Ning is the manager of a nail salon where all of the workers wear a nametag with the same name – Susan. Pick A Color takes place over a single day at the salon and it’s the first novel by Souvankham Thammavongsa. In today’s episode, the poet and short story writer speaks with NPR’s Scott Simon about Ning’s background as a prizefighter, what Thammavongsa has observed as a salon customer, and the author’s distinction between knowledge and intelligence.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Today’s episode features two mystery novels with special twists. First, The Killer Question is a story told via emails, WhatsApp messages and texts. When a new trivia team becomes suspiciously successful, egos are hurt and a body is found in the river. In today’s episode, author Janice Hallett joins NPR’s Scott Simon for a conversation about the mystery that unfolds. Then, Kill Your Darlings is a novel written in reverse: The murderer is revealed in the first chapter. In today’s episode, author Peter Swanson talks with NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly about the marriage at the center of the story.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Over the past 20 years, the number of college applications filed to top schools has exploded. And while many American colleges accept most applicants, some parents and students hold tightly to the idea that prestige matters. In his new book Dream School: Finding the College That’s Right For You, journalist and higher education expert Jeff Selingo argues elite schools aren’t always the best. In today’s episode, Selingo speaks with NPR’s Michel Martin about why he wants to give parents permission to think more broadly about higher education. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
In Patricia Lockwood’s latest novel, the protagonist is an author named Patricia. Will There Ever Be Another You documents a four-year period of disorientation, disassociation and confusion after Patricia becomes severely ill. The story is based on Lockwood’s own experience with brain fog and other symptoms after becoming sick with Covid-19 in March 2020. In today’s episode, the real-life author talks with NPR’s Ari Shapiro about embodying confusion as she wrote about it.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Cemeteries are not everyone’s idea of fun, but they’re a source of fascination for author Mariana Enriquez. Her new nonfiction book Somebody Is Walking on Your Grave is a collection of personal short stories she gathered while traveling to final resting places across four continents. In today’s episode, the author joins NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe for a conversation about her past as a goth, the connection between graves and Argentina’s dictatorship, and where Enriquez would like to be buried.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Three years ago, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman named Mahsa Jina Amini was fatally beaten by Iran’s morality police. She’d been arrested for not following the Islamic Republic’s dress code. Her death sparked the Woman, Life, Freedom Movement, one of the largest uprisings in Iran in decades. Journalists Fatemeh Jamalpour and Nilo Tabrizy tell this story in their new book For the Sun After Long Nights: The Story of Iran's Women-Led Uprising. In today’s episode, Jamalpour speaks with Here & Now’s Jane Clayson about the movement and Iran’s future.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Two new history books make a strong case for why learning about the past is critical to understanding the world today. First, History Matters is a posthumous collection of writings by American historian David McCullough. In today’s episode, co-editor Dorie McCullough Lawson and historian Jon Meacham tell NPR’s Scott Simon about McCullough’s endless curiosity. Then, in Midnight on the Potomac, Scott Ellsworth explores little-known corners of Civil War history. In today’s episode, he speaks with Here & Now’s Sarah McCammon about long-held myths about the period.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
In her new book, F*** Approval, You Don’t Need It!, therapist Lizzie Moult says people who seek the approval of others are doing a great disservice to themselves — and others too. In a conversation with Here & Now host Peter O’Dowd, Moult explains why being a “people pleaser” can be counterproductive. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
The group of friends at the center of Angela Flournoy’s new novel, The Wilderness, are figuring out how to navigate life as they enter middle age. NPR’s Juana Summers spoke with the author about the evolving journey of her characters and what their ups and downs say about the dynamics of long-term friendships. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Former West Virginia senator Joseph Manchin III was a gadfly in the ear of his own Democratic party for many years, and a sometime Republican ally. Manchin’s new memoir, Dead Center: In Defense of Common Sense, is packed with stories about his relationships with the likes of President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden. In this interview with NPR’s Michel Martin, Manchin explains why this country needs an “American independent party."To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
At 77, the Booker Prize-winning British novelist Ian McEwan shows no signs of slowing down. His new novel, What We Can Know, is set in Great Britain in the 22nd century – a country now partly underwater as a result of global warming. In today’s episode, McEwan speaks with NPR’s Scott Simon about the book’s plot – it tells of a search for a lost poem that was written in our own times – and notes that he is less interested in the future of science than that of the humanities, love and daily life.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Two new books dive into the details of diplomacy. First, in the 1960s U Thant became the first non-Western secretary-general of the United Nations. Now his grandson, historian Thant Myint-U, has written Peacemaker, a new biography of the diplomat. In today’s episode, Thant speaks with NPR’s Michele Keleman about his grandfather’s journey. Then, Hussein Agha and Robert Malley have been a part of negotiations to end the conflict between Israel and Palestine. In today’s episode, they speak with NPR’s Scott Simon about their book Tomorrow Is Yesterday, a history of that failed peace process.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Ken Jaworowski is out with a new crime novel with a surprising tender side. What About the Bodies is set in a fictional town past its glory days with a shuttered steel plant, closed coal mines, and a community that everyone talks about leaving. In today’s episode, the New York Times editor and author speaks with NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe about the three characters who converge in his story, the failed novels that predated this project, and why Jaworowski says he’s a better editor than writer.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
The Elizabethan playwright Christopher Marlowe is known as Shakespeare’s greatest rival. But in his new book Dark Renaissance, historian Stephen Greenblatt makes the case that Marlowe paved the way for Shakespeare. In today’s episode, Greenblatt joins NPR’s Ari Shapiro for a conversation about what made Marlowe a “lost soul,” how the playwright navigated a world of intense censorship, and evidence that points to his role as a spy.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
When Sean Brosnan started coaching the Newbury Park High School cross-country team, the school hadn't qualified for a state championship in 25 years. But within just three years, they were state champions. Now, the coach has written a memoir with Chris Lear and Andrew Greif called Beyond Fast: How A Renegade Coach And His Unlikely High School Team Revolutionized Distance Running. In today’s episode, he talks with NPR’s Scott Simon about what it meant to ask his runners for total commitment.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, is out with his sixth book starring fictional Harvard professor Robert Langdon. In The Secret of Secrets, Langdon is dragged out of his comfort zone by a noetic scientist and finds reality is much stranger than he once imagined. In today’s episode, Brown joins NPR’s Scott Detrow for a conversation about how the author’s perspective on human consciousness shifted over the course of writing his latest novel.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
The final episode in our Back to School series focuses on two contemporary books that tell stories about gun violence. First, Jason Reynolds’ 2017 novel in verse Long Way Down centers on a moment of decision that occurs when a teenage boy is on his way to avenge his brother. In today’s episode, Reynolds speaks with NPR’s David Greene about avoiding one-dimensional characters and promoting literacy. Then, Angie Thomas’ 2017 debut The Hate U Give is about a girl who attends school in a neighborhood that’s very different from where she lives. In an interview with NPR’s Lulu Garcia-Navarro, Thomas discusses codeswitching and combatting the “ghetto girl” stereotype.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Arguably, no high school reading list is complete without one of Toni Morrison’s books. In today’s episode, we look back at a 2004 conversation between the author and NPR’s Renee Montagne, who visited Morrison to talk about a new paperback re-release of five of her novels. The interview focuses on Morrison’s perspective on hauntings, apparitions and ghosts, including the way Morrison’s late father helped her complete Song of Solomon.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street is a series of vignettes drawn from the experiences of a Mexican-American girl living in Chicago. Since its publication in 1983, it’s become required reading for high school students across the country. In today’s Back to School episode, we revisit a 2009 conversation between the author and NPR’s Renee Montagne, which recognized the book’s 25th anniversary.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
In 2017, Emily Wilson became the first woman to translate Homer’s The Odyssey into English – more than three millennia after the epic’s inception. In the second installment of our Back to School series, Wilson talks with NPR’s Lauren Frayer about how she approached aspects of her translation, including social hierarchies and Homeric epithets.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy