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NPR's Book of the Day In need of a good read? Or just want to keep up with the books everyone's talking about? NPR's Book of the Day gives you today's very best writing in a snackable, skimmable, pocket-sized podcast. Whether you're looking to engage with the big questions of our times – or temporarily escape from them – we've got an author who will speak to you, all genres, mood and writing styles included. Catch today's great books in 15 minutes or less.
NPR's Book of the Day

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NPR's Book of the Day

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In need of a good read? Or just want to keep up with the books everyone's talking about? NPR's Book of the Day gives you today's very best writing in a snackable, skimmable, pocket-sized podcast. Whether you're looking to engage with the big questions of our times – or temporarily escape from them – we've got an author who will speak to you, all genres, mood and writing styles included. Catch today's great books in 15 minutes or less.

Most Recent Episodes

Anne Enright's 'The Wren, The Wren' is a family story about poetry and betrayal
W. W. Norton & Company

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

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, The Wren, The Wren, three generations of women in the McDaragh family contend with the absent patriarch's complicated legacy. Enright spoke with NPR's Scott Simon about writing fiction about a great writer, and how the poet's bad behavior in his personal life impacts the McDaragh women's own passions, years down the road.

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

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

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

Historian Simon Schama's new book, Foreign Bodies:Pandemics, Vaccines, and the Health of Nations, recounts the pain and panic caused by smallpox, cholera and the Bubonic plague over the past two centuries. But he also examines how vaccines were developed for each disease – and how understanding science and our bodies brings humans closer together. In today's episode, Schama speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about how the history of mass disease and immunization is still relevant to today's global health, especially when it comes to political messaging around COVID-19.

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

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Two books examine the lives of Afghans in the aftermath of American withdrawal
Random House/Ballantine Books

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

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 Tong speaks with journalist Mitchell Zuckoff about his new book, The Secret Gate, chronicling how activist Homeira Qaderi engineered her escape out of Kabul at the very last minute. Then, Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes asks Sola Mahfouz and Malaina Kapoor about Defiant Dreams, which tells of Mahfouz's upbringing under Taliban rule.

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

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Why Matthew McConaughey wrote a children's book about the "paradox of living"
Viking Books for Young Readers

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

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 – like "just because I lied doesn't mean that I'm a liar." In today's episode, the Academy Award winner speaks with NPR's A Martinez about how this idea that our actions don't necessarily define our character can be pretty complex, but it can also spark really fruitful conversations from a young age.

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

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'Roaming' is a graphic novel about friendship and travel
Drawn and Quarterly

'Roaming' is a graphic novel about friendship and travel

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 Tamaki captures that dissonance: Roaming follows two friends from high school reuniting on a trip to New York City during college. But there's a new, third pal in the mix – and pretty soon, it's clear the vibes are off. The Tamiko cousins spoke with NPR's Ayesha Rascoe about how the way a person travels reveals a lot about their character, and why that experience was much different in 2009 – the year the book is set – than it is now.

'Roaming' is a graphic novel about friendship and travel

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

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

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 interview with Judy Rakowsky, author of Jews in the Garden, the two journalists discuss the culture of silence around many of the atrocities of the time period. Rakowsky's book – part memoir, part thriller – recounts how she spent decades using her investigative reporting skills to help Sam, a family member and Holocaust survivor, make sense of what really happened in the Polish village he fled as a teen.

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

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Héctor Tobar examines Latino identity in 'Our Migrant Souls'
MCD

Héctor Tobar examines Latino identity in 'Our Migrant Souls'

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 new book, Our Migrant Souls, the Pulitzer Prize winning reporter examines how Latino identity is constructed and defined. He speaks with Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes about the ways whiteness and colorism operate in the Latino community, how class plays into that understanding, and why media depictions of Latino communities still have a long way to go.

Héctor Tobar examines Latino identity in 'Our Migrant Souls'

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

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

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 Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, where they chatted about Mary Rowlandson, the colonial woman captured and held ransom by Native Americans in the 1600s, and how she influenced Groff's new book, The Vaster Wilds. Groff also talked about how she found a new affinity for historical fiction, and why she always has "a go bag" ready.

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

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

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

Alice Carrière grew up in Manhattan under the care – and absence – of two extraordinarily creative parents: artist Jennifer Bartlett and actor Mathieu Carrière. But her mother's trauma, her father's transgressions, and her own dissociative disorder broke Alice's ties to her own identity and humanity. In her memoir, Everything/Nothing/Someone, she recounts some of the most difficult moments of her life – but as she tells NPR's Ailsa Chang, she also used writing, her mother's dementia and a reconciliation with her father to reclaim her own reality.

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

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

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

From Walt "Clyde" Frazier to Russell Westbrook, a new book by Pulitzer Prize winner Mitchell S. Jackson chronicles the relationship between style and basketball over decades. Fly: The Big Book of Basketball Fashion features photos and analysis of how the Civil Rights movement, the infamous dress code, and Instagram have all played a role in the evolution of NBA players' modes of expression. In today's episode, Jackson tells NPR's Ayesha Rascoe how race and activism also intersect with the perception of the sport, and why he thinks we're seeing the most exciting tunnel walks yet.

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

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