Petra Mayer
Petra Mayer (she/her) is an editor (and the resident nerd) at NPR Books, focusing on fiction, and particularly genre fiction. She brings to the job passion, speed-reading skills, and a truly impressive collection of Doctor Who doodads. You can also hear her on the air and on the occasional episode of Pop Culture Happy Hour.
Previously, she was an associate producer and director for All Things Considered on the weekends. She handled all of the show's books coverage, and she was also the person to ask if you wanted to know how much snow falls outside NPR's Washington headquarters on a Saturday, how to belly dance, or what pro wrestling looks like up close and personal.
Mayer originally came to NPR as an engineering assistant in 1994, while still attending Amherst College. After three years spending summers honing her soldering skills in the maintenance shop, she made the jump to Boston's WBUR as a newswriter in 1997. Mayer returned to NPR in 2000 after a roundabout journey that included a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University and a two-year stint as an audio archivist and producer at the Prague headquarters of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. She still knows how to solder.
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City planner and Byzantine historian Arkady Martine puts her academic experience to work in a new novel about an ambassador from a small space station who comes to the court of a devouring empire.
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Sure, it's great to celebrate love, but why not escape all the relationship pressures, buy yourself some chocolate and make a date with a good romance novel? Here are five our our all-time favorites. -
The renowned British actor was nominated for five Oscars and two Tony Awards, among other prizes. His career spanned six decades, from understudying Laurence Olivier to appearing in a James Bond film. -
Hey, hey, they were the Monkees, and by 1968 they were sick and tired of their manufactured boy-band image, so they took a sledgehammer to it in the surreal, angry, stream-of-consciousness Head. -
The Book Concierge is back! Explore more than 300 standout titles picked by NPR staff and critics. -
Other titles include Ling Ma's Severance and Elaine Castillo's America is Not the Heart. This is the second year for the prize, which focuses on fiction that addresses contemporary issues.
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Legend says that if the ravens ever leave the Tower of London, England will fall. Luckily, ravenmaster Chris Skaife is there to care for them, and he's got a new book about these extraordinary birds. -
Writer, critic and musician Juan Vidal grew up largely fatherless, falling in and out of trouble — but he found fellowship, poetry, and eventually guidance in the words of his favorite rappers. -
ElfQuest is a comics industry institution — this saga of, yes, elves on a quest has been running since 1978. But now, creators Wendy and Richard Pini have brought the quest to an end. -
Tangier Island, in the Chesapeake Bay, has been home to a small, self-reliant community of watermen for centuries — and now climate change is threatening to swamp the island and its way of life.
