Books

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Diane Rehm Finds New Life In The Profound Challenge Of Being Alone

10:50am January 30, 2016

by NPR Staff

For decades, she's hosted her own talk show — but one of her toughest struggles came with the pain of her husband's death. She tells NPR's Scott Simon how it inspired her fight for assisted suicide.

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Alexander Chee's Voice Shines Through In 'Queen Of The Night'

8:30am January 30, 2016

by NPR Staff

The long-awaited novel follows a famous opera singer on her journey of constant reinvention. Despite the 19th century France setting, Chee admits there are autobiographical elements.

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In 'City Of Blades,' The Gods Are Dead. So What Happens Next?

7:00am January 30, 2016

by Jason Sheehan

Robert Jackson Bennett makes a bold move in this second volume of his Divine Cities series — he abandons (mostly) the fan favorites from volume 1, and picks up years later in a different city.

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'Good On Paper' Swings From Scholarly To Zany

3:31pm January 28, 2016

by Annalisa Quinn

Rachel Cantor's new novel tries to draw out the connections between love and scholarship in a tale of a frustrated translator looking for a new life. But it's occasionally too clever for its own good.

Llapingacho is one of Marcella Kriebel's favorite recipes from her travels. It is an Ecuadorian cheese-stuffed potato pancake. Juxtaposed is causa, a Peruvian dish of layered potato, shrimp and avocado.

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'Mi Comida Latina': A Hand-Drawn Guide To Latin Cuisines

1:39pm January 28, 2016

by Morgan McCloy

With its vibrant watercolor illustrations and delicate hand-lettered recipes, artist Marcella Kriebel's cookbook is as much an art project as a manual for making tasty meals from Latin America.

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Strange Lives Unfold In Dreamy, Atmospheric 'Sleep Garden'

7:00am January 27, 2016

by Michael Schaub

Jim Krusoe's new novel is hard to summarize. It's about the odd inhabitants of an odd, bunker-like apartment building — but also about life, death, and the importance of stories.

Actress Sue Lyon eats a lollipop as Dolores "Lolita" Haze in a scene from Lolita, the 1962 film adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's novel. Nabokov made sumptuous use of food in his writing, and the acoustic affinity between Lolita and lollipops is no coincid

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'Lolita' And Lollipops: What Nabokov Had To Say About Nosh

9:12pm January 26, 2016

by Nina Martyris

Vladimir Nabokov was an indifferent eater, but his writing made sumptuous use of food. Fans will enjoy unearthing links between his fiction and private life in a new collection of letters to his wife.

The original Kitty in Boots, which Beatrix Potter illustrated herself

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100 Years Later, Beatrix Potter's Tale Of A Fanciful Feline To Be Published

7:06pm January 26, 2016

by Merrit Kennedy

The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots is set for release in September. It features a favorite Potter character — Peter Rabbit — "albeit older, slower and portlier."

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Forgotten Beatrix Potter Tale Of 'Kitty-In-Boots' To Be Published

6:23pm January 26, 2016

by Petra Mayer

Peter Rabbit — older and stouter — returns this fall in a newly published Beatrix Potter story, The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots. It was probably written just before World War I and then abandoned.

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Science writer Jo Marchant investigated the healing power of the mind for her new book, Cure.

How Meditation, Placebos And Virtual Reality Help Power 'Mind Over Body'

4:37pm January 26, 2016

Science writer Jo Marchant says that the mind can play an important role in dealing with a variety of health concerns, including pain, heart disease and depression. Marchant's new book is Cure.

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