NPR's Book of the Day

From 'Ringmaster' to 'Prom Mom,' NPR staff discuss their favorite reads of 2023

22 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It's the most wonderful time of the year: Books We Love season! In today's episode, Pop Culture Happy Hour host Linda Holmes and our own Andrew Limbon...

In 'Class', Stephanie Land fulfills her dream of going to college to become a writer

21 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the new book Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education, author Stephanie Land juggles single parenthood and going to college. Lan...

'Black AF History' examines American history from the perspective of Black people

20 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America re-tells American history from the experiences of Black people. In today's episode, political co...

In 'Pete and Alice in Maine,' a marriage is tested during pandemic

19 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When author Caitlin Shetterly saw an influx of license plates from Massachusetts and New York arrive in her home state of Maine during the pandemic, i...

'This Is Salvaged' explores the mishaps of intimacy and communication

18 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Vauhini Vara started writing some of the stories in This Is Salvaged when she was still in her 20s, two decades ago. From the complicated tension betw...

'The Rachel Incident' looks back on early-20s friendships, love and mistakes

16 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The novel The Rachel Incident is rooted around a wonderful, messy friendship. Rachel and James live together, party, and get themselves into a peculia...

Erica Jong and daughter Molly Jong-Fast reflect on 'Fear of Flying'

15 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This year, the novel Fear of Flying — which broke all sorts of unwritten rules around marriage, sex, and women's bodily autonomy when first publishe...

Rose Previte, of Michelin star restaurant Maydān, releases her debut cookbook

14 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode takes us inside the kitchen of Washington, D.C. Michelin-star restaurant Maydān. There, owner Rose Previte walks NPR's Asma Khalid th...

Raquel Willis reflects on her journey in Black trans rights activism in new memoir

13 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Risk It Takes To Bloom is a new memoir by journalist and activist Raquel Willis. In 2014, Willis navigated post-college life as she grappled with ...

Jordan Peele curates a new Black horror story collection 'Out There Screaming'

12 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror is a collection of scary stories curated by horror filmmaker Jordan Peele. In today's episode, P...

Author David Wallace-Wells outlines the biggest climate change misunderstandings

11 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As this year's United Nations Climate Summit wraps up, today's episode examines what people often get wrong about climate change. David Wallace-Wells'...

'Idlewild' follows a queer, teen friendship in early 2000s New York

09 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, two teenagers form a tight bond at their Quaker high school in Manhattan. That's the premise for Idlewild, the deb...

Novels by Sigrid Nunez and Michael Cunningham tackle the pandemic

08 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode finds two renowned authors who found solace in writing characters navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. First, NPR's Leila Fadel spoke wit...

Patricia Evangelista's memoir revisits the aftermath of the Philippines' war on drugs

07 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Some People Need Killing by Patricia Evangelista traces the aftermath of the Philippines' war on drugs. After Rodrigo Duterte was elected in 2016, tho...

Norman Lear's memoir recalls a life and career that shaped American television

06 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

TV writer and producer, Norman Lear, died this week. He was 101 years old. In today's episode, we revisit Lear's 2014 interview with NPR's Arun Rath a...

In 'The New Naturals,' Gabriel Bump explores grief after the loss of a daughter

06 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The New Naturals follows a couple's journey from grieving their infant daughter to an underground utopia. In today's episode, literature professor Gab...

In 'Oath and Honor,' Liz Cheney analyzes Trump's effect on the Republican party

05 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When former Wyoming representative Liz Cheney criticized Donald Trump's presidency, she says she didn't know the Republican party would turn on her. B...

Nathan Thrall's book revisits a tragic bus accident in Jerusalem

04 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is a true story that takes place in Jerusalem. In 2012, a bus collided with a semi trailer. Six Palestinian kindergarteners and a tea...

'The Queen of Dirt Island' captures the bond between women in an Irish family

02 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Donal Ryan's novel, The Queen of Dirt Island, centers its women characters. He tells NPR's Mary Louise Kelly that making the men peripheral wasn't his...

Two National Book Awards finalists take on climate extremes

01 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode features interviews with two authors whose works are 2023 National Book Awards finalists — one fiction, one nonfiction. Both broach ...

How Indian migrant workers escaped human trafficking in Mississippi

30 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is a true story that reads like a novel. In 2006, author and labor organizer Saket Soni received a call from an Indian migrant worker....

Patricia Park's new YA novel captures the complexities of race and adolescence

29 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Imposter Syndrome and Other Confessions of Alejandra Kim follows a Korean-Argentinian teen's journey to understanding who she is. Through the comfort ...

Stephen Buoro's comic novel follows a young Nigerian man's obsession with whiteness

28 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa by Stephen Buoro is one of our favorite books of 2023. It focuses on a 15-year-old boy, Andy Aziza, who li...

'Burn It Down' exposes discrimination and toxicity behind the scenes in Hollywood

27 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As Hollywood was warming up for a summer of labor strikes a few months ago, Vanity Fair's Maureen Ryan came out with a new book, Burn It Down, that ex...

'Loot' traces the love, war and art that shaped India's colonial history

25 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 i...

Two graphic memoirs explore growing up as a minority in the U.S.

24 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode features interviews with two highly accomplished artists who've written graphic memoirs about the intricacies of growing up as young m...

In 'Blackouts,' Justin Torres shines a light on silenced LGBTQ history

23 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The new novel and National Book Awards finalist by Justin Torres, Blackouts, blurs the line between fiction and history to bring marginalized queer na...

Jonathan Eig's biography of MLK explores the activist's life and faith

22 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

King:A Life, the biography by Jonathan Eig, provides a fresh perspective into the life of one of America's most important activists. From his upbringi...

In 'The Covenant of Water,' Abraham Verghese traces an Indian family's drowning curse

21 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Covenant of Water follows three generations of a family in the coastal state of Kerala, India, where they're haunted by a devastating event, over ...

Discover your next great read with NPR's Books We Love

21 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Back for its 11th year, Books We Love curates NPR staff and critics' favorite books of the year. You can discover your next great read or find the per...

Jamie Loftus' 'Raw Dog' investigates the social and culinary history of the hot dog

20 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Comedian Jamie Loftus has been eating hot dogs her whole life. But in her new book, Raw Dog, she takes a road trip across the U.S. to discover how the...

Henry Winkler and Arnold Schwarzenegger's memoirs open up about the fear of failing

17 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode features interviews with two giants in pop culture who get very real about the pitfalls in their personal and professional lives. Firs...

Max Brooks teaches kids life lessons through the world of 'Minecraft'

16 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Minecraft trilogy by Max Brooks is about two humans – Guy and Summer – who get trapped in the world of the video game Minecraft and have to fi...

Curtis Chin's memoir pays homage to his family's Chinese restaurant

15 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There are lots of things Curtis Chin, co-founder of the Asian American Writers' Workshop, learned at his family's Chinese restaurant: how to be curiou...

'The Liberators' details the lives of Korean-Americans grappling with the war

14 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The debut novel by E.J. Koh is short in length, but extensive in time and place. The Liberators follows several generations of two Korean families, an...

Barbra Streisand's memoir looks back on a groundbreaking career

13 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Barbra Streisand spent 15 years working to get her directorial debut, the movie Yentl, made. She writes in her new memoir, My Name is Barbra, that peo...

In 'Thicker Than Water,' Kerry Washington processes a family secret

10 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Kerry Washington is well-known for her roles in Scandal, Little Fires Everywhere and Django Unchained. But in her new memoir, she reveals a LOT that t...

What it's like to write the biographies of Elon Musk and Sam Bankman-Fried

09 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is a little different. NPR's David Folkenflik sits down with two writers – Walter Isaacson and Michael Lewis – to ask about their ...

In 'Let Us Descend,' Jesmyn Ward harnesses the spirituality of an enslaved woman

08 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For the first few years that National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward was writing her new novel, Let Us Descend, she says she really struggled to tap in...

In 'A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens,' debt takes on many meanings

07 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Hugo Contreras, the protagonist of Raul Palma's new novel, is a babaláwo; he can cleanse evil spirits. Except he doesn't really believe in the whole ...

In 'Differ We Must,' NPR's Steve Inskeep examines Abraham Lincoln's disagreements

06 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Abraham Lincoln's leadership is often remembered for reaching across the aisle – he tried to find compromises even in the most divisive times. But a...

'The Coming Wave' and 'Artificial' offer different perspectives on AI

03 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is all about artificial intelligence and its ever-growing role in our society. First, NPR's Steve Inskeep speaks with tech entrepreneu...

In 'The List,' an allegation of sexual misconduct wreaks havoc on a relationship

02 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ola and Michael are, by all means, a power couple. They're both high-profile journalists, engaged to be married in a month, who wake up one morning to...

'The House of Doors' is a novel about romance, secrecy and colonialism in Malaysia

01 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The new novel by Tan Twan Eng, The House of Doors, is a project of historical fiction immersed in the culturally rich island of Penang in the 1920s. A...

In 'Sparks,' Ian Johnson highlights China's 'grassroots historians'

31 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Since being named general secretary of China's ruling Communist Party, Xi Jinping has exerted his power to control historical narratives in China. But...

Jhumpa Lahiri questions Italian identity in 'Roman Stories'

30 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Roman Stories, the new collection of short stories by Jhumpa Lahiri, captures the tensions of a rapidly-changing Rome, Italy. In today's episode, Lahi...

Books about Olympic rowers and J. Robert Oppenheimer re-examine American history

27 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is about two books that examine the United States' relationship with other countries during contentious moments in history. First, Her...

After three decades, John Grisham follows 'The Firm' with 'The Exchange'

26 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We can't do a week about books turned into films without speaking with John Grisham. In today's episode, the author of The Pelican Brief and The Innoc...

'The Color Purple' is about the bonding of women

25 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Color Purple is about the survival of Black women in a male-dominated world. Author Alice Walker said that she just wrote what happens in the real...

Isabel Wilkerson argues that 'Caste,' not racism caused The Great Migration

24 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Isabel Wilkerson followed her novel about The Great Migration, The Warmth of Other Suns, with another book that looks at why it happened. Caste – re...

'Killers of the Flower Moon' traces the murders of Osage families

23 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week, we're hearing from authors whose works have been adapted to the big screen. In this 2017 interview, NPR's Steve Inskeep asks David Grann ab...

Two poetry collections find beauty in unexpected places

20 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Poet Franny Choi knows that marginalized communities have been facing apocalypses forever. But in her new book, The World Keeps Ending and the World G...

'My People' is a collection of stories – spanning decades – about Black America

19 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

In 'Cursed Bunny,' horror takes unexpected forms

18 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Bora Chung's collection of short stories, Cursed Bunny, jumps across different characters and genres, but there's something a little sinister in nearl...

'Fatty Fatty Boom Boom' details a lifelong relationship with food and body image

17 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When Rabia Chaudry's family moved from Pakistan to the U.S., her parents fully embraced the processed foods lining the grocery store aisles. But as th...

'Demon Copperhead' tackles opioids, poverty and resilience in Appalachia

16 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Novelist Barbara Kingsolver loves living in the Appalachian hills of southwestern Virginia. But she says she feels that the region is often misconstru...

Novels by Barbara Kingsolver and Daniel Mason excavate history for new meanings

13 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is all about two books that find parallels across long stretches of time. First, an interview with Barbara Kingsolver and former NPR h...

'Lies About Black People' analyzes and debunks harmful stereotypes

12 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In today's episode, Omekongo Dibinga walks Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes through several myths featured in his new book, Lies About Black People. From ...

'Land of Milk and Honey' paints a dystopian future for fine dining

11 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After climate change has wreaked havoc on the planet – and its flora and fauna – delicious dinners are a memory of the past. But in C Pam Zhang's ...

'The Big Myth' breaks down pro-market, anti-government propaganda in the U.S.

10 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Big Myth, a new book co-written by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway, details the rise of free market capitalism in the 19th century and its long-l...

Nathan Hill's 'Wellness' examines marriage, parenthood and polyamory

09 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Nathan Hill's novel Wellness starts with a blossoming romance between two artists in Chicago's underground scene. Twenty years later, they're married,...

Susan Kuklin and Maia Kobabe's books explore gender identity throughout adolescence

06 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode features interviews with two authors whose books on trans and queer gender identity are facing challenges in school districts across t...

Art Spiegelman reissues 'Breakdowns' with new perspective on book bans

05 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Author and cartoonist Art Spiegelman is familiar with the hysteria surrounding certain library books. In today's episode, he tells NPR's Scott Simon a...

'All Boys Aren't Blue' honors coming of age as a queer Black boy

04 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

In 'New Kid,' a Black seventh grader navigates a new school

03 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Bans on books like 'Out of Darkness' target authors of color

02 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Ashley Hope Pérez's book Out of Darkness explores school segregation in 20th century Texas through a fictional love story between a young A...

Novels by Hila Blum and William Landay unravel family mysteries

29 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is all about figuring out the moment things went wrong between family members – and how the fallout has long lasting effects on ever...

'Others Were Emeralds' is a coming-of-age story confronting racism in Australia

28 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In today's episode, Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes and author Lang Leav bond over growing up in Australia, and navigating racism and anti-immigrant sent...

Sandeep Jauhar's memoir explains how Alzheimer's works – and how it affected his dad

27 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As a physician, Sandeep Jauhar had a certain understanding of Alzheimer's. Then, when the disease was impacting his own father, more and more question...

Anne Enright's 'The Wren, The Wren' is a family story about poetry and betrayal

26 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Phil McDaragh is a great Irish poet; he was also a lousy husband and father, abandoning his family to pursue his writing. In Anne Enright's new novel,...

'Foreign Bodies' traces the history of pandemics and vaccine hesitancy

25 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Historian Simon Schama's new book, Foreign Bodies:Pandemics, Vaccines, and the Health of Nations, recounts the pain and panic caused by smallpox, chol...

Two books examine the lives of Afghans in the aftermath of American withdrawal

22 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is all about the lives of women in Afghanistan, before and after the U.S. armed forces occupied the country. First, Here & Now's Scott...

Why Matthew McConaughey wrote a children's book about the "paradox of living"

21 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Matthew McConaughey has a new children's book out, full of couplets with a pretty mature message. Just Because is all about the contradictions in life...

'Roaming' is a graphic novel about friendship and travel

20 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It's one thing to be friends with someone, but going on a trip together? Totally different story. A new graphic novel by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tam...

In 'Jews in the Garden,' a Holocaust survivor tries to uncover uncomfortable truths

19 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As The Public's Radio Lynn Arditi says in today's episode, much has been written about the Polish resistance movement during World War II. But in her ...

Héctor Tobar examines Latino identity in 'Our Migrant Souls'

18 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When Héctor Tobar was born to Guatemalan parents in Los Angeles in the 1960s, his race was described as "caucasian" on his birth certificate. In his ...

Lauren Groff talks captivity narratives, climate change and 'The Vaster Wilds'

15 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is an in-length conversation with National Book Award finalist Lauren Groff. She met up with NPR's Andrew Limbong at a library at John...

Alice Carrière's memoir tackles the dissonance between memory and mental health

14 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Alice Carrière grew up in Manhattan under the care – and absence – of two extraordinarily creative parents: artist Jennifer Bartlett and actor Ma...

In 'Fly,' Mitchell S. Jackson looks back over the history of fashion in the NBA

13 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

From Walt "Clyde" Frazier to Russell Westbrook, a new book by Pulitzer Prize winner Mitchell S. Jackson chronicles the relationship between style and ...

In 'The Fraud,' Zadie Smith takes on historical fiction and the Tichborne case

12 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the 19th century, a butcher living in Australia claimed to be the long-lost heir of a British fortune. The Tichborne trial, which sparked much cont...

Abdulrazak Gurnah's 'Afterlives' highlights nuances of colonization in East Africa

11 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In Abdulrazak Gurnah's Afterlives, the characters centered in the novel offer different perspectives of ordinary people under German colonization in E...

Two books examine masculinity and mental health in immigrant families

08 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is rooted in how the expectations of immigrant fathers affect their children. First, Khashayar J. Khabushani speaks with Here & Now's ...

'The Men Can't Be Saved' analyzes masculinity in the world of advertising

07 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ben Purkert's novel, The Men Can't Be Saved, follows a junior copywriter with a viral tagline for adult diapers. Is it a modern take on Mad Men? Or it...

In 'The Breakaway,' Jennifer Weiner touches on love, mothers and body-shaming

06 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Abby Stern is very much looking forward to leading a biking trip from NYC to Niagara Falls – until her mom, an old one-night-stand, and some uneasy ...

In 'Happiness Falls,' a father gone missing brings family tensions to the surface

05 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Adam Parson goes on a morning hike with his son, Eugene, and the boy returns home alone. Eugene is autistic and nonverbal, so he can't explain what ha...

'This is Wildfire' offers an in-depth guide for managing today's more-frequent fires

04 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the face of record temperatures and dry conditions, wildfires are becoming more and more common. This is Wildfire, a new book by Nick Mott and Just...

Two thrillers raise questions about writing from a particular race and identity

01 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode focuses on two thrillers that our host, Andrew Limbong, read while on parental leave. First, R.F. Kuang speaks with NPR's Mary Louise ...

'Queer Career' chronicles the history of LGBTQ workers in the U.S.

31 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In her new book, Queer Career: Sexuality and Work in Modern America, historian Margot Canaday sets out to discover the experiences of LGBTQ people in ...

'Of White Ashes' follows a Japanese-American love story after the WWII internment

30 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Author Kent Matsumoto's parents both lived through traumatic experiences during WWII: his mother was forced into an internment camp for Japanese-Ameri...

In 'Losing Our Religion,' Russell Moore tackles a crisis in evangelical Christianity

29 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Russell Moore resigned from his position in the Southern Baptist Convention after finding himself at odds with other top evangelical leaders – for c...

'Mobility' examines wealth and climate change through the eyes of a teenage girl

28 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Elizabeth "Bunny" Glenn likes reading Cosmopolitan and watching soap operas – but the teenager is blithely aware of how power and wealth operate aro...

Short story collections by Steven Millhauser and Jamel Brinkley focus on the uncanny

25 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode features interviews with two authors of short story collections. First, NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer speaks with Steven Millhauser about Disru...

Pidgeon Pagonis' memoir 'Nobody Needs to Know' reclaims intersex identity

24 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Pidgeon Pagonis grew up thinking they'd survived cancer as a child, and the disease was the reason their body didn't develop quite like the other girl...

In 'The Apology,' a South Korean grandmother makes amends from the afterlife

23 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There are lots of secrets that 105-year-old Hak Jeonga has carried with her throughout her life. But even after she dies, there's still one big one –...

James McBride's new murder mystery digs into Black and Jewish communities in the '30s

22 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In James McBride's new novel – the titular shop at its heart – The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store – can be found in a neighborhood in Pottstown...

'War and Punishment' chronicles the history of Russian oppression of Ukraine

21 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Journalist Mikhail Zygar says a lot of Russian historians were actually propagandists – they worked for people in power and wrote recorded events th...

Two books reflect on the highs and lows of adolescence

18 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode focuses on very different experiences of the teenage years. First, NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Christine Suggs about their new graph...

Terrance Hayes' poems span history, fables and quarantine in 'So to Speak'

17 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Writing is a practice – especially for MacArthur Genius Grant and National Book Award winner Terrance Hayes. His new collection of poems, So to Spea...

'Good Fortune' reimagines 'Pride and Prejudice' in early 2000s Chinatown

16 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In C.K. Chau's new novel, Good Fortune, Elizabeth Chen is highly wary of the Wong brothers who have swooped in to buy a New York City community center...

'Filthy Rich Politicians' scrutinizes the wealth of elected officials

15 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In Filthy Rich Politicians, conservative columnist Matt Lewis presents some startling figures. Senator Rick Scott: net worth of approximately $200 mil...