Books

In her new book of nonfiction, Val McDermid takes a break from the crime novels she's known for. NPR's Daniel Estrin talks with the Scottish writer about "Winter: The Story of a Season."

The 12th Edition includes some 5,000 new words and weighs almost five pounds.

Andrew Limbong and BA Parker from the Books We Love podcast are revisiting Terry McMillan's classic, Waiting to Exhale.

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben about their thriller, Gone Before Goodbye.

Tuberculosis was, for millennia, was the world's deadliest infection.

J.S. Park helps patients and their families cope with death every day as a hospital chaplain. He explains what to expect as a person is dying, and how to reckon with uncomfortable feelings about death.

Critic-at-large John Powers gives his due to the movies, TV and books he wasn't able to cover earlier in the year, including La Grazia, Andor, Mississippi Blue 42 and the documentary Mr. Scorsese.

In 2014, Malala Yousafzai became the youngest person to win a Nobel Prize. In Finding My Way, she writes about her life at Oxford and beyond. Originally broadcast Oct. 21, 2025.

Author Michael Steinberger talks about "The Philosopher in the Valley," which explores the world of Palantir CEO Alex Karp and one of Silicon Valley's most powerful surveillance companies.

What was it like to work with Toni Morrison as an editor? One NPR editor looked into it.