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In their new book, Annoying: The Science Of What Bugs Us, NPR Science Correspondent Joe Palca and Science Friday's Flora Lichtman set out to examine why certain things — and people — drive us bananas.

Alan Greenspan was often celebrated during his long chairmanship of the Federal Reserve. But Greenspan's policies have been blamed by some for the Great Recession. In an interview with NPR about his new book, The Map and the Territory: Risk, Human Nature, and the Future of Forecasting, Greenspan discusses difficulties in predicting economic calamity.

Alaya Dawn Johnson's latest is about senior at a Washington, D.C. prep school in the midst of a global pandemic. This book offers a chilling glimpse of a dystopia that could be just around the corner.

African-American philosopher Cornel West's new book laments the decline of "prophetic" black leadership, lifting up examples of people who were willing to risk their lives in the service of the truth.

The Vacationers is a cinematic family drama set on the picturesque island of Mallorca. While the narrative arc verges on predictable, the book's screwball charms make for a pleasant diversion.

In his new book, The Woman Who Lost Her Soul, Bob Shacochis returns to Haiti, but also takes the reader across continents and generations. The 700-page book has been compared to the work of Joseph Conrad, Graham Greene and Norman Mailer.

Books about quantum mechanics can be pretty dry stuff. But when a novelist conjures up multiple worlds, the results can be spellbinding, even when it's no easy read. Such is the case with Duplex, the latest book from Kathryn Davis. Reviewer Rosecrans Baldwin, says this one's worth the effort.

NPR commentators favor Jennifer Close's look at women facing marriage and Amanda Hodgkinson's post-World War II family drama. There are also memoirs by actor Christopher Plummer and nuclear watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei, plus Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams re-evaluate universities for the digital age.

Miranda July's new novel The First Bad Man defies neat summaries; reviewer Annalisa Quinn calls July "a master of the intimate weirdnesses of human thought," who treats dusty mental corners with care.

Samantha Shannon's richly detailed follow-up to The Bone Season picks up with clairvoyant heroine Paige on the run after leading a revolt against the alien oppressors of her far-future England.