Baseball and the Media: How Fans Lose in Today’s Coverage of the Game By George Castle “This is not a scholarly treatise. [Castle] quotes from other sportswriters, team media directors, and athletes, rather than academic statistics, which helps the average reader relate. . . . His most interesting analysis comes when he compares the media coverage from the New York/Los Angeles media hotbeds with those of smaller markets. . . . There’s something to be said for the nostalgic simplicity of an organ at the ballpark, rather than the constant blare of the deafening rock music most teams assault their … Continue reading More Praise for Baseball and the Media

Because a Fire Was in My Head By Lynn Stegner “Sometimes a character comes along that creates a confusion of feelings within the reader. Beautiful, ambitious, and self-centered young Kate Riley, the protagonist of this latest novel from Stegner is one of those characters. . . .  Unfortunately, there is very little to like about Kate, a woman who rejects anything that might provide emotional stability, instead gravitating toward bad choices and worse situations (reminding one of that classic heroine we love to hate, Madame Bovary). Who can say what made Kate the way she is—her upbringing, the repressive culture, … Continue reading More Praise for Because a Fire Was in My Head

Landscapes with Figures: The Nonfiction of PlaceEdited By Robert Root “Although most obviously united by each writer’s skilled articulation of setting, this collection of literary nonfiction could also serve as a miniature anthology of writing method. In his introduction, Root carefully defines nonfiction of place (including an explanation of the title metaphor). The collected essays and excerpts from memoirs and narratives that follow are clearly the product of serious dedication to the art of writing, meticulous research and revision, and devotion to the chosen subjects.”—Library Journal “[A] welcome addition to ‘nature writing’ collections . . . . [T]hese texts . … Continue reading Praise for Landscapes with Figures

Scoring from Second: Writers on Baseball edited by Philip F. Deaver “Baseball fans who yearn for the days of Ring Lardner will find in this collection ample evidence that gifted writers still celebrate America’s national pastime. Readers will recognize the satisfying fusion of literature and sport when, for instance, itinerant storyteller William Least Heat-Moon reflects on the resonant vocabulary of bygone sports commentators. There are numerous other double-play delights here, as when novelist Lee Martin recalls how his crippled father once hit fly balls to him in the lengthening shadows of twilight and when poet Earl Braggs transforms a set … Continue reading More Praise for Scoring from Second

Because a Fire Was in My Head by Lynn Stegner “Brave and old-fashioned, Stegner’s supple use of language and precise evocation of period and place bring a literary intuitiveness to this inventive portrait of a scheming temptress, rendering with disarming psychological acuity Kate’s warring self-serving and self-destructive tendencies. Kate is too egocentric to be a sympathetic heroine, yet through Stegner’s masterful treatment, she does become a forceful, persuasive, and wholly mesmerizing character.”—Booklist Read more praise for Stegner’s Because a Fire Was in My Head Continue reading More Praise for Because a Fire Was in My Head

The Niobrara: A River Running through Time by Paul A. Johnsgard “Johnsgard’s book is not a travel guide. It is the first comprehensive look at the geological, paleontological and natural history of the river valley, a reference book for people who want to know how the valley came into being and what makes it such a rare and beautiful place.”— Algis J. Laukaitis, Lincoln Journal Star “Paul Johnsgard’s The Niobrara is one of the very best books—if not the very best—he has written. . . . [It] displays the variety of Johnsgard’s talents. It combines graceful readability with his own … Continue reading Praise for The Niobrara

House of Good Hope: A Promise for a Broken City by Michael Downs “Combining a reporter’s eye for detail, the breathless narrative rush of an action movie and the generous heart of a hometown boy desperately trying to make sense of a place gone terribly wrong, Downs examines the social and economic disintegration of Hartford, Conn., in the 1990s through the coming-of-age of five African-American teenage boys. . . . The first half of the book flows with the power and grace of a finely tuned magazine article.”—Publishers Weekly Continue reading Praise for House of Good Hope

Save 25% on a Selection of Basketball Books during the Month of March Continue reading March Madness