Rachel Syme
Rachel Syme is a frequent contributor to NPR Books. She is the former culture editor of The Daily Beast, and has written and edited for Elle, Radar, Page Six Magazine, Jane, theNew York Observer, The Millions, and GQ.
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Vacations are where we do some of our most serious thinking, but when it comes to summer reading, we often reach for mindless reads. This year, beautifully written memoirs — about unspeakable loss, motherhood and the process of healing — offer substantial stories that tear at the heart. -
It's been 100 years since the sinking of the RMS Titanic, and the anniversary brings with it a barrage of literature. Former NPR editor Rachel Syme has been keeping track of the new releases and lists her favorites here. Do you have a favorite Titanic book? Let us know in the comments. -
After his wife's violent death, a dentist keeps finding ominous messages strewn around his house. Amelia Gray's psychological thriller takes us to the brink between reality and delusion.
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Under the impending threat of Nazi invasion, a tiny Jewish town in 1939 Austria decides to reinvent its past. Ramona Ausubel's debut novel, No One Is Here Except All of Us, contains echoes of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Isaac Bashevis Singer.
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Two terminally ill teenagers fall in love in this sensitive, surprisingly heartening young-adult novel that asks big questions with gravity, and approaches tragedy with humor and heart.
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Author Caroline Preston's visual tour de force The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt uses a kaleidoscopic collage of historical clippings, trinkets and baubles to tell the story of a young girl aspiring to be a writer in the Roaring '20s.
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The National Book Award fiction nominations have caused a small controversy this year over their obscurity. Should the best book in America be one that you have never heard of?
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Two young, star-crossed magicians compete against each other in a mysterious, lifelong competition in Erin Morgenstern's sparkling debut novel.
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Whether they depict school as a magical memory or a torture chamber, books about students are as varied as authors. We list five of our favorites and invite you to offer yours. -
The orphaned heroine of Vanessa Diffenbaugh's moving, if not somewhat saccharine, debut novel is privy to a secret language of flowers dating back to Victorian England.
