NPR's Book of the Day Folgen

Author Samantha Harvey tells NPR's Ari Shapiro that she was fascinated by the quotes and insight of astronauts as a child. Her new novel, Orbital, turns that interest into a careful contemplation of Earth, space and humanity — it follows six people on a mission to orbit around our planet for 16 sunrises and sunsets. Harvey and Shapiro discuss the kind of poetry that emerged from imagining the daily routines of cosmonauts, so far up above, together and alone at once.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

You Dreamed of Empires sets the scene for a violent historical encounter: the war between the Spanish and Aztec empires. But in a fictionalization of Hernán Cortés' arrival in the city of Tenochtitlan in 1519, author Álvaro Enrigue challenges ideas about colonialism, revolution and influential rulers. In today's episode, he speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about finding humor and humanity in the men he writes about — sometimes laughing about, but not with, the powerful ones.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Today's episode features two authors who've written novels centering the personal and political experiences of women during war. First, NPR's Rob Schmitz speaks with Vanessa Chan about The Storm We Made, which follows a mother in 1945 Malay grappling with how her secret work as a spy has resulted in the brutal Japanese occupation tearing her family apart. Then, NPR's Juana Summers chats with Alice McDermott about her novel Absolution, which depicts two American wives looking back on the friendship they developed living in Saigon as their husbands' "helpmeets" during the Vietnam War.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy