Fully Authorized Explore the book world's latest offerings with Karen Grigsby Bates, who brings you conversations about books with the authors who create them. Bates is correspondent and books editor for NPR's midday news magazine, Day to Day. She lives in Los Angeles.

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'Consuelo and Alva': An Early Story of Celebrity

February 1, 2006 • Amanda McKenzie Stuart's maiden book is a dual biography of two women who were famous because of their wealth at the end of the 1800s: Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt is every bit as fascinating as the latest cover story in People or Vanity Fair.

'Fat Girl': Unsparing Look at Growing Up Large

July 8, 2005 • Author Judith Moore's darkly humorous and unflinching memoir recounts growing up "heavy" with an abusive mother. Moore revels in the delights of a cheeseburger, and the subtle victory of rising above her past.