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Why it matters
This selection preserves a named editorial recommendation alongside jury-selected books, making agreements and differences between institutions visible.
2021 selection · Poetry
A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance
A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib appears in NPR’s 2021 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around biography & memoir, eye-opening reads, for music lovers, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
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Read this if…
You want an NPR-recommended biography & memoir, eye-opening reads, for music lovers title from 2021.
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Ideas inside
biography & memoireye-opening readsfor music loversidentity & cultureno biz like show biz
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The Swans of Harlem: Five Black Ballerinas, Fifty Years of Sisterhood, and Their Reclamation of a Groundbreaking History
- NPR Books We Love
The Swans of Harlem: Five Black Ballerinas, Fifty Years of Sisterhood, and Their Reclamation of a Groundbreaking History by Karen Valby appears in NPR’s 2024 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around nonfiction, biography & memoir, eye-opening reads, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
White Magic: Essays
- NPR Books We Love
White Magic: Essays by Elissa Washuta appears in NPR’s 2021 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around nonfiction, biography & memoir, eye-opening reads, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
Facing the Mountain: A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II
- NPR Books We Love
Facing the Mountain: A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II by Daniel James Brown appears in NPR’s 2021 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around biography & memoir, eye-opening reads, for history lovers, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.