The Best of NPR Books for October 1, 2015

This week: Anthony Marra, Ruth Reichl, Margaret Atwood, blurbs and strange ingredients in food. View this email in your browser update preferences

This week, we've got an exclusive First Read of Anthony Marra's gorgeous new story collection, The Tsar of Love and Techno, we pay visits to Margaret Atwood and Ruth Reichl, and explore the colorful history of the book blurb. Plus, unpacking all the odd ingredients in our food -- what is azodicarbonamide, really? First Reads Exclusive First Read: Anthony Marra's 'The Tsar Of Love And Techno' Read an exclusive excerpt of Anthony Marra's The Tsar of Love and Techno, a collection of nine interconnected stories about the journey of a mysterious painting through modern Russian history. Read this story Book News & Features Now Is Not The Time For Realistic Fiction, Says Margaret Atwood The celebrated Canadian author has a new book out, The Heart Goes Last, that began as an experimental digital serial. It's a wacky dystopian satire on economic decline and the private prison industry. Read this story The Salt How Twitter And Cooking Saved Ruth Reichl After 'Gourmet' Folded Food writer Ruth Reichl has a new cookbook called My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes That Saved My Life. It describes how she found her voice after Conde Nast shut down the magazine where she was editor. Read this story Books Forget The Book, Have You Read This Irresistible Story On Blurbs? Those snippets of praise on book covers have been around for over 150 years (at least). But how do they get there — and why? The answers are more complicated, and compelling, than you might think. Read this story The Salt 'Ingredients': An Eye-Opening Look At The Additives In Our Food What does diacetyl look like? And what's it doing in our food? A new book seeks to demystify 75 common food additives with striking photos of these ingredients and details on their uses and history. Read this story

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