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Saima Wahab left Afghanistan for the United States as a young girl, but she returned to her home country as a Pashto translator for the U.S. military. In her memoir In My Father's Country, Wahab describes the difficulty of straddling two nations at war.

Jonathan Gottschall is an English professor fed up with academia's ugly jargon. He recommends three books that help writers with their prose. Has a book ever helped you with your composition skills? Tell us about it in the comments.

The British tend to believe they invented pretty much every form of sport. They're even convinced they dreamed up the modern Olympic Games — thanks to an exercise-mad 19th century doctor.

Daily Beast and Newsweek editor Tina Brown selects two articles about the nature of journalism in the digital age and a book collecting the writing of expatriate Americans, including reporters living in Berlin in the 1930s.

To cope with the hard times, millions of families have pulled together — stacking two, three, even four generations on top of one another. An NPR series explores the lives of three multigenerational households struggling with issues of money, duty and love.

In his new book, Heaven on Earth, English barrister Sadakat Kadri describes how early Islamic scholars codified — and then modified — the Shariah laws that would govern how Muslim people lead their daily lives. He then reflects on the present day, describing how today's religious scholars interpret the Shariah.

Americans are still as religious as ever, says New York Times columnist Ross Douthat. It's the churches and institutions that have declined. In his latest book, Bad Religion, Douthat argues that the U.S. become a nation of heretics.

You don't usually travel to distant places with heavy books. And besides, you're traveling, not reading, right? But author Adam Wilson suggests three books that you should take with you — regardless of their weight. Do you have a favorite book to read while you travel? Let us know in the comments.

"Poetry holds the knowledge that we are alive and that we know we're going to die," poet Marie Howe tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. One of Howe's most famous poems, "What the Living Do," was recently included in The Penguin Anthology of 20th-Century American Poetry.

There are many books set in the so-called City of Light, but author Rosecrans Baldwin says that none are quite as charming as The Dud Avocado. Have a favorite tale set in France? Let us know what it is in the comments.