L’shanah tovahJewish Year 5767 : Sunset September 22, 2006 to Nightfall September 24, 2006 Or "For a good year!"  Today is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year and one of the most important days of the Jewish calendar.  To honor the holiday, people of the Jewish faith rest and cast off their sins.  Enjoy these contemporary titles by UNP authors: Jewish Writing in the Contemporary World Series: Contemporary Jewish Writing in Canada: An AnthologyEdited by Michael Greenstein"Greenstein has delivered a fine gift of some of the country’s best writers." —University of Toronto Quarterly The Fortune Teller’s Kiss By Brenda Serotte"Serotte … Continue reading Jewish Titles from UNP

his month’s podcast features an exclusive interview with Pamela Joern, author of The Floor of the Sky . Check back next week for an interview with Robert Vivian, whose The Mover of Bones illustrates a "Nebraska that would send Poe running for his life."–Kirkus Reviews. Continue reading September’s Podcast: Interview with Pamela Joern

ell, if you’re deserving of the title of science fiction fan, you’ve heard of the Hugo Awards. Since I don’t hope to earn one any time soon, I figured I would enjoy the
writings of Hugo Gernsback for whom the award is named before attempting, yet again, to create my own masterpiece.

The introducer to this Bison edition kicks it off with a short, sweet bio and synopsis for which I am deeply grateful. The one-time-idol of Isaac Asimov (mind you not the other way around) and contributor to Gernsback’s Amazing Stories, author Jack Williamson spared me hours of research by listing some of Mr. Gernsback’s more successful predictions.

 

Continue reading “Hugo, of the Hugos”

ince my last post I’ve relocated about 400 miles east. I’m back in the Chicago area, complete with husband and a new kitten we have named Maynard Ferguson (he died just before we got her).

Moving has done a few things for me. It is always good for making you get rid of things. I have a new sense of adventure as we face not being students anymore. And all of my books and games from Lincoln are packed up and inaccessible right now. What I have is all from my room in my parents’ house and a few games that wound up at the top and are easily accessible.  This means I am living in the past. All my tastes in one period, frozen in time.

Continue reading “Nostalgia Land”

I, Nadia, Wife of a Terrorist by Baya Gacemi “Stark, visceral, and disturbing, this biography tells the true story of the transformation of a naïve teenage into the wife of a brutal religious fanatic. . . . Many books have been written about the terrorist mind, but few explore the psychology of the civilians who make the terrorist way of life possible.  . . . Both Gacemi and her subject have taken a brave step in telling this story.”—ForeWordRead More Praise for I, Nadia, Wife of a Terrorist Continue reading More Praise for I, Nadia, Wife of a Terrorist

The Mover of Bones by Robert Vivian “Nebraska native Vivian uses the spare, vivid language of a playwright. . . . Readers who seek straightforward plotting in fiction may feel hijacked, but those who seek haunting prose and staccato insights into human nature from all levels of the socioeconomic spectrum will follow Breedlove’s journey willingly.”—Booklist Read More Praise for The Moverof Bones Continue reading More Praise for The Mover of Bones

Chuck Hagel: Moving Forward by Charlyne Berens “Readers keeping an eye on the next presidential election will appreciate this profile of a possible contender.”—Booklist Read More Praise for Chuck Hagel: Moving Forward Continue reading More Praise for Chuck Hagel: Moving Forward

The Question by Henri Alleg “The lessons of the French experience in Algeria came into play in 2003, when the Pentagon screened Gillo Pontecorvo’s classic 1965 film, The Battle of Algiers, for its special-operations chiefs as an example of the tactical use of torture and murder against terrorism. Now Henri Alleg’s incendiary little book, The Question, has been republished for the first time since 1958, with penetrating contextualization in the time of Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib by historians Ellen Ray and James D. Le Sueur.”—David Levi Strauss, Bookforum Continue reading Praise for The Question

The Blizzard Voices by Ted Kooser “In a collection that has been presented as reader’s theater, Kooser evokes the voices of different people–men, women, teachers, children–taken by surprise when the ‘Children’s Blizzard’ of 1888 swept across the Midwestern plains. . . . The book is short but powerful.”—Omaha World-Herald “It’s the little details that make the stories vivid. . . . In just 64 pages, Kooser brings the people of the great blizzard back to life. You can feel the chill in these pages, hear the voices as if you and the speaker are huddled next to the stove, talking … Continue reading Praise for The Blizzard Voices