January 24, 2026

by Andrew Limbong, host of NPR's Book of the Day podcast

Hey, newsletter readers! It’s looking like a snowy weekend in – a perfect time to catch up on movies and TV based on books. Your thoughts on the recent wave of romance adaptations below. As always, the inbox is bookoftheday@npr.org. And if you want to hear the latest author interviews from across NPR, subscribe to NPR’s Book of the Day podcast. Here’s this week’s letter!

Baby's first car! Sort of.

First, an apology. Okay, maybe apology is a bit strong. An admission of being wrong? Anyway, almost a year ago, I wrote to you all about kids’ book author Mac Barnett, who’d just been named the Library of Congress’ National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, and his argument that kids’ books should be seen as up there with the best that literature has to offer. I was, let’s say, open to the argument, but skeptical (in my defense, that oughta be the baseline for reporters!). But then I started reading more and more to my kid and was slowly, more and more convinced towards Barnett’s side.

Books seen in an elementary school library in suburban Atlanta on Aug. 18.

Harkim Wright Sr./AP

Then, I read Jon Klassen’s new book, Your Truck. It’s the first in a series of board books aimed at super young kids, about things. The titular truck in the book is red. It doesn’t do much. A dog gets in the cab at one point. The language in Your Truck is spare and concise, but it packs an emotional wallop. I spoke with Klassen for All Things Considered this week, and just listen to him read the lines:

When you are ready to go, your truck will go and go and go.

It will take you as far away from here as you want.

But not right now.

Not yet.

Reading it reminded me of the modernist poet Ezra Pound, who, back in 1918, laid out his poetic principles, which called for the “direct treatment of the ‘thing,’” where all of the emotional impact is woven into something concrete. Klassen told me he didn’t go into this book thinking he’d be writing about a child eventually leaving home when writing a board book about a truck. Those metaphorical considerations are built into the thing itself. Instead, the only question he asked himself when writing was “what’s cool about a truck?”

There’s something about the time and space limitations on books for small kids that lend themselves well to poetic readings. Besides some clear classics like Margaret Wise Brown’s Goodnight Moon (I’m partial to Brown’s Seven Little Postmen, myself), are there any baby books you’ve read that feel closer to poetry? Let us know – bookoftheday@npr.org.

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TBR Pile

A couple of weeks ago, we were talking about Virginia Evans’ epistolary novel, The Correspondent, as 2025’s sleeper hit. A TON of you wrote in talking about how the book inspired you to start writing letters. So many that I talked about it with All Things Considered host Mary Louise Kelly. Shout out to newsletter reader Carly Bassett, whom I called up and included in the piece!

Book covers of: Audition, by Katie Kitamura; Buckeye, by Patrick Ryan; Cursed Daughters, by Oyinkan Braithwaite; Death of the Author, by Nnedi Okorafor; The Emperor of Gladness, by Ocean Vuong; The Feather Detective: Mystery, Mayhem, and the Magnificent Life of Roxie Laybourne, by Chris Sweeney; Flashlight, by Susan Choi; Heart the Lover, by Lily King; Katabasis, by R.F. Kuang; Little Bosses Everywhere: How the Pyramid Scheme Shaped America, by Bridget Read; The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, by Kiran Desai; Mother Mary Comes to Me, by Arundhati Roy; Only Son, by Kevin Moffett; The Rest of Our Lives, by Benjamin Markovits; She's Under Here: A Memoir, by Karen Palmer; She's Under Here: A Memoir, by Karen Palmer; Tilt, by Emma Pattee; Vulture, by Phoebe Greenwood; What We Can Know, by Ian McEwan; The Wilderness, by Angela Flournoy; Wreck, by Catherine Newman

NPR

Speaking of The Correspondent, a number of you read the book for your book club. Well, if you’re looking for another pick, my colleague Ivy Buck has a list of book-club-ready books, picked from our Books We Love archive.

Mailbag!

Who’s spending this snowy weekend watching People We Meet on Vacation? Here’s what you all had to say about romance adaptations.

Sandra P. wrote: “As an avid reader who enjoys a variety of genres, I am thrilled to see Hollywood embracing the literary world. In the past, film adaptations of novels were sporadic, but this trend has significantly increased in recent years. Reese Witherspoon and her production company, Hello Sunshine, have been at the forefront of this movement, which has only gained momentum due to the popularity and success of these adaptations. The rise in access to advance reader copies (ARCs), the growth of bookstagramming, celebrity book clubs, and the proliferation of various reading methods (yes, an audio book IS reading) have made it fashionable once again to be an enthusiastic bookworm. Personally, I always prefer to read the book BEFORE watching its movie adaptation, but I greatly appreciate the exposure and interpretation that films bring to the remarkable literature we have the opportunity to enjoy.”

Matt B. wrote: “I can’t say that I’m interested in seeing many of the romance adaptations out there. My wife asked me to take her to a Colleen Hoover movie. It wasn’t too bad, but if I wanted to see teenagers making bad decisions, I would have just gone to the school where I teach.
We are excited to see Project Hail Mary. I read the book a while ago, and my wife is finishing it up now.”

Leyda P. wrote: “When I became a caregiver to my parents, my personal outdoor time dwindled and I turned to reading more than ever. I love feel good, uplifting books and I have loved seeing so many books come to the screen.”

See you next week!

P.S., if a friend sent you this newsletter and you want to sign up, the place to do it is npr.org/newsletter/books. :)

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