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'Y Is For Yesterday': Sue Grafton's Penultimate Mystery Series Novel

6:29pm August 20, 2017

Sue Grafton's latest novel is the second to last in a series spanning A to Z and 35 years worth of best-selling murder mysteries featuring fictional female detective Kinsey Millhone.

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'Young Jane Young' Is A Political Sex Scandal, Told Through Women's Eyes

7:59am August 20, 2017

Young Jane Young is the story of a political sex scandal, told through the women who endure it. Author Gabrielle Zevin tells Lulu Garcia-Navarro she hopes readers will think twice about shaming women.

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Arts

Sweet, Generous 'Wild Things' Is A Playful Survey Of Kid Lit

7:00am August 20, 2017

by Annalisa Quinn

Bruce Handy's new book takes an emotional, intuitive look at the world of children's books, from Goodnight Moon to Charlotte's Web, which he calls "a mastery novel of ideas" about life and death.

Ann Powers is NPR Music's critic and correspondent. You can read more of her work on The Record blog.

'Good Booty': Backing Up How Music And Sex Helped Shape American Culture

6:10pm August 19, 2017

by Dwane Brown

In her new book Good Booty: Love and Sex, Black and White, Body and Soul in American Music, Ann Powers explores how popular music became America's primary erotic art form.

Books

Motherhood In The Guise Of Terror In 'Fierce Kingdom'

8:12am August 19, 2017

Fierce Kingdom is about every parent's worst nightmare. A mother and her son, in the zoo at closing time, see a shooter and run. And hide. Gin Phillips talks to Scott Simon about her latest novel.

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Arts

'Stay With Me' Is A Novel Of Commitment, Culture And The Struggle To Conceive

8:12am August 19, 2017

by Scott Simon

Set in Nigeria in the 1980s, Ayobami Adebayo's debut novel tells the story of a couple who desperately want to have a child, in a society where that's what's expected of them.

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Arts

In 'The Stone Sky,' Some Worlds Need To Burn

7:00am August 19, 2017

by Amal El- Mohtar

N.K. Jemisin won Hugo Awards for the first two volumes of her Broken Earth trilogy. The Stone Sky is a powerful, timely finale to this story of a world built on oppression and exploitation.

Jenny Zhang is a poet and writer living in New York City.

Books
Arts

'Sour Heart' Offers A Fierce, Fresh Take On The 'Hell' Of Coming To America

11:21am August 18, 2017

by Maureen Corrigan

The stories in Jenny Zhang's powerful debut collection center on the violent, sometimes disturbing experiences of young Chinese-American girls growing up in Queens, NY.

Books

The Next Chapter For Dystopian Literature

5:22pm August 17, 2017

Everyone dies in the end.

In 'Good Booty,' Our Hot And Heavy Love Affair With Pop Music

7:00am August 17, 2017

by Jason Heller

Sex is such an inextricable part of pop music, it's easy to overlook, but NPR Music critic Ann Powers rectifies that in her new book, a portrait of America's obsession with sex as it manifests in pop.