NPR's Book of the Day

Becoming the queen of England wasn’t in the plan for Lexi Villiers, the heroine of The Heir Apparent . But when tragedy strikes Lexi’s family and she discovers that she’s next in line for the throne, she finds herself forced to choose between her own modernity and the crown’s antiquity. Is the best option to just leave the monarchy entirely? In today’s episode, author and journalist Rebecca Armita...

Anthony Bourdain published his memoir Kitchen Confidential in 2000 as a little-known chef. In the 25 years since its publication, his writing – and subsequent work in TV and entertainment – has shaped the way we talk about restaurants and food. In today’s Books We’ve Loved , Andrew Limbong and B.A. Parker are joined by Eric Deggans , critic-at-large at NPR. They discuss Bourdain’s documentation of...

Two new books delve into the best and worst corners of the internet. First, Jacob Geller creates YouTube essays about art, literature, film, video games and more. He’s compiled those essays in print form in a new book called How a Game Lives . In today’s episode, Geller speaks with Here & Now’s Scott Tong about how video games help him explore life’s big questions. Then, Nick Clegg was president o...

NPR’s Scott Detrow and poet Kate Baer share a favorite bookstore in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. They recently met there to discuss Baer’s new poetry collection How About Now , which wrestles with the realities of middle age. In today’s episode, Baer tells Detrow about navigating honesty and privacy in her work, what it’s like to share shelf space with poets like Ada Limón and Sharon Olds, and writin...

Even if you’re scared of cruise ships, don’t turn away from Quan Barry’s The Unveiling . When film scout and photographer Striker boards an Antarctic cruise in search of locations for a new biopic, things start to go wrong — lots of things. But there’s much to learn from Barry’s quirky cast of characters, with a tech billionaire and a blended queer family among them. In today’s episode, Barry talk...

Deborah Willis is one of the foremost authorities on Black photography. The MacArthur “genius award” winner has dedicated her career to cataloging and showcasing Black photographers and photos of Black people. And her seminal work – Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers 1840 to the Present – has been reissued after 25 years. In today’s episode, Michel Martin visits Willis at New Y...

Marisa Kashino used to report on the real estate industry in Washington, D.C. That experience inspired her debut novel, Best Offer Wins , which follows an ambitious woman who goes to extreme lengths to secure her dream home. In today’s episode, Kashino joins NPR’s Miles Parks for a conversation that touches on the changing nature of home ownership in the United States, particularly for millennials...

Frank Herbert’s 1965 epic Dune was once the domain of sci-fi diehards. But in recent years, the book has crossed over into the mainstream. In today’s Books We’ve Loved , Andrew Limbong and B.A. Parker are joined by Throughline ’s Ramtin Arablouei , who makes a personal case for the story’s appeal – despite its density. Then, special guest, author Pierce Brown , shares whether he thinks Dune has re...

In two new novels, marriages are tested by unusual circumstances. First, in Ann Packer’s Some Bright Nowhere , a woman dying of cancer makes a big ask of her husband. In today’s episode, Packer speaks with NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly about the uncertainty of illness and what writers do between books. Then, Craig Thomas, the co-creator of How I Met Your Mother , is out with a novel. In today’s episode,...

Rev. Jesse Jackson is well-known as an icon of the American Civil Rights Movement, a protégé of Martin Luther King Jr., and a steadfast activist — but he has quite a past in electoral politics, too. A Dream Deferred charts Jackson’s rise to political prominence during his 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns, as the first major Black candidate for U.S. president. In today’s episode, author and CNN...

Are all unreliable narrators self-aware? The answer might depend on the novel, but in Brandon Hobson’s The Devil Is a Southpaw, our primary narrator, Milton (a writer and artist) uses his prose to sew complexity and confusion into the narrative itself. In today’s episode, Hobson speaks with NPR’s Scott Simon about his newest novel, and the journey of crafting a story about two ex-convicts bound to...

When Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) won Pennsylvania’s Senate seat in 2022, Democrats saw him as a symbol of a new direction during the Trump era. Three years later, things are very different. His new memoir, Unfettered , discusses his mental health struggles, the stroke he suffered in 2022 and his relationship with the left. In today’s episode, Fetterman speaks with NPR’s Scott Detrow about the book...

Modern life can make it tempting to return to simpler times, like a 16th-century Spanish convent. In the new book Convent Wisdom , academics Ana Garriga and Carmen Urbita look to the writings of Renaissance-era nuns for insights to apply to modern dilemmas. In today’s episode, the co-authors speak with NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe about the backstory behind the project and what makes these nuns of the past...

Janie Crawford – back in her hometown of Eatonville, Florida – recounts a journey of self-discovery, structured around three marriages. Their Eyes Were Watching God is Zora Neale Hurston’s most celebrated work and a classic text of the Harlem Renaissance. In today’s Books We’ve Loved , Andrew Limbong and B.A. Parker , joined by R. Eric Thomas , discuss what makes this novel a coming-of-age story,...

NPR’s annual Books We Love guide is back for its 13th year, sharing over 380 hand-selected reads by NPR staff and critics. In today’s post-Thanksgiving episode, host Andrew Limbong joins Morning Edition and All Things Considered to chat about all things Books We Love. First, he shares some top non-fiction picks with NPR’s Michel Martin; among them Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson’s biography of American...

Some cookbooks don’t just provide recipes; they tell stories—and Nite Yun’s My Cambodia: A Khmer Cookbook is a perfect example. Yun discovered the rich history of her Cambodian-American heritage in the kitchen, and her debut cookbook tells these stories through her family’s most beloved recipes. In today’s episode, Yun talks with NPR’s Leila Fadel about her book’s unique creation process and the p...

E. Lockhart understands the struggle of being a teenager. Her first novel We Were Liars was a standout YA hit of 2014, celebrated (and at times, criticized) amongst teens in particular for its twisty and devastating coming-of-age narrative set on a fictional island near Martha’s Vineyard. Lockhart returns to the East Coast for We Fell Apart , her third book in the series, crafting another summer t...

In 2013, two young Hindu cousins killed a Muslim man in a rural part of Uttar Pradesh, India. What followed was a series of alternating violence in the region between Hindus and Muslims. Renowned comic journalist Joe Sacco's new book, The Once And Future Riot , investigates that conflict and the stories people tell themselves about what happened. In today’s episode, Sacco speaks with NPR’s Andrew...

Justinian Huang’s new novel Lucky Seed is about a single, gay son pressured by his Taiwanese-American family to produce a male heir. In an interview with NPR’s All Things Considered, Huang tells NPR’s Ailsa Chang that his own family asked him to have a baby boy – or else they would risk punishment in the afterlife. In today’s episode, Huang speaks with Chang about being the “chosen one” in his fam...

Amy and Nick Dunn have the perfect life and are the perfect couple until they reach a breaking point, revealing their true selves. The book that spawned dozens of imitators but few peers, Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl is this week’s read on the latest Books We’ve Loved . Andrew Limbong and B. A. Parker are joined by Greta Johnsen to divulge how this suspense thriller continuously brings fans back to t...

Two new books examine how sex fits into suburban and small-town life, respectively. First, Erin Somers explores marriage and desire in her novel The Ten Year Affair . In today’s episode, she speaks with NPR’s Andrew Limbong about combining a multiverse plot with domestic fiction. Then, Robyn Royle knits a dozen short stories together in Sex of the Midwest , in which the residents of a small town r...

Tareq Baconi is a Palestinian scholar best known for Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance . But in his new memoir Fire in Every Direction , the academic turns to more personal subjects, reflecting on three generations of displacement in his family. In an interview with NPR’s Morning Edition, Baconi speaks with NPR’s Leila Fadel about how silence – around queerness,...

Gucci Mane’s new memoir Episodes covers a range of difficult topics: depression, mania, anxiety, drug abuse. There are even pages of the book that are blacked out to reflect the rapper’s gaps in memory. Writer Kathy Iandoli worked with Gucci on the project – and she’s become the go-to writer for rappers looking to tell their stories. In today’s episode, Iandoli speaks with NPR’s Andrew Limbong abo...

You may have heard of a bog — those wet, mucky environments found mostly in the northern temperate pockets of Canada or Europe — but did you know that bogs can preserve human bodies for thousands of years? Anna North’s Bog Queen , part-history and part-mystery, explores the abiotic relationship between humans and what may be their greatest protector: the moss. In today’s episode, North sits down w...

Best-selling author Margaret Atwood says she originally rejected the idea of writing a memoir. But she warmed up to the idea after she began to think of a memoir as a recollection of “stupid things you did, near-death events, catastrophes, and surprising highlights and jokes.” Now, at age 85, Atwood is out with Book of Lives . In today’s episode, she joins NPR’s Sacha Pfeiffer for a conversation t...