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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.

NPR's Book of the Day

Today’s episode features two new crime thrillers written by big names. First, Harlan Coben says he stopped in his tracks when Reese Witherspoon asked to collaborate on a novel. In today’s episode, the co-authors speak with NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly about their collaboration on Gone Before Goodbye. Then, I Love Dick author Chris Kraus took an autofiction approach to her crime novel The Four Spent the Day Together. In an interview with NPR’s Elissa Nadworny, Kraus describes the protagonist as “me at the moment of the story.”

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Reese Witherspoon, Harlan Coben and Chris Kraus are out with new crime thrillers

After Harper Lee’s death in 2016, previously unpublished writing was discovered in her New York City apartment. The Land of Sweet Forever includes eight new short stories from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author. Lee wrote them a decade prior to To Kill a Mockingbird and some of the stories include early versions of Atticus and Scout, the characters who made her famous. In today’s episode, Here & Now’s Peter O’Dowd interviews The New Yorker’s Casey Cep, who edited the collection.

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These previously unpublished Harper Lee stories were discovered in her NYC apartment

Salman Rushdie lived for decades under a death sentence and survived a knife attack three years ago. His latest book The Eleventh Hour is his first work of fiction since that near-death experience. These short stories and novellas center around the end of life, what might come after, and the idea of personal legacy. In today’s episode, Rushdie joins Here & Now’s Scott Tong for a conversation that touches on mortality, changes to the author’s writing process, and his first ghost story.

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In 'The Eleventh Hour,' Salman Rushdie writes about morality, revenge and ghosts

As a newborn, Ed Archie NoiseCat was found in an incinerator at a Catholic-run Indian boarding school. In a new book We Survived the Night, his son, Julian Brave NoiseCat, writes about this trauma in the broader context of Native history in the United States and Canada. The book blends memoir and reporting, exploring a culture of silence around Native stories. In today’s episode, Julian Brave NoiseCat speaks with NPR’s Michel Martin about his efforts to understand both his father’s story and Native identity.

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Julian Brave Noisecat’s 'We Survived the Night' is part memoir, part Native history

For almost three years, Karine Jean-Pierre was White House press secretary for the Biden-Harris administration. Her new memoir, Independent, explains her recent decision to leave the Democratic Party and identify as an independent. In today’s episode, Jean-Pierre joins NPR’s Michel Martin for a conversation about Democratic disunity, former President Biden’s health, and why she says her former party has failed Black women.

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Karine Jean-Pierre’s new memoir 'Independent' explains why she left the Democrats

Westerns are seemingly back in the culture. With the popularity of the television series Yellowstone and musical artists like Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter winning Album of the Year, it feels like we need to dust off our spurs and dig into this week’s book selection, Charles Portis’ True Grit. Andrew Limbong and B. A. Parker speak with NPR’s Morning Edition host, Michel Martin about how young Mattie Ross goes on the adventure of a lifetime with her father’s gun and hunger for vengeance – and how Portis’ young female lead illustrates real-world consequences. 

This week's recommendations:

Andrew: Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy

Parker: Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery

Michel: Harriet the Spy, Louise Fitzhugh

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Revisiting Charles Portis’ True Grit

In today’s episode, "King of Horror" Stephen King reflects on his sobriety, the sequel to The Shining and a novel he co-wrote with his son. First, The Shining came out in 1980, but King didn’t publish the sequel – Doctor Sleep – until more than 30 years later. In a 2013 interview, the author spoke with NPR’s David Greene about revisiting his iconic characters. Then, King and his son Owen co-wrote Sleeping Beauties after Owen approached his father with an idea for the book’s premise. In today’s episode, we revisit a 2017 conversation between the father-son duo and NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly.

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Stephen King on 'The Shining' sequel and the novel he co-authored with his son

After Mexico’s war for independence, a new bride finds herself alone in a haunted house surrounded by people who don't believe her. Isabel Cañas' debut novel The Hacienda blends romance, terror, and the supernatural to tell a story infused with Mexican culture. In a 2022 interview with Weekend Edition Sunday, Cañas told Ayesha Rascoe about the novel’s themes – colonialism, social status, the syncretism of Catholicism and indigenous practices – and her own fear of the dark.

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In 'The Hacienda,' the protagonist is trapped in a haunted house – and her marriage

With stories like “The Lottery” and The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson was one of the great horror authors of the 20th century. In 2012, Ruth Franklin wrote a biography of the writer called Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life. In today’s episode, we revisit a conversation between Franklin and NPR’s Linda Wertheimer. They talk about Jackson’s childhood, domestic life, and her unique ability to see "extraordinary evil” under the surface of ordinary life.

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Shirley Jackson’s biographer on the writer’s ability to find evil in the ordinary

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, written in 1818, permeated our cultural imagination in a way few stories have. With a new film adaptation directed by Guillermo del Toro out now, we’re revisiting a 2012 conversation about the Gothic classic. In today’s episode, NPR’s Rachel Martin speaks with Princeton English professor Susan Wolfson, who co-edited an annotated version of the book. They discuss Frankenstein’s representation in pop culture, film, and television – and Wolfson’s favorite depiction of the monster.

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Princeton professor Susan Wolfson on why we love 'Frankenstein' two centuries later

Since the war in Gaza began, Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha says he has not lived a normal life. He lost 31 members of his extended family in an airstrike and now, he checks the list of casualties every day. Still, he has continued to write poetry. Abu Toha's new collection of poems, Forest of Noise, aims to document what he's witnessed and deliver the emotional experiences of Palestinians living in devastation and fear. In today's episode, Abu Toha speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about what the news fails to recognize about the war in Gaza and about the U.S. government's role in the conflict.

To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday

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Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha bears witness to war in 'Forest of Noise'

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