books

As America marks its 250th anniversary, few historians have done more to shape the way we understand the nation's founding than Ron Chernow. The Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer has brought towering figures to life through acclaimed books on George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Ulysses S. Grant, and more recently, Mark Twain. In 1876, as the United States marked its centennial amid lingering divisions from the Civil War, Philadelphia hosted a world’s fair unlike any the nation had ever seen. In 'Centennial: The Great Fair of 1876 and the Invention of America’s Future,' historian Fergus Bordewich explores how that six-month exposition introduced millions of Americans to transformative new technologies, global cultures, and a vision of modern progress.

H.W. Brands new book, 'American Patriarch,' turns to the nation's first president, George Washington. Rather than treating Washington as an untouchable icon, Brands explores the ambition, discipline, and restraint that shaped both the man and the new republic.Award-winning historian Rick Atkinson has spent decades bringing pivotal moments in American history to life through richly researched, compelling narrative. His latest book, The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777–1780, is the second volume of his acclaimed Revolution Trilogy, chronicling the critical middle years of the American Revolution as George Washington's army struggles to survive and the fight for independence hangs in the balance.

On this week's 51%, we speak with Emory University Professor Miriam Udel about how a 20th Century movement of Yiddish literature strived to help Jewish children make sense of a tumultuous world and shape the future of Jewish culture. Udel’s latest book on the subject — including how some Yiddish stories helped to promote equality for young girls — is Modern Jewish Worldmaking Through Yiddish Children’s Literature. We also speak with therapist Laurel van der Toorn about how to address “holiday burnout.”

You never wrote about your mother. Call it a challenge, an observation, or a dare, that was what Gish Jen was thinking as she set out to write her tenth book—did she want to wake up one day and realize she had never written about the one relationship that stood at the center of her life, no matter how painful it might be?In short, "Bad Bad Girl" is the story of a mother told through the eyes of her daughter. Opening in 1920s Shanghai, we first meet Agnes as a young girl who’s expected to behave and be quiet, and from there, our narrator takes us through the full arc of her life—from birth to death. Throughout, Agnes interrupts the narrative from beyond the grave to argue, amend, correct, and scold her daughter’s telling.

The Schenectady County Library is hoping to begin a new chapter as it begins developing a strategic plan. The library’s efforts come after a controversial decision last year left some patrons reading between the lines.

This week's Book Picks come from Jesse Hassinger from The Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley, Massachusetts and Matt Tannenbaum from The Bookstore in Lenox, Massachusetts.

This week's Book Picks come from Cheryl McKeon from The Book House in Albany, New York and Giovanni Boivin from The Bookloft in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

This morning, we have two booksellers from two bookstores joining us with books we should pay attention to. This week we welcome Giovanni Boivin from The Bookloft in Great Barrington, MA and Jericha A. Harriman from of Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, Vermont and Saratoga, New York.

This week's Book Picks come from Giovanni Boivin from The Bookloft in Great Barrington, Massachusetts and Matt Tannenbaum from The Bookstore in Lenox, Massachusetts.

This week's Book Picks come from Susan Taylor of The Book House in Albany, New York and Market Block Books in Troy, New York.