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Transcending Hardships By Saving Others In 'Constellation' 
  Sat, 25 May 2013 17:31:00 -0400 
    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.


'Steal The Menu': A Chronicle Of A Career In Food Coverage 
  Sat, 25 May 2013 08:00:00 -0400 
    When Raymond Sokolov began writing about food, it was considered a specialty portfolio. Today, celebrity chefs abound in the U.S. and Britain, with cookbooks, TV shows and groupies. Host Scott Simon speaks with Sokolov about his new book, Steal the Menu: A Memoir of Forty Years in Food.


Gateway Arch 'Biography' Reveals Complex History Of An American Icon 
  Sat, 25 May 2013 05:55:37 -0400 
    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.


Prepare For Takeoff With 'Cockpit Confidential' 
  Sat, 25 May 2013 05:55:00 -0400 
    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."


A Race Against Time To Find WWI's Last 'Doughboys' 
  Fri, 24 May 2013 16:39:00 -0400 
    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.


'Lunch Lady' Author Helps Students Draw Their Own Heroes 
  Thu, 23 May 2013 16:33:00 -0400 
    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.


Fictional 'Mothers' Reveal Facts Of A Painful Adoption Process 
  Wed, 22 May 2013 13:08:00 -0400 
    After years trying to conceive, novelist Jennifer Gilmore and her husband decided to adopt. What they thought would be a relatively simple process was instead a long and painful one. In her latest novel, Gilmore channels these autobiographical experiences into fiction.


After Crashing In Canadian 'Abyss,' Four Men Fight To Survive 
  Tue, 21 May 2013 03:09:00 -0400 
    On an icy night in 1984, a commuter plane crashed in the wilderness. Six passengers died, but four survived: the pilot, a politician, a policeman and a prisoner. Carol Shaben's Into the Abyss describes their fight to make it through that frigid night alive.


Courtside Chemistry: How NBA's Phil Jackson Won 'Eleven Rings' 
  Tue, 21 May 2013 03:08:00 -0400 
    Jackson is famous for his philosophical take on basketball and for the many stars he led to championship triumphs. He taught his players yoga and gave them assigned reading — but also pushed them to intensely practice fundamental skills. His new book looks back on a legendary coaching career.


Unacceptable Anger From 'The Woman Upstairs' 
  Sun, 19 May 2013 16:09:00 -0400 
    "Women's anger is very scary to people," author Claire Messud says. Her new novel, The Woman Upstairs, features a seething main character, a young woman whose anger is unsettling.


Decades Later And Across An Ocean, A Novel Gets Its Due 
  Sun, 19 May 2013 16:09:00 -0400 
    John Williams' Stoner sold just 2,000 copies when it was originally published in 1965. It's now acknowledged as a classic work, is a best-seller across Europe and the No. 1 novel in the Netherlands.


Stories Of Hope Amid America's 'Unwinding' 
  Sun, 19 May 2013 05:41:00 -0400 
    When the factory she worked at closed down, Tammy Thomas reinvented herself as a community organizer; and when Dean Price's truck stop business went belly up, he became a champion of biofuel. In a new book, George Packer examines how ordinary people are adapting to a new America.


Siblings' Separation Haunts In 'Kite Runner' Author's Latest 
  Sun, 19 May 2013 05:41:00 -0400 
    Khaled Hosseini's new novel, like his two earlier works, is set partly in Afghanistan — but this time, political turmoil isn't a major element of the plot. Instead, And The Mountains Echoed is a story of a family's loss that spans decades and continents.


'Waiting To Be Heard' No More, Amanda Knox Speaks Out 
  Sat, 18 May 2013 16:41:00 -0400 
    Less than two months into her study abroad program in Italy, Amanda Knox was accused and eventually convicted of murdering her roommate, Meredith Kercher. After her conviction was overturned, Knox returned home to Seattle — and now faces a potential retrial. Knox tells her story in a new memoir.


'That's That': A Memoir Of Loving And Leaving Northern Ireland 
  Sat, 18 May 2013 05:13:00 -0400 
    Colin Broderick's new memoir, That's That, chronicles his childhood in Northern Ireland during the modern-day "Troubles." Broderick says growing up in what was essentially a war zone seemed normal to him at the time.

LDL Staff Picks

Elvis and the Dearly Departed
3 of 5 stars true
If you are or ever were an Elvis fan you will appreciate these books by Peggy Webb. Elvis is a hound dog (of course) who thinks he is the real Elvis. ~LDL Staff
Greasy Rider: Two Dudes, One Fast-Food-Fueled Car, and a Cross-Country Trip in Search of a Greener Future
3 of 5 stars true
Two friends set across the United States in their previously diesel-fueled car that was converted to run on cooking oil in order to examine alternatives for cleaner energy. The friends learn that Al Gore lives in an energy-hogging mansio...
Winter Garden
3 of 5 stars true
This book is beautifully written and I learned a great deal about what happened in Russia during the reign of Stalin. My favorite book, of late. ~LDL Staff
Poison Study
4 of 5 stars true
Fast-paced, this book is hard to put down. ~LDL Staff

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