Book Nook

By Vick MickunasArts Books

Book Nook episodes

March 29, 2018 Book Nook: Sadness is a White Bird, by Moriel Rothman-Zecher
It is always a pleasure to interview an author who is making a literary debut with the publication of that first book. It is even more special when that author is someone you remember as a youth rambling the streets of your own town. Recently I had that experience when I conducted this interview with Moriel Rothman-Zecher. Here's the review of his novel that I wrote for the Cox Ohio newspapers: "It astonishes me when writers who are young, let's say in their twenties, write compelling novels
50 min
March 26, 2018 Book Nook: Land of Wolves, by T.J. Turner
T.J. Turner returned to the program to discuss the second book in his series that imagines an alternate history of our American Civil War. In the first book "Lincoln's Bodyguard," the author created a story line in which President Abraham Lincoln was not assassinated at Ford's Theater in April, 1865. Instead, Lincoln had been saved by his bodyguard who is also the main protagonist in the first book and in this new one "Land of Wolves." As this second installment opens we find the former
29 min
March 20, 2018 Best of the Book Nook: How the Irish Saved Civilization, by Thomas Cahill
It was around this time of year in 1996 that Thomas Cahill came through the area on a tour to publicize his book "How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role From the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe." It was right before St. Patrick's Day and since the man known as Patrick was the central figure in Cahill's history of early Ireland it seemed quite appropriate. His book became a mega-best-seller. It remained on the best-seller lists for years. Thomas
49 min
March 13, 2018 Book Nook: The Chateau, by Paul Goldberg
Paul Goldberg returned to the program to discuss his latest darkly humorous novel "The Chateau." His protagonist is a journalist named Bill who is about to lose his long-time gig as a science reporter for the Washington Post. Right at about that same moment he hears that his former college roommate, a plastic surgeon in Florida, has just made a fatal plunge from atop a tall building. After Bill loses his job he is encouraged by a former colleague to head down to Florida to research and write a
29 min
March 07, 2018 Book Nook: Bad Jobs and Poor Decisions - Dispatches from the Working Class, by J.R. Helton
Years ago I spent a lot of time browsing through record bins looking for the next LP that was going to change my life forever I would pause to admire the cover art on record albums. The titles were another thing to consider. If I liked the cover and/or the title I would frequently purchase those LPs even if I had never heard of the recording artists. This willingness to encounter the unknown sounds hidden within those album jackets often paid off splendidly. I happened upon some amazing
49 min
March 03, 2018 Book Nook: Hellbent, by Gregg Hurwitz
In this third volume in the author's "Orphan X" series Evan Smoak is living an undercover existence. He's hiding out because the highly trained assassins of the top secret government Orphan Program are looking for him. As Orphan X, Smoak was once a member of that organization. Now he's vanished and hoping to live a life that is more about performing good deeds instead of committing assassinations. As "Hellbent" begins his former mentor is being pursued by professional killers. They are planning
29 min
February 28, 2018 Best of the Book Nook: To End a War, by Richard Holbrooke
I don't usually get nervous before an interview. I have found that if I have read the book and I'm well prepared that my nerves are usually not an issue. I wasn't nervous before my interview with Donald Trump. When I interviewed Ohio Governor John Kasich last year I felt totally relaxed. Perhaps that was because I had interviewed him before? I wasn't nervous before I interviewed Charlton Heston. Even though he had a reputation for being somewhat stern I wasn't concerned about that. Now in the
50 min
February 26, 2018 Book Nook: The Wife, by Alafair Burke
Alafair Burke returned to the program to talk about her new mystery novel "The Wife." I hereby declare that Alafair has written the most prescient novel of 2018. Here's a portion of my review that ran in the Cox Ohio newspapers: Sometimes a writer gets lucky. Alafair Burke began writing her latest mystery novel "The Wife" a year ago when a few high profile celebrities like Biil Cosby were defending themselves against allegations of being sexual harassers or even sexual predators but the current
29 min
February 23, 2018 Book Nook: It's Even Worse Than You Think, by David Cay Johnston
David Cay Johnston returned to the program to discuss his latest book about Donald Trump. The first time we had him on the show Donald Trump was still just a candidate for our highest office and Johnston had written a book called "The Making of Donald Trump." The author has been covering Donald Trump since the 1980's when he was reporting on the casino industry and Donald Trump was operating one in New Jersey. The author is also an expert on taxes and he believes that if President Trump ever
51 min
February 21, 2018 Book Nook: Red Sky at Noon, by Simon Sebag Montefiore
Simon Sebag Montefiore is one of those rare writers who excels at both fiction and non-fiction. The last time I had him on the program it was for his epic history of the Romanov dynasty. The final czar, Nicholas II, died one century ago, along with his family, at the hands of Bolshevik assassins. With this centennial year underway we talked about the Romanovs for a bit as we began our conversation about Simon's new novel "Red Sky at Noon." The author explained that he likes to alternate his
29 min

About Book Nook

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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.…