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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.

The story behind cookbooks 'The Talisman of Happiness' and 'Will This Make You Happy'

17 mins; April 03, 2026

Keith O'Brien on 'Heartland,' Larry Bird and the basketball career that almost wasn't

8 mins; April 02, 2026

In the epic 'Son of Nobody,' Yann Martel gives footnotes a starring role

8 mins; April 01, 2026

Geoff Bennett on the history of Black comedy from vaudeville to sitcoms

9 mins; March 31, 2026

Andy Weir reveals his fun and frantic creative process behind 'Project Hail Mary'

11 mins; March 30, 2026

In new memoirs, David Archuleta and Lindy West break with their pasts

19 mins; March 27, 2026

Apple is turning 50. David Pogue’s new book tells its history.

7 mins; March 26, 2026

In the novel ‘Black Bag,’ a classroom experiment invites questions about masculinity

7 mins; March 25, 2026

Fab 5 Freddy’s 'Everybody’s Fly' is a backstage pass to NYC’s new wave hip hop scene

10 mins; March 24, 2026

Sarvat Hasin's new novel is about a magnetic friendship between 'Strange Girls'

8 mins; March 23, 2026

Two new murder mysteries: 'Ruby Falls' and 'The Secret Lives of Murderers' Wives'

17 mins; March 20, 2026

Daisy Hernández argues 'Citizenship' has never been a fixed legal status

8 mins; March 19, 2026

Cara Bastone's 'No Matter What' is a romance novel that begins with a separation

8 mins; March 18, 2026

In 'The Mixed Marriage Project,' Dorothy Roberts works through her dad's archive

7 mins; March 17, 2026

'The Correspondent' is an epistolary novel, but can letters tell the whole story?

12 mins; March 16, 2026

'We the Women' and 'Rise, Girl, Rise' are stories about revolutionary women

21 mins; March 13, 2026

'One of Us' is a British political drama based on the Boris Johnson era

8 mins; March 12, 2026

To understand consciousness, Michael Pollan looked at plants, AI and himself

11 mins; March 11, 2026

In 'Bad Asians,' a friend group threatens its reputation with a viral video

10 mins; March 10, 2026

In new memoir, Gavin Newsom reflects on his political rise

9 mins; March 09, 2026

'The Irish Goodbye' and 'Frog' are micro-memoirs and essays about everyday life

18 mins; March 06, 2026

'An American Marriage' author Tayari Jones is out with a new novel 'Kin'

10 mins; March 05, 2026

Andrew Krivak’s novel 'Mule Boy' takes readers inside a Pennsylvania coal mine

8 mins; March 04, 2026

Jason Zengerle says Tucker Carlson is more 'movement leader' than media persona

8 mins; March 03, 2026

Author was struck by story of mixed-race orphans behind 'Keeper of Lost Children'

8 mins; March 02, 2026

A psychoanalyst and a priest share insights in 'Love's Labor' and 'Work in Progress'

18 mins; February 27, 2026

Reshona Landfair, formerly 'Jane Doe,' recounts abuse by R. Kelly in new memoir

9 mins; February 26, 2026

'The Renovation' is a novel with a surrealist take on prison structures big and small

9 mins; February 25, 2026

'Fly, Wild Swans' weaves Jung Chang’s family history with the history of China

10 mins; February 24, 2026

'Clutch' follows a college friend group trying to maintain their bond in midlife

8 mins; February 23, 2026

Brush up on American history with 'Common Sense' and 'We the People'

16 mins; February 20, 2026

In 'Eradication,' a grieving man sets off to a remote island to save the world

8 mins; February 19, 2026

Gisèle Pelicot’s 'A Hymn to Life' is both a memoir and an act of ultimate defiance

8 mins; February 18, 2026

'Crux' is a novel about rock climbing, but risk exists far beyond the mountain’s edge

8 mins; February 17, 2026

After 100 years of Mount Rushmore, its biographer says the landmark is incomplete

7 mins; February 16, 2026

'Football' and 'Everybody Loses' examine changes to America’s most popular sport

16 mins; February 13, 2026

A new book focuses on a queer, Black, WWII-era translator who risked safety for love

8 mins; February 12, 2026

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

9 mins; February 11, 2026

Gov. Josh Shapiro emphasizes civic engagement in new memoir 'Where We Keep the Light'

8 mins; February 10, 2026

In 'Room 706,' a woman confronts her extramarital affair during a hostage crisis

7 mins; February 09, 2026

Two new books take on lesser-known chapters of WWII and Cold War-era Black history

16 mins; February 06, 2026

A woman takes over her dead sister’s dating profile in 'Dandelion is Dead'

6 mins; February 05, 2026

'How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder' is a dark new novel about sisterhood

9 mins; February 04, 2026

In Sara Levine’s novel 'The Hitch,' a corgi’s soul enters a little boy’s body

10 mins; February 03, 2026

Angela Tomaski’s debut novel takes readers on a tour of an English manor in decline

8 mins; February 02, 2026

Romance authors Emily Henry, Beverly Jenkins, and others on the state of their genre

22 mins; January 30, 2026

A meet-cute followed by real life: 'Party of Two' is about love in the real world

8 mins; January 29, 2026

Looking back at 'Normal People,' before Sally Rooney’s rise to fame

7 mins; January 28, 2026

'Emergency Contact' explores love in the age of modern technology

8 mins; January 27, 2026

Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan on 'Remain,' their supernatural romance novel

7 mins; January 26, 2026

New books argue that far-off goals and humor can help shift daily routines

15 mins; January 23, 2026

Iranian pop star Googoosh on her new memoir and life in pre-revolution Iran

11 mins; January 22, 2026

Sarah Harman’s debut novel is a lighthearted take on the 'missing kid' mystery genre

8 mins; January 21, 2026

'Firestorm' tells journalistic – and personal – story of the LA wildfires

10 mins; January 20, 2026

'This is Where the Serpent Lives' is a sprawling debut novel set in modern Pakistan

8 mins; January 19, 2026

'Body Beautiful' and 'My One-of-a-Kind Body' aim to cultivate kids’ body positivity

17 mins; January 16, 2026

'Freedom on the Sea' is a biography of Robert Smalls – by his great-great-grandson

10 mins; January 15, 2026

The novel 'These Days' fictionalizes a lesser-known chapter in the history of Belfast

8 mins; January 14, 2026

With her new book, Scottish author Val McDermid wants to “charm you into winter”

7 mins; January 13, 2026

'The Definitions' features dorm room conversation – with a dystopian twist

6 mins; January 12, 2026

Two debut novels, two murder mysteries set in the United Kingdom

17 mins; January 09, 2026

Amitav Ghosh’s 'Wild Fictions' gathers essays on empire and the environment

6 mins; January 08, 2026

In 'Twice Born,' a daughter discovers her father through his biography of Mark Twain

10 mins; January 07, 2026

'The Philosopher in the Valley' paints an eccentric portrait of Palantir’s Alex Karp

7 mins; January 06, 2026

'Russ & Daughters' cookbook documents a century-old New York City establishment

12 mins; January 05, 2026

Susan Choi’s 'Flashlight' is about an alternate-universe version of her own family

7 mins; January 02, 2026

'Feeding Ghosts' is a graphic memoir grappling with generational trauma

10 mins; January 01, 2026

In ‘A Guardian and a Thief,’ a mother’s love for her family threatens her own morals

10 mins; December 31, 2025

A new novel from Karen Russell is a sprawling story set during the Dust Bowl

7 mins; December 30, 2025

In Rabih Alameddine’s new novel, a mother and son share a tiny Beirut apartment

9 mins; December 29, 2025

Dorie Greenspan and Paul Hollywood discuss their new and nourishing cake cookbooks

23 mins; December 26, 2025

'Unabridged' explores the history of the dictionary – and why it’s in trouble now

9 mins; December 25, 2025

'Hiddensee' is a 'Nutcracker'-inspired novel from the author of 'Wicked'

7 mins; December 24, 2025

Jeff Kinney on his iconic, now 20-book 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' series

11 mins; December 23, 2025

Mahmood Mamdani’s 'Slow Poison' centers politics of belonging in postcolonial Uganda

7 mins; December 22, 2025

Revisiting ‘Waiting to Exhale’

36 mins; December 20, 2025

Paul McCartney on his band 'Wings,' plus the story of indie label Bloodshot Records

17 mins; December 19, 2025

In this novel, the residents of a Brussels apartment building brace for Nazi invasion

9 mins; December 18, 2025

William Boyd’s 'The Predicament' is a spy thriller with a conspiratorial edge

9 mins; December 17, 2025

Rep. Jim Clyburn’s new book 'The First Eight' traces the history of his predecessors

7 mins; December 16, 2025

'The Heir Apparent' asks existential questions about Britain and its beloved crown

8 mins; December 15, 2025

Revisiting ‘Kitchen Confidential’

36 mins; December 13, 2025

‘How a Game Lives,’ ‘How to Save the Internet’ show the best and worst of life online

18 mins; December 12, 2025

A new book of poems by Kate Baer wrestles with the realities of middle age

9 mins; December 11, 2025

In 'The Unveiling,' a disastrous cruise becomes an opportunity for cultural reckoning

8 mins; December 10, 2025

Deborah Willis on her seminal history of Black photography, reissued 25 years later

8 mins; December 09, 2025

In ‘Best Offer Wins,’ an ambitious millennial is driven mad by the homebuying process

7 mins; December 08, 2025

Revisiting Frank Herbert’s ‘Dune’

36 mins; December 06, 2025

In new novels, marriages are tested by a last request and a moment in the spotlight

17 mins; December 05, 2025

Abby Phillip’s 'A Dream Deferred' chronicles Jesse Jackson’s rise to political esteem

7 mins; December 04, 2025

'The Devil Is a Southpaw' is a story within a story — or so its narrator says

8 mins; December 03, 2025

John Fetterman on his new memoir, his mental health, and disagreements with his party

9 mins; December 02, 2025

A new book looks to the writings of Renaissance-era nuns for advice on life today

7 mins; December 01, 2025

Revisiting ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’

34 mins; November 29, 2025

A Claire McCardell biography and an AI sci-fi are among NPR’s top book picks of 2025

10 mins; November 28, 2025

'My Cambodia: A Khmer Cookbook' is Nite Yun’s love letter to food and family

8 mins; November 27, 2025

'We Were Liars' author returns for more teenage catharsis in 'We Fell Apart'

7 mins; November 26, 2025

Comic journalist Joe Sacco on his portrait of deadly riots in Uttar Pradesh, India

8 mins; November 25, 2025

Justinian Huang’s new novel follows a Taiwanese-American family intent on a male heir

8 mins; November 24, 2025

Revisiting ‘Gone Girl’

35 mins; November 22, 2025

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