Accessibility links
Books: Book Reviews, Book News, and Author Interviews NPR's brings you news about books and authors along with our picks for great reads. Interviews, reviews, and much more.

Books

'Inside the Curve' attempts to offer an overview of COVID's full impact everywhere

Medical staff in the Kansai region of Japan clean a hotel room that was used as a COVID-19 for asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic patients. Kazuma Obara/National Geographic hide caption

toggle caption
Kazuma Obara/National Geographic

Review

Book Reviews

'Inside the Curve' attempts to offer an overview of COVID's full impact everywhere

Visually striking — NatGeo and superb photography have always walked hand-in-hand — and incredibly complete, deep and nuanced, this is a book that comes close to the impossible.

'Sam,' the latest novel from Allegra Goodman, is small, but not simple
Penguin Random House

Review

Book Reviews

'Sam,' the latest novel from Allegra Goodman, is small, but not simple

Fresh Air

The novel follows a white working-class girl from age 7 through her late teens, navigating a world tightly circumscribed by class and culture.

'Sam,' the latest novel from Allegra Goodman, is small, but not simple

Listen · 6:17
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1148647857/1149095492" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Author Aubrey Gordon Wants To Debunk Myths About Fat People

A woman stands on a scale. Rick Elkins/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Rick Elkins/Getty Images

Consider This from NPR

Author Aubrey Gordon Wants To Debunk Myths About Fat People

People sometimes object when Aubrey Gordon describes herself as fat. It's not that they're disputing her size, she says. Rather, they're acting out on their assumptions about what it means to be a fat person.

Author Aubrey Gordon Wants To Debunk Myths About Fat People

Listen · 12:30
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1148865090/1148869776" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Anti-fatness keeps fat people on the margins, says Aubrey Gordon

Writer Aubrey Gordon wants to change the way people think and talk about fatness, including how the word "fat" is used. Beth Olson/Beacon Press hide caption

toggle caption
Beth Olson/Beacon Press

Life Kit

Anti-fatness keeps fat people on the margins, says Aubrey Gordon

In her new book You Just Need To Lose Weight and 19 Other Myths About Fat People, Aubrey Gordon tackles the biases and myths that she says keep fat people on the margins of society.

Anti-fatness keeps fat people on the margins, says Aubrey Gordon

Listen · 8:00
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1148169767/1148467914" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
This graphic novel imagines what would happen if you could buy and sell wishes

An self-portrait of Deena Mohamed, author of the graphic novel Shubeik Lubeik — a fantasy story of making wishes in modern-day Egypt. Deena Mohamed hide caption

toggle caption
Deena Mohamed

Goats and Soda

This graphic novel imagines what would happen if you could buy and sell wishes

Artist and author Deena Mohamed created a graphic novel about how wishes would — or wouldn't — work in modern-day Egypt. Her much-praised book is now out in English. It's ... a wish come true!

Middle age 'is a force you cannot fight,' warns 'Fleishman Is in Trouble' author

Lizzy Caplan and Jesse Eisenberg are friends navigating middle age in Fleishman is in Trouble. Linda Kallerus/FX hide caption

toggle caption
Linda Kallerus/FX

Television

Middle age 'is a force you cannot fight,' warns 'Fleishman Is in Trouble' author

Fresh Air

Taffy Brodesser-Akner says the start of middle age hit her "like a truck." As her friends got divorced and began dating again, she was inspired to write a novel — which she's adapted for the screen.

Middle age 'is a force you cannot fight,' warns 'Fleishman Is in Trouble' author

Listen · 30:47
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1147818087/1148426612" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Author George M. Johnson: We must ensure access to those who need these stories most

Author George M. Johnson wrote All Boys Aren't Blue, which is on the American Library Association's list of most banned books. Kaz Fantone/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Kaz Fantone/NPR

Perspective

Banned and Challenged: Restricting access to books in the U.S.

Author George M. Johnson: We must ensure access to those who need these stories most

All Boys Aren't Blue, a memoir for teens and young adults about growing up Black and queer, appeared on many "best books" lists when published in 2020. It's being challenged in some U.S. counties.

The sports world is still built for men. This elite runner wants to change that

Lauren Fleshman's memoir, Good for a Girl: A Woman Running in a Man's World, is a memoir and a critique of how the sports world treats female athletes. Ryan Warner/Oiselle hide caption

toggle caption
Ryan Warner/Oiselle

Shots - Health News

The sports world is still built for men. This elite runner wants to change that

Fresh Air

Champion distance runner Lauren Fleshman says too many coaches assume — falsely — that what works for male athletes also benefits female athletes. Her memoir is Good for a Girl.

The sports world is still built for men. This elite runner wants to change that

Listen · 44:15
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1147816860/1148162792" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Novelist Russell Banks, dead at age 82, found the mythical in marginal lives

Russell Banks' 1985 breakout novel, Continental Drift, was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. He's pictured above in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in December 2007. Thony Belizaire/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Thony Belizaire/AFP via Getty Images

Obituaries

Novelist Russell Banks, dead at age 82, found the mythical in marginal lives

The novelist, activist and short story writer explored the lives of the marginalized and the powerless in American life. He was known for his books, Cloudsplitter, Affliction and Continental Drift.

Novelist Russell Banks, dead at age 82, found the mythical in marginal lives

Listen · 3:33
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1148071365/1148211413" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
'Bad Sex' and how the sexual revolution left women's desires behind
Westend61/Getty Images; Witthaya Prasongsin/Getty Images

It's Been a Minute

'Bad Sex' and how the sexual revolution left women's desires behind

For women who date men, bad sex might feel like a personal problem, but Nona Willis Aronowitz says it's political too. In Bad Sex: Truth, Pleasure, and an Unfinished Revolution, Aronowitz tackles the historic and systemic causes of unsatisfying sex. With wisdom from both her reading and romps, Aronowitz sits down with host Brittany Luse to talk about pleasure and the paths to building better relationships with men.

'Bad Sex' and how the sexual revolution left women's desires behind

Listen · 20:36
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1146720092/1147185926" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
2022 Books We Love: Realistic Fiction
Kaz Fantone/NPR

Review

Pop Culture Happy Hour

2022 Books We Love: Realistic Fiction

NPR's Books We Love is full of stories. The feature rounds up fiction and nonfiction of many different kinds, and it gives you lots of ways to find what you might love, too. Today, we're diving into the category of realistic fiction – the stories that may not be literally true, but they feel true to the world that people encounter when they walk out the door.

2022 Books We Love: Realistic Fiction

Listen · 13:00
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1146018558/1147404261" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
The economics lessons in kids' books

Mandy Robek's classroom at Shale Meadows Elementary School in Lewis Center, Ohio. Emma Peaslee/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Emma Peaslee/NPR

Planet Money

The economics lessons in kids' books

All sorts of lessons (even about economics) can be learned from kids' books. On today's show, we visit an elementary school to try to teach third graders econ using some beloved childrens' classics. And, along the way, we learn a few things ourselves.

The economics lessons in kids' books

Listen · 29:03
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1147069942/1147560150" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
What's making us happy: A guide to your weekend reading and viewing.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Brendan and Nora Zehetner as Laura in Brick. kpa Publicity Stills/Alamy Stock Photo hide caption

toggle caption
kpa Publicity Stills/Alamy Stock Photo

What's Making Us Happy: Recommendations From 'Pop Culture Happy Hour'

What's making us happy: A guide to your weekend reading and viewing.

Each week, the guests and hosts on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. This week: Babel or The Necessity of Violence, Sultana's Dream, La última copa/The Last Cup, and Brick.

Author Maia Kobabe: Struggling kids told me my book helped them talk to parents

Author Maia Kobabe wrote Gender Queer, which is on the American Library Association's lists of most banned books. Kaz Fantone/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Kaz Fantone/NPR

Perspective

Banned and Challenged: Restricting access to books in the U.S.

Author Maia Kobabe: Struggling kids told me my book helped them talk to parents

In 2020, Gender Queer was given a Stonewall Honor and an Alex Award and was headed for a fourth printing. By spring of 2022 it topped the ALA's list of most challenged books.

Banned Books: Maia Kobabe explores gender identity in 'Gender Queer'
Oni Press

Banned and Challenged: Restricting access to books in the U.S.

Banned Books: Maia Kobabe explores gender identity in 'Gender Queer'

Maia Kobabe set out to express an experience with gender identity. The graphic memoir Gender Queer is now the most banned book in the United States, according to the American Library Association.

Banned Books: Maia Kobabe explores gender identity in 'Gender Queer'

Listen · 7:15
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1146866267/1146866268" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Revisiting 'How The Other Half Eats'
Little, Brown and Company

Code Switch

Revisiting 'How The Other Half Eats'

How do race and class affect the way we eat? What does it mean to "eat like a white person?" And if food inequality isn't about "food deserts," what is it really about? We're getting into all those questions and more with Priya Fielding-Singh, author of the book, How the Other Half Eats.

Revisiting 'How The Other Half Eats'

Listen · 32:48
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1144182863/1146108345" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Browse archive or search npr.org