What We're Reading

I am someone who falls deeply into novels.  It's not uncommon for me to dream about the characters I'm reading about.... they become a part of my consciousness for the time that I'm inside a novel. 

I also rely on fiction to kind of "take me away" from my real life.  Non-fiction isn't my favorite genre, but when a novel talks about a contemporary issue that I didn't know about, I love that feeling of learning as well as diving into stories. 

Brainerd native Lissa Carlino has written her first novel about an empowered young woman who struggles with addiction  It's called Woman Enough.   Lissa will be doing a book signing at Stonehouse Coffee in Nisswa on July15th at 1pm.  Her books are also available at We Are Clinic in Brainerd - to raise money for confidential reproductive health. 

“Hood, known primarily for her adult novels, offers up a coming-of-age story steeped in nostalgia, humor, and heart. There’s obvious appeal for Beatles fans, but Trudy, irrepressible in her struggle to maintain friendships in a changing world, will win many admirers of her own.”

  Booklist

The novel Tradition goes into the privileged world of a private boarding school where only a few have power.  It's told from the perspective of Jules and Bax.  Jules is a good student who is starting to see the problems of the school and how power and status plays out.  Bax is a scholarship student who has been trained to be aggressive on the rink as a hockey goalie.  Their friendship and standing up for what's right is at the center of this tale. 

What We Are Reading host, Tammy Bobrowsky, spoke with Marc Perrusquia.  Marc is a reporter in Memphis, Tennessee, his new book is  called A Spy in Canaan: How the FBI used a famous photographer to infiltrate the Civil Rights Movement. This book is the result of years of research that started with a Freedom of Information request in 2007 and ended recently after a lawsuit with the FBI and now we finally have the story of Civil Rights insider turned FBI informant, Ernest Withers.