Jason Heller

Carrie Vaughn is a veteran science fiction and fantasy author who puts her years in the scene to good use in this rollicking tale about a high-tech fantasy theme park (think Westworld) gone wrong.

Author Nesrine Malik is reclaiming the terms of defense against ignorance and bigotry, ones that she says have become rote in the mouths of some and insults in the mouths of others.

Has the end of Game of Thrones and the long wait for the next Song of Ice and Fire book got you, uh ... dragon? We've rounded up some of this year's best scales-and-wings reads to help fill the void.

Hornsby's new album is as melodic as his past oeuvre, but it's also an absorbing peek into the veteran musician's love of avant-garde classical, jazz and progressive rock.

The wildly talented Tuareg guitarist returns to his North African roots on his latest album.

The American Southwest continues to inform Calexico's sprawling, cross-cultural indie rock, but here it's a more self-contained, even lonesome affair.

The French singer (and actor) has made her first album in 7 years — a testament to the power of immaculate, effortless-sounding pop songcraft, even in the face of loss.

For his second solo album, The Smashing Pumpkins visionary worked with renowned producer Rick Rubin. The result is a breathtaking balance between intimacy and imagination.

Sex is such an inextricable part of pop music, it's easy to overlook, but NPR Music critic Ann Powers rectifies that in her new book, a portrait of America's obsession with sex as it manifests in pop.

Philosophy professor and avid surfer Aaron James brings his two passions together in his new book, drawing connections between the surfer's state of mind and age-old philosophical conundrums.