NPR's Book of the Day Folgen

Author Paula Hawkins is best known for her 2015 novel The Girl on the Train. Her new book, The Blue Hour, is also a thriller, this time set on a remote but idyllic Scottish island. The novel focuses on the death of artist Vanessa Chapman, who leaves behind her diaries and a piece of art that sets off a shocking discovery. The story that follows involves secrets, lies and murder. In today's episode, Hawkins speaks with Here & Now's Deborah Becker about how the ownership and interpretation of Vanessa's legacy is disputed among the book's other characters. They also discuss the complexity of long-term female friendships, how women are treated in the public eye and the unreliability of our own narratives.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/bookofthedayLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Two new nonfiction books blend research and memoir to explore ideas of family, language and culture. Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez's Tías and Primas draws on her experience being raised in a large Nicaraguan family, one that she describes as messier than the typical nuclear model. Her relationships with her mother, cousins, and aunts shaped her view of the world and the female archetypes that exist within Latin American culture. In today's episode, Rodríguez speaks with NPR's A Martínez about how nuance is lost in Latina stereotypes, the cultural significance of ghost encounters, and practicing critique from a place of love. Then, Julie Sedivy is a linguistics and psychology professor who started speaking five languages before first grade. Growing up in diverse linguistic environments inspired her memoir Linguaphile, which explores the relationship between language, emotion and life. In today's episode, she speaks with NPR's Eric Westervelt about the way linguistic divisions reflect our social reality and the surprising strengths of the aging brain.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/bookofthedayLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Since its publication in 1885, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been celebrated as one of the great American works of literature. But the novel has also been criticized for how Mark Twain stereotyped Black characters like Jim, the enslaved man who befriends Huck Finn. Now, author David Walker and illustrator Marcus Kwame Anderson have reimagined this story with Jim at its center. Their new graphic novel, Big Jim and the White Boy, is an action story filled with adventures, fight sequences and an acknowledgment of the danger of the world Jim operates within. In today's episode, Anderson and Walker join NPR's Scott Simon to discuss the novel, including what they did to turn Jim into a multidimensional character, their decision to keep the N-word in their retelling and whether Huck and Jim were ever really friends.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/bookofthedayLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy