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In 'Becoming Wild,' Carl Safina Takes Us Inside The Cultures Of Animals

April 15, 2020 • Combining the knowledge of a seasoned scientist and the skills of a good storyteller, the ecologist-author invites us to leave our cultural worlds and enter some animal ones to see just how they work.

Human Moments, Nuggets Of Reflection Are True Treasures In New Albright Memoir

April 14, 2020 • "I was intent on making the next stage of my life even more interesting than the last," former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright writes in Hell And Other Destinations.

In 'Notes From An Apocalypse,' The End Of The World Is A State Of Mind

April 14, 2020 • In charming, anxious, tender essays, writer Mark O'Connell examines his own apocalyptic frame of mind by taking "a series of perverse pilgrimages" to subcultures preparing for the end of the world.

Need A Mental Escape? These Books Offer Solace In Troubled Times

Fresh Air

April 13, 2020 • With much of the world on lockdown due to the pandemic, critic Maureen Corrigan turns to books for companionship. Her recommended reads span fiction, nonfiction and poetry — some old, some new.

Need A Mental Escape? These Books Offer Solace In Troubled Times

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In Cesar Aira's Latest, 'Artforum' Has A Magic Beyond The Page

April 12, 2020 • Aira's oddball new novella chronicles his love affair with the magazine Artforum, to which he ascribes almost magical qualities. It's a giddy, self-indulgent but delightful read.

'Meet Me At Midnight' For A Lively Summer Romp

April 11, 2020 • None of us are likely to have a glorious summer this year — but crack open Jessica Pennington's new Meet Me at Midnight and follow the charming enemies-to-lovers story, and you'll get close.

In 'Mad, Bad & Dangerous,' Romantic Sleuths Uncover A Byronic Secret

April 11, 2020 • Samira Ahmed's new novel bounces between two timelines, following a Muslim American art student in Paris, and the mysterious harem woman she believes inspired work by Lord Byron and his circle.

In 'How Much Of These Hills Is Gold,' This Land Is Not Your Land

April 10, 2020 • C Pam Zhang's debut novel follows a brother and sister, children of Chinese laborers, as the search the dusty hills of Gold Rush-era California for a place to bury their father's body.

'I Don't Want To Die Poor' Maintains Sense Of Humor Amid Stories Of Struggle

April 9, 2020 • Making Michael Arceneaux's book required reading in high schools would help a lot of young people think twice about the promise that going to college is the only path to upward social mobility.

In An Age Of Screens, Looking For 'Attention' In All The Wrong Places

April 8, 2020 • Casey Schwartz writes of her reliance on Adderall and her realization that the focus it brought was not genuine. But she leaves readers wanting to hear more on the relationship of attention and love.

You'll Want To Stop The Car For This 'Redhead By The Side Of The Road'

April 7, 2020 • Anne Tyler's latest novel — about a man who discovers that his calm, routine life may not be the one he really wants — is a balm for jangled nerves.

Need An Escape? Try 'Unorthodox,' 'Baghdad Central' And 'Abigail'

Israeli actress Shira Haas plays Esther, a young woman who flees her marriage and her tight Hasidic community in the Netflix series Unorthodox. Anika Molnar/Netflix hide caption

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Anika Molnar/Netflix

TV Reviews

Need An Escape? Try 'Unorthodox,' 'Baghdad Central' And 'Abigail'

Fresh Air

April 6, 2020 • Critic John Powers recommends three stories to break up the monotony of coronavirus lockdown: Unorthodox on Netflix; Baghdad Central on Hulu and a new translation of Magda Szabó's 1970 novel Abigail.

Need An Escape? Try 'Unorthodox,' 'Baghdad Central' And 'Abigail'

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Books

Grim Reaper Comedy 'Melancholia' Is Surprisingly Uplifting

April 5, 2020 • Nicholas Gurewitch scratched images into clay with a stylus for this tale of Death's visit to an analyst — who helps him come to terms with Death Jr.'s lack of interest in the family business.

Charming 'Hex' Insists On Beauty And Joy

April 4, 2020 • Rebecca Dinerstein Knight's oddball new novel follows a newly unemployed scientist, lovesick for her former mentor — but convinced of her own worth and her need for a life full of beauty.

In 'Hurricane Season,' Words Swirl Wild And Dark

April 2, 2020 • Fernanda Melchor's poetic, foul-mouthed new novel sits on the border between crime fiction and horror: A woman known as the Witch has been murdered, and her neighbors want to know who did it and why/

Jonathan Karl's Memoir Shows That Everyone Is 'Front Row At The Trump Show'

March 31, 2020 • The ABC White House correspondent avoids bravado and knows better than to let insiders use his book to sound off about their enemies. But the obviousness of his account reveals an alarming truth.

Are You There God? It's Me, Juanita

'Ordinary People' Books Can Help In This Extraordinary Time

March 31, 2020 • Our kids' books columnist Juanita Giles reports that, stuck at home with her family, she's turned to a series by Brad Meltzer and Christopher Eliopoulos, for stories about relatable heroes.

Staying At Home? Check Into Emily St. John Mandel's Haunting 'Glass Hotel'

Fresh Air

March 30, 2020 • The author of Station Eleven weaves together stories of a hotel worker and an ultra-wealthy con man in a novel that captures how precarious life is — in a way that feels particularly resonant now.

Staying At Home? Check Into Emily St. John Mandel's Haunting 'Glass Hotel'

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Uncovering The Secrets Of A Fallen Ruler In 'Empress Of Salt And Fortune'

March 28, 2020 • Nghi Vo's new novel is poised at the end of one empire and the beginning of another, as a cleric and their talking-bird assistant set about uncovering the dangerous secrets of a forgotten palace.

Books To Make Your Isolation Feel A Little Less Lonely

Curling up with a good book can help pass the time when you're stuck at home. Sirinapa Wannapat/Getty Images/EyeEm hide caption

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Pop Culture Happy Hour

Books To Make Your Isolation Feel A Little Less Lonely

March 27, 2020 • There's no wrong time for a good book. But as we tape this, many people are stuck at home more than usual, which makes it an exceptionally right time. So we're here to pass on some book recommendations we hope will make your isolation feel a little less isolated.

Books To Make Your Isolation Feel A Little Less Lonely

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'Tigers, Not Daughters' Is Haunting — With Or Without A Ghost

March 26, 2020 • In Samantha Mabry's new novel, three prickly sisters are haunted, maybe literally, by their fourth, who's died in an accident. She has a message for them, but they may be too sunk in grief to hear it.

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New York Comes Alive — Literally — In 'The City We Became'

March 25, 2020 • Three-time Hugo Award winner N.K. Jemisin turns her attention to our world in her new book — or at least, a version of our world in which cities can be born in human form to fight evil.

In 'The Glass Hotel,' The Disasters Are Smaller But Still Disruptive

March 24, 2020 • Emily St. John Mandel's powerful new novel follows a troubled brother and sister who get involved with a crooked hotel magnate whose Ponzi scheme destroys the lives of his investors.

'American Poison' Aims To Show How Race Is At The Root Of U.S. Problems

March 23, 2020 • Journalist Eduardo Porter has written a book that cuts to the root of racism, tracing it from slavery, Jim Crow, and segregation — and bringing it to today — with unblinking honesty and facts.