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For a novel on the first women astronauts, Taylor Jenkins Reid studied old NASA PDFs
Joan Goodwin, an astronomer who has been in love with the stars since childhood, learns one day in 1980 that NASA is seeking the first women astronau…
1 year ago
As prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern juggled leadership and motherhood
In 2017, Jacinda Ardern was sitting in a bathroom waiting to learn two things: whether she was going to be the prime minister of New Zealand – and wh…
1 year ago
In 'The Dry Season,' Melissa Febos chronicles a transformative year of celibacy
Writer and professor Melissa Febos had been in a series of consecutive relationships for decades. Then, one particularly devastating experience led h…
1 year ago
Susan Choi's 'Flashlight' is about an alternate-universe version of her own family
A 10-year-old girl, Louisa, and her father take a walk on breakwater in Japan, where her family is living. Louisa is later found on a beach – her fat…
1 year ago
'Sea of Grass' chronicles the disappearance of the North American prairie
The North American prairie is home to bison, elk, wolves and bald eagles – and it's disappearing at a rapid rate. In their new book Sea of Grass, wri…
1 year, 1 month ago
In 'The Catch,' estranged sisters confront a mystery surrounding their mother's death
Yrsa Daley-Ward's new novel The Catch has a mind-bending premise. Clara and Dempsey are twin sisters raised separately after their mother's mysteriou…
1 year, 1 month ago
Madeleine Thien's new novel 'The Book of Records' is a story that traverses centuries
It took author Madeleine Thien nearly a decade to write her new novel The Book of Records. In the story, 7-year-old Lina and her father take refuge a…
1 year, 1 month ago
'What Will People Think?' and 'Climbing in Heels' star women trying to make it big
New novels by Sara Hamdan and Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas follow women in the entertainment industry who must balance ambition with the pressures of fami…
1 year, 1 month ago
'Theater Kid' is a memoir from the producer of 'Rent,' 'Avenue Q,' and 'Hamilton'
Jeffrey Seller says he found his home on stage from an early age. He grew up in the suburbs of Detroit as an adopted, gay, Jewish kid in a low-income…
1 year, 1 month ago
'Freedom Season' argues the events of 1963 transformed the civil rights movement
The year 1963 was a landmark one for the civil rights movement – and it's the subject of Peniel Joseph's new book Freedom Season. In the book, the Un…
1 year, 1 month ago