NPR's Book of the Day
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NPR's Book of the Day
In need of a good read? Or just want to keep up with the books everyone's talking about? NPR's Book of the Day gives you today's very best writing in a snackable, skimmable, pocket-sized podcast. Whether you're looking to engage with the big questions of our times – or temporarily escape from them –...
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1071 episodi
'The Persian' is a spy thriller written by former CIA analyst David McCloskey
David McCloskey keeps writing spy thrillers – and the plots keep coming true. In the opening of his latest novel The Persian, Israel has just launched...
In her new memoir, Jeannie Vanasco gets 'A Silent Treatment' from her mom
Jeannie Vanasco’s memoir A Silent Treatment is about the period her mother spent living in the basement apartment of Vanasco’s home. Sometimes, Vanasc...
'Pick a Color' is a novel that takes place over a single day at a nail salon
Ning is the manager of a nail salon where all of the workers wear a nametag with the same name – Susan. Pick A Color takes place over a single day at...
Introducing: Books We've Loved
Welcome to Books We've Loved, a new limited series from Book of The Day. Every episode, we will dig into some of our favorite books, to make the case...
Introducing: Books We've Loved
Welcome to Books We've Loved, a new limited series from Book of The Day. Every episode, we will dig into some of our favorite books, to make the case...
These new mystery novels are 'whodunits' that might as well be called 'whydunits'
Today’s episode features two mystery novels with special twists. First, The Killer Question is a story told via emails, WhatsApp messages and texts. W...
In 'Dream School,' Jeff Selingo wants parents to rethink what makes a ‘good’ college
Over the past 20 years, the number of college applications filed to top schools has exploded. And while many American colleges accept most applicants,...
For her latest novel, Patricia Lockwood says she wanted to write about confusion
In Patricia Lockwood’s latest novel, the protagonist is an author named Patricia. Will There Ever Be Another You documents a four-year period of disor...
Mariana Enriquez’s new book connects her interest in cemeteries with Argentina’s past
Cemeteries are not everyone’s idea of fun, but they’re a source of fascination for author Mariana Enriquez. Her new nonfiction book Somebody Is Walkin...
'For the Sun After Long Nights' is a history of Iran’s Woman, Life, Freedom Movement
Three years ago, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman named Mahsa Jina Amini was fatally beaten by Iran’s morality police. She’d been arrested for not followin...
Two new history books use the past to explain what’s important now
Two new history books make a strong case for why learning about the past is critical to understanding the world today. First, History Matters is a pos...
'F*** Approval, You Don’t Need It!' makes the case against ‘people pleasers’
In her new book, F*** Approval, You Don’t Need It!, therapist Lizzie Moult says people who seek the approval of others are doing a great disservice to...
Angela Flournoy’s 'The Wilderness' focuses on a Black, female ‘chosen family’
The group of friends at the center of Angela Flournoy’s new novel, The Wilderness, are figuring out how to navigate life as they enter middle age. NPR...
Former senator Joe Manchin makes the case for the middle in the memoir 'Dead Center'
Former West Virginia senator Joseph Manchin III was a gadfly in the ear of his own Democratic party for many years, and a sometime Republican ally. Ma...
Ian McEwan’s latest novel ‘What We Can Know’ is science fiction without the science
At 77, the Booker Prize-winning British novelist Ian McEwan shows no signs of slowing down. His new novel, What We Can Know, is set in Great Britain i...
‘Peacemaker’ and ‘Tomorrow Is Yesterday’ are personal histories of diplomacy
Two new books dive into the details of diplomacy. First, in the 1960s U Thant became the first non-Western secretary-general of the United Nations. No...
Ken Jaworowski’s new crime novel ‘What About the Bodies’ has a surprising tender side
Ken Jaworowski is out with a new crime novel with a surprising tender side. What About the Bodies is set in a fictional town past its glory days with...
‘Dark Renaissance’ historian on how Christopher Marlowe paved the way for Shakespeare
The Elizabethan playwright Christopher Marlowe is known as Shakespeare’s greatest rival. But in his new book Dark Renaissance, historian Stephen Green...
‘Beyond Fast’ chronicles one coach’s unlikely revolution in high school cross-country
When Sean Brosnan started coaching the Newbury Park High School cross-country team, the school hadn't qualified for a state championship in 25 years....
In his new novel ‘The Secret of Secrets,’ Dan Brown takes on human consciousness
Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, is out with his sixth book starring fictional Harvard professor Robert Langdon. In The S...
‘Long Way Down’ and ‘The Hate U Give’ are modern classics about gun violence
The final episode in our Back to School series focuses on two contemporary books that tell stories about gun violence. First, Jason Reynolds’ 2017 nov...
What Toni Morrison learned from revisiting five of her most-read novels
Arguably, no high school reading list is complete without one of Toni Morrison’s books. In today’s episode, we look back at a 2004 conversation betwee...
Sandra Cisneros’ ‘The House on Mango Street’ was born from a feeling of displacement
Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street is a series of vignettes drawn from the experiences of a Mexican-American girl living in Chicago. Since its...
In her translation of ‘The Odyssey,’ Emily Wilson aimed for ‘a crystalline clarity’
In 2017, Emily Wilson became the first woman to translate Homer’s The Odyssey into English – more than three millennia after the epic’s inception. In...
Jhumpa Lahiri says the phrase ‘Interpreter of Maladies’ came to her in grad school
It’s Back to School week at NPR’s Book of the Day, which means we’re looking back at interviews with authors who may have shown up on your high school...
‘2024’ and ‘From the Clinics to the Capitol’ dissect opposing political movements
Today’s episode features two books that dissect very different case studies in politics: Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign and the anti-abortion mo...
In Meg Medina’s new young adult novel, a 13-year-old girl becomes a sea ghost
Meg Medina’s new young adult novel begins with a fall: Graciela, a 13-year-old-girl, is blown off a cliff and sucked into the bottom of the sea. A cen...
‘Misbehaving at the Crossroads’ is a lesson in the complexity of reconciliation
In her first nonfiction book Misbehaving at the Crossroads, Honoree Fanonne Jeffers weaves together history, political commentary and poetry that cent...
In Rabih Alameddine’s new novel, a mother and son share a tiny Beirut apartment
Raja teaches philosophy to high schoolers and shares an apartment with his 82-year-old mother, Zalfa. Rabih Alameddine explores their relationship – a...
Tamara Yajia’s memoir recounts a chaotic upbringing between the U.S. and Argentina
Tamara Yajia’s memoir Cry for Me, Argentina describes a chaotic upbringing between Argentine and American cultures. A big focus of the memoir is her “...
‘Papilio’ and ‘Chooch Helped’ are children’s books brought to life by friendship
Two children’s books were brought to life by close collaborations, one between longtime friends and another that began with a chance encounter. First,...
In ‘The Sunflower Boys,’ a 12-year-old boy comes of age during war in Ukraine
Artem is a 12-year-old Ukranian boy who likes to spend summer days on his grandfather’s sunflower farm swimming with his younger brother, Yuri. But on...
‘Friends with Words’ is a book about language, from word origins to regional dialects
For Martha Barnette, griping about grammatical pet peeves is one of the least interesting ways to talk about language. Instead, the co-host of the rad...
Kate Riley’s novel ‘Ruth’ was inspired by her year in an insular religious community
Author Kate Riley says her book Ruth was partly based on her year spent living in an insular religious community. The debut novel explores what it’s l...
In his memoir, poet Raymond Antrobus writes of ‘deaf gain’ instead of hearing loss
When poet Raymond Antrobus was 6 years old, he learned he was deaf. His new memoir The Quiet Ear describes living in a world of in-betweenness, stradd...
‘Your Favorite Scary Movie’ and ‘Ready for My Close-Up’ are histories of iconic films
Ashley Cullins and David Lubin are out with new books that delve into the histories of iconic films. First, in 1996, the character Ghostface was intro...
Eighty years after Hiroshima, a new book narrates the history of the atomic bomb
It’s been 80 years since the United States detonated atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, resulting in more than 200,000 deaths. Garrett Graff’s...
In the novel ‘Loved One,’ an ambiguous friendship is further complicated by loss
Aisha Muharrar’s debut novel Loved One is about a woman’s effort to understand her relationship with a friend who’s recently died. Julia had been frie...
‘Dinner with King Tut’ follows experimental archaeologists as they recreate the past
To write his latest book Dinner with King Tut, Sam Kean joined a group of experimental archaeologists who learn by doing. These researchers aim to rec...
For her 25th book, Karin Slaughter wanted to capture life in small-town Georgia
Karin Slaughter’s new book opens on a hot summer night in Georgia. It’s Madison Dalrymple’s 15th birthday and she has a big night planned with her bes...