NPR's Book of the Day
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In need of a good read? Or just want to keep up with the books everyone's talking about? NPR's Book of the Day gives you today's very best writing in a snackable, skimmable, pocket-sized podcast. Whether you're looking to engage with the big questions of our times – or temporarily escape from them – we've got an author who will speak to you, all genres, mood and writing styles included. Catch today's great books in 15 minutes or less.
Categories: Arts
Listen to the last episode:
Writer and professor Melissa Febos had been in a series of consecutive relationships for decades. Then, one particularly devastating experience led her to take stock of her dependency on sex and love. She says she was in "the right amount of pain" to make a change. For Febos, that period kicked off what would become a year of transformative celibacy. Her new book The Dry Season chronicles the way abstinence from sex and relationships allowed Febos to awaken to her desires, motivations and decisions in a new way. In today's episode, she speaks with Marielle Segarra – host of NPR's Life Kit podcast – about how this year changed her outlook on attraction, attention, dancing, and the divine.
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Previous episodes
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981 - In 'The Dry Season,' Melissa Febos chronicles a transformative year of celibacyFri, 13 Jun 2025
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980 - Susan Choi's 'Flashlight' is about an alternate-universe version of her own familyThu, 12 Jun 2025
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979 - 'Sea of Grass' chronicles the disappearance of the North American prairieWed, 11 Jun 2025
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978 - In 'The Catch,' estranged sisters confront a mystery surrounding their mother's deathTue, 10 Jun 2025
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977 - Madeleine Thien's new novel 'The Book of Records' is a story that traverses centuriesMon, 09 Jun 2025
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976 - 'What Will People Think?' and 'Climbing in Heels' star women trying to make it bigFri, 06 Jun 2025
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975 - 'Theater Kid' is a memoir from the producer of 'Rent,' 'Avenue Q,' and 'Hamilton'Thu, 05 Jun 2025
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974 - 'Freedom Season' argues the events of 1963 transformed the civil rights movementWed, 04 Jun 2025
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973 - In new memoir, women's college basketball coach Dawn Staley says she's a 'sore loser'Tue, 03 Jun 2025
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972 - In debut novel 'Food Person,' a food writer ghostwrites a celebrity cookbookMon, 02 Jun 2025
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971 - Two authors consider how being a daughter shaped their relationship to motherhoodFri, 30 May 2025
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970 - In 'Anima Rising,' Gustav Klimt encounters a young woman under strange circumstancesThu, 29 May 2025
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969 - 'Lost Marvels No. 1: Tower of Shadows' restores a lost chapter of comic book historyWed, 28 May 2025
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968 - Honor Jones' 'Sleep' explores how our childhoods influence who we are as parentsTue, 27 May 2025
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967 - Karen Hao's new book is a skeptical look at Sam Altman and Elon Musk's AI empireMon, 26 May 2025
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966 - With new novel, Ocean Vuong says he wants to reframe America as a place of salvageFri, 23 May 2025
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965 - 'Little Bosses Everywhere' looks into the Wild West of multilevel marketingThu, 22 May 2025
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964 - A new biography of Rafael Nadal focuses on the tennis star's domination on clayWed, 21 May 2025
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963 - 'Original Sin' argues Biden aides enabled his reelection bid, despite mental declineTue, 20 May 2025
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962 - In 'Class Clown,' humorist Dave Barry embraces both the funny and hard parts of lifeMon, 19 May 2025
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961 - 'The Golden Road' and 'The Lucky Ones' examine India's ancient and recent historyFri, 16 May 2025
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960 - A new biography tells the twin stories of James Gandolfini and Tony SopranoThu, 15 May 2025
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959 - 'The Lost and the Found' takes an intimate look at homelessness in San FranciscoWed, 14 May 2025
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958 - In 'Julie Chan Is Dead,' former influencer Liann Zhang takes a swipe at the industryTue, 13 May 2025
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957 - Isabel Allende's latest historical novel draws from her time at a women's magazineMon, 12 May 2025
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956 - In 'Romantic Friction,' 'The Fact Checker' the publishing world is fodder for fictionFri, 09 May 2025
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955 - 'Personhood' argues fetal rights are the next frontier of the anti-abortion movementThu, 08 May 2025
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954 - The new novel 'Fair Play' is a self-aware take on the golden age of detective fictionWed, 07 May 2025
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953 - Loryn Brantz's 'Poems of Parenting' gives parents permission to laugh out loudTue, 06 May 2025
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952 - In her new memoir, Tina Knowles, mother of Beyoncé and Solange, tells her own storyMon, 05 May 2025
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951 - New cookbooks from Sarah Ahn and Roy Choi take different approaches to Korean cuisineFri, 02 May 2025
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950 - With 'Rabbit Moon,' Jennifer Haigh chooses Shanghai as the backdrop to family tragedyThu, 01 May 2025
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949 - In 'Putin's Revenge,' Lucian Kim traces the lead-up to Russia's invasion of UkraineWed, 30 Apr 2025
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948 - Katie Kitamura's 'Audition' is a puzzle, but she says it's not meant to be solvedTue, 29 Apr 2025
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947 - Emily Henry's latest novel 'Great Big Beautiful Life' explores love beyond romanceMon, 28 Apr 2025
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946 - Zadie Smith looks back at her debut novel 'White Teeth' 25 years after its releaseFri, 25 Apr 2025
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945 - 'Happy Land' was inspired by a real-life kingdom of formerly enslaved peopleThu, 24 Apr 2025
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944 - 'Paper Doll' documents trans TikTok creator Dylan Mulvaney's journey through girlhoodWed, 23 Apr 2025
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943 - An early biography paints Pope Francis as 'The Great Reformer' of the Catholic ChurchTue, 22 Apr 2025
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942 - Aided by new sources, Clay Risen's 'Red Scare' brings McCarthyism back to lifeMon, 21 Apr 2025
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941 - Two new children's books view the natural world as a site of personal growthFri, 18 Apr 2025
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940 - A new cookbook by Darjeeling Express chef Asma Khan was inspired by seasonal cookingThu, 17 Apr 2025
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939 - Rex Ogle's 'When We Ride' is a novel-in-verse about a best friendship under pressureWed, 16 Apr 2025
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938 - 'Adventures in the Louvre' will teach you how to fall in love with the famous museumTue, 15 Apr 2025
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937 - An obituary writer makes a grave error in John Kenney's 'I See You've Called in Dead'Mon, 14 Apr 2025
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936 - Two new novels explore a world where technology has even greater access to our mindsFri, 11 Apr 2025
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935 - A new oral history of Lollapalooza recalls the alt-rock music festival's wildest daysThu, 10 Apr 2025
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934 - Emma Pattee's 'Tilt' imagines the aftermath of a life-changing earthquakeWed, 09 Apr 2025
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933 - In the wake of a sexual assault, astronaut Amanda Nguyen turned to activismTue, 08 Apr 2025
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932 - In 'Everything Is Tuberculosis,' John Green turns his attention to a deadly diseaseMon, 07 Apr 2025
