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Four strangers, a murder, and a cozy winter library in Sulari Gentill's new novel Jun 13, 2022

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Four strangers sitting in the reading room of the Boston Public Library suddenly hear a woman's piercing scream. When the body is found, the four characters quickly become friends as they work to solve the mystery. It's the plot of Sulari Gentill's new novel The Woman in the Library, a thriller set in the cold winter months of Boston, Massachusetts. In an interview on All Things Considered, Gentill told Elissa Nadworny that the idea of strangers bonding during scary events came from her own life experience during the bushfires of Australia.
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Exploring immigration through a common experience: feeling like an outsider Jun 10, 2022

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There is a common hurdle for many first generation immigrants: feeling out of place. Whether that's in school, speaking a different language, or living through parents' expectations. Today: two books about overcoming those feelings of inadequacy. First, Simu Liu, Marvel's first Asian superhero, discusses his memoir We Were Dreamers, where he talks about his complicated relationship with his parents and what he calls his "immigrant superhero origin story." Then, Cuban-American author Margarita Engle explores what it's like to be an outsider as a bilingual speaker and the creative freedom she found in writing Spanish without italics in her book.
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Dan Chaon imagines a dystopian, dark future for America in 'Sleepwalk' Jun 09, 2022

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Author Dan Chaon wanted to find a way to write about current times – instability, fear, political division – by creating an alternate version of America. Set in the future, his new book Sleepwalk is a dark and shadowy dystopia "one more pandemic away." Through the story, however, his eccentric main character discovers a longing for kingship and connection that was partly inspired by Chaon's experience as an adoptee meeting his biological father. In an interview on Weekend Edition Saturday, Chaon told Scott Simon that novels are like black holes: Everything you see in the world gets sucked into it.
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Book recommendations for 50+ states and beyond! Jun 08, 2022

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We have something a little different today. Often when we travel to new places, we look for books about the areas we'll be exploring. Whether via travel books, poetry, or fiction, reading about new places can help us understand them in all of their complexities. As summer kicks off and many start traveling, we asked experts in every state – and also D.C. and Puerto Rico – to tell us the books they think best represent where they live. From research anthologies to poetry collections and novels, their suggestions can help us explore and understand pretty much every corner of this country.
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The aftermath of Brown vs The Board of Education in 'Jim Crow's Pink Slip' Jun 07, 2022

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Leslie Fenwick is a nationally-known education policy and leadership studies scholar at Howard University. In her new book, Jim Crow's Pink Slip: The Untold Story of Black Principal and Teacher Leadership, Fenwick argues that the landmark Brown Versus the Board of Education decision ending legal segregation in American schools also resulted in the mass firing, or demotion, of Black principals and teachers. Fenwick told Michel Martin on All Things Considered that we're still living with the repercussions today, but that by acknowledging that we can help efforts to diversify the educational system.
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In 'Big Feelings:' Advice on how to be okay... when things are not okay Jun 06, 2022

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The last couple of years have been tough for everyone, and dealing with the plethora of emotions they have brought on can be complicated for many adults. In their new book, Big Feelings: How to Be Okay When Things Are Not Okay, Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy explore seven emotions that they found particularly difficult to overcome: uncertainty, comparison, anger, burnout, perfectionism, despair, and regret. In an interview with Juana Summers on It's Been a Minute, the authors talk about how they don't intend the book to be self-help, but rather an invitation for people to learn how to give themselves some grace.
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A multifaceted view of trauma in two Indian novels Jun 03, 2022

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Trauma isn't finite. It doesn't happen only to one person – and its effects on people and communities don't always end. Today, two books that explore the different sides of generational trauma: First, Anjali Enjeti talks about The Parted Earth, a novel that traces the impact of India's partition across several generations and explores how understanding our families' pasts can help us understand ourselves. Then, Naheed Phiroze Patel discusses her novel Mirror Made of Rain, a personal, empathetic view on mothers who society has deemed 'failures.'
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Grady Hendrix reimagines the horror movie sequel in 'Final Girl Support Group' Jun 02, 2022

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Grady Hendrix loves horror movies, especially those old 80s slashers. And his new book is a tribute to that "final girl" at the end of so many of them: The one who doesn't necessarily survive by being smarter or stronger, but simply makes it to the end alive by not giving up. NPR's Audie Cornish interviewed him about his novel Final Girl Support Group, which is about exactly what it sounds like, a support group for women who survived psycho murderers — except it seems like someone's starting to hunt them down – again. As Hendrix says, what's the scariest thing for a "Final Girl?" A sequel.
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Jhumpa Lahiri on translating herself and others Jun 01, 2022

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Jhumpa Lahiri is best known for her fictional stories about immigration; novels that usually explore themes that arise from living in between two worlds. In her new book of essays, Translating Myself and Others, Lahiri writes about the ways in which she herself has lived between worlds, and the other kind of writing she does: translation. In an interview with All Things Considered, Lahiri spoke to Mary Louise Kelly about how her relationship to language changed with translation and how it ultimately made her a better writer.
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A quest for knowledge in Elif Batuman's sequel to 'The Idiot' May 31, 2022

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For teenagers, every life question can feel existential. It was like that for Elif Batuman, who found meaning through literature and creative writing. Her new book Either/Or – the sequel to The Idiot – explores the life of an adolescent as she looks for answers to her questions in books. In an interview on Morning Edition, Batuman told Rachel Martin about living an aesthetic life, experiencing a sexual awakening through books, and how she sees herself in the protagonist.
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