Jun 27 Watch 6:39 ‘The Fifth Season’ author N. K. Jemisin answers your questions By Elizabeth Flock N. K. Jemisin, author of our June pick for the NewsHour-New York Times book club, Now Read This, joins Liz Flock to answer reader questions on “The Fifth Season,” and Liz announces the July book selection. Continue watching
Jun 18 Sometimes readers need to be traumatized, author N.K. Jemisin says By Elizabeth Flock When N.K. Jemisin began writing “The Fifth Season,” the first of a trilogy of sci-fi books, she knew that she would start the story with the end of the world. Continue reading
Jun 12 How the protests in Ferguson helped inspire this fantasy novel By Elizabeth Flock N.K. Jemisin, author of award-winning fantasy novel "The Fifth Season," says her frustration and anger over the fatal shooting of teenager Michael Brown by a white police officer "shaped the story, widened the scope."… Continue reading
Jun 03 Discussion questions for ‘The Fifth Season’ By Elizabeth Flock Our June pick for the PBS NewsHour-New York Times book club is N.K. Jemisin's "The Fifth Season." Here are some questions to guide your reading. Continue reading
May 30 Watch 7:10 ‘An Odyssey’ author Daniel Mendelsohn answers your questions Daniel Mendelsohn, author of our May pick for the PBS NewsHour-New York Times book club, Now Read This, joins Jeffrey Brown to answer reader questions about “An Odyssey.” Plus, Jeff announces the June book selection. Continue watching
May 30 ‘The Fifth Season’ is June’s pick for the PBS NewsHour-New York Times book club By Elizabeth Flock In N.K. Jemisin's Hugo Award-winning fantasy novel "The Fifth Season," the world is menaced by environmental catastrophe, and its inhabitants struggle to survive. Continue reading
May 22 In Iowa, even a book club is a 2020 campaign stop By Matt Loffman A 2020-themed Iowa book club started with a tweet, but now has a growing membership and the attention of several Democratic presidential candidates. Continue reading
May 20 How Homer’s ‘Odyssey’ is relevant today By Elizabeth Flock "Classics are classic because all of us are always living the same old stories and dynamics, always enacting the same old characters and themes," writes Daniel Mendelsohn, author of "An Odyssey," which revisits the ancient Greek epic poem. Continue reading
May 10 ‘Don’t write—just type,’ and more advice from author Daniel Mendelsohn By Elizabeth Flock "If you think of writing as a job, as just getting the stuff out there, you’ll do a lot better than if you keep waiting for the angel of inspiration to visit," says Mendelsohn. Continue reading
May 02 Discussion questions on ‘An Odyssey’ By Elizabeth Flock "An Odyssey" is the story of what happens when Daniel Mendelsohn's 81-year-old father decides to sit in on his college course on the ancient Greek epic poem. Continue reading