Book Nook

By Vick MickunasArts Books

Book Nook episodes

December 22, 2016 Book Nook: The Gentleman from Japan, by James Church
James Church is a man of mysteries. The man known as James Church (it is a pseudonym) is the author of a series of mystery novels that feature the North Korean security officer Inspector O. The author of these books is clearly familiar with North Korea, spycraft, and the perils of espionage. The actual identity of the man who writes under the pen name of James Church remains clouded in a fog that is as thick as the one which obscures the workings of the regime that runs North Korea. Fortunately
29 min
December 13, 2016 Book Nook: The Independent Farmstead, by Shawn and Beth Dougherty
Some people assume that I know a lot about farming because I'm from Iowa. I don't. I'm a city boy and for me cattle and cornfields were mostly just a passing blur as my parents sped along the interstate highway. Years later I conducted a lot of market research for the agricultural industry. I interviewed hundreds of farmers. That experience helped me to become a better interviewer but the things I learned about farming were mostly related to the way agriculture is now being conducted in America
51 min
December 09, 2016 Book Nook: Truevine - Two Brothers, a Kidnapping, and a Mother's Quest, by Beth Macy
Beth Macy was scrolling through her Facebook feed when she saw the photo. It was a picture that had been taken nearly a century ago, a photograph of two brothers. Macy recognized them. They were the Muse Brothers, George and Willie. Over a century ago the brothers had been taken away from their home and family and then were made to perform as freaks in a circus sideshow. Macy had first become aware of the bizarre tale of the Muses when she had been a newspaper reporter in Roanoke, Virginia. She
52 min
December 07, 2016 Book Nook: IQ, by Joe Ide
On occasion I like to ask authors for tips on books that they have enjoyed recently. The other day I asked Lee Child for some reading suggestions. He said he always can count on John Sandford and Michael Connelly to provide him with entertaining reads. Then he suggested that I should read "The Drifter," a debut novel by Nicholas Petrie. I just finished reading it and I enjoyed it. Petrie's protagonist is a bit like Lee Child's Jack Reacher. I have interviewed John Sandford twice during 2016. In
29 min
December 01, 2016 Book Nook: Night School, by Lee Child
"Night School" is the latest Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child. Child is one of the hottest authors on the planet. This book went straight to #1 in the United Kingdom and the USA. Child's many fans know what they will be getting in every book; non-stop, seat of our pants, relentless thrills and entertainment. This latest novel is actually a prequel. It is a massive flashback to Reacher's last days as an elite military policeman. It is set in the mid 1990's and Reacher is trying to locate a
29 min
November 29, 2016 Book Nook: The Summer That Melted Everything, by Tiffany McDaniel
Tiffany McDaniel has spent years honing her writing craft. She has had to focus with steely determination upon that most difficult of objectives; to see her work being published. Her novel "The Summer That Melted Everything" was recently issued by Saint Martin's Press. This is a work of literary fiction. That is a term that is frequently abused but not in this case. What makes McDaniel's novel so striking is her originality-the language she employs is so vivid that it tumbles and spins across
29 min
November 17, 2016 Book Nook: Nagasaki - Life After Nuclear War, by Susan Southard
71 years ago the United States of America made the top secret decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan. The first bomb exploded above the Japanese city of Hiroshima. A short time later a second bomb was detonated over the city of Nagasaki. World War Two ended soon thereafter as Japan surrendered. The 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki passed in August, 2015. At that time I spoke to Susan Southard about her book "Nagasaki - Life After Nuclear War." Southard conducted extensive
51 min
November 14, 2016 Book Nook: The Trespasser, by Tana French and Catwise, by Pam Johnson-Bennett
In this Book Nook edition we present two different authors presenting two very different books. Call it a Book Nook double header. Tana French returned to the program to discuss her latest psychological thriller featuring the Dublin Murder Squad. French is considered to be the First Lady of Irish Crime and this series has become immensely popular. Each book features different investigators and in "The Trespasser" we find a pair of detectives who have been called in to examine what seems to be a
53 min
November 11, 2016 Book Nook: Children of the New World, by Alexander Weinstein
"Children of the New World" by Alexander Weinstein is a collection of short stories that will take readers into some incredibly bizarre places. These futuristic tales will make you ponder the price that we pay for all this technology. One comes away wondering: are we the masters of this technology? Or, are we actually the slaves of it? These alternative worlds that Weinstein imagines can be extremely shocking but fortunately he leavens each tale with just enough humor that as we are gasping we
29 min
November 07, 2016 Book Nook: Love You Dead, by Peter James
Peter James returned to the program to talk about his latest crime novel in his series featuring the English cop Roy Grace. In this latest offering, "Love Me Dead," Roy is trying to track down a woman who has been marrying rich men and then killing them. This Black Widow character has been trolling the internet searching for her victims. She's so busy that as the book opens she is preparing to kill one husband while she is already weaving her web to trap the next one. She also has a thing for
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.…