Making Science Fun – An Interview with Larry Scheckel
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October 30, 2018

As we go through our everyday lives, science is at work all around us, though many of us take little notice. Teacher, author, and presenter Larry Scheckel has made it his mission “to show that science is valuable, a worthy human pursuit, and just plain fun.” And that’s exactly what he does in his latest book I Wondered About That, Too: 111 Questions and Answers… [Read More]

The Meaning of Family – An Interview with Diane Tober
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October 16, 2018

Our ideas about families have certainly undergone significant changes over the past couple decades, a shift that author, filmmaker, and anthropologist Diane Tober has been studying the past twenty years. Her new book Romancing the Sperm: Shifting Biopolitics and the Making of Modern Families chronicles the shifting landscape of modern families and Rutgers University Press will release it on November 5. “In Romancing the Sperm, Diane Tober… [Read More]

Healing and Recovery – An Interview with Amy Pershing and Chevese Turner
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July 24, 2018

“If you can’t find the book you want, write it.” That’s exactly what Amy Pershing and Chevese Turner did when they wrote Binge Eating Disorder: The Journey to Recovery and Beyond, which will be released on August 10. This book uses personal stories, scientific research, and direct insight to “illuminate the experience of BED from the patient perspective while also exploring the disorder’s etiological roots… [Read More]

Search for the Spiritual – An Interview with Jean Benedict Raffa
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June 19, 2018

If you’re someone who is curious about the human psyche, spirituality, and the connection between femininity and masculinity, chances are you’ll enjoy reading the work of Jean Benedict Raffa, whose writings and teachings focus on “psychological and spiritual matters from a perspective informed by Jungian psychology and personal experience.” She is the author of several books, including The Bridge to Wholeness, Dream Theatres of the… [Read More]

Behind the Search for a Legacy – an Interview with Elizabeth Rynecki
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May 22, 2018

Many people all over the world have families who have been affected by the events of World War II. Elizabeth Rynecki is one of those people. Her great-grandfather Moshe Rynecki “depicted the everyday lives of the Polish-Jewish community in his art,” but sadly, he died in a concentration camp and most of his art was lost in the war. Elizabeth Rynecki’s book, titled Chasing Portraits:… [Read More]

Minnesota Book Awards 2018
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April 24, 2018

For thirty years, the Minnesota Book Awards have recognized the best in writers, illlustrators, and book artists who are Minnesotans. Last Saturday evening in downtown St. Paul at the Intercontinental Hotel Riverfront, more than 800 people attended the awards ceremony emceed by Rohan Preston, theater critic for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. With more than 250 books submitted for the annual award, a panel of judges narrowed… [Read More]

The Case That Spanned an Ocean – An Interview with Ann Marie Ackermann
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April 17, 2018

If you’re a history lover or a fan of good mysteries, then Ann Marie Ackermann’s novel Death of an Assassin: The True Story of the German Murderer Who Died Defending Robert E. Lee is the book for you. This historical true crime novel details the story of a case that breaks several records, including coldest case ever solved, and intertwines both German and American history…. [Read More]

Bobcat Tracks
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November 7, 2017

Today I welcome Linda J. Spielman as a guest-blogger. Linda is the author of A Field Guide to Tracking Mammals in the Northeast (Countryman Press/W.W. Norton). Now that snow is in the forecast, it’s a fabulous time to get outside and start tracking wildlife. Linda Spielman shares her experience of finding bobcat tracks with us. You can enter to win a free copy of her… [Read More]

True Story of the German Murderer Who Died Defending Robert E. Lee
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October 3, 2017

Kent State University Press released Death of an Assassin: The True Story of the German Murderer Who Died Defending Robert E. Lee on September 1 and author Ann Marie Ackermann arrives from Germany for her U.S. book tour this week. With a dozen events scheduled in Tennessee, Indiana, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, Ackermann will spend the month of October meeting and greeting readers. I’m… [Read More]

Searching for Moshe Rynecki
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September 26, 2017

Elizabeth Rynecki is the author of Chasing Portraits: A Great-Granddaughter’s Quest for her Lost Art Legacy published by NAL/Berkley/Penguin Random House in September 2016. An odyssey spanning generations, decades, and countries, Chasing Portraits is the true story of Elizabeth Rynecki’s search for the lost art of her great-grandfather, Moshe Rynecki. His unique paintings focused primarily on the Jewish-Polish community in Warsaw between the first and… [Read More]