Books

Books

'The Martian' Started As A Self-Published Book

4:24pm February 28, 2016

by Lynn Neary

The movie that was nominated for several Oscars began as a self-published book by Andy Weir. NPR's Lynn Neary looks at how an unknown author's book became a hit audio book and major motion picture.

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Books

Frankly, My Dear, Mark Leyner Doesn't Give A Damn

7:00am February 28, 2016

by Jason Sheehan

Mark Leyner manages to make run-on sentences, erotic digressions and manic depression engaging in his autobiographical novel, Gone with the Mind.

Books

'Imbeciles' Explores Legacy Of Eugenics In America

2:53pm February 27, 2016

Adam Cohen's new book tells the story of the 1927 Supreme Court case Buck v. Bell. The ruling permitted the state of Virginia to sterilize an "imbecile" — a scientific term of the day.

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Arts

A Writer-Engineer's Historical Fiction Hack: Add Dragons

9:27am February 27, 2016

by Ravenna Koenig

Before her first book, Naomi Novik was a programmer who wrote Napoleonic-era fan fiction on the side. Then she had an idea: "What could make the Napoleonic wars more exciting? Dragons!"

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Arts

Comedian Ben Bailey Smith Weaves Rapping Into Children's Book

7:54am February 27, 2016

What does rapping have in common with a good children's book? A lively beat and rhyme. Rapper, comedian and actor, Ben Bailey Smith speaks to NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro about his book, "I Am Bear."

Books
Arts

Placid Madonnas Please Antisocial Men Of Genius In 'Almanac'

6:00am February 27, 2016

by Annalisa Quinn

In A Doubter's Almanac, Ethan Canin tells the story of a book-smart man — "a topologist, who can map the world but not the heart."

Where's The Color In Kids' Lit? Ask The Girl With 1,000 Books (And Counting)

8:50pm February 26, 2016

by Meg Anderson

Eleven-year-old Marley Dias went on a quest to collect and donate 1,000 books with a black girl as the main character. Spoiler alert: She did really well.

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Austin Reed was an indentured servant who set fire to his employer's farmhouse after he was whipped for "idleness." Reed was sent to The House of Refuge, the nation's first juvenile reformatory, and later sentenced to serve in New York's Auburn State Pris

Books
Arts

Written Behind Bars, This 1850s Memoir Links Prisons To Plantations

6:51pm February 26, 2016

by Lynn Neary

The Life and the Adventures of a Haunted Convict is the earliest known prison memoir by an African-American writer. Written by Austin Reed in the 1850s, it was discovered at an estate sale in 2009.

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The books to be published by Salaam Reads are intended to appeal to Muslim and non-Muslim readers alike.

Simon & Schuster Launches Imprint For Muslim Children's Books

2:58pm February 25, 2016

by Camila Domonoske

The books published by Salaam Reads will appeal to Muslim and non-Muslim readers alike, executive editor Zareej Jaffery says — and will represent a wide range of cultural traditions within Islam.

Muhammad Ali, world heavyweight boxing champion, stands with Malcolm X (left) outside the Trans-Lux Newsreel Theater in New York in 1964.

Muhammad Ali And Malcolm X: A Broken Friendship, An Enduring Legacy

2:38pm February 25, 2016

by Karen Grigsby Bates

A new book, Blood Brothers: The Fatal Friendship Between Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X, explores how faith brought two African-American icons together and eventually tore their relationship apart.

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