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NPR's Book of the Day

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.Copyright 2021 NPR - For Personal Use Only Art Literary History & Criticism
Episodes
  • In 'The Hacienda,' the protagonist is trapped in a haunted house – and her marriage

    In 'The Hacienda,' the protagonist is trapped in a haunted house – and her marriage
    Oct 30 2025
    After Mexico’s war for independence, a new bride finds herself alone in a haunted house surrounded by people who don't believe her. Isabel Cañas' debut novel The Hacienda blends romance, terror, and the supernatural to tell a story infused with Mexican culture. In a 2022 interview with Weekend Edition Sunday, Cañas told Ayesha Rascoe about the novel’s themes – colonialism, social status, the syncretism of Catholicism and indigenous practices – and her own fear of the dark.


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    10 mins
  • Shirley Jackson’s biographer on the writer’s ability to find evil in the ordinary

    Shirley Jackson’s biographer on the writer’s ability to find evil in the ordinary
    Oct 29 2025
    With stories like “The Lottery” and The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson was one of the great horror authors of the 20th century. In 2012, Ruth Franklin wrote a biography of the writer called Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life. In today’s episode, we revisit a conversation between Franklin and NPR’s Linda Wertheimer. They talk about Jackson’s childhood, domestic life, and her unique ability to see "extraordinary evil” under the surface of ordinary life.


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    8 mins
  • Princeton professor Susan Wolfson on why we love 'Frankenstein' two centuries later

    Princeton professor Susan Wolfson on why we love 'Frankenstein' two centuries later
    Oct 28 2025
    Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, written in 1818, permeated our cultural imagination in a way few stories have. With a new film adaptation directed by Guillermo del Toro out now, we’re revisiting a 2012 conversation about the Gothic classic. In today’s episode, NPR’s Rachel Martin speaks with Princeton English professor Susan Wolfson, who co-edited an annotated version of the book. They discuss Frankenstein’s representation in pop culture, film, and television – and Wolfson’s favorite depiction of the monster.


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    6 mins
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brilliant! beautifully written and narrated.
I was transported back to Italy in the exquisite descriptions of villages, pensions and characters.

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