In 2013, NPR cataloged their book reviews and author interviews for the year and combined them with staff recommendations to create a searchable database. They called it the NPR Book Concierge. They’ve continued the service annually, and in 2016 member stations were invited to submit their own book coverage. The 2020 Book Concierge was released last week, and I’m proud to announce that for five consecutive years, KMUW’s book reviews and author interviews have been included among the NPR coverage.
This year’s list contains more than 380 book recommendations from NPR staff and trusted critics. And the “app”, as they call it, is searchable by more than 30 categories for you to find a great gift or your own next read. Some categories are typical, like Biography and Memoir, or For Sports Lovers. Others are a little more nuanced, like It’s All Geek to Me, or Rather Long or Rather Short, or my favorite, Seriously Great Writing. And those categories are searchable for each of the eight years the concierge has been in existence. Each year has its own tab, so the user has nearly 2,500 book recommendations right at their fingertips.
If you want to get lost in a great book, or in a great list of books, I highly recommend the book concierge, which can be found at our website, kmuw.org. If something looks familiar, it might be because you heard Suzanne Perez talking about right here on our air, or you might have heard part of my interview with the author on Marginalia. Either way, I’d take it as a sign that you just found your next great read.
