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'The Mechanical' Will Make Your Clockwork Pulse Pound

6:29pm March 18, 2015

by Jason Heller

Ian Tregillis' new novel is the start of a series, set in an alternate 1926, that follows a robot's search for humanity against a backdrop of science, philosophy and a grand struggle between empires.

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How Self-Improvement Became Self-Destruction On 'Diamond Mountain'

4:17pm March 18, 2015

by Tomas Hachard

Scott Carney's new book unpacks the complicated story of Ian Thorson, who died in the Arizona wilderness after becoming involved with an unorthodox Buddhist group led by a charismatic American monk.

A drawing of two clinking martini glasses.

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Small Batch Edition: On Loving Romance With Sarah Wendell

1:55pm March 18, 2015

by Linda Holmes

We talk to romance blogger Sarah Wendell about romance fans, romance novels, and some of her top recommendations for fans and new visitors alike.

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25 Years After Art Heist, Empty Frames Still Hang In Boston's Gardner Museum

12:23pm March 18, 2015

by NPR Staff

On March 18, 1990, robbers stole $500 million in art from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Author Stephen Kurkjian explains why anyone would bother to steal work so priceless it couldn't be sold.

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A team of archaeologists and anthropologists work on identifying remains at the Convent of the Barefoot Trinitarians in Madrid. They believe they've found the 400-year-old grave of the author of Don Quixote.

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Cervantes' Remains Have Been Found In Madrid, Scientists Say

8:31pm March 17, 2015

by Jasmine Garsd

Almost 400 years after his death, researchers have found bone fragments that seem to match what they know about the celebrated author's burial.

Books

The Long Road To 'Single, Carefree, Mellow'

8:18pm March 17, 2015

by Justine Kenin

Writer Katherine Heiny has published her first collection of short stories, Single, Carefree, Mellow.

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Book Review: 'The Discreet Hero'

8:18pm March 17, 2015

by Alan Cheuse

Alan Cheuse reviews one of his all-time favorite authors, Nobel Prize-winning Mario Vargas Llosa. His new book is called The Discreet Hero, and it was translated by Edith Grossman.

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The Last Flight of Poxl West cover detail.

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WWII Novel-Memoir Explores The Blurry Line Between Fact And Fiction

6:33pm March 17, 2015

In Daniel Torday's The Last Flight of Poxl West, a Jewish refugee tells his heroic World War II story in a best-selling — and partly fabricated — memoir.

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'Escape' Is A Searing Indictment Of Nation-Building

3:07pm March 17, 2015

by Daniel José Older

Saad Hossain's new novel is a wild ride through war, tyranny and the supernatural, set in Baghdad during the U.S. invasion. Critic Daniel José Older praises the book's "poetic and brutal precision."

Mai Tai Sing dances with her husband, Wilbur Tai Sing, in 1942.

Books
Arts

These Nightclub Entertainers Paved The Way For Asian-Americans In Showbiz

2:27pm March 17, 2015

by Heidi Chang

Forbidden City was part of a Chinese-American nightclub scene that flourished in 1940s and '50s San Francisco. But between racial taunts and scandalized parents, its performers didn't have it easy.

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