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New York Times' reporter Rachel Swarns traces the first lady's family tree in her new book, American Tapestry: The Story of the Black, White and Multiracial Ancestors of Michelle Obama.

Airline veteran and writer William McGee says airlines' aggressive cost-cutting hasn't just added fees and hassles. He says they're taking steps that compromise safety — and regulators are letting it happen.

For author Meg Wolitzer, John Neufeld's 1969 novel Lisa, Bright and Dark opened the door to more intense reads on mental illness. Has a book you've read ever acted as a gateway to harsher, truer or more literary novels? Tell us in the comments.

In his new book Electrified Sheep, Alex Boese explores a colorful side of science, filled with bizarre experiments and eccentric scientists, like the surgeon who decided to operate on himself, and Benjamin Franklin, who gave mouth-to-beak resuscitation to a bird.

In just a few weeks, the world will descend on London for the Olympic Games. NPR's Scott Simon talks with London Mayor Boris Johnson about his city and his new book, Johnson's Life of London: The People Who Made the City That Made the World.

Life is an endless series of frustrations and disappointments for Pigeon, the star of a popular series of children's books by author Mo Willems. In the latest, Pigeon must contend with the delightfully sweet and polite Duckling, who gets a cookie just by asking.

It wasn't just the creepy carnival that drew Seth Grahame-Smith to Something Wicked This Way Comes. It was also the book's frank portrayal of parents who don't behave like grown-ups. Do you remember when you realized your parents weren't perfect? Tell us about it in the comments.

Hilary Mantel's new book, Bring Up the Bodies, is the sequel to Wolf Hall, which won worldwide acclaim. It is also the latest in a planned trilogy about Thomas Cromwell. Historically, the royal adviser is considered an unscrupulous bully. In Mantel's books, he is — like any other man — much more than his reputation.

In Private Empire, investigative journalist Steve Coll explains how ExxonMobil has used its money and power to wield significant influence in Washington, D.C., concerning issues like climate change.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed described himself as the mastermind of 9/11, but the American public hardly knew who he was. A new book about the confessed terrorist details what led him to declare war on America and how he was finally captured.