Search results for

Years after she first read and adored Ellen Emerson White's series of young adult novels, author Tova Mirvis still finds herself wondering, "What would Meg Powers do?"

Fiona Maazel's new novel, Woke Up Lonely, is a deliriously inventive tale of love and spycraft. Utopian cult leader Thurlow pines for his ex-wife Esme. She uses her CIA connections to keep him safe under her surveillance in a story layered with espionage, sex and jokes about Kim Jong Il.

Six teens at a summer arts camp dub themselves, only somewhat ironically, "the Interestings" in Meg Wolitzer's novel of the same name. As the book follows the friends into love, marriage and adulthood, some realize their artistic ambitions while others adjust to less interesting lives.

NPR comics critic Glen Weldon has a new, comprehensive biography of the classic American hero: Superman. Reviewer Elizabeth Graham says Weldon's survey of the Man of Steel's many lives in Superman: The Unauthorized Biography is "reliable, witty and informative."

Alice McDermott's characters can often be described as average, and Marie, the heroine of her latest novel, is no exception. But critic Maureen Corrigan says the power of McDermott's writing is that she can make even Marie's run-of-the-mill life one for the record books.

Michael Gruber's new novel, The Return, is a tale of memory and revenge: hero Rick Marder, a New York literary type with a medical death sentence, heads south to settle old scores with the narcotraficantes who killed his in-laws. Reviewer Alan Cheuse calls Gruber a "master of the genre."

Lionel Shriver has never shied away from contentious topics. Her latest novel, Big Brother, tackles the hot-button issue of obesity as doll-maker Pandora deals with her brother — washed-up jazz pianist Edison — and his massive weight gain.

Patricia Volk's new memoir, Shocked, chronicles her complex relationship with her beautiful, exacting mother. She finds a useful contrast to her mother's stifled life in a memoir by avant-garde designer Elsa Schiaparelli. Reviewer Heller McAlpin calls the book a "stylish coming-of-age tale."

Explaining the draw of gawking at massive bears, a park ranger says, "You can follow the bears for years and really get to know their lives and their personalities and their soap operas."

Red Cross officials have repeatedly said 91 cents of every dollar donated to the charity goes to disaster relief services. But an investigation by NPR and ProPublica found that's just not true.