Books

Legend of the Condor Heroes features the kind of high-flying martial arts many Western audiences were introduced to by the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Books
Arts

Chinese Classic 'Condor Heroes' Takes Wing In English

10:00am March 04, 2018

by Alan Yu

Jin Yong's wildly popular historical series Legends of the Condor Heroes has been adapted many times for Chinese TV, movies and comics, and now the first volume has been translated into English.

Andrew Lloyd Webber's new memoir, Unmasked, covers the composer's life and creative process.

Andrew Lloyd Webber's Genius Is 'Unmasked' In New Memoir

8:11am March 04, 2018

The famed composer of Evita, Cats, The Phantom of the Opera and many more tells his story in a new memoir.

"Three Rooms in Valerie's Head" by David Gaffney and Dan Berry

Books
Arts

Two Brits Achieve Artistic Balance In 'Valerie's Head'

7:00am March 04, 2018

by Etelka Lohoczky

Author David Gaffney and illustrator Dan Berry bring just the right amount of nuttiness to their new graphic novel, about a woman who keeps the memories of disappointing exes in a cellar in her mind.

Books
Arts

'A Place Of Darkness' Is An Illuminating History Of Horror

10:00am March 03, 2018

by Genevieve Valentine

Kendall R. Phillips' new look at early American horror movies is academic, sure — but its central arguments make for great reading about how shifting cultural currents shape what scares us on screen.

Books

A Family Confronts Life And Death In 'The House Of Broken Angels'

8:11am March 03, 2018

The House of Broken Angels is the latest book by Luis Alberto Urrea. NPR's Scott Simon speaks with the best-selling author about the novel's themes of life, death and mortality.

Books
Arts

A Sister Shares 'Horrible And Wonderful' Memories Of Her Brother's Life And Death

8:11am March 03, 2018

by Scott Simon

Comedy writer and TV producer Harris Wittels died of an overdose in 2015; his sister Stephanie Wittels Wachs's new book came out of her desperate need to talk to him, even yell at him after he died.

Books
Arts

Deep, Compassionate 'Tess Of The Road' Contains A Whole World

7:00am March 03, 2018

by Amar El-Mohtar

Rachel Hartman follows up Seraphina and Shadow Scale with the story of Tess, a rebellious young woman who runs away to escape being sent to a nunnery, and finds pain and growth along her road.

Parton donated a copy of Coat of Many Colors to the permanent collection of the Library of Congress to mark the delivery of the 100th million book by her nonprofit Imagination Library.

Dolly Parton Gives The Gift Of Literacy: A Library Of 100 Million Books

4:57pm March 01, 2018

by Maureen Pao

In 1995, the entertainer and philanthropist started the Imagination Library, inspired by her father, who couldn't read and write. Now, it mails free books to more than a million kids each month.

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"Monster Portraits" by Del Samatar and Sofia Samatar

Books
Arts

Siblings On A Strange Journey In 'Monster Portraits'

7:00am March 01, 2018

by Genevieve Valentine

Sofia Samatar teams up with her brother Del, a tattoo artist, to create a new take on the fantastic bestiary. The result is a prose poem with jolts of autobiography, spiced with intricate drawings.

Dolly Parton's Nonprofit Reaches Milestone With 100 Million Books Sent To Children

5:09pm February 28, 2018

by Maureen Pao

This week, country music legend Dolly Parton celebrated a big milestone: 100 million books. That's right, books. Parton's nonprofit, Imagination Library, mails free books to children from birth to age 5 across the country, and this week, she celebrated the program's remarkable growth in a special ceremony at the Library of Congress.

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