A Trivia Tribute to Tributaries On a warm day in late May, Mike Barenti slid a whitewater kayak into the headwaters of central Idaho’s Salmon River and started paddling toward the Pacific Ocean. Kayaking Alone: Nine Hundred Miles from Idaho’s Mountains to the Pacific Ocean is the gripping account of his two-month, nine-hundred-mile solo journey into the world of the Columbia Basin. And so we take today’s “Tuesday Trivia” to the rapids, quizzing you on the Columbia River Basin, Salmon River, and Snake River. Will you paddle your way to a perfect score or flail about in the rushing water? … Continue reading Tuesday Trivia: February 26, 2008

Adventures in the West edited by Susanne George Bloomfield and Eric Melvin Reed “The various writing styles and authenticity of subject matter make these stories an excellent way to introduce students to American West culture.”—True West To read earlier praise for Adventures in the West, please visit http://nebraskapress.typepad.com/university_of_nebraska_pr/2007/11/praise-for-adve.html. Continue reading Continued Praise for Adventures in the West

Ed Barrow:  The Bulldog Who Built the Yankees’ First Dynasty by Daniel R. Levitt “The author has an astounding facility with detail: The sheer number of names, dates and salaries he tosses around is mind-blowing, and the 18 informational tables in the appendix are worthy of inclusion in an economics textbook. . . . A labor of love of great value to Yankees fans and hard-core baseball junkies.”—Kirkus Reviews “Substantive baseball history filtered through the career of one of the game’s overlooked titans.”—Wes Lukowsky, Booklist “Levitt revisits the vexed matter of Sox owner Harry Frazee’s motives in selling baseball’s greatest … Continue reading Praise for Ed Barrow

North American Indians in the Great War by Susan Applegate Krouse “Inspired by the tireless work of Joseph K. Dixon, long an advocate for Native American rights, anthropologist Susan Krouse has compiled numerous firsthand accounts of Native Americans who served in World War I. . . . Krouse has done an admirable job of taking his monumental work and writing a wonderful account of Indian warriors in the Great War.”—Military Heritage Continue reading Praise for North American Indians in the Great War

Are you more interested in gavels or hockey sticks? Jazz or science fiction? Cameras or Confederates? No matter your preference, today’s installment of TWIH has you covered. So let’s see what happened… This Week in History February 17, 1865: Columbia, South Carolina burned as Union forces moved in, causing a Confederate evacuation.Calling all Civil War buffs! Mark your calendars for the July 2008 publication of Rebel: The Life and Times of John Singleton Mosby by Kevin H. Siepel, the first complete biography of the Confederacy’s best-known partisan commander, John Singleton Mosby, the “Gray Ghost.” February 18, 1885: Mark Twain’s The … Continue reading This Week in History: February 17-22, 2008

Pop Goes the Blogger In Between Panic and Desire, Dinty W. Moore (and, yes, that is the author’s real name—see the book for an explanation) explores his youth and young adulthood as they occurred during the turbulent decades of the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s. In this page-turner, Moore references a smorgasbord of mid-20th-century pop culture—from Leave it to Beaver to Captain Kangaroo, Richard Nixon to Father Knows Best. In tribute to this rollicking rollercoaster of a memoir, today’s “Linking in Lincoln” focuses on the pop culture hits of yesteryear. Hold on to your bouffants and bell bottoms—this could be a … Continue reading Linking in Lincoln: February 21, 2008

In The Book of Telling: Tracing the Secrets of My Father’s Lives, Sharona Ben-Tov Muir writes of her rediscovery of her father after learning that he invented Israel’s first rocket. Now you can listen to readings from the author on YouTube. See below for brief descriptions of the subject matter of each video and links to their pages on YouTube. Sharona Ben-Tov Muir introduces The Book of Telling: What does the mind do? It searches in a multi-dimensional space!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzdGNHoGXFo Reading 1: The Telling is about tradition, invention, and the universe.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu46zptuEds Reading 2: Dialogue about Israel’s war of independence and Israel’s … Continue reading Readings from The Book of Telling on YouTube

Children of Heroes by Lyonel Trouillot, translated by Linda Coverdale “Trouillot writes with his heart on his sleeve . . . and his unabashed empathy for plucky Colin and brave, sexy Mariéla recalls elements of Dickens.”—Publisher Weekly Continue reading Praise for Children of Heroes

Interior Places by Lisa Knopp “Knopp explores the potent effects of environment and emotion through 16 perceptive and responsive essays that ring with a crystalline acuity. . . . [She] filters her worldly experiences in nature and among society through a keen understanding of her relationship to both.”—Carol Haggas, Booklist To read earlier praise for Interior Places, please link to http://nebraskapress.typepad.com/university_of_nebraska_pr/2008/01/praise-for-inte.html. Continue reading More Praise for Interior Places

Valentines by Ted Kooser, illustrated by Robert Hanna “The writing in this book is classic Kooser: simple images, down-to-earth language, insight, and uncommonly good sense, all of which combine to produce memorable, resonant endings. . . . The artwork, like the verse, is inviting, warm, and unpretentious.”—Elizabeth Lund, The Christian Science Monitor Read earlier praise for Valentines at http://nebraskapress.typepad.com/university_of_nebraska_pr/2008/01/praise-for-vale.html. Continue reading More Praise for Valentines