center of cheerful misandry and habitat of the courteous commenter — is closing. We have an appreciation.

The Case For 1971 As Rock's Greatest Year

David Hepworth's new book, Never A Dull Moment, is out now from Henry Holt & Co. Courtesy of the author hide caption

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Courtesy of the author

The Case For 1971 As Rock's Greatest Year

June 22, 2016 • That year, music journalist David Hepworth argues, offered an explosion of talent from David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Al Green, John Lennon and more. He discusses his new book, Never a Dull Moment.

The Case For 1971 As Rock's Greatest Year

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Terry McMillan's Latest: Revisiting Past Loves, Rediscovering Yourself

Terry McMillan accepts the award for outstanding literary work, fiction, for Getting to Happy at the 42nd NAACP Image Awards in 2011 in Los Angeles. Chris Pizzello/AP hide caption

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Chris Pizzello/AP

Terry McMillan's Latest: Revisiting Past Loves, Rediscovering Yourself

June 21, 2016 • In her new novel, I Almost Forgot About You, McMillan's heroine confronts midlife malaise by reconnecting with men from her past.

Terry McMillan's Latest: Revisiting Past Loves, Rediscovering Yourself

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A Festival For Mixed-Race Storytellers — And Everyone Else, Too

Author Heidi Durrow gathers with festivalgoers to celebrate Mixed Remixed in 2015. Courtesy of Mixed Remixed hide caption

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Courtesy of Mixed Remixed

A Festival For Mixed-Race Storytellers — And Everyone Else, Too

June 20, 2016 • The Mixed Remixed festival isn't just for folks who are multiracial. It's about connecting people from all over the world who aren't always seen as belonging together.

Harry Potter Inc. Hopes To Re-Create The Magic, Hogwarts And All, With 'Cursed Child'

A fan holds a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at a book release party at Scholastic headquarters in New York in 2007. Clark Jones/AP hide caption

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Clark Jones/AP

Harry Potter Inc. Hopes To Re-Create The Magic, Hogwarts And All, With 'Cursed Child'

June 20, 2016 • Lynn Neary wonders whether the latest "Harry Potter story" (technically the script of a new play) merits the marketing push it's getting.

Harry Potter Inc. Hopes To Re-Create The Magic, Hogwarts And All, With 'Cursed Child'

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Never Mind The White Dress, Turns Out Emily Dickinson Had A Green Thumb

Dickinson vividly described flowers and plants in her poetry. Click here to read her poem, "It will be Summer — eventually." Courtesy of the Emily Dickinson Museum hide caption

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Courtesy of the Emily Dickinson Museum

Never Mind The White Dress, Turns Out Emily Dickinson Had A Green Thumb

New England Public Media

June 18, 2016 • Archaeologists are working to unearth the poet's original gardens and bring the homestead back to its natural state. The hope is to revive the plants and flowers she vividly described in her poetry.

Never Mind The White Dress, Turns Out Emily Dickinson Had A Green Thumb

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'Locally Laid': A Humorous Memoir To Cure You Of Farming Fantasies

Jason and Lucie Amundsen on their farm in in Wrenshall, Minn. Katie Cannon hide caption

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Katie Cannon

'Locally Laid': A Humorous Memoir To Cure You Of Farming Fantasies

June 16, 2016 • When Jason Amundsen told his wife he was quitting his job to raise pasture-raised eggs, she was less than amused. Readers, however, will chuckle at the story of their tragicomic path to success.

Nitza Villapol: The Woman Who Taught Cubans To Cook With Just About Anything

For decades, Nitza Villapol hosted Cocina al Minuto, a popular cooking show in Cuba. In the decades after Fidel Castro took power, she adapted her cooking, teaching Cubans how to make do without certain ingredients while instructing them in how to use once-eschewed produce and cuts of meat in new ways. Screenshot from YouTube hide caption

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Screenshot from YouTube

The Salt

Nitza Villapol: The Woman Who Taught Cubans To Cook With Just About Anything

June 16, 2016 • For over 40 years, Villapol hosted a popular cooking show in Cuba, her recipes shifting to reflect the realities of life under the revolution. No meat? No problem — she fried plantain peels instead.

Tig Notaro On Her Terrible Year In 'I'm Just A Person'

Comedian Tig Notaro from the film In A World poses for a portrait during the 2013 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Victoria Will/Invision/AP hide caption

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Victoria Will/Invision/AP

Author Interviews

Tig Notaro On Her Terrible Year In 'I'm Just A Person'

June 15, 2016 • Comedian Tig Notaro shot to fame in 2012, talking candidly onstage about having cancer. Now she's in remission, recently married and the author of a new memoir called I'm Just A Person.

Tig Notaro On Her Terrible Year In 'I'm Just A Person'

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DC Comics' 'Rebirth': When The Super-Villain Is Your Own History

Go Into the Light: DC Comics relaunches its line of superheroes titles again. Still. Some more. DC Comics hide caption

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DC Comics

Review

Book Reviews

Temeraire And Laurence, At Peace At Last In 'League Of Dragons'

June 14, 2016 • This week, the NPR Books Time Machine travels back to the era of the Napoleonic Wars for a look at Naomi Novik's Temeraire series, which wraps up this week with the release of League of Dragons.