Search results for

Author Craig Nova recommends three books that take a fresh approach to the age-old bildungsroman. The experience of growing up is both universal and unique — and, in these books, timeless.

This week in paperback, Mark Mazzetti investigates changes in the CIA, Neil Irwin looks at the guardians of the global economy and Meg Wolitzer follows a group of gifted friends.

As autumn kicks in, Swedish novelist Anne Swärd reflects on the magical, short-lived summers near the Arctic circle. In places where the sun doesn't set, she says, "light insomnia" makes the world dream-like. And in the Nordic novels she recommends, Arctic sunshine makes betrayals sharper, friendships more intoxicating and love more enthralling.

In softcover fiction, Joyce Carol Oates wreaks karmic horror on turn-of-the-century Princeton, and Sebastian Faulks braids five lives in the search for what makes a self. In softcover nonfiction, Elton John tells the story of his crusade for better AIDS treatment, and Bernard Lewis maps the Middle East with a life's worth of anecdotes.

In softcover nonfiction, Vali Nasr analyzes foreign policy, Kathryn Miles details the fate of a ship fleeing famine and Kurt Vonnegut's letters reveal a man both hilarious and haunted. In fiction, Rachel Kushner plunges into the world of Italian radicals, Jamie Quatro crafts surreal tales and Alejandro Zambra weaves a Chilean meta-narrative.

Forget the taped readings of yore. Today's audiobooks feature integrated musical performances, movie-quality sound effects and all-star casts of rotating narrators. Take a peek at the new world of listenable literature with AudioFile magazine founder Robin Whitten's list of four notable audiobooks from 2013.

NPR's go-to librarian returns to some old favorites from her personal shelves. "All the books on my bookshelves are books that I loved," she says. "Those are the only books I keep." Her picks include a trilogy of novellas filled with British humor and an Irish mystery.

From classic Westerns to racy romances, horses carry so many beloved books. Here are 10 four-legged tales to take you all over the globe.

From romantic transits over the French countryside to a historical account of an ill-fated polar expedition, the sky is the limit in these extraordinary tales.

NPR's go-to books guru has sent Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep a stack of books — titles she thinks deserve more attention. Here are her fiction picks, to kick off your summer reading.