Books

In this interview, Ruth Ozeki talks about writing stories, publishing a story collection at age 70, the supremely skilled ways she can write about a range of characters in diverse places, the trunk full of ideas around stories and loss and, of course, typing.

Judy Blume wrote her last book more than a decade ago. At the Santa Fe International Literary Festival, NPR's Scott Simon talked to Blume about her long career and why she doesn't miss writing.

In her latest essay collection, author Reyna Grande reflects on her difficult experiences migrating to the U.S. from Mexico.

In this episode, Book Public host Yvette Benavides shares a reflection on an essay collection that explores grief and how we make meaning from loss.

Peter Orner and Yvette Benavides explore the 1959 short story "Asigh" by the incomparable Mary Lavin. They examine this beautiful, poignant story about a protagonist who remains resilient in the face of domestic tension and psychological confinement in rural Ireland.

Andy Beta now lives in New York City and published a book that serves as a rediscovery of Alice Coltrane's transformative life and music.

What are the mysteries behind the quiet routines of one Artie Dam, a high school history teacher in Elizabeth Strout’s latest novel? The Things We Never Say explores isolation and the painful, fragile truths we keep hidden because we don't have the words to talk about them. And yet, this luminous novel gives us a lexicon of loneliness that challenges the fundamental idea that we can never truly know each other. Turns out, the beauty is in trying.

Patrick Strickland discusses his story collection "A History of Heartache." These are stories set in North Texas that chart the small moments of grace, and the almost insurmountable mistakes boys inherit. These are gritty, sometimes violent stories, but there is a tenderness, too, and the knife’s edge here bends toward a kind of hope.

When author Bruce Handy's son was young, he loved and lost an orange balloon. He and illustrator Julie Kwon talk about a child's singular devotion to a lost object in their nearly wordless kids' book.

In "The Tea Ceremony" by Gina Berriault, protagonist, Delia, struggles with wanting beautiful things. Her family's hardscrabble life doesn't measure up. She isn't the most beautiful girl in her class. While she is liked, she doesn't have any friends. Beauty becomes closely linked to her ability to imagine her future. But somehow, perhaps, she will finally see that there was always a kind of beauty closer to home.