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A blind child studies at the Braille Without Borders school in Lhasa, Tibet, in 2005. The program was the first of its kind in the country.

Lessons On Blindness, 'For The Benefit Of Those Who See'

Braille Without Borders was the first school for the blind in Tibet, founded by a German woman who is blind herself, Sabriya Tenberken. On assignment profiling Tenberken, writer Rosemary Mahoney had to face her own fear of losing her sight and challenge long-standing misconceptions about blindness.

This photograph of Artis Henderson and her husband Miles was taken in 2006, on the day he deployed to Iraq. Miles was killed just a few months later in an Apache helicopter crash.

Months After Marriage, A Military Wife Becomes An 'Unremarried Widow'

Artis Henderson was just 26 when her husband, Miles, died in Iraq. Marrying him meant leaving behind the life she had planned for herself — and his death redefined her life all over again. Henderson's debut memoir is called Unremarried Widow.

A Black Church's Dilemma: Preserve A Building, Or Our Identity?

Centennial Baptist Church in Helena, Ark., has deep roots in the African-American community. But poverty and other concerns in this Delta town have made raising restoration funds difficult.

The title of Olivia Laing's new book was taken from Tennessee Williams' 1955 play, <em>Cat On A Hot Tin Roof</em>.

American Literature And The 'Mythos Of The Boozing Writer'

In her new book, The Trip To Echo Spring, Olivia Laing investigates the role of drinking in the lives of six great American writers: Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Cheever, John Berryman, Tennessee Williams and Raymond Carver.

Healing The Wounds Of Memory's 'Impossible Knife'

Laurie Halse Anderson's latest young adult novel, The Impossible Knife of Memory, follows 15-year-old Hayley and her dad, who suffers from PTSD after serving in Iraq. Anderson says the book draws on her own experience of growing up with a World War II veteran father who still struggles with his war memories.

Finding Flight In 'The Invention Of Wings'

Sue Monk Kidd's new novel, The Invention of Wings, is a fictionalized account of the abolitionist sisters Sarah and Angelina Grimké, and the slave Hetty, given to Sarah on her 11th birthday. Reviewer Bobbi Dumas says Wings is a "textured masterpiece, quietly yet powerfully poking our consciences and our consciousness."

Doctorow Ruminates On How A 'Brain' Becomes A Mind

E.L. Doctorow's new novel goes inside the brain of a neuroscientist trying to outrun his memories of disaster and the daughter he gave up. He tells NPR's Scott Simon that Andrew's Brain was inspired by his own memories, and by a recurring idea of a little girl hiding her colored-pencil drawings from adult eyes.

As Zamata Joins 'SNL,' A Look At — And Beyond — The Prism Of Race

Saturday Night Live recently announced that they were hiring Sasheer Zamata, the first black woman to join the cast in six years. For our series This Week's Must Read, author Danielle Evans recommends a book that can give readers an idea of how Zamata might feel: Get Down, a short story collection by Asali Solomon.

Stephanie O'Dea came up with a healthy slow-cooker recipe to mimic Colonel Sanders secret-recipe.

Slow Cook Your Way To The Colonel's Secret Recipe

Slow-cooking expert Stephanie O'Dea shares the story behind her KFC-inspired chicken: It was an attempt to recreate the Colonel's secret recipe so that her daughter, who has celiac disease, could experience a taste most Americans take for granted. In a twist, O'Dea also wanted to cook the chicken in a Crock-Pot.

A Story Of Pluck And Courage In An Unforgiving Future

Novelist Chang Rae Lee is known for his sober depictions of things you can probably imagine — like war and spies, family and immigration. So it might surprise you that his newest novel, On Such a Full Sea, is a dystopia that begins in a place called B-mor, a town that — a very long time ago — was known as Baltimore.

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