Time To Talk About ‘The Girls’

As I try to note this time of the month, the ever-beguiling River City Books fiction book club meets the first Tuesday of each month to discuss great books. The October meeting will feature a conversation about The Girls by Lori Lansens.
Booklist, in its starred review of “The Girls,” said Lansens’ “biggest achievement in the [...]

The Final Book Is A Beauty

Back in April, following the tragic death of David Halberstam, I mentioned how much I admired his books. Of course, I am far from the only one.
Fortunately for Halberstam’s readers, he had completed a manuscript before he was killed in a car accident on April 23, while on his way to an interview for a [...]

Fall Calendar Filling Up

I was just taking a gander at River City Books’ calendar of events and, wow, they’ve got some good ones coming up. You’ve heard me mention the Kevin Kling Northfield Reads! event a time or two already. There are also two cool readings in October — Thomas Maltman’s book The Night Birds has a Northfield [...]

Another Great Read fom the Master

Is there a finer or more decorated living writer in the world than Philip Roth? I have wracked my brain — never mind that it can fit into a thimble — and I cannot come up with a one. Fortunately for fans of Roth’s famous literary creation, Nathan Zuckerman, the latest — and said to [...]

It Was A Full ‘Table’ (Audio)

Last night I was fortunate to be among those who found a spot inside the Northfield Arts Guild room when author Gary Holthaus appeared to talk about his new book, From the Farm to the Table: What All Americans Need to Know about Agriculture. The place was so packed that in order to listen in [...]

‘War’: What Is It Good For? About Fifty Bucks

As you may have heard, the latest highly anticipated documentary by Ken Burns, this one about World War II, will begin airing on PBS this Sunday evening. Before the show starts — pass the popcorn! — I want you to know that you can pick up a pamphlet down at River City Books that will [...]

The ‘Dog’ Is In The House

Remember how I told you — more than once, in fact — that Kevin Kling’s book, The Dog Says How, would be available in early to mid October? Turns out (sit down before you read the rest of this sentence) I was wrong. Shocking, but true. Next thing you know aliens will be discovered in [...]

A Tasty Event This Friday Night

Do you eat food? If so, does any of it come from the ground? If you’re nodding you’re head, there’s an event in town this Friday night that you’re not going to want to miss.
Gary Holthaus, author of From the Farm to the Table: What All Americans Need to Know about Agriculture, will appear at [...]

Save Dough for the Rest of the Week

It’s Monday. Back to work and school and the grind. I know this feeling. Yes, birds have to slave, too. Which is why I am always looking for a break. And when I find one — if it doesn’t involve food anyway — I try to share. Sharing is good. Or so I’ve been told.
So [...]

Club Looking ‘Elsewhere’ in September

Booklist, in its starred review of Gabrielle Zevin’s Elsewhere, called the novel “a work of powerful beauty.” Members of the River City Books young adult book club, I am here to say, will consider that assessment for themselves when the club meets at 7 p.m., Monday, Sept. 24, in the store’s downstairs meeting area.
The club, [...]