Books

'Becoming Nicole' Recounts One Family's Acceptance Of Their Transgender Child

5:04pm October 19, 2015

When Kelly and Wayne Maines adopted identical twin boys in 1997, they didn't anticipate raising one of their sons as a daughter. They tell their story, with author Amy Ellis Nutt, in Becoming Nicole.

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Shall I Compare Thee To An Algorithm? Turing Test Gets A Creative Twist

7:54pm October 18, 2015

by Joe Palca

Can a computer program craft passable prose — something readers can't distinguish from human-authored stuff? How about poetry, or dance mixes? New contests pose those challenges.

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Jack Black and R.L. Stine on the set of the film adaptation of Goosebumps.

Books
Arts

The Deep, Dark Secret Of R.L. Stine: 'I Never Planned To Be Scary'

6:37pm October 18, 2015

by Colin Dwyer

After more than 20 years of frights, Stine's Goosebumps series is finally getting a big-screen adaptation, starring Jack Black. For Stine and Black, the key to the nightmare is in keeping things fun.

Brie Larson as Ma and Jacob Tremblay as Jack in the new movie adaptation of Room.

Books
Arts

A Mother Balances Truth And Survival In 'Room'

10:38am October 18, 2015

by NPR Staff

Actress Brie Larson speaks to NPR's Rachel Martin about the new film Room. She plays a woman held captive for seven years, who finally escapes with her son — who's never seen the outside world

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Books
Arts

Beyond 'Aunt Jemima': A Taste Of African-American Culinary Heritage

5:06pm October 17, 2015

by NPR Staff

History has largely forgotten the lives and thoughts of the black chefs who helped define American cooking. But there's a tantalizing glimpse in food writer Toni Tipton-Martin's cookbook collection.

Books
Arts

The Real Magic Of This Big 'City' — And The New Voice Behind It

11:16am October 17, 2015

by NPR Staff

Before City on Fire's release, Garth Risk Hallberg's debut novel was best known for the big advance it earned. But that paycheck is dwarfed by the book itself: a vast love letter to mid-'70s New York.

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Frederick Forsyth's new memoir chronicles his real-life adventures as a fighter pilot, foreign correspondent and author.

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Arts

Frederick Forsyth, Thrilling In Real Life

8:12am October 17, 2015

by NPR Staff

The author of classic thrillers like The Day of the Jackal has just written a memoir, The Outsider, that proves his life as a foreign correspondent-turned-writer is almost as exciting as his fiction.

Books
Arts

'Pop Sonnets' Finds Hidden Shakespeare In Top 40 Tunes

7:03am October 17, 2015

by Tasha Robinson

Originally a popular Tumblr, Pop Sonnets makes iambic hay out of modern artists like Kesha and Eminem. Critic Tasha Robinson explains why Sonnets isn't your average impulse-buy humor book.

Books
Arts

A 'Story' Of Much More Than Cancer

5:52pm October 16, 2015

by Etelka Lehoczky

Jennifer Hayden's graphic novel is, on the surface, the story of losing her breasts to cancer. But she sets that narrative within a host of other life experiences, making room for joy, hope and humor.

Books

More Fair Use News: Google Books, Again, Prevails Against Authors

4:55pm October 16, 2015

by Alina Selyukh

Google gets another win in a case by book authors and publishers challenging its digital library. Disputes over "fair use" of copyrighted material are bound to continue as more stuff ends up online.