NPR's Book of the Day

Author and podcast host Aubrey Gordon brings up an important reminder early in today's episode: In the United States, the average size is plus-sized. And yet there's an overwhelmingly negative connotation attached to both the word "fat" and to fat bodies. Gordon explores those societal taboos – as well as some of the misinformation surrounding them – in her new book, You Just Need to Lose Weight ....

Today's episode features interviews with two authors whose books on trans and queer gender identity are facing challenges in school districts across the U.S. First, NPR's Steve Inskeep sits down with writer and photographer Susan Kuklin to discuss her book, Beyond Magenta , which features the photos and narratives of six trans and nonbinary teens around the country. Then, NPR's Rachel Martin asks...

Author and cartoonist Art Spiegelman is familiar with the hysteria surrounding certain library books. In today's episode, he tells NPR's Scott Simon about how comic book burnings during his childhood in the 1950s weren't all that different from book bans taking place across the country today. Spiegelman says that though they tackled difficult subjects, he found then – and continues to find today –...

Author George M. Johnson says they knew their memoir, All Boys Aren't Blue , would be challenged by school boards – but they didn't realize just how much controversy it would stir up. The memoir explores Johnson's upbringing as a queer young person of color in New Jersey and Virginia. In today's episode, they tell NPR's Leila Fadel that despite all the pushback the book has received, it's been ove...

Jordan Banks, the protagonist of New Kid , is a seventh grade student who loves to draw and hopes to one day become a cartoonist. But the graphic novel following Jordan's arrival at a predominantly white, elite, private school has been challenged numerous times in the state of Texas by people claiming it promotes critical race theory. In today's episode, author Jerry Craft tells NPR's A Martinez h...

Professor Ashley Hope Pérez's book Out of Darkness explores school segregation in 20th century Texas through a fictional love story between a young African-American boy and a Mexican-American girl. But the YA novel has been banned in a number of places and effectively pulled out of several school libraries. In today's episode, the author tells NPR's Rob Schmitz how sexual content is used as a scap...

Today's episode is all about professional longevity. First, actor Steve Martin and New Yorker cartoonist Harry Bliss sit down with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly to explain their new comic memoir, Number One Is Walking , focused on anecdotes from Martin's life in Hollywood. Then, NPR's Elissa Nadworny asks author Nick Hornby about his new book, Dickens and Prince , which finds similarities in how the lit...

Anya is only 8 years old, but she's already got the weight of a nation on her shoulders. The protagonist of Winterland lives in an isolated Arctic town, where she's immersed in the world of 1970s Soviet gymnastics. In today's episode, author Rae Meadows tells NPR's David Folkenflik about her long-lasting fascination with that era of competitive sports, and how it shapes her main character's journe...

Amélie Wen Zhao's fantasy novel, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night , is rooted in the Chinese genres of xianxia and wuxia. It follows a young girl uncovering the secrets of her tumultuous kingdom with the help of a magician. In today's episode, the author talks to Here & Now's Kalyani Saxena about how her imperfect characters make difficult choices in their search for power. Zhao draws clear compar...

The titular protagonist of Meredith, Alone has not left her home in three years. In today's episode, author Claire Alexander tells NPR's Scott Simon about the character's self-imposed isolation, and how trauma from earlier in life can leave long-lasting impacts on a person's mental health. And yet Meredith's trauma doesn't define her – so Alexander explains why she wanted to write a story that pro...

Janet Yellen's career has shattered several glass ceilings; she was the first female head of the Federal Reserve, and she's now the first woman serving as Secretary of Treasury. In this episode, author and journalist Jon Hilsenrath discusses his new biography of her, Yellen , and how her upbringing and marriage reveal a lot about her professional path. Hilsenrath explains to Here & Now's Scott Ton...

Today's first interview is with author Peng Shepard on her new mystery. A father and daughter, both cartographers, haven't spoken in seven years. But when the father is found dead, his daughter must use their shared skill to solve the mystery of his death. Shepard told NPR's Elissa Nadworny that obsession can be a stand-in for the person lost. Next, Anne Tyler on her new book which follows a famil...

Inspired by a true story from Oakland, California, Leila Mottley's first novel follows a young Black girl who is sexually abused by a group of police officers. Kiara is a 17-year-old girl who comes from a fractured, poor family, and the novel follows her story as she attempts to survive and thrive navigating so much with so little protection. In an interview with NPR's Ayesha Rascoe, Mottley talke...

In this episode, Here & Now's Robin Young talks with author Andrew Sean Greer about his new novel Less is Lost , the sequel to his Pulitzer Prize-winning Less . This time, Greer's protagonist Arthur Less takes a tour of America in a van, and in the process learns about what it means to be an author today. Less is disappointed by how things are going, but doesn't realize how good things actually ar...

Author Tochi Onyebuchi says that a majority of space stories he's come across favor those in power. Rich white people get to escape in spaceships, whereas less affluent Black and brown people are left behind on an increasingly inhabitable Earth. His new science-fiction novel Goliath gets at this power imbalance, and the author spoke to Juana Summers about how it tells us so much about racial and e...

In the aftermath of the Mexican war for independence, a new bride finds herself alone in a haunted house surrounded by people who don't believe her. It's the plot of Isabel Cañas' debut novel The Hacienda, where she blends romance, terror, and the supernatural to tell a story highly embedded with Mexican culture. In an interview with Weekend Edition Sunday, Cañas told Ayesha Rascoe about the theme...

Today's episode centers around two books that explore the rippling consequences of violence against women. First, author Johanne Lykke Holm sits down with NPR's Scott Simon to discuss her new novel, Strega , which follows a group of teenage girls sent to work at an odd hotel – it's a place focused more on reinforcing gendered roles and behavior than welcoming guests. Then, NPR's Michel Martin spea...

Charlayne Hunter-Gault is a trailblazing journalist. The first Black reporter for The New Yorker 's "Talk of the Town" section, she's spent more than a half-century reporting on the lives of Black Americans. Her newest book, My People , is a collection of pieces written throughout her career that provide a nuanced look at Black communities across the U.S. In this episode, she speaks to NPR's Miche...

The United States is seeing some concerning trends when it comes to school shootings, deaths by suicide, overdoses and other unhealthy behaviors; they're on the rise. Physician Gabor Maté says that's not so much a coincidence as a consequence of a toxic culture in our country. His new book, The Myth of Normal , dispels the idea that these are unavoidable, unrelated statistics. In this episode, he...

Novelist Barbara Kingsolver loves living in the Appalachian hills of southwestern Virginia. But she says she feels that the region is often misconstrued by mainstream media. Her new book, Demon Copperhead , follows a young boy grappling with the consequences of loss, addiction and poverty – but also finding ways to survive through creativity and imagination. In this episode, Kingsolver speaks with...

Bestselling author Neil Pasricha knows what it's like to feel down. Fifteen years ago, he was going through a difficult period in his life – so he started a blog to write down the ordinary, everyday things that brought him happiness: unsubscribing from annoying emails, finding the right tupperware lid on the first try, wearing warm undies out of the dryer. That positivity is the driving force behi...

Today's episode is all about dessert. Not just any dessert – chef-certified, tested and recommended baked goods that are sure to be the star of any holiday table. First, Here & Now's Robin Young tests out some of Molly Gilbert's recipes, from a rice krispie treat variation to a tres leches, and asks why Gilbert chose the sheet pan to be the protagonist of her cookbook. Then, Rose Levy Beranbaum of...

How do professional athletes unwind? For Olympic gold medalist Tom Daley, the answer is simple: with a needle and some yarn. In today's episode, he speaks to NPR's Elissa Nadworny about why he picked up knitting and crocheting, and how it's become a sort of meditative practice for him. His new book, Made With Love , dives into his passion for the craft, and offers readers tips and patterns to crea...

Author Kevin Powell grew up without much physical affection. He says the first time someone tried to hug him was in college; it felt like a foreign concept to him. In his new book of poetry, Grocery Shopping With My Mother , Powell examines his relationship with the single mother who raised him – the one he now cares for in her older age. He tells NPR's Scott Simon that writing becomes a way to he...

Bora Chung's collection of short stories, Cursed Bunny, jumps across different characters and genres, but there's something a little sinister in nearly all of them. In this episode, Chung speaks to NPR's Ayesha Rascoe about how bodily autonomy, social stigma and cultural norms played a big part in one particular horror story – which is actually rooted in something the author experienced in real li...