Books

First opened in 2018, the Kansas City cocktail bar will shut its doors at the end of January. The new landlord plans to convert the space into a new lounge concept — to the dismay of many longtime customers. But Afterword's leaders are hunting for a new home.

The Littlest Library, which opened on Independence Square last week, offers romance and fantasy genres and books in Spanish. It also features a hidden event space.

A survey from the National Academy of Sciences suggests most Americans now believe in at least one conspiracy theory. A Missouri researcher says the key to bringing those believers back into mainstream society is leading with empathy.

Looking for a powerful memoir, a cozy bedtime story, a creepy collection — or all of the above for a potential holiday gift? KCUR's Up To Date invited a librarian, professor and bookstore owner to offer the favorites titles they read in the last year.

Jyoti Mukharji has been teaching Indian cooking classes out of her Prairie Village home for more than 15 years. She and her son Auyon compiled nearly 100 of her best recipes in a new cookbook, “Heartland Masala: An Indian Cookbook from an American Kitchen.”

“Death by Lightning,” starring Michael Shannon and Matthew Macfadyen as President James Garfield and his assassin Charles Guiteau, is based on Kansas City author Candice Millard’s New York Times bestselling book “Destiny of the Republic.”

“Faith, Family, and Flag” by Washington University professor Joanna Dee Das explores how Branson, Missouri, became America’s capital for conservative entertainment.

The now-void law, passed by Missouri lawmakers in 2022, expanded the state’s regulations on pornography to create the offense of providing explicit sexual material to a student. The state's library associations sued, arguing that it undermined the First Amendment rights of students.

Lethal injection is tainted with error, ineptitude and secrecy that's led to many botched executions and unnecessary suffering. Missouri passed a law shielding the identity of the people involved in lethal injections, following a scandal over the credibility of its chief executioner.

Fairway’s independent bookstore Rainy Day Books has been going strong for 50 years, thanks to the large community it’s built. To celebrate, Rainy Day’s founder will share highlights and stories of the big name authors who have helped propel the small Kansas shop to the national stage.

Eight crew members and 37 passengers — many from the Kansas City area — died in one of the deadliest air crashes in U.S. history. A book explores how, for some residents and families who responded to the disaster, the impacts can be lasting.

Judy Henderson spent 35 years in prison for a murder conviction, despite maintaining that she was innocent. Freed by the Missouri governor, Henderson's new autobiography “When the Light Finds Us,” documents the cruelty of the state's prisons and what it took her to keep going.