logo
episode-header-image
Sep 2
9m 53s

Kate Riley’s novel ‘Ruth’ was inspired b...

NPR
About this episode
Author Kate Riley says her book Ruth was partly based on her year spent living in an insular religious community. The debut novel explores what it’s like to live in a world without total access to information, despite the protagonist's intense curiosity. In today’s episode, Riley speaks with NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe about the Peace Church tradition, how her interior life shaped the novel, and why this might be Riley’s first and last book.


To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy
Up next
Today
‘Papilio’ and ‘Chooch Helped’ are children’s books brought to life by friendship
Two children’s books were brought to life by close collaborations, one between longtime friends and another that began with a chance encounter. First, Papilio follows an adventurous caterpillar through different stages of metamorphosis, each written and illustrated by three frien ... Show More
18m 2s
Yesterday
In ‘The Sunflower Boys,’ a 12-year-old boy comes of age during war in Ukraine
Artem is a 12-year-old Ukranian boy who likes to spend summer days on his grandfather’s sunflower farm swimming with his younger brother, Yuri. But one night in February 2022, they hear sirens and bomb blasts – and soon, they’re fleeing war. Sam Wachman’s debut novel The Sunflowe ... Show More
8m 42s
Sep 3
‘Friends with Words’ is a book about language, from word origins to regional dialects
For Martha Barnette, griping about grammatical pet peeves is one of the least interesting ways to talk about language. Instead, the co-host of the radio show “A Way with Words” says she’d rather think about word origins, regional dialects, slang, or that phrase your grandma used ... Show More
11m 41s
Recommended Episodes
Jan 2025
Book Club: Let’s Talk About Alan Hollinghurst’s ‘Our Evenings’
The novel “Our Evenings,” by Alan Hollinghurst, follows a gay English Burmese actor from childhood into old age as he confronts confusing relationships, his emerging sexuality, racism and England’s changing political climate in the late 20th and early 21st century. It’s the story ... Show More
47m 52s
Aug 2024
21st Century Books Special Edition: Jennifer Egan on 'A Visit from the Goon Squad'
As part of its recent 100 Best Books of the 21st Century project, The New York Times Book Review is interviewing some of the authors whose books appeared on the list. This week, Jennifer Egan joins host Gilbert Cruz to discuss her Pulitzer-winning novel about the music industry, ... Show More
41m 8s
Oct 2024
Jean Hanff Korelitz on "The Sequel"
In 2021, the novelist Jean Hanff Korelitz had a hit with “The Plot,” a book that was partly a mystery, partly a thriller and entirely a delicious sendup of the publishing industry. It told the tale of a once-promising writer, Jacob, who steals somebody else’s story idea and reach ... Show More
38m 35s
Nov 2024
Sally Rooney's "Intermezzo": Our Book Club Conversation
Sally Rooney is a writer people talk about. Since her first novel, “Conversations With Friends,” was published in 2017, Rooney has been hailed as a defining voice of the millennial generation because of her ability to capture the particular angst and confusion of young love, frie ... Show More
38m 55s
Sep 2024
Book Club: 'The Hypocrite,' by Jo Hamya
Jo Hamya’s novel “The Hypocrite” follows a famous English novelist as he watches a new play by his daughter, Sophia, in London. The lights go down in the theater, and immediately the novelist realizes: The play is about him, the vacation he took with Sophia a decade earlier and t ... Show More
41m 55s
Sep 2024
Kate Atkinson on the Return of Jackson Brodie
The British writer Kate Atkinson has had a rich and varied career since her debut novel, “Behind the Scenes at the Museum,” won the Whitbread Book of the Year award in 1996; her 14 subsequent books have included story collections, historical fiction and an inventive speculative n ... Show More
44m 48s
Jan 2025
How Award-Winning TV Writer & Novelist Georgia Jeffries Writes
Award-winning TV writer/producer turned novelist Georgia Jeffries spoke with me about why Cagney and Lacey was her film school, teaching screenwriting at USC, and the ghosts, grief, and grievance in her debut novel THE YOUNGER GIRL. Georgia Jeffries is the Emmy-nominated TV write ... Show More
49m 48s
May 2022
Anna Quindlen: You're Never Alone When You Read Great Novels
In this episode of Just the Right Book with Roxanne Coady, Anna Quindlen joins Roxanne Coady to discuss her latest book, Write For Your Life, out now from Random House. Anna Quindlen is a novelist and journalist whose work has appeared on fiction, nonfiction, and self-help bests ... Show More
59m 12s
Nov 2024
What It's Like to Write a New John le Carré Novel
The works of John le Carré, who died in 2020, are among the most beloved thrillers of all time. For some, books like "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy," "A Perfect Spy" and "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold" are simply among their favorite works of literature ever.So it was a perilo ... Show More
38m 15s
Jan 2021
Americanah Novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | Episode 1 |
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Please support our Podcast by clicking the link below. Thank You!</span></p> <p><a href="https://anchor.fm/theaudiobookspodcast/support"><strong>https://anchor.fm/theaudiobookspodcast/support</strong></a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">B ... Show More
1h 21m
Listen to millions of songs and podcasts on Anghami