BookMark: The Book Review Show
Wednesdays at 4:30pm & Sundays at 8:35am
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Just write a short paragraph about the book—what it’s about, why you decided to read it, and what you liked or didn’t like.
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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: 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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Bookmark Archives
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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