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Ann Leckie's debut novel, Ancillary Justice, is the tale of former starship AI Breq. Now an autonomous human, Breq is out to kill the devious dictator who rules her corner of the galaxy. Reviewer Genevieve Valentine says Ancillary Justice is "a space opera that skillfully handles both choruses and arias."

Critics originally described it as a "housewife's choice" when it won the Booker Prize in 1987, but the feisty female protagonist in Penelope Lively's Moon Tiger is a "little wife" to no one. Author Moni Mohsin explains why the unexpected verve of this novel is worth its weight in pages.

Author Antoine Wilson suggests bypassing Proust in favor of a far shorter choice: Nicholson Baker's 1988 novel, which shares the internal monologue of a businessman on an escalator. Shoelaces, drinking straws and the corporate culture of men's bathrooms undergo thorough analysis in this slim book, which Wilson calls "relentlessly perceptive."

Isabel Greenberg's new Encyclopedia of Early Earth weaves a human love story into a quasi-Biblical creation tale, full of capricious gods, feckless shamans and more-or-less doomed love. Reviewer Glen Weldon says the graphic novel is full of tasty visual gags, and "lands with an emotional impact you likely won't see coming."

This week marks the release of Bartlett's Familiar Black Quotations. Which leads us to the question: Just what is a black quote, anyway?

Add these episodes to your listening rotation during the NPR Network's Climate Solutions Week, where we're dedicated to stories and conversations about the search for climate solutions.

Scientists say some bones that were dug up in a parking lot in Leicester are those of King Richard III, the much maligned fifteenth century monarch. The research was driven by those who believe that the king was the victim of a posthumous smear campaign in which Shakespeare played a role.

In fiction, Ann Beattie channels first lady Pat Nixon, while Ben Marcus looks at the consequences of nasty rhetoric, and Jonathan Odell imagines a slave healer's life. In nonfiction, the creators of Portlandia offer a guided tour of Portland, Ore., and Ellen Forney reflects on her bipolar disorder.

Assistant Secretary of State Bill Russo told Israeli officials last week the Gaza war is damaging Israel's global reputation, potentially lasting a generation, according to a readout obtained by NPR.

President Biden was speaking at the annual Gridiron Club and Foundation Dinner, the first time he has attended during his presidency. Vice President Kamala Harris and other big names were there too.