John Williams

The WGN Radio Book Club will come to order…

John Williams (weekdays 10am-2pm, including The Noon Business Lunch, plus the Mincing Rascals podcast)

One Summer, America 1927, by Bill Bryson (Anchor Books)
If Bryson writes it, I will read it. This one came out in 2014 – where was I! – and chronicles May to September of that year in the US. Stars of baseball (Ruth), aviation (Lindbergh), letters (Lewis) – plus booze, entertainment and culture and zip through this “zany” year. It’s the epitome of fun history with dark clouds on the horizon.

The Bill of Rights – The Fight to Secure America’s Liberties, by Carol Berkin (Simon and Schuster Paperbacks)
Shouldn’t everyone be reading this? It wasn’t until 15 years after Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence that our founding fathers got around to enshrining the first ten amendments that we most identify with as Americans. Speech, religion, guns, fairness in the courts and so on. If not this whole book – it’s just a short 215 pages, including brief biographies of the central players – then may I suggest the original big ten itself. Each amendment runs but one sentence – a blessing and a curse!

The Year of Living Constitutionally, A J Jacobs (Crown)
See above. Jacobs takes a year living by the rules and mores of American life in 1776, all the while teasing and testing the rules we are governed by. He wears a tricorn hat for a year. His poor wife.

Bob Kessler (news)

All the Water in the World (2025)  Eiren Caffal 
A story both terrifying and life affirming. Humans (at least some) are still alive in a world battered by extreme climate disasters in the near future. But will their humanity survive?  This book examines that, while also showing what happens when science, modern medical care, culture, wildlife and many more things currently at risk are decimated.

The Phoenix Pencil Company (2025)  Allison King
A thoughtful, innovative story about past lives, present technology, the way culture and family evolve during governmental upheaval abroad, and how to best preserve memories (or allow them to die). It’s told as a series of journal entries by characters old and young and leaves us all wondering about the legacy we might leave behind and the parts we might not want to.

The Woodchipper (2026) Joe Ollmann
A really excellent series of engaging short stories told in graphic novel form. They’re all everyday people in what start out as fairly ordinary circumstances but from there it all tends to unravel. While their lives become unusual, it examines the challenges and compromises in today’s modern world, in a way only this form of writing (and drawing) can.

Space is the Place (1997) John F. Szwed
I saw Sun Ra’s Arkestra perform on David Sanborn’s ‘Night Music’ on TV in the late 80s when I was in high school. I didn’t really understand what I was seeing and hearing but I knew I loved it. Periodically since then I’ve listened to his recordings and get that same feeling.
I’ve had this book for years but didn’t read it until I was inspired after seeing the new American Masters documentary on PBS this year (which features the author). Both serve as essential companions to the unusual and highly creative life, music and philosophy of Sun Ra.

Steve Alexander (agribusiness reporter)

Project Hail Mary (2021) Novel
I know this has been reviewed to death, but I will quickly add this: If you live in fear of the sun burning out and all creatures on Earth suffering agonizing, miserable deaths, you may want to skip this one. 
The movie sticks very closely to the book, but the audiobook is much better with more humor and great scientific detail of how things unfold.  Even if you’ve seen the movie, I recommend the audiobook. 

Theo of Golden (2025) Novel
A mysterious elderly man going only by the name Theo moves from NYC to a city somewhere in the South called Golden. He begins buying a local artist’s portraits of townspeople that decorate the walls of a coffee shop. He then arranges to meet individually with the subjects of the portraits and presents them with the portraits as gifts. This pulls back the curtains on each of their lives, and we gradually learn who Theo is and what drives him to not only give away these portraits, but many other random acts of kindness and philanthropy in Golden. And, near the end, we learn the reason he chose Golden. It’s a feel-good, easy to read story with a satisfying ending, maybe the most satisfying ending to a fictional tale since “Six Feet Under” in 2005 on HBO.

Steve Bertrand (host of Steve Bertrand on Books podcast, recently retired after over 40 years as a WGN Radio news anchor and reporter)

Burn Down Master’s House (2026) Clay Cane
Cane has written a pretty remarkable book in a personal, novel way. It is a fictional account of a variety moments of resistance by several separate slaves  in the days before the Civil War. He fictionalizes the stories in one strand that forms its own narrative. As a descendant of slaves, he also uses the names of some of his ancestors as characters. But there’s more here than 19th century men and woman freeing themselves of their changes. Burn Down Master’s House is calling on us to unchain ourselves as well.

The Keeper (2026) Tana French
Irish writer Tana French wraps up her Cal Hooper Series with The Keeper. Hooper is a retired Chicago police detective who settles into life in small town Ireland. It’s not as easy as it sounds.   

Sara Tieman (promotions & public relations manager emeritus and station book club international correspondent)

This Book Made Me Think of You (2026) – Libby Page
This is an absolute treasure of a book and will undoubtedly be amongst my top 10 selections for 2026. The book follows a year in the life of Tilly Nightingale who is grieving the death of her husband Joe. In January, Tilly receives a phone call from Alfie, the owner of a local bookshop, and is surprised to hear that she has a book waiting for her. Tilly is even more surprised that the book was ordered by her late husband. In all, there are a dozen books waiting for her – one for every month of the year, individually wrapped by the shop and each containing a letter to Tilly from Joe. This book handles grief in the most beautiful, poignant way as Tilly learns to live without her husband. Most of all, it speaks to the transformative nature of books and the ways in which reading can be a balm for the soul. If you love getting lost in a book, read this one and keep the tissues handy. 

They Called Us Enemy (2019) – George Takei (with Justin Eisenger, Steven Scott and Harmony Becker)
Presented as a graphic novel, this is actor George Takei’s memoir recounting his childhood and the years he spent living with his family in an American concentration camp during World War II and the aftermath of that time, including Takei’s advocacy work. Assets frozen and their business seized, the family is forced from their California home after an Executive Order is signed by president Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1942 authorizing the removal of those deemed a threat to national security, namely Japanese Americans. Four-year-old Takei and his family are one of 120,000 to live behind barbed wire in rudimentary structures with communal bathrooms and a mess hall as they are moved between camps in rural California and Arkansas. It’s gripping, harrowing, and horrifying and important look into American history and one I wasn’t taught in school, only learning about later in life on a visit to Bainbridge Island outside Seattle. 

Hekate The Witch (2025) – Nikita Gill
I don’t read much poetry, but in 2021, when I first learned of Irish-Indian poet Nikita Gill, I couldn’t get enough and read three of her books. My favorite of her works is Where Hope Comes From: Poems of Resilience, Healing and Light (2021). Hekate The Witch is Gill’s first novel written in verse and is a retelling of the origin story and life of Hekate, the Greek goddess of magic and the underworld. She is just a young girl when her father, an old Titan ruler, is defeated in a war against the Gods of Olympia. Hekate and her mother Asteria are forced to flee their home and beg for refuge in the Underworld, but Styx and Hades only accept Hekate. The novel is Hekate’s search to come to reconcile her past and forge a future for herself. If you’re a fan of mythology or are just looking for something different, this title is the one for you. Also, this is the first in what will be a three book series of Goddesses of the Underworld with Styx The River expected to be released in September. 

Connell McShane, anchor of ‘NewsNation Live with Connell McShane,’ joins John Williams to talk about the latest on the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, and if there is going to be a resolution to the war in Iran.

Enjoy this edition of “The Best of Speed Jokes.” What was your favorite joke of the week? Keep sending your jokes to [email protected]!

Ryan Easter, Executive Manager at Bob Jass Chevrolet in Elburn, joins John Williams to talk about their family-owned dealership, how business has been going in the rapidly-growing area, the strength of working in a small town, if it’s necessary to keep as many cars on the lot, the benefits of being in Kane County, his forecast for EV’s, and the hottest selling vehicles at the dealership right now.

Nicholas Sikora, Chief of Police, Elburn Police Department, joins John Williams to talk about his career in law enforcement, the importance of community policing, the great support they receive from the people in Elburn, what it’s like being the chief of police in Elburn, and the biggest challenge of running the police force right now.

Cassy Kutilek, Curator of Large Mammals and Carnivores, Lincoln Park Zoo, joins John Williams to talk about the zoo welcoming Hazina, a 6-week old eastern black rhinoceros!

Illinois Senate GOP Leader John Curran joins John Williams to talk about the suspect in the killing of a CPD officer being out on electric monitoring. Senator Curran explains that the prior to the implementation of the SAFE-T Act, the suspect in the shooting would likely have been detained for his previous crimes. Leader Curran also talks about the Supreme Court decision on voting rights and what it means for redistricting in Illinois.

It’s time once again for our Best of the Midwest feature for 2026! Are you trying to come up with some quick getaway ideas that are only a quick trip from the Chicago area? Well, John Williams has some great recommendations for your trip! Today, we are treated to another visit from the always delightful Stephanie Klett, President and CEO, Visit Lake Geneva! Stephanie tells John about the unique golfing experiences in Lake Geneva, and to preview some of the highlights they having coming up this summer including Liberty on the Lake. Also, worms!

John Williams brings you another round of Speed Jokes. Keep sending yours to [email protected].

The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, Jon Hansen of WGN Radio and Block Club Chicago, and Austin Berg, Executive Director of the Chicago Policy Center and author of the The Last Ward on Substack. The Rascals start this week’s podcast talking about the fatal shooting of Chicago police officer John Bartholomew. The suspect in the shooting, Alphanso Talley, had a long criminal record. Is the implementation of the SAFE-T act a reason that one officer is dead an another is critically injured? This week, a man attempted to shoot members of the Trump administration at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Is this a reason for President Trump to build a ballroom? Eric thinks the whole event should be canceled. Jon believes the left has a political violence problem. Do they? The Rascals have a spirited debate. Comedian Jimmy Kimmel told some jokes at the expense of Donald Trump a couple of days ahead of the dinner and now some are calling for him to be fired. Should he be fired for telling Trump jokes? Also this week, former FBI Director James Comey was indicted over a photo he posted on Instagram of seashells arranged to form the message “86 47” on a beach. Officials said the photo threatened President Donald Trump. Is this indictment anything? And finally, it’s time for red light, yellow light, green light! What are the Rascals recommending (or not recommending) this week.