NPR's Book of the Day

Author Deesha Philyaw says she's still 'obsessed' with the church in her fiction

Deesha Philyaw, who grew up going to church, says you can leave religion behind but “the pastor and your mama are still in your bedroom.” That premise informs her new nov

A follow-up 15 years in the making: Chad Harbach on 'The Brightness'

It’s been 15 years since Chad Harbach published The Art of Fielding, a book about a star college baseball player at a fictional Wisconsin liberal arts college. His new bo

'Redemption' is a story of sisterhood between nuns and women on Texas' death row

Lawrence Wright’s new book Redemption is a story about two groups of women who live surprisingly similar lives. One is on death row in Gatesville, Texas. The other group

In 'Sophie, Standing There,' author Meg Mason explores finding connection in books

In Sophie, Standing There by Meg Mason, Sophie Pattison’s life is falling apart. On paper, there shouldn’t be an issue: She works her dream job mic’ing up authors at a lo

B.J. Novak on 'The Little Book with No Pictures' and making kids laugh

Writer and The Office star B.J. Novak says that when his friends started having kids, he would connect with their children by reading books aloud. He began to pay attenti

Laleh Khadivi explores mother-daughter relationships in 'Female Life on Planet Earth'

It’s been almost one year since Heti, the main character of Laleh Khadivi’s Female Life on Planet Earth, lost her mother. But when details from her mother’s secret past r

New memoirs by Evan Gershkovich and Mahmoud Khalil chronicle political imprisonment

Today’s episode features memoirs by two men whose incarceration became international headlines. Evan Gershkovich is an American journalist who spent 16 months in a Russia

Biography 'American Pope' follows Leo XIV's life from Chicago to Vatican City

In American Pope: Leo XIV’s Road from the South Side of Chicago to Vatican City, NPR host Scott Detrow and religion editor Daniel Burke chronicle Pope Leo XIV’s path to l

In 'Friends and Family,' a police encounter strains a friendship between two moms

Natalie Baszile’s new book, Friends and Family, follows the friendship of two mothers: Babs, a Black woman, and Nora, a white woman with an adopted Black son. When the po

Kevin Roose on the quasi-religious pursuit of artificial general intelligence

Over the past few months, some industry insiders have warned that rogue AI could escape its human creators, resulting in dangerous – and perhaps existential – consequence

'Lessons in Chemistry' author Bonnie Garmus on her new novel 'Peck & Peck'

Bonnie Garmus’ 2022 novel Lessons in Chemistry was a smash hit, selling more than 8 million copies worldwide. Her new novel Peck & Peck is set in the ‘80s and centers aro

Two collections of horror stories modernize the genre

Spooky season is year-round, and so are our episodes about scary stories. First up, NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Jeanette Winterson about The Night Side of the River,

Shirley Jackson's biographer on the writer's ability to find evil in the ordinary

With stories like “The Lottery” and The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson was one of the great horror authors of the 20th century. In 2012, Ruth Franklin wrote a bi

George Saunders' 'Vigil' is a ghostly novel about an oil tycoon in his final hours

In his latest novel, George Saunders continues to explore his interest in death and the afterlife. Vigil tells the story of an oil tycoon and climate change denier named

Jordan Peele on his Black horror story collection 'Out There Screaming'

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, Peele speaks with NPR

In 'The Eleventh Hour,' Salman Rushdie writes about morality, revenge and ghosts

Salman Rushdie lived for decades under a death sentence and survived a knife attack three years ago. His latest book The Eleventh Hour is his first work of fiction since

'Nickel and Dimed' and 'The Case for Quitting' reconsider our relationship to work

Today’s episode features two books – one classic and one new – that might lead you to reconsider your relationship to work. Nearly 25 years ago, journalist and activist B

Hernan Diaz on his new novel 'Ply' and understanding America through technology

Hernan Diaz’s new book, Ply, takes place in a future where institutions have fallen apart. It appears to be a book about systems and community, but turns out to be one ab

'Swan Song' sees Princess Diana through her brother’s eyes

Diana, Princess of Wales, died almost three decades ago, but her legacy and image persist in the public eye. Her brother, Charles Spencer, is out with a new book that pai

Gov. Andy Beshear on how the midterms will help him weigh his presidential run

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear is the author of a new book called Go And Do Likewise: How We Heal A Broken Country. Beshear is a rare Democratic leader in an otherwise ma