The year was 1846. The Donner Party set out for California in a wagon train, a trip that usually takes between four and six months. When winter set in, they became snowbound in the Sierra Nevadas. They food supplies became low, along with their health and spirits, and some, it is believed, resorted to cannibalism. Searching for Tamsen Donner is about Gabrielle Burton’s quest to find the truth about Tamsen Donner, who was a stoic pioneer woman who saw her children to safety but stayed with her dying husband at the cost of her own life. For Burton, Tamsen’s story … Continue reading Searching for Tamsen Donner listed as a favorite

Dan O’Brien's work of fiction, Stolen Horses is about pleasant McDermot, Nebraska and how the cattle town came to be a place of quiet, beautiful refuge to those looking for a place to relax. This of course was the case until a local journalist uncovers a medical scandal epitomizing the problems facing the divided community, between the local inhabitants and the new comers looking to settle in. Francis Moul from the Lincoln Journal Star called Stolen Horses a “beautiful, complex, rich tale that draws the reader into the disparate lives of characters that grip our attention.” Read the full review   Enrique Martínez Celaya: … Continue reading LJS gives rave reviews of two fall titles

Two UNP books received accolades from national magazines: Palmento: A Sicilian Wine Odyssey by Robert V. Camuto is in the Dec. 31 issue of Wine Spectator. Thomas Matthews said Camuto’s “affection for Sicily and its citizens is heartfelt, and his skill and enthusiasm combine to create a captivating portrait of a singular culture.” In Palmento, Camuto explores Sicily’s emerging wine scene, but what he discovers during more than a year of traveling the region, however, was far more than a fascinating win frontier. To read the full article click here.   Sleep in Me by Jon Pineda was listed as … Continue reading UNP books in national magazines

Earlier this week the John Lardner Reader was reviewed by the Boston Globe. Bill Littlefield, who hosts National Public Radio’s “Only A Game’’ at WBUR in Boston, said that it is a “terrific book because the best of John Lardner is extraordinarily good.” The John Lardner Reader is a collection of Lardner’s writings which are often classified as wry humor and tireless reporting that helped elevate sportswriting to art.   To read the full article, click here. The holidays are approaching fast and UNP is offering a holiday sale on books! Receive 25 percent off on your book purchase now … Continue reading Another John Lardner Reader review, and a Christmas sale

October is a great month to be a sports fan. The World Series playoffs are televised, the NBA season begins, NFL fans are still cheering on their favorite teams – college teams included – and the NHL schedule is well underway. October is also a great time for sports-related reading, and UNP has several new sports books that have attracted national attention. Scoreboard, Babywas reviewed by Steve Weinberg of The Seattle Times, who wrote “The book shocked me — because I do not follow college football as a spectator, I knew almost nothing about the unethical and even lawless nature … Continue reading UNP sport books reviewed in three publications

Palmento, by Robert V. Camuto, made the New York Times yesterday, in wine critic Eric Asimov's roundup of his favorite new wine books. Palmento, which chronicles a year the author spent researching (and drinking) wine in Sicily, received high marks from Asimov, who wrote, among other things:  " … Mr. Camuto extracts fascinating and illuminating details about Sicily, bringing to life the characters, conflicts and family dynamics that define a culture and its wines. It’s a beautiful, enthralling work, eternally wistful and hopeful, much like Sicily itself." To read the whole NYT review, click here.   In other national news, … Continue reading UNP authors in the NYT and on NPR

Ted Gilley’s Bliss and Other Short Stories is a collection of nine stories that introduces readers to an edgy vision and a world in which certainties are tested and found wanting. The stories in Bliss all feature characters going about their business, developing relationships, living their lives, and generally aspiring toward happiness, even when faced with violence, unrequited love, deaths of loved ones, and other tragedies.  Gilley is the recent winner of the Prairie Schooner Book Prize. Bliss, which is Gilley’s first book, has received tons of praise. Kevin O’Kelly of the Boston Globe wrote, “Bliss and Other Stories is … Continue reading Bliss and Other Short Stories receives glowing reviews

Stolen Horses, by Dan O’Brien, is an old-fashioned Western novel in some ways. The fictional setting – McDermot, Nebraska – is a place where cowboys still live on the ranch homesteads settled by great-great-grandparents, where everyone knows the local history, where many people are resistant to change. But in other ways, it’s a modern story, one that touches on healthcare inequity, corruption, the growing gulf between the rich and poor, and what happens when change finally does come to a place as remote and untouched as McDermot. NPR’s Alan Cheuse reviewed Stolen Horses on All Things Considered last night. A … Continue reading Stolen Horses reviewed on NPR’s All Things Considered