Books & Literature

Philanthropist Melinda French Gates, who has just released a new book titled, "The Next Day: Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward." In it, she reflects on the pivotal moments that have shaped her life - becoming a mother, mourning the loss of her best friend, and learning the complex truths of philanthropy, and navigating a public divorce after 27 years of marriage.

"The Great Gatsby" was published on April 10, 1925, which makes this Thursday its 100th anniversary. Our book critic, Maureen Corrigan, is one of the many people who think it's the great American novel. She has an appreciation.

my guest is Amanda Knox. After serving four years in an Italian prison, Knox wants to reclaim her narrative. In her first book, "Waiting To Be Heard," she focused on the details of her wrongful conviction for the murder of her roommate, Meredith Kercher. Knox's new memoir, "Free: My Search For Meaning," goes beyond the events of her trial and imprisonment and explores the realities of reintegrating into society.

In Bad Law, Elie Mystal argues that our country's laws on immigration, abortion and voting rights don't reflect the will of most Americans, and we'd be better off abolishing them and starting over.

Our book critic, Maureen Corrigan, says she expects Russell's new novel, "The Antidote," will be on a lot of prize lists this year.

Hanif Kureishi's new memoir is titled "Shattered"

When slavery ended in 1865, newly-freed Black Americans began to search for their lost family members, taking out ads, seeking information about children, spouses, siblings and parents. In her new book "Last Seen," historian Judith Giesberg tells some of the stories of people who placed those ads.

In the new autobiographical novel "Live Fast," Brigitte Giraud looks back at the accident that killed her husband. She speculates on the many ways that tragedy could have turned out differently. The book won the French equivalent of the Booker Prize.

Maureen Corrigan reviews the new memoir from Geraldine Brooks titled "Memorial Days"

Author Brittany Newell, who loves to write about the secret worlds of others, the things people do, she says, that make their lives more bearable. Her newest novel, "Soft Core," takes the reader into San Francisco's underworld of dive bars, strip clubs and BDSM dungeons, where tech bros, executives and outcasts live out their fantasies.

The new Bob Dylan movie has put our book critic, Maureen Corrigan, in a New York state of mind. Here's her review of two quintessential New York books.

Author Ricky Riccardi says Armstrong's innovations as a trumpeter and vocalist helped set the entire soundtrack of the 20th century. His new book about Armstrong's early life is Stomp Off, Let's Go.

scholar Imani Perry about her new book, "Black In Blues." It's a fascinating meditation on the color blue and how it is intertwined with the concept of Blackness from the dying of indigo cloths in West Africa to Louis Armstrong's question, what did I do to be so black-and-blue? Imani Perry is the National Book Award-winning author of "South To America," as well as several other books including "Looking For Lorraine," which is a biography of the playwright Lorraine Hansberry, and "Breathe: A Letter To My Sons."

Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, now a feature film, is based on a notorious Florida reform school where boys were beaten and sexually abused. Originally broadcast July 16, 2019.

Pico Iyer. For decades, he's written books and articles about travel, describing cultures and religions around the world. His new memoir is about the many times he's gone on retreats to a Benedictine monastery in Big Sur, California to practice silence and contemplation. It's called "Aflame," and it's also about the wildfire flames that have threatened the monastery many times and burned down the home he grew up in while he was living there.

July's been surprised by the reaction to her novel, which centers on a 45-year-old married woman who has an erotic affair: "I've had people tell me that ... it was all there, all their true feelings."

Maureen Corrigan's picks for the best books of the year range from alternative history to suspense and satire to some of the most extraordinary letters ever written.

Niall Williams' popular novel, "Four Letters Of Love," is being made into a movie starring Pierce Brosnan and Helena Bonham Carter. His new novel is called "Time Of The Child," and our book critic Maureen Corrigan has this review.

Allison, who died Nov. 6, based her critically acclaimed novel on her own experience of being physically and sexually abused by her stepfather. Originally broadcast in 1992.

In Price's novel, a Harlem apartment building collapses, upending the lives of its residents, including a photographer, a funeral director and a 42-year-old man who feels he has little to live for.