Book review: Shame, regret and self-loathing the underside of parenting...
Elizabeth Marro's affecting and beautiful first novel, "Casualties," does not shy away from shame, regret and self-loathing — the underside of parenting. She takes us places we don't want to go, makes...
View ArticleSeth Grahame-Smith’s Jane Austen-zombie mash-up makes it to the screen
When Seth Grahame-Smith came up with the idea for a mash-up of Jane Austen's most popular book and a tale of today's probably equally popular armies of the undead resulting in the 2009 novel "Pride...
View ArticleBook Notes: Secret lives of teenage girls
American girls ages 13 to 19 live in two worlds, the real and the virtual. They interact with both worlds simultaneously — though the more absorbing of their worlds is the virtual one they hold in...
View ArticleBookSmart: A trio of hot summer beach reads
When the beach chair beckons in the coming weeks, you don't want to be caught unprepared. I am not talking about having enough sunscreen, but rather having the right books to fill your beach bag. This...
View ArticleLeo Durocher bio shows Lippy’s link to many of baseball’s most dramatic moments
The Chicago Cubs had only one winning season in the previous 19 years before Leo Durocher became the team's manager in 1966. His hiring was a rebirth of his career and a spark for the Cubs' immediate...
View ArticleBook Smart: Stories of women of courage
From the big screen to New York times best sellers, this summer has seen a number of plot lines that feature strong, courageous female leads who dazzle men and women alike. Yet, the definition of what...
View ArticleBook Notes: Franklin and Eleanor — and Lorena
“White Houses” By Amy Bloom. Random House, New York, February 2018. $27. 218 pages.What’s most surprising about “White Houses,” Amy Bloom’s thought-provoking novel about Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena...
View ArticleBook Notes: A confusing time for feminism
“Don’t Call Me Princess: Girls, Women, Sex, and Life” By Peggy Orenstein. Harper, 2018, New York. 378 pages. $16.99.In the introduction to her newly published collection of essays, “Don’t Call Me...
View ArticleBook Notes: Take dysfunction and add a dose of Alaska winter
“The Great Alone” By Kristin Hannah. St. Martin’s Press, New York, 2018. $28.99. 440 pages.No one really knows how they’ll perform until they’re tested. You can load up the backpack, for example, you...
View ArticleBook Notes: The hunt for a killer, soon to be found
“I’ll Be Gone In The Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer” By Michelle McNamara. HarperCollins, 2018. 328 pages. $27.99The true crime book, “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One...
View ArticleBook review: Former big leaguer helps current players envision positive results
Whether a Little Leaguer or a professional, most former ballplayers have at least one moment from their playing days they wish they could take back.For Bob Tewksbury it was the hit he surrendered to...
View ArticleBook review: An unknown past
“A Dead Man Running” by Steve Hamilton, (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 288 pages, $28)Alex McKnight would rather be at home in the Upper Peninsula, sitting at the Glasgow Inn, drinking a real Molson, or plowing...
View ArticleBook Notes: The frustration of having no path to citizenship
“Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen” By Jose Antonio Vargas. Dey Street Books, New York City, 2018. $25.99.Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas has been living as an...
View ArticleBook Notes: The coddling of America’s college students
“The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting Up a Generation for Failure” By Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt. Penguin Press, New York, 2018. What happens on...
View ArticleBook review: ‘The Breakaway’ one heck of a story about Wirtz, Blackhawks
Over the past decade, the Chicago Blackhawks have been one of the most successful franchises in the sports, winning three Stanley Cups since 2010, appearing in the most outdoor games and increasing the...
View ArticleBook Notes: ‘Witch Elm’ is a classic whodunit
“The Witch Elm” By Tana French. Viking, 2018. 509 pages. $28.Good friends, young and hale and full of possibilities, frequently gather at Toby’s family homestead, the Ivy House. They talk and horse...
View ArticleBook review: An unknown past
“A Dead Man Running” by Steve Hamilton, (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 288 pages, $28)Alex McKnight would rather be at home in the Upper Peninsula, sitting at the Glasgow Inn, drinking a real Molson, or plowing...
View ArticleBook Notes: The frustration of having no path to citizenship
“Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen” By Jose Antonio Vargas. Dey Street Books, New York City, 2018. $25.99.Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas has been living as an...
View ArticleBook Notes: The coddling of America’s college students
“The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting Up a Generation for Failure” By Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt. Penguin Press, New York, 2018. What happens on...
View ArticleBook review: ‘The Breakaway’ one heck of a story about Wirtz, Blackhawks
Over the past decade, the Chicago Blackhawks have been one of the most successful franchises in the sports, winning three Stanley Cups since 2010, appearing in the most outdoor games and increasing the...
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