Lynn Neary

Author Jane Smiley has a fondness for dogs. She has a couple at her home in Carmel Valley, Calif., where she lives with her husband. One of those dogs, Fallon, has a special talent: He likes to sing. And Smiley likes to accompany him on a banjo she bought back ...

Captain Underpants has once again topped the list of most-challenged books. Author Dav Pilkey says his tighty-whities-clad hero teaches kids a healthy lesson about questioning authority.

The bread that Jules and Helen Rabin have made in their fieldstone oven for four decades has a cult following in central Vermont. But this may be the last summer they sell it at the farmers market.

The American publishing industry has long been the realm of the privileged few. Lately, though, some writers of color are making their voices heard — and starting some uncomfortable conversations.

Budding writers often turn to graduate workshops for lessons on the craft and as a gateway to publishers. But in classes filled with middle-class white people, many writers of color feel typecast.

Douglas Preston wrote an open letter supporting book publisher Hachette in its dispute with Amazon, which has since spread among his readers and throughout the literary community. Mor...

Tales about travel don't always end well: Planes crash into jungles and ships run aground. For NPR's "Book Your Trip" series, Lynn Neary considers the rich genre of travel disaster literature.

The South African Nobel laureate was an associate of Nelson Mandela's, and while she was never imprisoned, several of her books were banned by the government. She died Sunday at the age of 90.

Amazon fired the latest salvo in its ongoing dispute with the publisher Hachette over e-book rates, suggesting authors get all of the revenue from e-book sales. Hachette was measured in its response.

You might think that all writers would be of the same mind about the dispute between Amazon and Hachette Publishing Company over the price of ebooks. Think again. This week two different sets of authors sent open letters to their "readers" urging them to take one side or the ...

Myers captured what it was like to be young and black while growing up in the city. As he often said, he wrote books he would have wanted to read as a kid. Myers died after a brief illness. He was 76.

Poetry has deep roots in music — in fact, in some cultures, poetry and song are the same word. Edward Hirsch, author of A Poet's Glossary, explains how poets use rhythm to reach their readers.

The series uses simple language and fanciful adventures to introduce kids to literature, history and science. Author Mary Pope Osborne has visited some 1,800 schools, giving away her books to kids.

An appeals court has ruled against a group of authors, deciding in favor of a consortium of universities in a case that hinged on copyright law and provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The dispute between retail giant Amazon and publisher Hachette was big news at Book Expo America. Writers, publishers and agents are wondering what the rift could mean for the future of books.

Angelou refused to speak for much of her childhood and revealed the scars of her past in her groundbreaking memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. She opened doors for black and female writers.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist says the myth of the cowboy feels "hollow." The Last Kind Words Saloon is a spare and unsentimental story about two Western icons, Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday.

New York City's Posman Books is bucking a trend. Other booksellers — both independents and big chains like Barnes & Noble — are closing stores in Manhattan, but Posman is getting ready to open its fourth store in the city. It's one sign that some independent bookstores are managing to ...

John Steinbeck's Dust Bowl story is "about haves and have-nots," says one scholar, "and that story is getting increasingly urgent." The book was first published April 14, 1939.