Books

Books

Why Many Americans Are Drawn To The Gig Economy

7:27am March 11, 2019

David Greene talks to sociologist Alexandrea Ravenelle about her book Hustle and Gig: Struggling and Surviving in the Sharing Economy, which examines how companies treat their front-line workers.

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'The Volunteer' Is A War Story Unlike Any Other

7:00am March 11, 2019

by Jason Sheehan

Salvatore Scibona's new novel is a generational saga, an epic of Vietnam and other places rendered in language that makes even simple things sound mythic. But first, a boy is abandoned at an airport.

Will The U.S.-China Trade War Matter In The Coming Decades?

7:00am March 11, 2019

NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Parag Khanna about his new book The Future Is Asian and the U.S.-China trade war.

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Menstruate? Celebrate! New Novel Urges Girls To Embrace 'The Moon Within'

9:10am March 10, 2019

by Lulu Garcia-Navarro

Author Aida Salazar didn't want her daughter to feel ashamed about getting her period. "I wanted to reframe the conversation," Salazar says. "I wanted to tell a different story."

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'The Altruists' Asks: How Do You Live A Good Life?

7:00am March 10, 2019

by Heller McAlpin

Andrew Ridker's sharp, compassionate first novel follows a family of flawed but sympathetic bumblers whose efforts to do good more often end up causing harm — to themselves and others.

Mario Puzo is the author of The Godfather.

Opinion: How 'The Godfather' Sparked Imagination In Afghanistan

12:59pm March 09, 2019

by Scott Simon

In his essay this week, NPR's Scott Simon writes about how Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather ended up in a pile of books on the streets of Kabul and sparked one young man's imagination.

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Books

Valeria Luiselli On The 'Lost Children Archive'

8:21am March 09, 2019

NPR's Scott Simon talks with author Valeria Luiselli about her new book, Lost Children Archive, which traces a family road trip to the borderland.

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Veronica Miller Jamison On 'A Computer Called Katherine'

8:21am March 09, 2019

NPR's Scott Simon asks illustrator Veronica Miller Jamison about A Computer Called Katherine, the new illustrated book for young readers about Hidden Figures lead character Katherine Johnson.

A volunteer holds up a "Hush Y'all" sign at an LPGA golf tournament in 2012 in Mobile, Ala.

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Y'all Heard? An Argument For The Great Southern Pronoun

8:21am March 09, 2019

by Patrick Jarenwattananon

In the book Speaking of Alabama, an essay by linguistics professor Catherine Davies calls "y'all" a speech "improvement" — at least when referring to the plural second person.

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'Gingerbread' Is A Delightfully Spicy Family Fable

7:00am March 09, 2019

by Michael Schaub

Helen Oyeyemi played with fairy tale ideas in the past; her new novel takes off from "Hansel and Gretel" for the story of a mother, a daughter and a mysteriously powerful family gingerbread recipe.