Books

After losing her daughter during the war, Vijaya cares for her granddaughter Anjali. Despite not being able to afford fresh vegetables, she cooks nourishing sothis or stews made of coconut milk.

Cookbook Tells The Story Of Sri Lanka's Civil War Through Food

6:45pm October 09, 2016

by Vidya Balachander

Handmade trains its lens on 34 women from across the war-torn north, interweaving their stories of struggle and survival with recipes representative of the region's distinctive cuisine.

'Imperfections Can Make Us More Creative,' Author Tim Harford Argues

5:04pm October 09, 2016

Tim Harford's new book Messy takes a look at how disorder and uncertainty spark creativity, by looking at famous examples of art, invention, office buildings and workspaces.

Bandit by Molly Brodak (Raquel Zaldivar/NPR)

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Arts

Growing Up As A Bank Robber's Daughter In 'Bandit'

5:04pm October 09, 2016

by NPR Staff

Kids eventually realize their parents are real people, says author Molly Brodak. But in her new memoir, she talks about another sort of realization: That her father was dishonest, and a criminal.

Books

'The Hostage's Daughter': A Traumatic Ordeal That Shaped The Life Of Sulome Anderson

1:44pm October 09, 2016

NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Sulome Anderson about her memoir, The Hostage's Daughter. It's about her life as the daughter of a reporter who was kidnapped and held for years by radicals in Lebanon.

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Powerful Poetry Urges Us To 'Look' More Closely

7:00am October 09, 2016

by Mina Tavakoli

Solmaz Sharif's collection, Look, has just been shortlisted for a National Book Award. Playing on the military language in a Department of Defense lexicon, it's a wrenching look at war and duality.

Books

'Small Great Things' Author Jodi Picoult Talks About Inspired The Novel

8:29am October 08, 2016

Jodi Picoult's new novel "Small Great Things" tells the story of an African American labor and delivery nurse and the racism surrounding her care of a white supremacist couple's newborn son. She tells NPR's Scott Simon what compelled her to write this story.

The Angel of History by Rabih Alameddine (Raquel Zaldivar/NPR)

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'Angel Of History' Is A Heartfelt Cry

7:00am October 08, 2016

by Michael Schaub

Rabih Alameddine's new novel begins with Satan and Death arguing, in the mind of a poet on the verge of a breakdown. Satan wants him to remember those lost to AIDS; Death preaches forgetfulness.

After he was sentenced for illegally possessing a firearm, Albert "Prodigy" Johnson, of the hip-hop duo Mobb Deep, discovered how hard it was to eat healthy behind bars. His new cookbook tells the story.

From Mobb Deep Rapper, A Cookbook For Healthy Eating — In Prison

7:25pm October 07, 2016

by Tove Danovich

Behind bars, it takes ingenuity, other prisoners and a little help from the commissary to approximate a proper diet. That's what rapper Prodigy of hip-hop's Mobb Deep learned after going to prison.

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Arts

These Are The 2016 National Book Award Finalists

10:31am October 06, 2016

by Colin Dwyer

Colson Whitehead, Jacqueline Woodson and Rita Dove are just three of the authors on the shortlists for the National Book Awards. The 20 books still in contention for the prizes were unveiled Thursday.

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Arts

Cuba Is A Dream That Doesn't Let Go In 'The Mortifications'

7:00am October 06, 2016

by Jason Sheehan

Derek Palacio's new novel follows a family who escape Cuba, leaving their political rebel patriarch behind after he refuses to go with them. When he reappears decades later, their lives come apart.