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How did steroids pervade pro baseball, and why were they ignored for a decade? Scott Simon talks with Howard Bryant, author of Juicing the Game: Drugs, Power and the Fight for the Soul of Major League Baseball.

The reviewer offers summer reading options, including fiction, poetry and short-story collections. He suggests titles from Jane Alison, Arthur C. Clarke, William Carlos Williams and more.

Are Americans getting dumber or smarter? Author Steven Johnson discusses his book Everything Bad Is Good for You. He argues that the complexity of modern TV shows and video games might make today's media consumer sharper than those of 30 years ago.

Tyler Florence can regularly be seen on the Food Network, helping amateur cooks resolve cooking emergencies. His latest cookbook is a collection of recipes inspired from his travels around the world.

In the early 1990s, NPR journalist Scott Simon reported from war-torn Sarajevo. Those experiences formed the basis for his debut novel, Pretty Birds, the story of a 16-year-old girl who adapts to her violent times.

The Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal each win two Pulitzer Prizes in journalism. Steve Coll wins the non-fiction prize for Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden.

After having his novel repeatedly rejected by publishing houses, writer Ron McLarty took his work straight to the people, and to the Internet. But now McLarty, a successful character actor who's been on both TV's Law and Order and on Broadway, has another challenge: attracting readers.

Alan Cheuse reviews Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, a novel narrated by a Christian minister as he nears death. Cheuse calls it a "beautifully ruminative novel."

In the second part of his interview with Linda Robinson, NPR's Steve Inskeep discusses the role of U.S. military Special Forces in the global war on terror. Robinson is the author of Masters of Chaos: The Secret History of the Special Forces. Robinson says Special Forces have a tenuous relationship with Pakistani soldiers in the mountainous border region with Afghanistan where Osama bin Laden is believed to be hiding.

Linda Robinson talks about her new book Masters of Chaos: The Secret History of the Special Forces. Robinson has analyzed the increased use of Special Forces in Afghanistan, Iraq and the war on terror. Hear Robinson and NPR's Steve Inskeep.