Books & Reading

Young Artem and Yuri flee the war in Ukraine while hoping to reunite with their father. NPR's Scott Simon speaks with author Sam Wachman about his debut novel, "The Sunflower Boys."

A TV version of The Rainmaker is out this week, which gave critic Linda Holmes as good a reason as any to rank the on-screen adaptations of John Grisham's legal novels.

In 2023, Mallon spoke about his novel, Up With the Sun, which is based on the life of a little-known actor who was gay and closeted. His new book is The Very Heart of it: New York Diaries, 1983-1994.

David M. Lubin's book Ready for My Close-Up: The Making of Sunset Boulevard and the Dark Side of the Hollywood Dream looks at how the film's poison-dipped love letter to Hollywood endures 75 years later.

Today, a conversation with Iowa State Fair butter sculptor Sarah Pratt. And, we talk with the owner of a new boozy bookstore in West Branch.

Philip Miller's sinister thriller is set in a Great Britain that's lost its bearings. But even when she's terrified, fictional journalist Shona Sandison will always risk everything to get the story.

For the Talk of Iowa Book Club, a conversation about Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God.

Karin Slaughter talks about her 25th book -- "We are All Guilty Here" - with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly. It's a small town murder mystery - that twists and turns until the end.

Hiller spent years scraping by in Hollywood by taking on various small roles. Then he landed the role of Joel on Somebody Somewhere and everything changed. His new memoir is Actress of a Certain Age.

Delftware is the iconic ceramic from the Dutch city of Delft, blue and white painted tiles, dishes, flower pots.