The Weekly Reader
Wednesdays at 2:33 p.m.
For lovers of literary fiction and memoir, The Weekly Reader is a four-minute round-up of the best new books on the national scene. University of Baltimore professor, author, and longtime All Things Considered commentator Marion Winik joins WYPR’s producer Lisa Morgan, former co-host of The Signal, in studio to share two picks each week.
They curate the best of the buzzy books you're hearing about elsewhere, and keeping an eye out for those of special interest to Baltimoreans. When Winik, who reviews for People, Kirkus Review, and the Washington Post, brings her trademark humor, thoughtful insights, and refreshing honesty to book criticism, it’s like having a new best friend with very good taste to guide you on your literary adventures.
Latest Episodes
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Eye-opening takes on the human condition in new non-fiction. -
Humor, and especially satire, can be useful tools for tackling life’s most confounding situations. -
Who doesn't like award-winning books? -
Is the new one as good as the other one? Read it and find out! -
What makes people tick...and what makes people crack? -
High school can be a time of great discovery, about yourself and others. It’s a time and place to try new things, and find your tribe, be it on the playing field, on the stage, in the classroom, or maybe behind the bleachers. -
Everybody has a few favorite authors, and it's a thrill when they release a new book. -
Something old, and something new, from Cuban-born American author Cristina Garcia. -
A great memoir is like a window into a private world of the past – an intimate invitation to learn about a life, directly from the source. -
Want to get away? Travel books from Neil King and Geoff Dyer.
The Weekly Reader
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On this episode of The Weekly Reader we review a great new biography of Malcolm X, and we share some thoughts about the controversial new biography of Philip Roth. -
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On this edition of The Weekly Reader, two new novels featuring Unforgettable Female Protagonists. Marion Wink reviews Kasuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun, and Maggie Shipstead's Great Circle. -
On this edition of The Weekly Reader, we explore three novels that plumb the possibilities -- both good, and bad -- of prep school life. Marion Winik reviews All Girls by Emily Layden, The Starboard Sea by Amber Dermont, and Old School by Tobias Wolff.
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On this edition of The Weekly Reader, we review two new novels about life lessons learned whilst on the job: Mateo Askaripour's Black Buck and Chang Rae Lee's My Year Abroad.
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On this edition of The Weekly Reader, we review two new memoirs that explore what it means to be "American" in the current cultural melting pot of the… -
On this edition of The Weekly Reader, two new memoirs that read like adventure stories. Our book critic Marion Winik gives us her take on Vanessa… -
All the world's a stage! This week on The Weekly Reader, we review two new novels that take us behind the scenes of stage and screen: Ethan Hawke's A… -
Today on The Weekly Reader, we are marking four years on the air! To celebrate, we are featuring two very different books about babies: Detransition,… -
On this edition of The Weekly Reader, our book critic Marion Winik reviews two novels about two rather uncommon families: What Could Be Saved by Liese…
