Book Review: ‘Banal Nightmare,’ by Halle Butler
In Halle Butler’s new book, “Banal Nightmare,” a 30-something woman returns to her hometown to get out of a rut and reassess her life after a bad breakup.
Book Review: ‘Bright Objects,’ by Ruby Todd
Set among the fevered residents of a remote Australian town, Ruby Todd’s debut novel considers how grief can draw people to extreme beliefs.
Simmering over summer books
We're at the peak of summer, which means sunny days on the grass with a good book! Best-selling authors Tia Williams and Jean Chen Ho join host Brittany Luse to give their recommendations for great summer reads. They also offer some armchair theories on why we love a gossipy summer novel.
Books mentioned in this episode:
The Guest by Emma Klein
Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City by Jane Wong
Hip-Hop Is History by Questlove with Ben Greenman
Devil is Fine by John Vercher
Good Material by Dolly Alderton
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Fiona and Jane by Jean Chen Ho
A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams
Want to be featured on IBAM? Record a voice memo responding to Brittany's question at the end of the episode and send it to ibam@npr.org.
In These Thrillers, Everyone Has Secrets. Big Ones.
Our columnist on three riveting new reads.
What “Hillbilly Elegy” Tells Us About J.D. Vance and the 2024 Election
Our critic traces J.D. Vance’s shift from bootstrap memoirist to vice-presidential candidate.
Book Review: ‘The Art of Dying,’ by Peter Schjeldahl
Peter Schjeldahl’s final book collects the essays and reviews he wrote in the years after a cancer diagnosis.
3 Book Critics Dissect the 100 Best Books List
The good news: Our “Best Books of the 21st Century” list showed surprising affection for works in translation. But where are Sally Rooney, Ayad Akhtar and others “explaining how we live now”?
Book Review: ‘Rat City,’ by Jon Adams and Edmund Ramsden
In “Rat City,” Jon Adams and Edmund Ramsden explore the life, times and influence of the scientific Pied Piper, John Bumpass Calhoun.
A Family Tour of Crete and Athens
On a family tour of Greece, the writer followed the small footsteps of some of ancient mythology’s biggest fans.
Book Review: ‘Alexander at the End of the World,’ by Rachel Kousser
In a new telling of the Macedonian leader’s final years, Rachel Kousser shows what happened when dreams of conquest met reality.
Book Review: ‘Smothermoss,’ by Alisa Alering
Alisa Alering’s debut novel, “Smothermoss,” is an Appalachian mystery tangled with wild magic, queer coming-of-age and sisterly bonds.
What Our Broken Politics Owe to the Nazi Jurist Carl Schmitt
A contempt for compromise. An expansive vision of executive power. Both owe much to Carl Schmitt.
How Do You Tell Immigrant Stories? Dinaw Mengestu Has an Answer.
The Ethiopian American novelist also talks aesthetics and the inspiration behind his most recent novel, “Someone Like Us.”
Book Review: ‘I Was a Teenage Slasher,’ by Stephen Graham Jones
In Stephen Graham Jones’s new novel, a young outcast is forced to become a murderer fated to enact gory revenge.
Talking About the Century’s Best Books
A roundtable of Book Review editors discuss what surprised them, what delighted them, what will send them back to their own shelves.
Judy Belushi Pisano, Who Defended Her Husband’s Legacy, Dies at 73
She was married to John Belushi until his fatal drug overdose in 1982. She went on to celebrate his comic talent in books and a documentary.
50 Years Ago, ‘Jaws’ Hit Bookstores, Capturing the Angst of a Generation
The novel became the beach read of the summer, with the shark at its center embodying the unease of an era of political and social upheaval.
9 Picture Books About Moving
Sometimes we forget that moving is not just about goodbyes. It’s also about hellos.
Book Review: ‘My Glorious Defeats,’ by Barrett Brown
In his picaresque memoir, “My Glorious Defeats,” the Anonymous-movement activist Barrett Brown takes us on a journey of pure, joyous solipsism.
Who Is Elena Ferrante, Really?
The pseudonymous Italian author has become a worldwide phenomenon. But speculation about who she really is has followed her for years.
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