Books

So Much Blue, by Percival Everett

'So Much Blue' Is Percival Everett's Best Yet

by Michael Schaub

By turns funny, shocking and heartbreaking, Everett's new novel follows a painter who's deeply ambivalent about his apparently idyllic life and digs into the moments in his past that shaped him.
Actors Adam West (L)and Burt Ward dressed as their characters (Zappp!) "Batman" and (Powww!) "Robin," on Jan. 27, 1989 at the "World of Wheels" custom car show in Chicago.

Adam West Saved Batman. And Me.

by Glen Weldon

NPR's resident Bat-scholar Glen Weldon offers a personal remembrance of the late Adam West, explains how the actor rescued the character of Batman from oblivion, and explores his enduring legacy.
Beach reading

Beach Reads You Need: Four Sandy Summer Romances

by Maya Rodale

Our monthly romance roundup rolls on with four beach-appropriate reads for June, from the supernatural to the astronomical to an old-fashioned tale of family lost and found when you least expect it.
The Essex Serpent, by Sarah Perry.

'The Essex Serpent' Spreads Its Wings

by Annalisa Quinn

Sarah Perry's historical novel is gloriously alive, teeming with bugs, moss and marsh, unconventional spirits and a darker undercurrent of fear about a legendary monster haunting the Essex coast.