Wednesday, May 26, 2010

About Books, May 29, 2010

Erin Bried's How to Sew a Button and Other Nifty Things Your Grandmother Knew is a delightful how-to guide. Bried interviewed many grandmothers including Iowa's Mildred Kalish, author of Little Heathens. From these conversations the author has collected tons of tips from how to polish shoes to how to use vinegar and baking soda to clean your house.

Listen to the interview at http://www.wvik.org/listings-aboutbooks.htm

Thursday, May 20, 2010

About Books, May 22, 2010

Jordan Goodman tells the little known story of the brutality of early rubber barons in The Devil and Mr. Casement: One Man's Battle for Human Rights in South America's Heart of Darkness. Roger Casement is a British diplomat sent to investigate Julio Arana (the Devil) and the Peruvian Amazon Company. It has loads of adventure, politics and biographical detail.

Listen to the interview at http://www.wvik.org/listings-aboutbooks.htm

Friday, May 14, 2010

About Books, May15, 2010

Adam Kaul, an anthropologist who teaches at Augustana College, is the author of Turning the Tune: Traditional Irish Music, Tourism, and Social Change in an Irish Village. The village is Doolin and Adam spent a year there doing "field work" for this book. Read it and learn about the "old days" before tourism discovered the pubs of Doolin and how the economic boom of the 1990's has changed the town and its music.

Listen to the interview at http://www.wvik.org/listings-aboutbooks.htm

Friday, May 7, 2010

About Books, May 8, 2010

Jo Nesbo's new Harry Hole mystery is The Devil's Star. Nesbo invented Harry on a flight to Australia. The first two book are not yet in English, but Redbreast, Nemesis, and now The Devil's Star are. Three more will follow. The Devil's Star is a very complex story of serial killings as well as of Harry's shambles of a personal life. You don't have to start at the beginning; you can start with The Devil's Star but I encourage you to read all the titles available. His last, The Leopard, won the Danish Crime Writing Academy's Prize for Best Novel in 2009.

Listen to the interview at http://www.wvik.org/listings-aboutbooks.htm