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George Orwell's dystopian vision offers such devastating political commentary that it's rarely described as a suspense novel. But author and former CIA operative Barry Eisler says the book simply proves just how powerful a thriller with a message can be.

It's hard to imagine that people used to die from things as small as a scratch on the knee — but that's what life was like before penicillin. Author Lauren Belfer's new novel, A Fierce Radiance, follows the intrigue as pharmaceutical companies race to mass-produce lifesaving drugs during World War II.

Food writer Nigella Lawson knows that the holiday season can be overstuffed with planning and decorating. She offers Renee Montagne two recipes — chocolate chip chili and a Christmas-y rocky road — to help keep things warm and simple.

Sebastian Mallaby's book is an expert primer on hedge funds — the "Ferraris of finance" — and a detailed portrait of Wall Street's daredevils. Reviewer Susan Jane Gilman says More Money Than God is illuminating ... and infuriating.

Slaughter is a master of the thriller genre; her latest book, Broken, is full of twists and turns and technical details. In the latest installment of our "Thrilled to Death" series, Slaughter talks with NPR's Michele Norris about the stories that keep her in suspense.

How about an electrified birthday cake or a steaming martini? A new book shows you how to turn your food into edible science experiments. Your kitchen is like a home laboratory, says one author, why not have fun with it?

What do Wikipedia and Craigslist have in common with the Tea Party movement? They succeed by being decentralized, says Rod Beckstrom, co-author of the management book The Starfish and the Spider.

The world economy has created a new class of global engineers. AnnaLee Saxenian, the dean of the School of Information at the University of California, Berkeley, has written a new book about this group. Deborah Amos talks to her about The New Argonauts.

A classical scholar with a voracious appetite for high and low culture alike, he's dauntingly smart — but far too interested in why we love what we love to be a snob. Jacki Lyden talks to Mendelsohn about his new essay collection.

Fox News TV host Bill O'Reilly describes himself "as the most controversial journalist and commentator in the United States of America." In his memoir, A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity, he explains how he got that way.

This year brought memoirs from several former Trump administration officials, investigations by journalists reporting on Trump's White House — and a look back from former first lady Michelle Obama.

When Teddy Roosevelt became a New York police commissioner in 1895, he vowed to clean up the city's endemic vice and corruption. It didn't exactly work out. New Yorkers liked the idea of standing up to corrupt cops, but they rebelled when Roosevelt tried to enforce a ban on Sunday drinking.

Ecologist and "natural security expert" Rafe Sagarin thinks our systems for dealing with natural disasters and terrorist attacks need to be updated. The best place to turn for advice? Other organisms.

Karen Russell has set her latest story in a terrible future where insomnia has become a national crisis. Sleep Donation is a digital download from a new publisher called Atavist Books.

Raymond Gunt is profane, rude, heartless and truly the Worst. Person. Ever. Author Douglas Coupland says he's not exactly sure how the character, with no redeeming qualities, came into his mind.

Lynda Blackmon Lowery was still a child when she joined the legendary 1965 march. Now she's written a book for young readers about the experience, called Turning 15 On The Road To Freedom.

Fifty years ago Norton Juster sat down and tried to remember the confusion and dislocation of childhood. His memories became a book, and The Phantom Tollbooth was born. In this essay, Juster looks back at his beloved novel, and the bored, disconnected child who grew up to write it.

In the 2008 financial crash, a lot was written in newspapers and even books — but there wasn't much fiction out there to help those who like to view life through an imaginative lens. Now author John Lanchester's Capital can fill that void. It describes the crash as seen from London, and Lizzie Skurnick calls it "brilliant."

The Internal Revenue Service, which has seen budget and staff cuts in recent years, is responsible for carrying out several key provisions of the legislation signed by President Biden this week.

In Power Concedes Nothing, civil rights attorney Connie Rice describes brokering peace between the Los Angeles Police Department and minority populations.

Teju Cole's new essay collection covers politics, poetry, music and even Snapchat. "I love to live things," he says — and he recommends Miles Davis as a cure for election season stress.

NPR's Robert Siegel talks with author and illustrator Art Spiegelman about how his book Maus, the very antithesis of Nazi propaganda, was purged from Moscow stores because of a swastika on the cover.

The computer model that predicts the weather is getting more power. Climate change is upping the stakes for forecasters as extreme weather gets more common and residents demand earlier warnings.

Last March, New York was an epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, and testing was hard to come by. New York law prohibits officials from using their positions to secure privileges or exemptions.

Harris downplays the role of executive action in tightening gun laws after recent mass shootings, saying legislation would make changes permanent.