NPR's Book of the Day

Early in today's episode, Aaliyah Bilal says she knows that a lot of people associate the Nation of Islam with hate. But in her new collection of short stories, Temple Folk , she reclaims narratives about Black Muslims and how they contemplate faith, identity and community in the U.S. She tells NPR's Scott Detrow why it was especially important for her to center women's stories and how her charact...

Both interviews today are with author Douglas Stuart. The first is about his Booker prize-winning Shuggie Bain ; a story based on his own life growing up a queer son of a single mother struggling with addiction. He told NPR's Scott Simon that he hoped people could find comfort in this story. Next, Stuart spoke to NPR's Ari Shapiro about his new book, Young Mungo . It's a story about two boys separ...

Bonnie Garmus' new novel Lessons In Chemistry has been getting a lot of buzz. Elizabeth Zott is a talented chemist but because it's the 1960s she faces sexism in her quest to work as a scientist. So instead she has a cooking show that is wildly popular. Garmus told NPR's Scott Simon that the character of Elizabeth lived in her head for many years before she started writing this novel. See pcm.adsw...

Former Homeland Security official and author Juliette Kayyem has a new book out that encourages preparedness. The Devil Never Sleeps makes the case that disasters are going to happen, and gives advice on how to manage them. Kayyem told NPR's Steve Inskeep that we need to redefine our definition of success after disasters occur. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of pe...

Author Jenny Tinghui Zhang is out with a new historical fiction novel, Four Treasures of The Sky . Set in the 1800s during the height of anti-Chinese sentiment, a young girl named Daiyu is kidnapped and brought to the U.S. Zhang told NPR's Ayesha Rascoe that she has seen a lot of reviews that refer to this book as 'timely' – and that she does not think that is a good thing when a book is about rac...

Ocean Vuong's new collection, Time Is A Mother , is about his grief after losing family members. Vuong told Morning Edition 's Rachel Martin that time is different now that he has lost his mother: "when I look at my life since she died in 2019, I only see two days: Today when she's not here, and the big, big yesterday when I had her." See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and us...

Today's episode is about two children's books with very big themes. First, author-illustrator Vashti Harrison speaks with NPR's Juana Summers about Big , which chronicles how words affect children – and particularly young, Black girls – as they grow older and their bodies change from baby to big kid. Then, Dolly Parton joins NPR's Melissa Block to discuss Billy the Kid Makes It Big , a story about...

V.V. Ganeshananthan's new novel, Brotherless Night , dives into the Sri Lankan Civil War through the story of Sashi, a 16-year-old girl who dreams of becoming a doctor. As violence unfolds around her and her family, Sashi watches her goals – and personal stakes in the conflict – shift right before her eyes. In today's episode, Ganeshananthan speaks to Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes about the long-la...

In the 1960s, FDA inspector Frances Kelsey was assigned her first drug to review: thalidomide. Her thorough investigation led her to discover that the drug had caused pregnant women to bear babies with birth defects around the world – including in the U.S., where the drug had been distributed in clinical trials. Jennifer Vanderbes' new book, Wonder Drug , looks back on that chapter of American his...

Little Monsters is the story of two adult siblings, Ken and Abby Gardner, who were raised by their widowed father in Cape Cod. As their dad's 70th birthday approaches, all three members of the small family are on the precipice of great success in their respective fields – but also on the precipice of coming forward with some pretty dark secrets from their past. In today's episode, author Adrienne...

Orphan Bachelors , the title of Fae Myenne Ng's new memoir, is a reference to the many "grandpas" she had while growing up in San Francisco's Chinatown. These men had been forced to stay single and childless by the Chinese Exclusion Act. In her book, Ng traces the long-lasting legacy of that legislation, which even touched her own parents. She tells Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes about the deep lone...

Today's episode is all about parents, their adult children, and the frustration and forgiveness that can come to a head in those relationships. First, author Jenny Xie speaks with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly about her new novel, Holding Pattern , in which protagonist Kathleen Cheng moves back in with her mom after dropping out of grad school and going through a breakup. Then, NPR's Scott Simon speaks...

Ken Jennings is well-known for winning – and hosting – Jeopardy! Now, he's got a new book out full of pop culture knowledge and research: 100 Places to See After You Die. Formatted like a travel guide, the book spans across different destinations inspired by the way philosophers, poets and even cartoons imagine heaven and hell. In today's episode, Jennings speaks with NPR's Ari Shapiro about what...

Kenny "The Jet" Smith's life has largely revolved around basketball in one way or another. The basketball commentator, Inside the NBA host and two-time NBA champion is now opening up about the people and relationships behind that career in his new memoir, Talk of Champions . In today's episode, he speaks to Here & Now's Scott Tong about how social justice, his high school coach, and friendships wi...

J. Ryan Stradal knows about supper club culture in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the rest of the northern midwest – he grew up in a town where those dining establishments blurred the lines between restaurant and social club, family and community. That culture is at the heart of his new novel, Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club , where main character Mariel has inherited one such supper club fr...

Frances Haugen came forward as the Facebook whistleblower in 2021, shortly after she exposed more than 20,000 documents proving that the company's algorithm boosted misinformation and extremism on the platform. In her new memoir, The Power of One , Haugen details how her life trajectory, from high school debate to Silicon Valley, poised her to speak up about what she saw during her time as an empl...

Today's episode features two novels intertwining family and wartime history. First, Anne Berest speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about The Postcard , based on the real-life holiday card her family received of relatives who'd been killed at Auschwitz years prior, and the journey that unfurled more than decade later to determine where the image came from. Then, Simon is joined by Luis Alberto Urrea, au...

As an NPR critic, Pop Culture Happy Hour host Aisha Harris helps make sense of how movies, music and TV inform our everyday lives. In her new book of essays, Wannabe , Harris applies that practice inward, reflecting on the impact Stevie Wonder and Sex and the City have had on her own upbringing. In today's episode, Harris speaks with NPR's Ayesha Rascoe about how relating her name to a certain pop...

Greg Marshall grew up with parents battling health issues: cancer and ALS. Marshall had his own health scares – he struggled with his leg and mobility his whole life, which his mom and dad said was a result of tight tendons. As an adult, he found out he'd actually been diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth. His memoir, Leg:The Story of a Limb and the Boy Who Grew from It , is an intimate, funny a...

In her new novel Loot , Tania James writes of a 17-year-old woodworker who's commissioned to build a tiger automaton for the Indian ruler Tipu Sultan in the 18th century. The story is inspired by the real-life Tippoo's Tiger, one of the most famous sculptures in London's Victoria and Albert Museum. James' tale of colonization, war, love and art stretches across India and Europe – and as she tells...

Between 1963 and 1964, The Beatles blew up to become one of the most internationally renowned bands in history. Though images of the screaming fans and the four musicians' swooping haircuts are part of pop culture, a new book shows that time period through Paul McCartney's perspective. 1964: Eyes of the Storm features photographs the guitarist took through many of those international performances....

Today's episode features interviews with two authors who are very invested in the English language. First, NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Hana Videen about her new book, The Wordhord , which collects words and phrases from Old English – like Beowulf – to examine and understand life during medieval times. Then, Here & Now's Robin Young is joined by linguist Valerie Fridland to discuss Like, Litera...

When Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Darrin Bell was six years old, he had an encounter with a police officer. That event, which he kept secret for much of his life, reaffirmed "the talk" he'd just had with his mother about the way white people and systems of power can cast hostility and harm onto Black children. That conversation – the way it shaped his own childhood, schooling and adulthood –...

When P-22 – the puma that lived in LA's Griffith Park – died in December, Angelenos mourned the loss of one of their wildest celebrities. In his new book, Open Throat , Henry Hoke pays homage to the late cat in a different way; he takes on the voice of a mountain lion living beneath the Hollywood sign, pondering community and climate change and gender identity. In today's episode, Hoke speaks with...

The summer after high school graduation is full of promise. But for twin sisters Amira and Lina, the return of their brother from prison complicates some of those teenage plans. In Aisha Abdel Gawad's new novel, Between Two Moons , the sisters' family finds it's struggling with tensions in and outside of the home during the holy month of Ramadan. In today's episode, Gawad speaks with NPR's Ari Sha...