NPR's Book of the Day Folgen

Eight translators from eight countries travel to a Polish forest to begin adapting famed author Irena Rey's newest book into their respective languages. But when Irena Rey disappears, a competitive, ego-fueled search unravels in the surrounding woods and within each person. In today's episode, author Jennifer Croft speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about her new novel, The Extinction of Irena Rey, and how her own experience as an International Booker Prize-winning translator sparked an interest in the drive and desires of the people tasked with "shapeshifting" a text into their own tongue. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Before World War I, approximately 2 million Jewish people fled Russia and Eastern Europe for the United States. The Last Ships from Hamburg, a new book by Steven Ujifusa, recounts this time in history with a special focus on three businessmen who facilitated mass emigration: Jacob Schiff, Albert Ballin and J.P. Morgan. In today's episode, Ujifusa speaks with Here & Now's Scott Tong about how anti-immigrant rhetoric in the U.S. looks very similar today to how it did then, and why beyond historical record, this is a deeply personal story for him to write. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Maurice Vellekoop's new graphic memoir, I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together, is named after the song Carol Burnett would close out her show with in the '60s and '70s. But it's also a reflection of some of the author-illustrator's most cherished childhood memories, going shopping in downtown Toronto with his mom. In today's episode, Vellekoop tells NPR's Ayesha Rascoe how that relationship changed as he came to terms with his sexuality — something his religious mother did not accept — and how his father ended up surprising him later in life. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy