The Two-Way Book News: Just Months In, A Publisher That Promised Innovation Ends Its Run October 22, 2014 Atavist Books launched with aims of upending the print-first publishing model. Now it's announcing its plans to close. Meanwhile, partnerships between public libraries and airports are taking off.
Book Reviews Better Off Red: 'War Dogs' Puts Marines On Mars October 22, 2014 Greg Bear's latest space adventure goes from the Earth to Mars and back again with a grizzled group of "Skyrines" (Sky Marines, get it?) on the trail of a mysterious alien treasure.
Author Interviews Among The Young And Privileged In North Korea October 22, 2014 American journalist Suki Kim spent six months teaching English at a North Korean University that serves the sons of the elite. She chronicles her experience in a new book, Without You, There Is No Us. Listen Loading… 7:48 Download Playlist
St. Martin's Press Games & Humor You Definitely Need This Condo Pony, And Other Products From 'SkyMaul' October 21, 2014 "The Hot Dog Clock" and "The Forever Diaper" are also must-haves. A San Francisco comedy group is once again poking fun at the in-flight catalog SkyMall. Listen Loading… 4:07 Download Playlist
Book News & Features Amazon Deal With Simon & Schuster Raises Questions For Other Publishers October 21, 2014 Amazon has received a fair amount of bad press lately over its long-running dispute with the Hachette publishing house. So Monday's announcement of a deal with Simon & Schuster took some industry watchers by surprise. Listen Loading… 2:42 Download Playlist
David Ryder/Getty Images The Two-Way Book News: Amazon Inks A Deal With A Publisher Not Named Hachette October 21, 2014 The online retailer has reached a multiyear deal with Simon & Schuster, one of the "Big Five" U.S. publishers. Meanwhile, Amazon's pricing dispute with Hachette Book Group persists.
Book Reviews Who Is 'Limonov'? Not Even His Biographer Really Knows October 21, 2014 A new biography of the Russian political prankster/author/revolutionary Edward Limonov asks what turns out to be an unanswerable question: What's Limonov thinking, and what does he really want?
Author Interviews From Sizzling Fajitas To The Super Bowl, How Sounds Help Sell October 20, 2014 Joel Beckerman is a composer who specializes in sonic branding. His new book is called The Sonic Boom: How Sound Transforms the Way We Think, Feel, and Buy. Listen Loading… 5:20 Download Playlist
Author Interviews One Lawyer's Fight For Young Blacks And 'Just Mercy' October 20, 2014 When police pulled a gun on Bryan Stevenson as he was sitting quietly in his car in Atlanta, he knew he had to effect change. His memoir describes his attempts, including freeing men on death row. Listen Loading… 38:30 Download Playlist
A woman looks at an oil portrait of Toni Morrison at the National Portrait Gallery. A self-portrait of sorts, Morrison's life of fiction drawn in words will be permanently kept at Princeton. Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images hide caption itoggle caption Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images The Two-Way Book News: Toni Morrison's Collection Finds A Permanent Home At Princeton October 20, 2014 The Nobel laureate taught at Princeton University for 17 years. Now, her papers — some 180 linear feet of them — are returning to be housed in the school's library. Also: a roundup of new releases.
Author Interviews There's Never A Dull Moment On This Trans-Siberian Adventure October 20, 2014 Morning Edition's David Greene has taken this 6,000-mile ride twice. He shares his experience in the cramped third-class cars — borscht and all — in his new book, Midnight in Siberia. Listen Loading… 7:46 Download Playlist
Author Interviews Many Views Of Muhammad, As A Man And As A Prophet October 19, 2014 In her new book, The Lives of Muhammad, Boston University professor Kecia Ali discusses the different ways that Muslim and non-Muslim biographers have depicted the prophet over the centuries. Listen Loading… 6:34 Download Playlist
Author Interviews Chef Ottolenghi Makes The Case For 'Plenty More' Vegetables October 19, 2014 Israeli chef Yotam Ottolenghi talks with Rachel Martin about the difference between supermarket hummus and Middle Eastern hummus and why he doesn't like to call his cookbooks "vegetarian." Listen Loading… 7:15 Download Playlist
Author Interviews Understanding Society Through 3 American Classics October 19, 2014 NPR's Rachel Martin speaks with Azar Nafisi about her new book, The Republic of Imagination, a reflection on America through three of its most memorable books. Listen Loading… 7:48 Download Playlist
This Week's Must Read After A Flurry Of Literary Awards, A Book On The 'Wonder' Of Words October 19, 2014 It's literary awards season. The Nobel, the National Book Awards shortlists, and the Man Booker Prize were all recently announced. Author Jason Sheehan recommends some reading on all this reading. Listen Loading… 2:36 Download Playlist
Book Reviews Amid The Chaos Of Debt Collection, 'Bad Paper' Offers A Riveting Roadmap October 19, 2014 It's not often that a book can mix machetes with hedge funds. Then again, few industries are as chaotic, and compelling, as debt collection — which Jake Halpern's book reveals in alarming detail.
Author Interviews A Funny Philosopher Tackles A Tough Query: 'Does Santa Exist?' October 18, 2014 Eric Kaplan's son had a zoo trip canceled because one mom worried about reindeer-induced questions. So Kaplan, a comedy writer and philosophy grad student, started pondering the puzzle of St. Nick. Listen Loading… 5:51 Download Playlist
Author Interviews 424 Steps To Happiness: A Father's Journey Beyond 'The Fall' October 18, 2014 A son with cerebral palsy inspires a new way to think about imperfection, exaltation and love in a new memoir by Brazilian novelist and screenwriter Diogo Mainardi. Listen Loading… 5:48 Download Playlist
Book Reviews 300,000,000 Is A Horrific, Poetic Anti-Ode To America October 18, 2014 Blake Butler's new novel, 300,000,000, is not for the squeamish. This portrait of a serial killer and the detective who hunts him will curdle the blood — and possibly the soul — of any reader.
Author Interviews Back Across The Wall: Questions For Garth Nix October 18, 2014 Author Garth Nix returns to the world of the Old Kingdom with Clariel, the story of a young woman of great magical power who, denied the freedom to live as she wants, chooses a dangerous path.
Book Reviews A Collection Of Poems That Offers An Unlikely Kind Of Hope October 18, 2014 In his second poetry collection, The New Testament, Jericho Brown weaves together strains of religious invocations with his uneasy identity as a southern, gay, black man into a beguiling self myth.
This Week's Must Read Oscar Pistorius' Sentencing And The Classic True Crime Novel October 17, 2014 Oscar Pistorius, superstar athlete, was back in court this week for his sentencing hearing, after a culpable homicide conviction. Journalist Mandy Wiener says his case reminds her of a favorite book.
unknown/iStockphoto.com Arts & Life Email Just Can't Compete With Heartfelt 'Letters Of Note' October 17, 2014 The art of letter writing is also an act of preserving history. The correspondences gathered in the book Letters Of Note tell stories of delight, hope and loss — and the nature of human connection.