Hafsa Fathima

NPR staffers recommend five of this year's new novels for summer reading: "The Ministry of Time," "The Familiar," "Come and Get It," "Memory Place," and "Sex, Lies and Sensibility."

From NPR's Books We Love list, we hear reviews for several mystery and sci-fi books including "Nona the Ninth," "Birds of Maine," and "The Daughter of Doctor Moreau."

A new musical at San Diego's La Jolla Playhouse celebrates bhangra, one of India's traditional styles of dancing.

A new musical at San Diego's La Jolla Playhouse celebrates bhangra, one of India's traditional styles of dancing.

An Indian medical student in Sumy says she and classmates had to use snow for drinking water while they await hopeful evacuation to flee the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Dillon Helbig wrote a book over winter break and slipped it onto a local library shelf in Boise, Idaho. After librarians found it, they entered it into their catalog. Now it's on a long waiting list.

The first Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy book was published in October 1979. Fans are looking back at how the series has endured in popularity and why it's still relevant.

Pareen Mhatre is one of 200,000 young people who grow up in the U.S. but "age out" of their legal status. With no clear path to permanent residency, they're hoping Congress will step in.

Teviston is home to some 700 people, mostly farmworkers. Since early June, residents have been forced to use stored and bottled water after the pump in the town's only functioning well broke down.

The Trump administration's move to limit green cards and reduced operations at consulates around the world have added to wait times for families trying to reunite in the United States.