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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.

In Simone St. James' 'Murder Road,' a lakeside honeymoon turns into a murder mystery

9 mins; October 10, 2024

'Building Material' is the memoir of a Park Avenue doorman

7 mins; October 09, 2024

Jules Feiffer, 'The Phantom Tollbooth' illustrator, is out with a new graphic novel

8 mins; October 08, 2024

'How to Build a Fashion Icon' is stylist Law Roach's guide to image architecture

8 mins; October 07, 2024

'Hope for Cynics' and 'On Freedom' ask big-picture questions about how we live

20 mins; October 04, 2024

In 'We Solve Murders,' Richard Osman introduces a new detective trio

8 mins; October 03, 2024

Lyndsay Rush's new book of poems, 'A Bit Much,' was written for poetry skeptics

8 mins; October 02, 2024

Ta-Nehisi Coates returns to political writing in his new book 'The Message'

12 mins; October 01, 2024

Richard Powers' new novel 'Playground' is filled with awe for the ocean

8 mins; September 30, 2024

Newbery Medalist Meg Medina and NBA star Jayson Tatum are out with children's books

18 mins; September 27, 2024

'What If We Get It Right?' envisions new possibilities for our climate future

9 mins; September 26, 2024

In the new book 'Want,' Gillian Anderson collects other women's sexual fantasies

9 mins; September 25, 2024

'City in Ruins' is the finale of the Danny Ryan trilogy–and of Don Winslow's career

9 mins; September 24, 2024

In 'Who's That Girl?' Eve reflects on her time in a male-dominated hip-hop industry

7 mins; September 23, 2024

James McBride on music, writing and 'The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store'

20 mins; September 20, 2024

'Represent' charts the United States' long struggle for the right to vote

7 mins; September 19, 2024

In 'Entitlement,' a young woman helps an elderly billionaire give away his fortune

8 mins; September 18, 2024

Venus Williams' new book 'Strive' is a personal guide to physical and mental health

5 mins; September 17, 2024

Rachel Kushner's new novel 'Creation Lake' is inspired by real-life espionage

8 mins; September 16, 2024

'At War with Ourselves' and 'Broken Open' are memoirs chronicling internal conflict

17 mins; September 13, 2024

'The Museum of Failures' follows a father-to-be as he stumbles upon family secrets

10 mins; September 12, 2024

In 'The Stories We Cannot Tell,' difficult pregnancies unite two very different women

7 mins; September 11, 2024

In 'We're Alone,' Edwidge Danticat's essays extend an invitation to be together

8 mins; September 10, 2024

'A Pair of Wings' draws inspiration from Bessie Coleman, the first Black woman to fly

7 mins; September 09, 2024

'Anything's Pastable' and 'My Life in Recipes' explore viral pasta and family history

19 mins; September 06, 2024

'Eruption' is a collaboration between Michael Crichton and James Patterson

8 mins; September 05, 2024

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson talks Supreme Court ethics, family in 'Lovely One'

14 mins; September 04, 2024

'The Instrumentalist' is a story about music, imagination and Anna Maria della Pietà

8 mins; September 03, 2024

'Ruin their Crops on the Ground' tracks the history and politics of food in the U.S.

7 mins; September 02, 2024

'The 15-Minute City' and 'Rethinking Rescue' reimagine existing systems

18 mins; August 30, 2024

'How to Leave the House' follows a quest for a missing package

9 mins; August 29, 2024

In 'On the Edge,' Nate Silver analyzes professional risk-takers

10 mins; August 28, 2024

'Hurdles in the Dark' is a memoir about a kidnapping, juvenile detention and racing

10 mins; August 27, 2024

Graphic novel 'Einstein in Kafkaland' ponders how two great minds met in Prague

8 mins; August 26, 2024

'Us, After' and 'A Haunted Girl' tackle mental health

22 mins; August 23, 2024

Gabino Iglesias' 'House of Bone and Rain' is a tale of vengeance in Puerto Rico

8 mins; August 22, 2024

'Drawn Testimony' is a courtroom sketch artist's memoir spanning 40 years

7 mins; August 21, 2024

Rufaro Faith Mazarura's 'Let the Games Begin' is a rom-com set in the Olympic village

12 mins; August 20, 2024

'We Were Illegal' examines Texas history through multiple generations of one family

12 mins; August 19, 2024

Two books revisit the cultural impacts of Tina Turner, Duke Ellington and more

18 mins; August 16, 2024

Sheetal Sheth pens a children's book about Raksha Bandhan in 'Raashi's Rakhis'

10 mins; August 15, 2024

In 'Bringing Ben Home,' Barbara Bradley Hagerty examines a wrongful conviction

8 mins; August 14, 2024

In 'Five-Star Stranger,' a man gets hired on an app to pretend to be a girl's father

7 mins; August 13, 2024

In 'Midnight in Moscow,' a U.S. ambassador recounts his time in Russia

9 mins; August 12, 2024

Nancy Pelosi opens up about how she wields 'The Art of Power'

17 mins; August 09, 2024

M.T. Anderson's 'Nicked' follows a heist to steal the bones of Saint Nicholas

8 mins; August 08, 2024

Juli Min's novel 'Shanghailanders' unfolds in reverse

8 mins; August 07, 2024

Cory Richards' memoir covers mountains, photography and mental health

7 mins; August 06, 2024

Sarah Perry's 'Enlightenment' ponders faith, astronomy and friendship

8 mins; August 05, 2024

Novels by Claire Lombardo and Catherine Newman explore different stages of motherhood

17 mins; August 02, 2024

'The Boiling Moat' plants a military strategy to prevent China's capture of Taiwan

6 mins; August 01, 2024

Jon M. Chu's memoir 'Viewfinder' traces his journey to making movies

9 mins; July 31, 2024

In 'Liars,' Sarah Manguso explores a marriage falling apart

7 mins; July 30, 2024

Stephen Graham Jones explores a new side of horror in 'I Was a Teenage Slasher'

8 mins; July 29, 2024

Riley Sager and Johanna Copeland set thrillers in suburbia

15 mins; July 26, 2024

Khushbu Shah's cookbook 'Amrikan' honors the Indian American diaspora

10 mins; July 25, 2024

A look back at Vice President Kamala Harris' memoir, 'The Truths We Hold'

8 mins; July 24, 2024

Joyce Maynard follows 'Count the Ways' with 'How the Light Gets In'

8 mins; July 23, 2024

Griffin Dunne's memoir chronicles fame, art and tragedy in his Hollywood upbringing

9 mins; July 22, 2024

Two summer mysteries unravel in 'The Cliffs' and 'The God of the Woods'

18 mins; July 19, 2024

'We Were Once a Family' examines how the foster care system failed the Hart siblings

11 mins; July 18, 2024

Revisiting J.D. Vance's memoir, 'Hillbilly Elegy'

7 mins; July 17, 2024

'Ultraviolet' follows a young boy going through puberty and first love

10 mins; July 16, 2024

In 'Beautiful Days,' Zach Williams ponders parenthood, reality and the uncanny

8 mins; July 15, 2024

Two books dive into the musical histories of The Police and Joni Mitchell

19 mins; July 12, 2024

In 'Other Rivers,' Peter Hessler chronicles his return to Chinese classrooms

11 mins; July 11, 2024

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer unveils her vision for American democracy in 'True Gretch'

10 mins; July 10, 2024

'Devil Is Fine' explores race, colonialism and grief through magical realism

9 mins; July 09, 2024

'At the Edge of Empire' traces China's history through Edward Wong's family

9 mins; July 08, 2024

Kevin Kwan explores race and identity in 'Sex and Vanity' and 'Lies and Weddings'

19 mins; July 05, 2024

A new book examines Alexander Hamilton's plan for public debt

7 mins; July 04, 2024

In 'Do I Know You?,' a science reporter tackles her own face blindness

9 mins; July 03, 2024

Yangsze Choo's 'The Fox Wife' explores gender, murder and folklore in the 1900s

8 mins; July 02, 2024

Kara Swisher's memoir 'Burn Book' reflects on a career covering Silicon Valley

7 mins; July 01, 2024

Morgan Talty examines Native identity in 'Night of the Living Rez' and 'Fire Exit'

20 mins; June 28, 2024

Carys Davies tackles communication, isolation and the Scottish Clearances in 'Clear'

8 mins; June 27, 2024

In 'The Extinction of Irena Rey,' translators search for a missing author

9 mins; June 26, 2024

'Memory Piece' follows female friendships over several decades

10 mins; June 25, 2024

'Hard by a Great Forest' is a novel about returning home decades after fleeing war

8 mins; June 24, 2024

'Never Enough' and 'Roctogenarians' examine the culture of success

20 mins; June 21, 2024

'Tehrangeles' follows a family of aspiring Iranian influencers in LA

8 mins; June 20, 2024

Glynnis MacNicol's memoir brings readers to a summer of pleasure in Paris

9 mins; June 19, 2024

In 'One of Our Kind,' a Black family moves to a planned utopia

8 mins; June 18, 2024

Questlove maps a cultural revolution in 'Hip-Hop is History'

6 mins; June 17, 2024

'Dear Sister,' 'A Fatal Inheritance' examine difficult family histories

21 mins; June 14, 2024

Chelsea Devantez's memoir finds the humor in dark situations

11 mins; June 13, 2024

Stephen King finishes a story 45 years in the making in 'You Like It Darker'

8 mins; June 12, 2024

The autobiography of John Swanson Jacobs offers a new look at slavery and migration

6 mins; June 11, 2024

'The Mango Tree' is a memoir about growing up mixed-race Filipina in south Florida

8 mins; June 10, 2024

Ada Limón talks forgiveness, ghosts and fertility on 'Wild Card'

29 mins; June 07, 2024

'Malas' is a novel about womanhood, curses and family history in a Texas border town

11 mins; June 06, 2024

R.O. Kwon's novel 'Exhibit' grapples with sexual desire and Asian identity

8 mins; June 05, 2024

Kathleen Hanna remembers her path to becoming the OG 'Rebel Girl'

11 mins; June 04, 2024

Illia Ponomarenko's memoir opens up about covering the Russian invasion of Ukraine

8 mins; June 03, 2024

Two books trace the social and historical impacts of food

19 mins; May 31, 2024

Claire Messud's new novel is a sweeping tale of history, family and social change

8 mins; May 30, 2024

Author Kazuo Ishiguro and singer Stacey Kent collaborate on new songbook

9 mins; May 29, 2024

In 'All Fours,' Miranda July tackles love, sex and reinvention in middle age

8 mins; May 28, 2024

Doris Kearns Goodwin's new book is part memoir, part history of the 1960s

7 mins; May 27, 2024

Whoopi Goldberg and Tom Selleck memoirs look back at their beginnings

18 mins; May 24, 2024

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