Books

Books

Joyce Carol Oates Wades Into Troubled Waters With 'The Sacrifice'

1:23pm January 31, 2015

by Alan Cheuse

Based on the real-life story of Tawana Brawley (and Al Sharpton), The Sacrifice depicts the fractures in a fictional New Jersey town after a young black girl accuses white cops of assaulting her.

Queue Listen Now

Colleen McCullough at home on Australia's remote Norfolk Island in 1990 — she told an interviewer she moved there to escape her difficult family.

Books
Arts

Remembering 'Thorn Birds' Author Colleen McCullough

1:20pm January 31, 2015

by Lynn Neary

Australian writer Colleen McCullough has died at 77; she was best known for her doomed Outback romance saga The Thorn Birds, famously adapted for TV with Richard Chamberlain as a passionate priest.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

A Mismatched Crew Dreams Of Swashbuckling In 'We Are Pirates'

1:20pm January 31, 2015

Acclaimed writer Daniel Handler, a.k.a. Lemony Snickett, drew criticism last year for a racist comment at a literary event. NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Handler about his new novel, We Are Pirates.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

Rod McKuen, The Cheeseburger To Poetry's Haute Cuisine

1:14pm January 31, 2015

by Scott Simon

Poet Rod McKuen was loved by millions but mocked by literary critics. He died this week at age 81.

Queue Listen Now

Why A Black Man's Murder Often Goes Unpunished In Los Angeles

7:51pm January 30, 2015

by NPR Staff

From witnesses to reluctant gang members, Jill Leovy says, "everybody's terrified." Her book, Ghettoside, uses the story of one murder to explore the city's low arrest rate when black men are killed.

Queue Listen Now

Books

NPR Bestsellers: Week Of January 29, 2015

4:03pm January 30, 2015

The lists are compiled from weekly surveys of close to 500 independent bookstores nationwide.

Books

NPR Bestsellers: Hardcover Fiction, Week Of January 29, 2015

4:03pm January 30, 2015

In Lily King's Euphoria, three young anthropologists in 1930s New Guinea are caught in a love triangle. It debuts at No. 13.

Books

NPR Bestsellers: Hardcover Nonfiction, Week Of January 29, 2015

4:03pm January 30, 2015

Debuting at No. 14, Diane Muldrow's Everything I Need to Know About Love I Learned From a Little Golden Book offers insights on the world of romance.

Books

NPR Bestsellers: Paperback Fiction, Week Of January 29, 2015

4:03pm January 30, 2015

At No. 15, Chris Pavone's The Accident follows literary agent Isabel Reed as she races through a mysterious manuscript while the CIA simultaneously tries to bury the story.

Books

NPR Bestsellers: Paperback Nonfiction, Week Of January 29, 2015

4:03pm January 30, 2015

In How to Love, Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh instructs on the essentials of mindfulness practice and understanding the many different kinds of love. It appears at No. 14.