Priest Lake Public Library The Little Log Library

It took over five years for Nathaniel Rich to finish his first novel — maybe because he was writing The Mayor's Tongue secretly, first as a college student, and then while writing film criticism during the day.

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Abortion-rights backers want quick action from the president-elect, although they may not press for sweeping changes. Obama has said he is looking to find common ground on reproductive health issues.

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Despite the crucial "yes" vote, Democrat Mary Landrieu says work still needs to be done on the health bill.

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In Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy and the West Benazir Bhutto writes of her vision of what we need to know and do to bring harmony and understanding between our seemingly conflicting cultures.  I highly recommend it.

Translators are cooks trying to follow recipes to the letter, but by necessity they have to use the ingredients and equipment they’ve got at home. They make do and hope the approximations taste good. The American/Russian husband/wife team Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky are known for their translations of the ...

Hundreds of college students were surprised on Wednesday when they were handed free copies of Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" as they walked across campus. But they were perhaps even more surprised when they opened the book and discovered that it contained a 50-page foreword by a Christian ...

If you are one of those organized people interested in completing your holiday shopping as quickly and unerringly as possible, I have a suggestion for you: Pick up a copy of Guardians of Being by Eckhart Tolle with illustrations by Patrick McDonnell. In fact, while you’re at it, you might ...

The Republic by Plato is simply an outstanding book that give one a grand perspective. I'm very happy to have engaged this work because it stimulates the mind and furthers my thinking processes.

Warning: I know someone who curiously picked up William T. Vollmann’s hefty 1,300-page Imperial, took a minute to read a page at random, and then exhaled a whimper of incomprehension as he thunked it down in disbelief. Maybe it was the sheer weight (three pounds) that distressed, or maybe it ...

 There was a bit of gallows humor at the 60th annual National Book Awards ceremony in New York last night. Host Andy Borowitz said that when he was first invited to emcee the awards, he was so honored that he said he would have done it for free. As it ...

Cult-wise, now we know the Twilight books have really arrived. No, we’re not talking about author Stephenie Meyer’s appearance on Oprah, or about the “Twilight Series” coffee beans offered by one enterprising company in brews like “Bella’s Blend”. The news that caught us ...

Safe Passage by Ida Cook, was originally published in 1950 as "We Followed Our Stars".  It's been republished in 2008 by Harlequin Book  under the new title. A wonderful story of the Cook  sisters. of Great Britain, who fell in love with opera and the stars of opera in the  ...

When Vladimir Nabokov died in Switzerland in 1977, he left explicit instructions for his heirs to destroy the penciled index cards that made up his work to date on his unfinished 18th novel, The Original of Laura (Dying is Fun). Véra, his loyal wife and amanuensis, who died in 1991, ...

The Web site Recovery.gov lists the jobs the Obama administration claims to have saved or created. In one company the government certainly did helped save a jobs, but it wasn't in manufacturing or technology.

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This week, the Senate faced a crucial vote on health care. The Obama administration fended off criticism over Sept. 11 trials in New York, and Hamid Karzai was sworn in for another term as president of Afghanistan. Host Scott Simon reviews the week in the news with NPR Senior News Analyst Dan Schorr.

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Iranian media reported this week that five people arrested in the protests following Iran's presidential election have been sentenced to death. Tehran says the prisoners had connections to "counter-revolutionary groups," but activists say Iran is going too far in persecuting dissenters. Host Scott Simon talks to Hadi Ghaemi, director of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

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For the second time in a week, a panel of medical experts has recommended that younger women be tested less frequently for cancer. The latest advice is that women can wait until 21 to have their first Pap test for cervical cancer. Many women can skip annual Pap smears after that. The guidance comes after another recommendation earlier this week that routine mammograms needn't start until age 50. NPR digital health correspondent Scott Hensley has been following the changes and joins host Scott Simon to talk about it.

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The historic health care overhaul plan proposed by Congressional Democrats makes its way to the Senate for a test vote tonight. The sweeping legislation sets the stage for a showdown between Republicans and a fragmented Democratic majority. Sixty votes are required to advance the bill toward full debate. Host Scott Simon speaks with Sen. Dick Durbin, the majority whip of the Senate.

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The administration has made $45 billion available for doctors and hospital across the country to digitize medical records. This money, part of the government's stimulus plan, promises what amounts to a gold rush for major technology firms, who have begun competing to win those accounts. But Fred Schulte, senior reporter for the Huffington Post Investigative Fund, says some health care professionals wonder if the promise of electronic medical records has been exaggerated. Host Scott Simon talks to Schulte about the potential pitfalls.

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No Republicans will vote Saturday night to advance the Senate's health care bill to full debate, Republican Whip Sen. John Kyl says. That leaves the fate of the vote in the hands of a few moderate Democrats, all of whom are needed to reach the 60 votes required to push the bill forward. Host Scott Simon speaks with Kyl on his party's chances of defeating the bill.

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