Books

A poet pieces together an uncertain past in 'Memoir of a Kidnapping'

Tonya Mosley

When Shane McCrae was almost 4 years old, his maternal grandparents, who were white supremacists, took him from his father, who is Black. His new memoir is Pulling the Chariot of the Sun.
Jamie Lee Curtis' graphic novel shows how 'We're blowing it with Mother Nature'

Mandalit del Barco

This project was motivated by the climate crisis: "We are heading into a very, very dangerous place," Curtis says. The story explores the environmental decisions one generation makes for the next.
Health

As a writer slowly loses his sight, he embraces other kinds of perception

Terry Gross

Andrew Leland started losing his sight 20 years ago. He's now legally blind, although he still has a narrow field of vision, which allows him to see about 6% of what a fully-sighted person sees.
Economy

Paramount sells Simon & Schuster to private investment firm

Elizabeth Blair

Paramount Global has sold Simon & Schuster to the private equity firm KKR. The deal comes nearly a year after the Department of Justice blocked Penguin Random House from acquiring Simon & Schuster.
Hop in the minivan: 'Summer Is for Cousins' invites you on a family vacation

Samantha Balaban

Summer is for swimming, playing cards and talking all night. Summer is for ice cream and doing nothing. And, in this new picture book from Rajani LaRocca and Abhi Alwar, summer is also for cousins.
National

Fire devastated this NYC Chinatown bookshop — community has rushed to its aid

Kat Chow

Yu & Me Books was a fairly new business when a fire caused substantial damage to the shop. Now, owner Lucy Yu is working to repair not just the physical bookstore but the community around it as well.
KPBS Midday Edition

'Crime and Punishment' as a comedy?

Beth Accomando

Dostoevsky's epic novel about murder, morality and suffering is now a 90-minute comic romp at The Globe.
Arts & Culture

San Diego weekend arts events: Garden dance, Small Press Nite and shoegaze

Julia Dixon Evans

This weekend in the arts: Movement art, dreamy shoegaze at Soda Bar, Thomas Adés, Cheryl Tall, Small Press Nite readings, "Phantom of the Opera," and more.
A new take on 'Pride and Prejudice' brings readers to 2000s New York Chinatown

Kai McNamee

By recasting the Bennets as a Cantonese, working-class immigrant family, C.K. Chau hopes to fill a gap in the Pride and Prejudice canon.
After the death of his wife, actor Richard E. Grant vowed to find joy every day

Tonya Mosley

Grant was married to Joan Washington, an acclaimed dialect coach, for 35 years. He writes about their relationship and her death from cancer in the new memoir A Pocketful of Happiness.