Books

For many, Afghanistan does not at first conjure up images of black bears and musk deer. But that's just what Alex Dehgan found when his team went there in hope of establishing the first national park.

Baker made his name as a columnist for The New York Times, where he wrote thousands of columns over more than 30 years. He won one Pulitzer Prize for commentary, and another for his autobiography.

In his new book Prisoner, Jason Rezaian of The Washington Post recounts his time in Iran's notorious Evin prison. He talks with NPR's Rachel Martin about his ordeal.

After being accused of spying, Jason Rezaian was held in Iran's notorious prison for a year and a half. Throughout it all, he never considered giving up writing and reporting.

Writer Jason Rezaian is unsparingly personal throughout the telling of his arrest, imprisonment and trial, writing of his childhood, family, visits with his wife — and fears and insecurities.

Ben Philippe's debut novel follows a black French Canadian teenager grappling with his parents' divorce and the upheaval that comes with moving from Canada to Texas in the middle of the school year.

In the movies, "Mr. Smith" stands by his principles and prevails in the capital. In Cliff Sims's story, told in a new book, the hero descends into disillusionment — but not before enjoying the ride.

In Olivia Hinebaugh's new novel, a girl gets fed up with her school's abstinence-only classes and sets herself up as a sex ed expert, handing out condoms and advice with help from her mom, a nurse.

This year, says critic Craig Morgan Teicher, America's poets are stepping up and expressing their faith in the capacity of words to overcome barriers, find compromise, and speak truth.

"A library can be a loud place," says a city official in charge of Moscow's 400-plus public libraries, which have begun attracting visitors with coffee shops, theater rehearsals and lectures.

A comedian, writer, actor, director and producer, Carl Reiner was part of the golden days of television. But these days, he's producing a lot of books.

"Losing weight is figuring out something you can live with," says Tommy Tomlinson, author of the new memoir The Elephant in the Room: One Fat Man's Quest to Get Smaller in a Growing America.