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When Scott Johnson was 14, his father told him he was a spy for the CIA. At first it was exciting, but as Johnson grew older, he began to wonder just how much his father was keeping from him. In The Wolf and the Watchman, Johnson explores their complicated relationship.

In his debut novel, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, Anthony Marra takes readers to the war-torn republic of Chechnya. People disappear, informers betray and those with humanity endure great hardships.

The gleaming stainless steel arch in St. Louis is, officially, a monument to westward expansion. But in The Gateway Arch: A Biography, Tracy Campbell argues that the monument's meaning is more complicated. He tells NPR about the controversies, the clout and the costs behind the 630-foot structure.

In his new book, pilot and columnist Patrick Smith explains why you have to turn off your cellphone for takeoff and landing, and why your ideas about autopilot are probably all wrong. He wants people to "re-appreciate the act of air travel. It's not as horrible as everybody thinks it is."

In 2003, Richard Rubin set out to talk to every American veteran of World War I he could find. With help from the French, he tracked down dozens of centenarian vets and recorded their stories in a new book called The Last of the Doughboys.

The James Beard award-winning chef was the youngest ever to receive a three-star review from The New York Times. His memoir, Yes, Chef, explains what it takes to be a master chef — and describes his journey from Ethiopia to Sweden to some of America's finest restaurants.

A Stanford MBA who used to work for Google returned to Myanmar to be an Internet entrepreneur. But it's tough to start an Internet company in a country where the power goes out every day.

Can you imagine your own superhero? That's the question author and illustrator Jarrett Krosoczka posed to kids on a recent afternoon at a school in Washington, D.C. Krosoczka also described how he overcame a difficult childhood to become the author of the beloved Lunch Lady series.

Authorities in London are investigating what British Prime Minister David Cameron says is likely a terrorist attack. On Wednesday, two suspects brutally attacked a man near a London military barracks.

A man was hacked to death in daylight near a military barracks in Woolwich. A local parliamentarian says the dead man was a British soldier. Media reports say two young men hit the victim in a car, then used a machete and butcher's knives to kill him in the street. One witness reportedly said the assailants stood around, waving knives and a gun, and asked people to film them. The government has called an urgent meeting of its crisis response committee.