Search results for

From Osvaldo Golijov's cross-cultural musical fiesta to the chestnut-colored voice of Rolando Villazon, NPR Music's Tom Huizenga and All Things Considered host Guy Raz spin a few of the most notable classical recordings of the past ten years.

Author Fernando Pessoa may have been a loner who lived most of his life in a single room in Lisbon, Portugal. But he wasn't alone: He created numerous literary alter egos. Rabih Alameddine describes Pessoa's work, The Book of Disquiet, as one of life's great miracles.

Young adult books sell well, but the genre is not without flaws. That's why young adult author Garret Freymann-Weyr is encouraging teens to venture into the adult shelf. She has three books for smarties that anyone — young or old — will enjoy.

Many Afghans complain that the United States and other donor countries are spending billions of dollars creating a hodgepodge of expensive and often shoddy relief and development projects in dangerous areas. A U.N. official says it's time to "let the kid drive," allowing Afghans to direct aid projects.

Many Afghans complain that the United States and other donor countries are spending billions of dollars creating a hodgepodge of expensive and often shoddy relief and development projects in dangerous areas. A U.N. official says it's time to "let the kid drive," allowing Afghans to direct aid projects.

Kathryn Stockett's first novel, The Help, has become a New York Times best-seller — and it has its readers buzzing about its racial themes. She says the book is not autobiographical, even though she was raised in Mississippi with a black maid. But Stockett says criticism over how she characterizes the black maids makes her "cringe."

What does it mean to be Good Without God? Greg Epstein, Humanist Chaplain at Harvard University, asks this question in his new book, which explores the faith of the nonreligious. It may sound like a contradiction, but Epstein believes that human ethics are independent of belief in a supernatural power.

Essayist Jake Halpern may be a 33-year-old man with a wife, kids and a job at Yale, but that doesn't mean he's no fun and games. When it comes to zombies, Halpern knows you can't take the living dead lightly — and that's why he's endorsing the ultimate zombie survival guide.

American mothers as a whole do not breast-feed their babies as much as medical professionals would like. Health experts say African-American moms are less likely to nurse than whites and Hispanics. The federal government, some hospitals and nonprofits are trying different strategies to close the breast-feeding gap among black women.

Many of the picks from Fresh Air's book critic look back at tough times from earlier eras, or lives upended by disaster. The best books of the year include a work of nonfiction that reveals the hidden fantasy land of a founder of American industry, and a novel that doesn't apologize for the bad behavior of its characters. Plus, a bonus mystery pick.