Book Nook

By Vick MickunasArts Books

Book Nook episodes

September 03, 2019 Book Nook: Stay and Fight, by Madeline ffitch
Every once in a great while I will read a debut novel and say to myself; what an extraordinary story written by a writer who I will hopefully be reading for many years to come. "Stay and Fight" is one of those rare books that simply knocked me over with the raw power of the writing and storytelling. I am so impressed with Madeline ffitch. This is the story of some incredible women who are living off the grid in southeastern Ohio. They are raising a child and that boy will steal your hearts. They
29 min
September 01, 2019 Best of the Book Nook: In His Own Voice, co-edited by Herbert Woodward Martin
Herbert Woodward Martin returned to the program to discuss the work of Paul Laurence Dunbar. At the time we originally presented this radio program Herb had just published a collection of Dunbar's work, "In His Own Voice: Dramatic & Other Uncollected Works," which he co-edited along with the scholar Ronald Primeau. Two years later his collaborator on this project would publish his own study of the work of Herb Martin. In my view Herb is our leading authority on Dunbar's work. He has devoted
50 min
August 30, 2019 Book Nook: A Dangerous Man, by Robert Crais
Robert Crais is one of my favorites. Over the years we have done over a dozen interviews. Only one other guest has done more; James Lee Burke. As this interview began I mentioned this fact to Bob and he suggested that he should hang up and call me right back. Then hang up again and call me back. He thought if he did that several more times that he could numerically surpass James Lee Burke and become the #1 guest in terms of appearances. Of course he was joking. By the way, we edited that part
30 min
August 28, 2019 Best of the Book Nook: A Well-Seasoned Appetite: Recipes from an American Kitchen, by Molly O'Neill
For the past 30 years or so I have been a faithful reader of the New York Times. They have excellent coverage of books. During the 1980's and 1990's I was a fan of the food writer Molly O'Neill. Her culinary column in the New York Times was something I always anticipated with a sense of joy. In 1996 when Molly published a cookbook and she was coming through the area on book tour I eagerly contacted her publicist and arranged an interview. We had to talk on the phone. She had a busy schedule that
50 min
August 23, 2019 Book Nook: Growing Things, by Paul Tremblay
Paul Tremblay's new collection of horror stories, "Growing Things," has been impressing a lot of readers. Some of his admirers are quite impressive, too. Here's what the eminent horror writer Stephen King had to say about it: "Can't praise Paul Tremblay's GROWING THINGS highly enough. 19 creepy classics that will turn your favorite easy chair into an uneasy chair. One of the best collections of the 21st century." (from Twitter) Wow, can you imagine being a writer and having someone like him say
29 min
August 17, 2019 Book Nook: Lady in the Lake, by Laura Lippman
Laura Lippmann returned to the program to discuss her latest impressive mystery novel. This one, "Lady in the Lake," is set in Baltimore in 1966. Lippmann was inspired to write the novel after reading about two actual murder cases from the period. In one murder a young white girl vanished after stopping by a pet store. The police spared no efforts trying to solve that crime. In the other homicide a young black woman was discovered dead in a fountain out in the middle of a lake. Before this
29 min
August 14, 2019 Book Nook: Dayton Beer - a History of Brewing in the Miami Valley, by Timothy R. Gaffney
When I was a child I didn't keep track of the days of the week before I began going to school. When I was about four years-old I began to recognize when it was a Friday. That was the day that my dad would come home from work with a six pack of beer. His brand was Budweiser. Years later I tried some of his beer, just a sip, and I spit it out. It was awful stuff; I could not understand the attraction. One day when I was finally old enough to legally consume beer I tried a taste of some German beer
49 min
August 12, 2019 Best of the Book Nook: Rumi: The Book of Love: Poems of Ecstasy and Longing, by Coleman Barks
Coleman Barks is known as one of our foremost interpreters of the poetry of Rumi, the 13th century Persian mystic. Barks is sometimes described as a translator but he actually is more of an interpreter, he takes existing translations that have been made over the centuries and rewrites them in the spirit of what he feels in each poem. Barks doesn't actually speak the original language in which the poetry was written. In this interview he describes the mystical revelations that inspired him to
29 min
August 03, 2019 Best of the Book Nook: Alan Furst and Buzz Aldrin
Blood of Victory" by Alan Furst (original recording made in 2002) 17 years ago when Alan Furst came out to Yellow Springs for a live interview he was just beginning to win acclaim as one of our leading espionage writers. During our conversation that day he explained his fascination with the period from 1939-1941 and how he is intrigued by the history of those years in Europe as the German forces were sweeping across the continent. Furst has gone on to build a solid career with a string of
51 min
August 01, 2019 Best of the Book Nook: Fearless Jones by Walter Mosley
Walter Mosley is one of those legendary talents. He can do it all, fiction, non-fiction; crime novels, mysteries, political commentary, science fiction, the man is a genius. I still cannot believe that he actually came out to Yellow Springs one day years ago to appear on the program. He had just written the first book in a new mystery series that features Fearless Jones. Over the years since my one and only interview with Walter I have tried to schedule him again. So far it hasn't happened. As
29 min

About Book Nook

From the publisher's feed

Listen to the Book Nook with Vick Mickunas for intimate conversations about books with the writers who create them.Vick Mickunas introduced the Book Nook author interview program for WYSO in 1994.…