I’m back in the office today, just in time for a post on the new large-screen Kindle, which was unveiled yesterday. This new Kindle would facilitate the reading of cookbooks, textbooks and newspapers, as well as just plain books. Publisher's Weekly Morning Report has helpfully compiled a list of reviews of the new Kindle, if you’re interested. Another link: NPR’s Dick Meyer has compiled a list of his favorite 100 novels of the 20th century. UNP authors Willa Cather and Wallace Stegner both have titles in the list, which was something Meyer began compiling years ago and has only recently … Continue reading An assortment of Thursday news, including new Kindle, best books list and Louise Pound

What are you doing at 7 a.m. this Saturday? If you’re awake and live in Nebraska, be sure to check tune into 91.1 FM to hear John Christgau talk to Only a Game host Bill Littlefield about his new book, Kokomo Joe. Kokomo Joe, by the way, is about Yoshio Kobuki, the first Japanese-American Jockey. Kobuki rose to fame in the world of horse racing just as World War II was beginning – an era filled with racism, discrimination and far worse for Japanese Americans. Through Kobuki’s story, Christgau tells a larger story about what it meant to be Japanese-American during … Continue reading Another day, another UNP author on NPR

I begin today’s blog post with Google news: You may have heard about Google Book Search, which basically provides scans of books online for free, and the full text of certain books and collections for a fee. Some authors feel this violates copyright laws, and filed a class action suit against Google in 2005. And today, the Justice Department granted those authors opposed to Google Book Search a four-month extension to decide whether to opt out of Google Books Search, which some say means the Justice Department is taking the authors’ concerns seriously. New York Times story is here, and … Continue reading A whole lotta NYT; also a whole lotta quilts

It’s been a while since I incorporated any historical milestones into this blog, and I felt it was high time. Hence today’s post. According to the History Channel Web site, on this day in history in 1967, Muhammad Ali was stripped of his heavyweight title after he refused to be inducted into the U.S. Army. Ali cited his Muslim beliefs as reason for his refusal. The University of Nebraska Press is the publisher of Ali’s biography, Sting Like a Bee: The Muhammad Ali Story, by Jose Torres. Torres himself was a famous boxer; he won an Olympic Silver Medal in … Continue reading This Day in History

Today marks Holocaust Remembrance Day, a day set aside to remember those who suffered more than 60 years ago. Hédi Fried, a Holocaust survivor, is the author of the autobiography, The Road to Auschwitz: Fragments of a Life, edited and translated by Michael Meyer and published by the University of Nebraska Press. Fried commented, "It took me forty years to realize that I am a witness and that it is my task to tell what I experienced." Read more about Hédi on her blog entry at the Huffington Post. Hédi is featured in the documentary, The Last Survivor, presented by Righteous Pictures. The … Continue reading Holocaust Remembrance Day, honoring Holocaust Survivor Hédi Fried, UNP author and subject of new documentary

Today, A. B. Guthrie Jr. will be inducted into the Montana State Historical Society’s Gallery of Outstanding Montanans. In honor of his induction, here's a synopisis of why he's notable: Shortly after graduating from college with a journalism degree, Guthrie took a job with the Lexington Leader, in Kentucky, and worked there for 30 years. In 1944, 18 years after he started at the paper (and when he was 43 years old), he received a Nieman Fellowship to Harvard University, where he wrote his first novel, The Big Sky. Many other titles followed, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Way West, … Continue reading A. B. Guthrie Jr. in the Gallery of Outstanding Montanans