NPR's Book of the Day
In need of a good read? Or just want to keep up with the books everyone's talking about? NPR's Book of the Day gives you today's very best writing in a snackable, skimmable, pocket-sized podcast. Whether you're looking to engage with the big questions of our times – or temporarily escape from them – we've got an author who will speak to you, all genres, mood and writing styles included. Catch today's great books in 15 minutes or less.
Notable Guests
Episodes (1314)
To combat the 'Artificial State,' Jill Lepore says to look to science fiction
NPR's Book of the Day
Author Liane Moriarty on her long-awaited sequel to 'Big Little Lies'
NPR's Book of the Day
New music books take on Paul Simon's 'Graceland' and the history of music and pr...
NPR's Book of the Day
New book evaluates President Biden's legacy as midterm elections approach
NPR's Book of the Day
'Astronaut!' is a coming-of-age story set against the fall of the Iron Curtain
NPR's Book of the Day
'How We Disappear' is a Stanford historian's take on our personal archives
NPR's Book of the Day
In 'Man Overboard!,' Kathleen Rooney approaches a life-or-death story with humor
NPR's Book of the Day
Remembering Dolly Parton through her writing for children and adults
NPR's Book of the Day
Chang-Rae Lee on whether his new novel 'A Tender Age' is autobiographical
NPR's Book of the Day
'New York Times' obituarist Sam Roberts says he writes about life – not death
NPR's Book of the Day
In 'Daytona Teddy Riggs,' a former high school football star enters a downward s...
NPR's Book of the Day
Former U.S. Mexico ambassador Ken Salazar on new memoir and "crisis" at the bord...
NPR's Book of the Day
Journalist Jodi Kantor and happiness expert Arthur Brooks on how to find purpose
NPR's Book of the Day
In 'The Foursome,' conjoined twins marry two sisters — and that's just the begin...
NPR's Book of the Day
Andy Weir reveals his fun and frantic creative process behind 'Project Hail Mary...
NPR's Book of the Day
'The Correspondent' is an epistolary novel, but can letters tell the whole story...
NPR's Book of the Day
'This is Where the Serpent Lives' is a sprawling debut novel set in modern Pakis...
NPR's Book of the Day
'Cloudthief' and 'Dead but Dreaming of Electric Sheep' are novels that center te...
NPR's Book of the Day
In 'Hinterlands,' Hannah Lucinda Smith warns not to overlook conflict at the fri...
NPR's Book of the Day
Authors Annie Hartnett and Kevin Wilson on writing road trip novels
NPR's Book of the Day
Political strategist Ben Wikler on how Democrats can regain ground
NPR's Book of the Day
'Etna' author Paul Yoon on narrating war through a dog's eyes
NPR's Book of the Day
'Torched' and 'Wildfire Days' look at California's wildfires from the front line...
NPR's Book of the Day
Robinne Lee's 'Crash Into Me' portrays middle age as complicated – and sexy
NPR's Book of the Day
'Sex Diaries' author says people are becoming more empowered in their relationsh...
NPR's Book of the Day
In 'I Made You Up Inside My Head,' the stories of three strangers become intertw...
NPR's Book of the Day
Sen. Raphael Warnock argues that progressives should bring spirituality to polit...
NPR's Book of the Day
Novels by Ben Reeves and Matt Haig look at life through the eyes of death (liter...
NPR's Book of the Day
'The Friend' author Sigrid Nunez is out with a new collection of short stories
NPR's Book of the Day
ESPN soccer correspondent Julien Laurens on why Kylian Mbappé is “wired differen...
NPR's Book of the Day
Author Tana French on the best summer reading set in Ireland
NPR's Book of the Day
Colson Whitehead on 'Cool Machine,' the final in his Harlem Trilogy series
NPR's Book of the Day
In 'The Great Wherever' and 'Country People,' city dwellers try out rural life
NPR's Book of the Day
Deb Haaland on 'A Voice Like Mine' and her candidacy for governor of New Mexico
NPR's Book of the Day
'The Delivery' is a horror novella about a family's mysterious AI assistant
NPR's Book of the Day
Barstool Sports' Dave Portnoy on why he "stays up at night" worrying about polit...
NPR's Book of the Day
In Celeste Ng’s new novel 'Our Missing Hearts,' a boy searches for his missing m...
NPR's Book of the Day
'The Shampoo Effect,' 'The Revelation of Dionne Daphne' are marked by big surpri...
NPR's Book of the Day
Mary Beard's 'Talking Classics' examines our obsession with the ancient world
NPR's Book of the Day
Artist and activist Ai Weiwei on political censorship in the West
NPR's Book of the Day
Mike Pence's 'What Conservatives Believe' critiques the second Trump administrat...
NPR's Book of the Day
Jonathan Jakubowicz says he wanted to write a book Venezuelans couldn't resist
NPR's Book of the Day
'Kin' and 'When Two Feathers Fell from the Sky' fictionalize the Jim Crow South
NPR's Book of the Day
Eddie Glaude on the tension at the center of America's milestone birthdays
NPR's Book of the Day
Revisiting the story of the American Revolution with Rick Atkinson
NPR's Book of the Day
'America's Founding Son' documents John Quincy Adams' influential post-presidenc...
NPR's Book of the Day
Norah O'Donnell’s 'We the Women' pays tribute to U.S. history's female heroes
NPR's Book of the Day
What to read this summer, according to our NPR colleagues
NPR's Book of the Day
Judy Blume says she doesn't miss writing … but she’s very glad she wrote
NPR's Book of the Day
In 'Names Have Been Changed,' a criminal on the run confesses her story on a pod...
NPR's Book of the Day