Books: Book Reviews, Book News, and Author Interviews : NPR
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Books: Book Reviews, Book News, and Author Interviews NPR's brings you news about books and authors along with our picks for great reads. Interviews, reviews, and much more.

Books

A member of the 'T-Shirt Swim Club' chronicles life as 'the funny fat kid'

"The first place I learned to be funny was on the schoolyard trying to defuse this weird tension around my body, says Ian Karmel. He won an Emmy Award in 2019 for his work on James Corden's "Carpool Karaoke" special with Paul McCartney. Kenny McMillan/Penguin Random House hide caption

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Kenny McMillan/Penguin Random House

Author Interviews

A member of the 'T-Shirt Swim Club' chronicles life as 'the funny fat kid'

Comedy writer Ian Karmel has been making fun of his own body since he was a kid. He wrote T-Shirt Swim Club: Stories from Being Fat in a World of Thin People along with his sister.

Ian Karmel

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A taste of Black Appalachia

Crystal Wilkinson's praisesong biscuits Felix Cruz hide caption

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Felix Cruz

It's Been a Minute

A taste of Black Appalachia

Too often, our attempts at nailing the family recipes end up in disaster and disappointment. This week, host Brittany Luse is joined by former Kentucky Poet Laureate Crystal Wilkinson, author of Praisesong for the Kitchenghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks. The two talk about Appalachian food culture, turning oral recipes into written ones, and the emotional relationship between food, family and memory.

A taste of Black Appalachia

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Contestants on Love is Blind live apart from one another and do not see each other before agreeing to be married.

Contestants on Love is Blind live apart from one another and do not see each other before agreeing to be married. Netflix hide caption

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Netflix

Television

'Love is Blind' is mired in lawsuits. What does that mean for reality TV?

New Yorker writer Emily Nussbaum discusses the lawsuits brought forth by the Love is Blind cast members, and reflects on how reality TV has impacted our culture. Her new book is Cue the Sun!

Emily Nussbaum

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Emergency Quarters

Emergency Quarters Illustrations © 2024 by Gracey Zhang hide caption

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Illustrations © 2024 by Gracey Zhang

Picture This

'Emergency Quarters' are for pay phones (remember those?) in a new book by ‘90s kids

Ernesto's mom gives him a quarter every morning. "For emergencies," she says. "If you need me, look for a pay phone." Hey, it was the '90s! But how will Ernesto spend his Emergency Quarters?

'Emergency Quarters' are for pay phones (remember those?) in a new book by ‘90s kids

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Pedestrians walk past the Fabulosa Books store in San Francisco's Castro District on Thursday, June 27, 2024. The bookstore is sending LGBTQ+ books to parts of the country where they are censored.

Pedestrians walk past the Fabulosa Books store in San Francisco's Castro District on Thursday. The bookstore is sending LGBTQ+ books to parts of the country where they are censored to counter the rapidly growing effort by anti-LGBTQ+ activists and lawmakers to ban queer-friendly books from public schools and libraries. Haven Daley/AP hide caption

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Haven Daley/AP

National

A San Francisco store is shipping LGBTQ+ books to places where they are banned

In what she calls "Books Not Bans," Becka Robbins sends titles to groups that want them in the face of a movement by conservative advocacy groups and lawmakers to ban them from schools and libraries.

Illustration of a man relaxing on a hamster wheel, symbolizing taking a break from the daily grind to refresh yourself and appreciate life.

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Malte Mueller/fStop/Getty Images

Life Kit

Stuck in a rut? How to appreciate your life again, according to science

After a while, even the most exciting relationships, jobs and environments lose their spark. But cognitive neuroscientist Tali Sharot says it's possible to fall back in love with life's small joys.

Why we become bored with our lives (and how to find joy again)

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In Jonathan Merritt's new book My Guncle and Me, a little boy's gay uncle helps him understand that being different makes him special.

In Jonathan Merritt's new book My Guncle and Me, a little boy's gay uncle helps him understand that being different makes him special. Hachette Book Group hide caption

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Hachette Book Group

Religion

Christian writer's new book reminds kids what makes them different makes them special

Christian writer Jonathan Merritt's new book My Guncle and Me tells the story of a gay uncle who helps his nephew embrace being different.

Jonathan Merritt's book reminds kids what makes them different makes them special

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The human brain is hardwired to recognize faces. But what if you can't?

Freelance science writer Sadie Dingfelder is the author of the new book Do I Know You?, which explores human sight, memory and imagination. Little, Brown Spark, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company hide caption

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Little, Brown Spark, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company

Short Wave

The human brain is hardwired to recognize faces. But what if you can't?

Humans are hardwired to see faces — even in inanimate objects. We have a lima bean-shaped part of our brains dedicated to facial recognition. But this process isn't always straightforward. Science journalist Sadie Dingfelder is one of 10 million Americans who are face blind, or struggle to recognize the faces of people they know. In her new book, Do I Know You? she dives into this, as well as the science of memory and imagination.

The human brain is hardwired to recognize faces. But what if you can't?

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The truth and lies behind one of the most banned books in America
Jackie Lay

Code Switch

The truth and lies behind one of the most banned books in America

Author Mike Curato wrote Flamer as a way to help young queer kids, like he once was, better understand and accept themselves. It was met with immediate praise and accolades — until it wasn't. When the book got caught up in a wave of Texas-based book bans, suddenly the narrative changed. And like so many books that address queer identity, Flamer quickly became a flashpoint in a long, messy culture war that tried to distort the nature of the book.

The truth and lies behind one of the most banned books in America

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Maureen Corrigan picks four crime and suspense novels for the summer.

Maureen Corrigan picks four crime and suspense novels for the summer. NPR hide caption

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NPR

Review

Book Reviews

4 crime and suspense novels make for hot summer reading

There’s something about the shadowy moral recesses of crime and suspense fiction that makes those genres especially appealing as temperatures soar. Here are four novels that turn the heat up.

4 crime and suspense novels make for hot summer reading

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Earth is more than a planet with life on it. It's a "living planet"

Ferris Jabr's book Becoming Earth: How Our Planet Came to Life examines the ways life and Earth have shaped each other. Lucas Heinrich/Random House hide caption

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Lucas Heinrich/Random House

Short Wave

Earth is more than a planet with life on it. It's a "living planet"

About ten years ago, science writer Ferris Jabr started contemplating Earth as a living planet rather than a planet with life on it. It began when he learned that the Amazon rainforest doesn't simply receive the rain that defines it; rather, it helps generate that rain. The Amazon does that by launching bits of biological confetti into the atmosphere that, in turn, seed clouds. After learning this, he began looking for other ways life changes its environment. That led to his new book Becoming Earth: How Our Planet Came to Life. He talks to host Regina G. Barber about examples of life transforming the planet — from changing the color of the sky to altering the weather.

Earth is more than a planet with life on it. It's a "living planet"

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When Women Ran Fifth Avenue: Glamour and Power at the Dawn of American Fashion, by Julie Satow

When Women Ran Fifth Avenue Doubleday
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Doubleday

Review

Book Reviews

2 books offer just the right summer mix of humor and nostalgia

Catherine Newman's novel Sandwich centers on a woman vacationing with her young adult children and her elderly parents. Julie Satow’s When Women Ran Fifth Avenue profiles three NYC department stores.

2 books offer just the right summer mix of humor and nostalgia

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The main exhibit at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. Friday June 14, 2024.

The main exhibit at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. Friday June 14, 2024. Jared Soares for NPR hide caption

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Jared Soares for NPR

Culture

Much Ado About First Folios — the world's largest Shakespeare collection reopens

The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., is emerging from a four-year metamorphosis. Eighty-two copies of Shakespeare’s “First Folio” will be together on public display for the first time.

Much Ado About First Folios — the world's largest Shakespeare collection reopens

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The history of trans misogyny is the history of segregation

Author Jules Gill-Peterson poses next to her book, A Short History of Trans Misogyny Headshot by Kadji Amin and book cover design by Angela Lorenzo for Verso hide caption

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Headshot by Kadji Amin and book cover design by Angela Lorenzo for Verso

Code Switch

The history of trans misogyny is the history of segregation

As anti-trans legislation has ramped up, historian Jules Gill-Peterson turns the lens to the past in her book, A Short History of Trans Misogyny. This week, we talk about how panics around trans femininity are shaped by wider forces of colonialism, segregation and class interests.

The history of trans misogyny is the history of segregation

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WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 03: Dr. Anthony Fauci, former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testifies before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic at the Rayburn House Office Building on June 03, 2024 in Washington, DC. The Subcommittee is holding a hearing on the findings from a fifteen month Republican-led probe of former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci and the COVID-19 pandemic's origins. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Dr. Anthony Fauci testifies before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee Select Subcommittee on June 3. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images hide caption

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Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Health Care

Why Anthony Fauci approaches every trip to the White House as if it's his last

Over the course of his decades-long career in public health, Fauci vowed he would never shy away from speaking the truth with the U.S. president— even when it was inconvenient. Fauci's memoir is On Call.

Why Anthony Fauci approaches every trip to the White House as if it's his last

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Carvell Wallace searches for 'Another Word for Love'

Carvell Wallace, author of 'Another Word for Love' Carvell Wallace hide caption

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Carvell Wallace

It's Been a Minute

Carvell Wallace searches for 'Another Word for Love'

In his new memoir, Another Word for Love, Carvell Wallace lays out his journey to find self-acceptance after a childhood colored by instability. Host Brittany Luse sits down with Carvell to talk about how he built new language around love and his new perspectives on recovery and healing.

Carvell Wallace searches for 'Another Word for Love'

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