Harry Potter at 20

Also this week: Condor heroes, basketball heroes, the importance of a good marriage counselor, and more. [Harry Potter]( Image by Mary GrandPré/Courtesy of Warner Bros. Corporate Archive It's hard to remember a world before Harry Potter. The children's book series is a juggernaut that spawned a film series, theme parks, a Broadway play and museum exhibits. It's been 20 years since readers in the U.S. were first introduced to the wizarding world, and more than 500 million copies of the books have been sold worldwide. Our own Barrie Hardymon went to the New York Historical Society to [check out a new exhibit]( about the Boy Who Lived. [Legends of the Condor Heroes]( Millions of people are mourning Jin Yong — the pen name for novelist Louis Cha — after the giant of Chinese pop culture and literature [died on Tuesday](. Cha wrote epic stories that created an underpinning for the pageantry and fantasy of martial arts films. Cha was best known for his series Legends of the Condor Heroes, which was finally [translated into English this year.]( His work has drawn comparisons to J.R.R. Tolkien, George R.R. Martin and J.K. Rowling, and he used his fantasy worlds to mirror the changing, complicated lives of the Chinese people. [The Last Pass, by Gary M. Pomerantz]( The duo of Bob Cousy and Bill Russell was one of the greatest to ever hit the basketball court. Cousy was a point guard; 6 foot 1, a white man from Manhattan. Russell, towering over Cousy at 6 foot 10, a black man born in Louisiana. Together, they won six NBA championships for the Boston Celtics in the 1950s and '60s. Now, their relationship is the subject of a new book, The Last Pass -- and at 90, [Cousy tells NPR's Scott Simon]( that he regrets not having done more to support Russell during that segregated era. [Listen to the Marriage, by John Jay Osborn]( Screenwriter and novelist John Jay Osborn often mines his own life for material -- his new book, Listen to the Marriage, is based on the four years he and his wife spent in marriage counseling. "It was a life-changing experience," [he tells NPR's Ari Shapiro](. "It made our life together so much better." There are only three characters in the book -- the couple and their counselor, but Osborn says the marriage itself is almost its own character. And, he says, every marriage can benefit from a good counselor. Finally, this week: Critic Lily Meyer says Armonía Somers' first novel The Naked Woman -- finally translated into English -- is "[a wild, brutal paean to freedom.]( Amal El-Mohtar says Edward Carey's new Little is "[deeply, painfully sad. I could talk about it forever.]( And Jason Sheehan says Kim Stanley Robinson's new Red Moon is great if you want to learn about quantum cryptography, bamboo farming or feng shui, [less so if you want to read a gripping story](. [The Naked Woman, by Armonia Somers]( [Little, by Edward Carey]( [Red Moon, by Kim Stanley Robinson]( And even though Halloween is past, it's never too late for a good scare, so check out our awesome [list of 100 favorite horror novels and stories.]( -- Happy reading! [Facebook]( [Twitter]( You received this message because you're subscribed to our Books emails. | [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy]( | NPR 1111 N. CAPITOL ST. NE WASHINGTON DC 20002 [NPR]