BookMark: The Book Review Show
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Be sure to include your name, address, daytime phone number, and email address. If your book is right for BookMark, we’ll be in touch. BookMark airs Wednesday afternoons during “All Things Considered” and Sunday mornings during “Weekend Edition.”
Reviews:
Reviewer Mollie Kehoe
February 25, 2009
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
(Riverhead Books; 2007)
Author Khaled Hosseini is best known for his 2003 award-winning novel, The Kite Runner. The Afghan-American novelist recently followed up with another searing epic of Afghanistan in turmoil. A Thousand Splendid Suns covers three decades of anti-Soviet jihad, civil war and Taliban tyranny through the lives of two courageous Afghani women.
Reviewer and BookMark intern Mollie Kehoe is a junior at Penn State, majoring in journalism.
Links:
Reviewer Steve Kochersperger
February 18, 2009
Walkin' the Line: A Journey from Past to Present Along the Mason-Dixon by William Ecenbarger
(M. Evans and Company, Inc; 2001)
When the Mason-Dixon Line comes up in discussion, most people think of the Civil War, or segregation. Pulitzer prize- winning journalist William Ecenbarger thinks differently. In his latest book, Walkin' the Line: A Journey from Past to Present, Ecenbarger walks the accessible parts of the 365-mile-long line and seeks out people whose stories shed light on the line's historical and racial significance.
Reviewer Steve Kochersperger is the postmaster in Julian, Pennsylvania
Links:
- About the author
- LA Times articles written by Ecenbarger
- Brief history of the Maxon-Dixon survey line
Reviewer Sohayla Rostami
February 11, 2009
When My Name was Keoko by Linda Sue Park
(Clarion Books; 2002)
Many Koreans suffered oppression in the mid 1900s, when Japan took over their country. When My Name was Keoko, describes the struggles one family faced. The young-adult novel is loosely based on the historical experiences of author Linda Sue Park's parents.
Reviewer Sohayla Rotsami is a junior at State College High School. She's a member of the Youth and Government Club who loves reading about historical events.
Links:
Reviewer Rick Fredrick
January 28, 2009
The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin
(HarperCollins; 2004)
Now in its second year, "One Book Bradford" is a communitywide project designed to encourage reading and stimulate discussion. This year the Bradford committee has selected David Laskin's award winning book The Children's Blizzard, a non-fiction literary account of a deadly blizzard that hit the U.S. plains states in January of 1888.
Reviewer Rick Fredrick is a history professor at the University of Pitt-Bradford.
Links:
Reviewer Danielle Rufo
January 28, 2009
Are You There Vodka? It's Me Chelsea by Chelsea Handler
(Simon Spotlight Entertainment; 2008)
Standup comic and late-night television host Chelsea Handler is known for her ruthless sense of humor. Her second book, Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea, is a collection of autobiographical essays about her life. This book is Handler's second on the New York Times Best-Seller List.
Reviewer Danielle Rufo is a senior at Penn State University Park. She is an English major interested in pursuing a career in teaching.
Links:
Reviewer Kevin Hagopian
January 21, 2009
Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy by Lawrence Lessig
(Penguin Press; 2008)
Scientific American has named Stanford Law professor Lawrence Lessig one of the Top 50 Visionaries in 2008. He is best known as proponent for loosening the restrictions of copyright and trademark laws. In his final book about copyright, Lessig describes how the past and the future can help each of us thrive in today's "hybrid economy."
Reviewer Kevin Hagopian teaches film and media studies on the Penn State University Park campus.
Links:
Reviewer Rick Bryant
January 14, 2009
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi
(Pantheon 2003)
Each year the literary organization Centre County Reads encourages members of the community to read the same book and discuss it with their neighbors. This year Centre County Reads selected the graphic novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi for the community-wide read. The book, which also doubles as Strapi's autobiography, tells the tale of a young girl's life under the Islamic Revolution in Iran.
Reviewer Rick Bryant is executive director of the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. He lives in State College.
Links:
Reviewer Anne Quinn Corr
January 7, 2009
The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper: Recipes, Stories, and Opinions from Public Radio's Award Winning Food Show by Lynne Rosetto Kasper and Sally Swift (Random House, 2008)
The Splendid Table, is a weekly NPR cooking program known for is modern approach toward food and cooking. In the show's recently released cookbook, the program's host Lynne Rossetto Kasper, and its producer, Sally Swift, share simple recipes and stories for the everyday chef.
Reviewer Anne Quinn Corr is a nutrition expert who teaches at Penn State's University Park campus. She's also author of the cookbook Seasons of Central Pennsylvania.
Links:
- Homepage for the NPR show, "The Splendid Table"
- Interview with the authors
- Review from The Boston Globe
Reviewer Felicia Strauch
December 17, 2008
Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande
(Picador Press, 2003)
Renowned surgeon a Atul Gawande has written extensively on medicine and public health. In his first book, he shares his true feelings about the medical field: that like its human counterparts, it is often flawed. With riveting true accounts from the operating table, Complications offers readers an unflinching view of modern medicine's limits through the eyes of those who hold the scalpel.
Our reviewer, Felicia Strauch, is freshman at Juniata College, majoring in communications. She is originally from Palmerton, Pennsylvania.
Reviewer Moura McGovern
December 10, 2008
Sex and Real Estate: Why We Love Houses, by Marjorie Garber (Anchor Books, 2000)
Harvard professor Marjorie Garber is known for her love of pop culture. Her latest book covers an aspect of American culture most people can't get enough of: Houses. Through a series of essays, Garber takes a look at literature, history, cinema, and psychology to make sense of the fantasies and longings we often project onto our homes.
Reviewer Moura McGovern is a senior editor and vice president of equity research for an investment bank. She lives in State College.
Links:
Reviewer Brian Snyder
December 3, 2008
Plain Secrets: An Outsider Among the Amish, by Joe Mackall (Beacon Press, 2007)
Writer and professor Joe Mackall is not Amish, but he has lived in Ohio's Amish country for more than 16 years. In Plain Secrets: an Outsider Among the Amish, Mackall t explores the heart of the Amish tradition, and uncovers the meaning behind the hundreds of Amish traditions many of us do not understand.
Brian Snyder is the pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Kane, Pennsylvania.
Links:
Reviewer Kimberly Del Bright
November 19, 2008
I Was Told There'd Be Cake, by Sloan Crosley (Riverhead Books, 2008)
Most people think life as a twentysomething means days without a care in the world. Sloane Crosley's debut book, lets you in on the "not so carefree life" of the current generation's young adults.
Reviewer Kimberly Del Bright is a lecturer of English at Penn State University Park.
Links:
Reviewer Dustin Brackbill
November 12, 2008
The 39 Clues: The Maze of Bones, by Rick Riordan (Scholastic Press, 2008)
New York Times bestselling author Rick Riordan has written the first installment in a projected series that will include books by different authors,trading cards, and an online game where readers play a part in the story and compete for more than $100,000 in prizes. In the first installment, Riordan reveals the first clue to unlock a family's most powerful secret.
Reviewer Dustin Brackbill is a librarian at Easterly Parkway Elementary School in State College.
Links:
Reviewer: Marjorie Maddox
November 5, 2008
A Commerce of Moments, by Sofia M. Starnes (Pavement Saw Press, 2004)
Corpus Homini: A Poem for a Single Flesh, by Sofia M. Starnes (Wings Press, 2008)
Award winning author and poet Sofia M. Starnes once said, "We write for ourselves and for a stranger." In her two latest books, Starnes takes her readers on a quest to understand herself and one another. The two diverse collections focus on the spiritual "exchange" between the natural world and the world of the soul.
Reviewer Marjorie Maddox is an award-winning poet and the director of creative writing at Lock Haven University.
Links:
Reviewer: Jim Snively
October 29, 2008
The Horseshoe Curve: Sabotage and Subversion in the Railroad City, by Dennis P. McIlnay (Seven Oaks Press, 2007)
The Horseshoe Curve Altoona, is one of the most famous railroad curves in the United States and an extremely important part in the U.S. railroad industry ... so important that the Nazis tried to blow it up during World War II. Dennis P. McIlnay's latest book talks about the Nazi's plan to destroy the curve, and why we are so lucky that they didn't succeed.
Reviewer Jim Snively is retired computer teacher. He currently lives in Duncansville. When he was younger, Snively used to work on the Pennsylvania Railroad. His father and brother both worked on the Horseshoe Curve.
Links:
Reviewer: Sarah May Clarkson
October 22, 2008
Wolves and Honey: A Hidden History of the Natural World, by Susan Brind Morrow
(Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004)
The Finger Lakes region in Central New York is, like Central Pennsylvania, rich with the beauty of nature . . . lakes, forests, and wildlife. Author Susan Brind Morrow's latest book, is a collection of essays on the history and natural history of the place she calls home.
Reviewer Sarah May Clarkson is director of academic support services at Juniata College in Huntingdon.
Links:
Reviewer: Dana Washington
October 15, 2008
Rabbis Of the Air, by Phillip Terman
(Autumn House Press, 2007)
Oscar Wilde once said, "One's past is what one is." Award winning author Philip Terman describes this sentiment well in his latest book Rabbis of the Air. In his third major collection of poetry, Terman writes of his Jewish ancestry and his current home in rural Pennsylvania, combining an awareness of history with its connection to the present.
Reviewer Dana Washington is an assistant professor of English at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania.
Links:
Reviewer: Charles Morgan
October 8, 2008
The First Circle, by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
(North Western University Press, 1997)
Russian author and historian Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn made the world aware of the Soviet Union labor camps through his writing. Although he was exiled from Russia in 1974, Solzhenitsyn was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970, for his ongoing commitment to promoting the awareness of government mistreatment in the Soviet Union. Sadly, Solzhenitsyn passed away in August of 2008. However, his books about the Soviet prison camps, such as the First Circle, are still very accessible and are read by people all over the world.
Reviewer Charles Morgan is a mathematics professor at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania and a volunteer on-air host at WPSU.
Links:
Reviewer: Rebecca Mugridge
October 1, 2008
The Whiskey Rebels, by David Liss (Random House, 2008)
Pennsylvania is a state rich in American history--especially during the Revolutionary era, when the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were both signed in Philadelphia. David Liss's latest historical novel takes readers back to that monumental period in Pennsylvania history. The "whiskey rebels" of the title are fictional but believable characters who have a chance to help shape our nation's destiny.
Reviewer Rebecca Mugridge is head of cataloging services at Penn State's Paterno Library. She lives in Boalsburg.
Links:
Reviewer: Mollie Kehoe
September 17, 2008
The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow
(Hyperion Books, 2008)
Author Randy Pausch was named "Person of the Week" on ABC's "World News with Charlie Gibson" September 21, 2007. His book and speech, The Last Lecture, has attracted international attention, from the media and millions of readers. The book is based on the speech Pausch gave at the 2007 Carnegie Mellon University graduation, titled "Follow Your Childhood Dreams. The author died of pancreatic l cancer in July 2008.
Reviewer and BookMark intern Mollie Kehoe is junior at Penn State University Park, majoring in journalism.
Links:
September 17, 2008
The Black Notebooks: an Interior Journey, by Toi Derricotte
(Norton, 1999)
University of Pittsburgh professor and author Toi Derricotte is one of the most honored African American poets in the literary world today. Her poems often focus on reality and pressing issues in society today. In this book, her first memoir, which she began writing 20 years ago, Derricotte writes about what it means to be a black woman living in a racially divided world.
About Reviewer: Reviewer Marjorie Maddox, an award-winning poet, is director of creative writing at Lock Haven University.
Links:
September 10, 2008
The Attack, by Yasmina Khadra
(Anchor Books, 2005)
Newsweek magazine calls Yasmina Khadra one of the rare writers "capable of giving the meaning of violence" in the Middle East today. His latest book, The Attack focuses on the continuing hostilities between Israel and the Arab world. The plot involves a respected Arab doctor, living and working in Israel, who learns that his wife has carried out a suicide bombing.
Links:
September 3, 2008
A History of Indian Villages and Place Names in Pennsylvania, by Dr. George P. Donehoo
(Wennawoods Publishing, 1997)
Native American names grace many of the cities, counties, rivers, mountains, and lakes in Pennsylvania. In fact, according to historian George P. Donehoo, "No state in the entire nation is richer in Indian names or Indian history than Pennsylvania." This book tells you the native roots of many familiar names, like Loyalhanna and Lehigh.
Links:
August 20, 2008
A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir of My Father, by Augusten Burroughs
(St. Martin's Press, 2008)
Entertainment Weekly has ranked Augusten Burroughs as one of the "25 Funniest People in America." His books are also some of the most heart wrenching. In this, the fifth of Burroughs's memoirs, he tells for the first time about his psychotic father, a man whose behavior defines the word "neglect."
Reviewer John Alvarez is senior at Penn State University Park, majoring in English and psychology and considering a career in editing.
Links:
- Augusten Burroughs's blog
- A video interview with the author
- An NPR interview with Burroughs's mother
August 13 & 17, 2008
Atlas of Pennsylvania, edited by David J. Cuff, William J. Young, Edward K. Muller, Wilbur Zelinsky, and Ronald F. Abler
(Temple University Press, 1989)
If you love maps, you'll love this compendium that tells you practically everything you could want to know about the Keystone State. Far more than a how-to-get-there collection of road maps, this atlas has info about everything from ancient Indian cultures to the incidence of divorce in modern society to where in the Commonwealth radon is most prevalent.
Our reviewer, Steve Kochersperger, is the postmaster in Julian, Pennsylvania.
Links:
Reviewer Anne Quinn Corr
August 6 & 10, 2008
The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan (Penguin Press, 2006)
It's "Buy Fresh, Buy Local Week" in Pennsylvania. Do you know where your food comes from? In this ambitious book, New York Times columnist Michael Pollan lays it out for you; reviewers say, "You'll never look at a Chicken McNugget in the same way again."
Reviewer Anne Quinn Corr is a nutrition expert who teaches at Penn State's University Park campus. She's also author of the cookbook Seasons of Central Pennsylvania.
Links:
- Michael Pollan's website
- An interview with Michael Pollan
- Info on Pennsylvania's "Buy Fresh, Buy Local" initiative
Reviewer Kevin Hagopian
July 30 & August 3, 2008
The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It by Jonathan Zittrain (Yale University Press, 2008)
After years of wild success, have we "come to the end of the Internet?" The message of this book is that the internet is moving from innovation to regulation, where access is limited and the government takes control. Zittrain knows what he's talking about; he is a professor of internet governance and regulation at Oxford University.
Reviewer Kevin Hagopian teaches film and media studies on the Penn State University Park campus.
Links:
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The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan (Penguin Press, 2006)
The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It by Jonathan Zittrain (Yale University Press, 2008)
How Can I keep from Singing: Pete Seeger by David Dunaway (De Capo, 2008)
Going Local: an Adventurer's Guide to Unique Eats, Cool Pubs, and Cozy Cafes, by Ken Hull
The Robobots by Matt Novak (Dorling-Kindersley Children, 1999)
H. Beam Piper: A Biography by John F. Carr
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen
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