Books

Books

In 'Fight No More,' Author Lydia Millet Uses Homes As Windows Into Characters' Lives

4:39pm June 12, 2018

NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with the award-winning author Lydia Millet about Fight No More, her latest book that's collection of interconnected short stories set in houses around Los Angeles.

The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware / The Time by Kathleen Kent

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2 First-Rate Suspense Novels Deliver Chills, Thrills — And Stunning Endgames

12:57pm June 12, 2018

by Maureen Corrigan

In the relaxed days of summer, critic Maureen Corrigan reflexively reaches for a mystery. This year, she's settling in with The Dime, by Kathleen Kent, and The Death of Mrs. Westaway, by Ruth Ware.

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Our famous Summer Reader Poll lurches to life, dripping grave-dirt and bits of glowing green, ready to hear all about your favorite horror novels and stories. What sends a shiver down your spine?

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It's Aliiiiiive! This Year, Our Summer Reader Poll Is All About Horror

9:22am June 12, 2018

by Petra Mayer

Our famous Summer Reader Poll lurches to life, dripping grave-dirt and bits of glowing green, ready to hear all about your favorite horror novels and stories. What sends a shiver down your spine?

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Arts

'Vera Kelly' Finds The Connections Between Deep Cover And The Closet

7:00am June 12, 2018

by Jean Zimmerman

The personal is most definitely political in Rosalie Knecht's crisp, lively and subversive novel about a queer woman who discovers her early life in the closet makes her well-suited for espionage.

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Somali Refugee Abdi Nor Iftin: 'I Am Here To Make America Great'

7:54am June 10, 2018

by Lulu Garcia-Navarro

Back in Somalia, Abdi Nor Iftin was nicknamed "Abdi the American," and his love of this country put him in danger — but then he got a visa to come here. Iftin has a new memoir out: Call Me American.

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Sweet And Hot, 'The Kiss Quotient' Really Adds Up

7:00am June 10, 2018

by Kamrun Nesa

Author Helen Hoang used her own experience on the autism spectrum to build the character of Stella, a straight-laced numbers whiz who falls for the escort she hires to help her work on relationships.

Ron Stallworth (pictured here in 1975) was the first black detective in the history of the Colorado Springs Police Department.

How A Black Detective Infiltrated The KKK

4:44pm June 09, 2018

by Scott Simon

In Black Klansman, Ron Stallworth writes about an undercover investigation in which he — an African-American police detective — convinced the Ku Klux Klan that he was one of them.

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Books

Carrie Fisher And Debbie Reynolds Remembered In 'My Girls'

8:10am June 09, 2018

Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds died within hours of each other. Todd Fisher talks with NPR's Scott Simon about losing his sister and mother and his new memoir My Girls.

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Arts

In 'Death Notice,' The Thrills Don't Quite Translate

7:00am June 09, 2018

by Jean Zimmerman

Zhou Haohui's high-octane cop drama Death Notice aims for Dragon Tattoo-type thrills, but gets dragged down by flat characterizations and odd romantic flourishes.

Poetry Is Making A Big Comeback In The U.S., Survey Results Reveal

6:47pm June 08, 2018

by Colin Dwyer

The National Endowment for the Arts says that since its last survey period in 2012, the number of U.S. adults reading poetry had nearly doubled. And the agency says social media may be responsible.