BookSpeak Network

Edward V. Bonner is a man of many passions. From his early years in the steel town of Hazelwood, Pennsylvania, Bonner has combined his love of history, literature, and education with sports. A lifelong martial artist with a specialty in Shotokan Karate, Bonner has participated in numerous tournaments across the US, operated his own school, and still instructs, primarily younger students. He has al...

Andrea van de Loo has lived a life with many experiences and transformations. In a series of short chapters, Andrea brings out her more than 80 years of human experience in " The Pressing Stones: The Healing Journey of a Nazi's Daughter ." Andrea's early life in the Netherlands during the Second World War is recounted, and in particular, that of her father. He joins the SS in a...

In a land of hard-bitten lawmen, Ed Earl Burch may be the toughest of them all. An aging, but still difficult and dangerous character, Ed Earl has worked both sides of the law. Now, he's back in the borderlands of West Texas and Northern Mexico, where a shadow of his past has again arisen. A series of grisly, straight-razor murders leads Ed Earl to believe that a man he thought he'd kill...

Two brothers are traveling from Iowa to Indiana for the funeral of their father. On the way, their reminisces paint a portrait of the man, with colors Midwest rural life might not expect. The life and times of Wilbur Rife are replete with abuse, alcoholism, exotic dancers, crime, tragedy, persistence, and love. The testament by one of his sons tells a tale of survival but also of navigating life i...

In this personal memoir, Eric Gnezda tells of his passions: music, running, and service to others. His life journey has been one with the expected twists and turns, joys, heartaches, and all in between. Through these experiences, Eric discovers life's true meaning and provides hope for a world with renewed humanity and true empathy. An award-winning singer and songwriter, Eric is the creator...

Detective Oliver Tucker is dead...but he's not done solving crimes, including his own murder. In the first of Tj O'Connor's Dead Detective series, "Tuck" must navigate the afterlife to help his widow, Professor Angela Tucker, and their dog Hercule find his killer and solve a deeper mystery. Gold coins, mobsters, a psychotic hitman, and a possible Civil War burial ground ar...

Diana Long is a widow facing middle age, and has rented out her East Hampton home to boarders. Needless to say, the parade of tenants that passes through at times reads like a Rogue's Gallery, with characters, incidents, and the occasional dog who make Diana's home their own...temporarily.  In Three Rooms, Shared Bath: A Landlady in the Hamptons, Eileen Obser takes the reader in Diana&ap...

Robert "R.B." Swift has marked a half-century of journalism, best known for his coverage of the State House in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He is the author of three books on Colonial American History, including  Life, Liberty and Death on the Appalachian Frontier , released by Mastof Press in 2024. Speaking with host Dr. Lawrence Knorr, Swift discusses his interest in history, his journali...

Gerri Almand has entertained and regaled readers over the past several years with her tales of RV travel, through  The Reluctant RV Wife, Home is Where the RV Is,  and  Running from COVID in our RV Cocoon.   Health issues, however, prompted Gerri and her husband to cut back their "Life on the Road" and move into an Over-55 community in the Eugene, Oregon area. From the Brown Posey Press...

24th Century New Earth is a world ravaged by war, climate change, and factions. Within these are the haves and the have-nots. One of the latter, Kat Wallace, escapes slavers to find herself in the island kingdom of Bosch, where piracy is the game and the illicit "glitter" drives the economy.  Motivated by revenge, Kat seeks to join the Pirate Force, but her plans may well be derailed by...

"Who is my father?" The question has haunted Lydia Hamilton since she was five. A mixed-race girl growing up in early 19th-century Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Lydia navigates her youth, her marriage, and eventual separation from Jacob Smith, to her dual role as housekeeper and business manager for an attorney named Thaddeus Stevens.  From the Heart of Lydia is her story, available on the L...

Dr. John LaCasse returns to the Sunbury Press Books Show to discuss quantum physics, science, spirituality, and philosophy, along with a few light-hearted sidetracks. His new book, Fight for the Quantum: Essays on Spirituality and Science, is a collection of takes, described as a lively polemic that examines the "hard problem" of consciousness--why physical states give rise to subject ex...

John P. Deeben is a historian, government archivist, and genealogist with a passion for Civil War history. Currently a reference archivist and Subject Matter Expert (SME) for Early American Records at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, DC, Deeben provides research assistance for military records from the Revolutionary War through the early 20th century.  A frequent lec...

In this episode of "The History Stacks," Col. Terrence W. Beltz discusses his love of the subject from his youth (which included dragging his parents to Civil War battlefields such as Gettysburg). This extended into Beltz's career with the US Army, from which he retired with the rank of colonel, and he also served with the Virginia Housing Development Authority in Richmond. Beltz re...

The roots of rock n' roll run deep in the blues, soul, R&B, and gospel music. Undoubtedly, one of the hubs is Jackson, Mississippi. Jacktown USA: The Capital City of American Music  chronicles the history of the music and profiles several of the artists who exemplify its spirit. Included in this book are stories, anecdotes, and especially photographs that tell the tales of the music, the...

In a tale described as " Fargo  meets Miss Marple," Ginny Fite brings her latest work,  Mrs. Goodman's First Murder to the Milford House Press imprint. A darkly comic twist on the murder mystery genre, an amateur sleuth investigates crime in a small town, where no one is an angel, everyone has an agenda, and fate deals from the bottom of the deck. Ginny Fite has written widely acros...

Nina has grown up in a family haunted by its past; generations of misfortune and untimely deaths have led Nina to believe her family may be cursed. While writing a novel, Nina has discovered her descendent, Elspet Bruce was accused of witchcraft in the 18th century. Fiction appears to become fantasy, bordered on reality. Nina passes into the spiritual realms, to make contact with Elspet and to bre...

Dr. Melvin Donalson's journey from the American South of the 1950s, across the US and the world, is a remarkable tale of finding oneself. Dream Warrior: Passages of a Creative Scholar reveals a Black man's artistic and educational journey.  Speaking with Sunbury Press Books Show host Lawrence Knorr, Donalson discusses the difficulties of racism and prejudice in his native Georgia and ear...

Ruby Dee Philippa has led many lives and careers in one, and she is still creating. In this episode, Ruby discusses her three-volume series, Bag of Tricks: Mixed Stories of Life as a San Francisco Punk in the early 80s, on Earth Island Books . Ruby's recollections of the Bay Area during the heyday of punk and hardcore, the music of Dead Kennedys, X, 7 Seconds, Intensified Chaos, Tragic Mulatt...

Ronald Rand should be a person who requires no introduction. A US Cultural Ambassador, Rand has performed for 25 years as Harold Clurman in his solo play, Let It Be Art! in dozens of countries worldwide.  The Marsh in May features Rand's poetry and paintings on the Lucky Shoe Press imprint. The journey through these writings and artworks is described as transformative, with odes to Thomas Wol...

Statistics, numbers, figures, sports, and history have all been a part of Dr. Paul Semendinger's life. In this episode of "The History Stacks," Semendinger outlines the first of a three-volume series, West Point at Gettysburg.  Speaking with Dr. Lawrence Knorr, Semendinger discusses the ideas that sparked this series. The three volumes will, in alphabetical order, profile the 154 me...

Sydney Hayes leads a double life. An Army counterintelligence officer, Sydney masquerades as a nurse, with no one in her family aware, apart from her Aunt Gina, who has her own expertise, and can't resist blowing things up! Hometown Murder opens the series. Recovering from injuries suffered in a failed mission, Sydney returns home to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and immediately finds herself inv...

Sixteen years after a bloody civil war in which King and Queen Nuada and their family were massacred,   the usurper, King Brés dé Morrigan, reigns. Under his rule, all druids and magic were exterminated, and he presides over a kingdom of tyrannical royals, downtrodden Kingdomers, secret druid societies, and the children of the nobles.  The uneasy peace in Éiliria is broken when tribal warriors and...

Tataboline "Ta" Enos joins the Sunbury Press Books Show to discuss her new book,  Proudly Made: A Story of Reinvention in the Big Woods and Small Towns of the Pennsylvania Wilds. Founder and CEO of a regional nonprofit, Enos is at the forefront of revitalizing the rural Pennsylvania Wilds region through what she describes as intentional outdoor recreation development. A fourth-generation...

Stephanie Peterson is the author of the long-running Welcome to Keystone series, which brings readers to the Southern California town of the same name. Drawing on her adolescent experiences, as well as her years as a high school English teacher, Peterson chronicles the lives of the Lawrence and Riches families. In detailed and timely scenes, we learn of family life, local politics, and the drama o...