NPR Books Watch — 8/20-8/26
I finally started the Hunger Games trilogy Tuesday night because I was just dying with curiosity to see why my publishing friends and colleagues were so obsessed. I have to admit — I’m impressed. The writing is tight, witty at times, and the story isn’t simply a clever send up of reality TV, but also a critique of many aspects of our lives. (Sending our children to kill each other in an inhospitable landscape where they encounter deadly and unexpected situations only to have the victors return traumatized for life and turn to alcohol and drugs? Wonder why that sounds so familiar.)
Two down, one to go …
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Anyone who emails me the imprints of all the books listed (or houses if no imprint is available) will win the NPR Books Grid for the prior week that includes, in addition to the information below, interviewer, pub date, imprint, genre, post-interview Amazon ranking, pre-interview ranking (if the book was mentioned on Shelf Awareness and I was able to look up the number before the interview), and interview hyperlink.
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TOTAL book stories for the past week: 16 (28 last week)
All Things Considered: 3 (5 LW)
Diane Rehm: 1 (2 LW)
Fresh Air: 2 (4 LW)
Morning Edition: 1 (6 LW)
NPR.org: 3 (3 LW)
Talk of the Nation: 3 (2 LW)
Tell Me More: 0 (0 LW)
Weekend Edition Saturday: 2 (1 LW)
Weekend Edition Sunday: 1 (1 LW)
| All Things Considered | Frugal Superpower, The | Michael | Mandelbaum |
| All Things Considered | Beyond Katrina | Natasha | Tretheway |
| All Things Considered | How to Become a Scandal | Laura | Kipnis |
| Diane Rehm | Relaxation Revolution | Herbert | Benson |
| Fresh Air | Baby, We Were Meant for Each Other | Scott | Simon |
| Fresh Air | Nobody’s Angel | Jack | Clark |
| Morning Edition | Welcome to My Neighborhood | Quiara Alegria | Hudes |
| NPR.org | You Lost Me There | Rosencrans | Baldwin |
| NPR.org | Common as Air | Lewis | Hyde |
| NPR.org | Freedom | Jonathan | Franzen |
| Talk of the Nation | Exploring Happiness | Sissela | Bok |
| Talk of the Nation | Spider Bones | Kathy | Reichs |
| Talk of the Nation | Year of the Flood, The | Margaret | Atwood |
| Weekend Edition Sunday | Tenth Parallel, The | Eliza | Griswold |
| Weekend Edition Sunday | Memory Wall | Anthony | Doerr |
| Weekend Edition Saturday | Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet | David | Mitchell |
