Pulitzer Prize-winner Richard Powers plunges deep into the ocean in 'Playground' Richard Powers' latest novel brims with love for humanity and the planet. He makes clear that while humans have made this planet our amusement park, we have not always taken proper care of our toys. Heller McAlpin
A bodyguard battles a ChatGPT-wielding supervillain in 'We Solve Murders' A bodyguard, her retired cop father-in-law, a series of questionable deaths, and a villain who's using ChatGPT: NPR's Scott Simon talks with Richard Osman about his new book, "We Solve Murders." Scott Simon
'Of Time and Turtles' tells tales of turtle rescue In "Of Time and Turtles: Mending the World Shell by Shattered Shell," author Sy Montgomery writes about her work volunteering with a turtle rescue organization.
'Bad Monkey' novelist Carl Hiaasen says Key West has 'laws all its own' Hiaasen has spent his life skewering and defending his native Florida. His novel, Bad Monkey, has been adapted into an Apple TV+ mystery series starring Vince Vaughn. Originally broadcast in 2013. Dave Davies
A light-hearted murder mystery weekend turns deadly in Kate Atkinson's cozy thriller Death at the Sign of the Rook is an expansive novel that pokes fun of baroque, classic murder mysteries — but also delivers a fully satisfying, all-the-pieces-click-together ending. John Powers
'Entitlement' disappoints — 'Leave the World Behind' was a tough act to follow Rumaan Alam’s previous novel was an inspired swirl of suspense, social commentary and apocalyptic disaster. His latest is about a young Black woman working for a uber-rich white socialite. Maureen Corrigan
New graphic memoir tells the tale of an 'Uprooted' teen Ruth Chan's "Uprooted: A Memoir About What Happens When Your Family Moves Back" tells the story of Ruth, a 13-year-old Chinese Canadian girl whose family decides to move to from Toronto to Hong Kong.
Why cynics earn less and die earlier — and how hope can help Stanford professor Jamil Zaki's"Hope For Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness" is part science, part memoir and part tribute to the friend who pulled him out of his own cynicism and taught him the value of hope
Connie Chung says booze and bawdy jokes helped her break into journalism's boys club In a new memoir, Chung reflects on the decades she spent covering the news, her marriage to Maury Povich and the prominent figures who acted inappropriately with her — including President Carter. Tonya Mosley
A bookstore too controversial for China finds home in D.C. This Shanghai bookstore, now in D.C., was revived by its owner, who hopes to create a space for open discussions in the diaspora community, where people can sit and read together. Majd Al-Waheidi
