Petra Mayer

George Orwell's dystopian classic is dominating the news these days. It happens to be NPR Books editor Petra Mayer's all-time favorite; she says it's one of those books that burrows deep in your mind.

Books make great last minute gift ideas. Here are a few tips for book shoppers with voids still to fill, helped by NPR's Book Concierge.

The Book Concierge is back and bigger than ever! Explore more than 300 standout titles picked by NPR staff and critics.

NPR Books editor Petra Mayer was in the Manhattan neighborhood on Saturday when she saw what looked like a pressure cooker on the sidewalk. Suddenly she found herself at the heart of the night's news.

The house Alan Moore was born in was torn down in 1969 — along with most of the rest of his neighborhood. But in his new novel, Jerusalem, the legendary comics creator brings it all back to life.

60 years ago, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle cured your parenting problems with Leadership Pills, well-mannered pigs and Ignorance Tonic. Now, her niece Missy takes up the mantle in a new series of books.

Snidely Whiplash may have been famous for yelling "Curses, foiled again!" But sometimes the bad guys win — from Milton's Satan to X-men foe Magneto, we're taking a look at the ones who get away.

Did you just watch the last episode of your favorite TV show? NPR is here to help you find the next thing to watch, read or listen to. Browse our handpicked list of books, movies, podcasts and more.

Chynna Clugston Flores' cult comic about a music-crazy high schooler and her mad mod friends is back after more than a decade. It's a largely autobiographical look at teen life in the early '90s.

The latest book in J.K. Rowling's series, really a script for a play, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child," went on sale at midnight. We check in with fans who lined up, wands in hand, to get a copy.

As the launch of the upcoming film coincides with the heroine's Comic-Con fandom, Wonder Woman appears to be hooking new fans for the same reasons she was birthed in 1941: justice, peace and feminism.

At this year's San Diego Comic-Con, one of the biggest phenomena isn't just inside the convention center, it's all around: Swarms of people staring at their phones as they play Pokémon Go.

You know that feeling when you put down a great book and all you want is more? We took 27 recent books and paired them with movies, musicals, TV shows, comics and podcasts to keep your buzz going.

The beloved author died suddenly Wednesday at the age of 82. Just a teen herself when she started writing, Lois Duncan sent chills down a generation of spines with books like Down a Dark Hall.

Introducing NPR's cutting-edge, state-of-the-art, book/movie/TV recommendation algorithm: HUMANZ.

Peter Rabbit — older and stouter — returns this fall in a newly published Beatrix Potter story, The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots. It was probably written just before World War I and then abandoned.

The free-speech organization PEN American Center says it is giving its 2016 PEN/Allen award to author J.K. Rowling. The prize honors "a critically acclaimed author whose work embodies its mission to oppose repression in any form and to champion the best of humanity."

In particular, the award recognizes Rowling's two ...

The most prestigious prizes in American children's books were given out this morning: the John Newbery Medal for literature and the Randolph Caldecott Medal for illustration.

Matt de la Peña becomes the first Hispanic author to win the Newbery, for his book Last Stop on Market Street, illustrated by Christian ...

We get hundreds of books in the mail every week, and some always fall through the cracks. NPR's Petra Mayer singles out a biography of a Sikh princess turned suffragette for a second look.

Marlon James has won this year's Man Booker literary award for his novel A Brief History of Seven Killings. James is the first Jamaican-born author to win the prestigious prize, which has only been open to writers outside the British Commonwealth for the past two years.

The prize made headlines ...