Books

Books

'Killing It' on stage turns literal for these comics in Mike Bockoven's new novel

11:29am May 28, 2023

by Ayesha Rascoe

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks to author Mike Bockoven about his new book "Killing It," a darkly funny story about four standup comedians who face literal death in a comedy club.

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Rachel Louise Snyder on her coming-of-age memoir 'Women We Buried, Women We Burned'

8:17am May 27, 2023

by Scott Simon

Scott Simon talks with journalist Rachel Louise Snyder. After writing an acclaimed book about domestic violence, she's out with a new coming-of-age memoir, "Women We Buried, Women We Burned."

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'American Born Chinese' is a window into what's changed for the community

5:26pm May 26, 2023

Cartoonist Gene Luen Yang talks about the new television adaptation of his graphic novel American Born Chinese.

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Here are 19 books our critics are excited for this summer

11:09am May 26, 2023

by Meghan Collins Sullivan

We asked some of our regular book critics what soon-to-be-published titles they are most looking forward to reading this summer. Here's what they said.

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4 new books by Filipino authors to read this spring

8:10am May 25, 2023

by Malaka Gharib

As we near the close of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we bring you a list of new books by Filipino authors — ranging from a noir graphic novel to the latest from Gina Apostol.

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Voice memos from the path of Typhoon Mawar

4:25pm May 24, 2023

As Typhoon Mawar thrashes Guam with 140-mile-per-hour winds and heavy rain, two people on the island share eyewitness accounts of what they're seeing.

Amanda Gorman says she wrote "The Hill We Climb" — which she read at President Biden's inauguration — "so that all young people could see themselves in a historical moment." Gorman is seen here in February, at the Grammy Awards.

One complaint led a Florida school to restrict access to Amanda Gorman's famous poem

3:25pm May 24, 2023

by Bill Chappell

One week after a parent complained, Gorman's The Hill We Climb was moved. The NAACP chapter in Miami says it wants "to ensure that it takes more than one form to remove our history and heritage."

Kenneth Anger attends MOCA's 35th Anniversary Gala in March 2014 in Los Angeles.

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Kenneth Anger, gay film pioneer and unreliable Hollywood chronicler, dies at 96

11:51am May 24, 2023

by Neda Ulaby

Kenneth Anger was a queer underground filmmaker whose bestselling book, Hollywood Babylon, purported to reveal the seamy side of a golden era.

Books

South Korean beauty culture reveals a grim future in 'Flawless'

5:08am May 24, 2023

Brittany Luse, of the NPR podcast It's Been a Minute, talks to NPR's Elise Hu, who writes about Korean beauty standards in the book, Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital.

Translator Angela Rodel, left, and author Georgi Gospodinov have won the 2023 International Booker Prize for Time Shelter. They are pictured above in London on May 23, 2023.

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Georgi Gospodinov and Angela Rodel win International Booker Prize for 'Time Shelter'

5:27pm May 23, 2023

by Elizabeth Blair

This win is a first for a Bulgarian novel — the author and translator will split the prize money. Time Shelter imagines a clinic for Alzheimer's patients where each floor reproduces a past decade.