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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

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

Novelist Anne Rice was known for her supernatural tales about vampires, witches, and ghosts. In 1976, she gained notoriety for Interview with the Vampire, the first book in The Vampire Chronicles series. In today’s episode, we revisit a 2003 conversation between Rice and NPR’s Liane Hansen about Rice's novel 'Blood Canticle' — and the spirits that haunted the author’s own home.

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'Interview with the Vampire' author Anne Rice takes NPR on a tour of her haunted home

Do you ever get the feeling that you’re watching or reading… a lot about vampires? With the 20th anniversary of the Twilight book series upon us, plus the fact that one of the year’s biggest films, Sinners, happens to be a vampire movie, we feel like we can’t escape them - but maybe we don’t want to! On this week’s episode of Books We’ve Loved, Andrew Limbong and B.A. Parker are joined by longtime NPR editor Barrie Hardymon to talk all things Interview with the Vampire – including how author Anne Rice established the pensive prototype of the vampire as we know it today. 

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Revisiting Anne Rice’s ‘Interview with the Vampire’

Today’s episode features new memoirs by journalists who aren’t afraid to connect deeply with their subjects. First, in Paper Girl, Beth Macy travels back to her hometown, Urbana, Ohio. In today’s episode, she tells NPR’s Ailsa Chang about the socioeconomic and cultural changes she found there. Then, Susan Orlean is known for going deep on niche subjects, like orchid enthusiasts or umbrella inventors. In today’s episode, she talks with NPR’s Scott Simon about her memoir Joyride and how she came across her best-known stories.

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'Paper Girl' and 'Joyride' are memoirs by journalists who get close to their subjects

As Israeli forces invaded Gaza in 2023, Palestinian journalist Plestia Alaqad kept a diary. Her writing is a record of the 45 days she spent reporting on the ground during the invasion until she evacuated. Now, she’s published her diary as a book called The Eyes of Gaza. In today’s episode, Alaqad joins NPR’s Lelia Fadel for a conversation about the journalist’s memories of home both before and after the conflict.

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This Palestinian journalist kept a diary as Israeli forces invaded – now it’s a book

The scholar Nicholas Boggs has a new perspective on James Baldwin. The new biography Baldwin: A Love Story considers how the writer and Civil Rights leader’s lovers might’ve shaped him. In today’s conversation with NPR’s Michel Martin, Boggs argues Baldwin provided a dynamic model for how we relate to other people – both in platonic and romantic relationships.

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A new James Baldwin biography asks how the writer’s lovers might’ve shaped him

Today’s episode centers an important voice in the still-unfolding story of Jeffrey Epstein. Virginia Roberts Giuffre survived abuse at the hands of Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and a number of powerful men. Giuffre died by suicide earlier this year. But before her death, she wrote a memoir called Nobody’s Girl. In today’s interview with NPR’s Leila Fadel, Giuffre’s collaborator on the project, Amy Wallace, and her brother, Sky Roberts, share what it was like for Giuffre to write about what she endured.

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Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir recounts abuse by Epstein, Maxwell and others

Ken Liu is a big name in science fiction. His latest novel All That We See or Seem takes place in a world that’s not too different from ours. But in the book, AI is more embedded in day-to-day life and one character uses it to guide collective dream experiences. In today’s episode, Liu speaks with NPR’s Andrew Limbong about the novel’s hacker protagonist, dreams as knowledge, and how human patterns influence technology.

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Ken Liu’s latest novel ‘All That We See or Seem’ is speculative fiction about AI

The bestselling author Louise Penny is a prolific writer of mysteries and thrillers — but for her latest book, she decided to bring a partner into the fold, a novice to the world of mystery-writing: former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Their book, State of Terror, brings readers into a world in which a president picks a former rival to be his secretary of state (sound familiar?) — and she must then contend with what Clinton calls one of her greatest fears: nuclear-armed terrorists. In this interview, Penny and Clinton discuss the messages they hope readers take away from the book.

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Why Hillary Clinton wanted to write a political thriller about her greatest nightmare

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