BookSpeak Network

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...

The summer of 1859 serves as a crossroads for three women of divergent lives, and a hotel in Bedford, Pennsylvania is the backdrop for a pivotal time in American history. Kris Schaale (Shaw-Lee) debuts on the Catamount Press imprint with Summer of Meteors. At the luxurious Bedford Springs Hotel, Harriet Lane, a niece of President James Buchanan, Anne McCoy, a Quaker widow, and Juba, an enslaved nu...

Joshua Penrod brings late 19th Century Pennsylvania to life in These Restless Hills . It is the time of the Gilded Age, however, it is anything but that for most of the residents in and around the city of Johnstown in 1889.  Thomas Houghton, a Civil War veteran who has not completely left the conflict behind is an inspector and enforcer for the infamous Coal & Iron Police, who follow the biddi...

Joe Farley's short stories, poems and novellas dip into the supernatural, the paranormal and the strange. His new collection,  Beware the Cartoonist , on Alien Buddha Press is a series of tales spanning back several years.  In this episode, Joe returns to discuss these works, including the title piece, and offers insights into his inspirations and writing style.  His previous collections incl...

Mike Stack was born into a Philadelphia political family, and followed his father and grandfather into the "Ring of Fire." After a series of defeats, Stack served in the Pennsylvania Senate, and later as Lieutenant Governor from 2015-19. In his new book,  City of Brotherly Blood: My Political Adventure of Power, Corruption and Redemption in Philadelphia,  Stack pulls no punches in his an...

The product of an eight-year-long investigation, Failure Factory: How Baltimore City Public Schools Deprive Taxpayers and Students of a Future examines how one of the most highly-funded school systems in the US has failed not only its students, but taxpayers as well. In 2024, despite a budget of $1.7 billion, only 10 percent of Baltimore City students tested as proficient in mathematics.  Through...

Football has ingrained itself into Pennsylvania's history since the late 19th century, and at the high school level, one program stands out for its enduring success. Established in 1962, the Southern Columbia Tigers, based in Catawissa, PA have seen hard times in its past which nearly caused its end. Since 1979, however, there has been one head coach, Jim Roth--more than 500 regular season vi...

The Mortal Guardians are preparing for war, but for Raven Naelo, this battle is personal. A necromancer has taken a fellow Guardian captive, and stolen the corpse of Raven's sister.  Raven's rescue mission is underway, but it's going wrong. In a world where allies are scarce and the enemy is at hand, Raven's magic has now become erratic, even dangerous.  Raven must decide wheth...

A bomb rips apart the home of an older couple in Bloomington, Illinois during an otherwise peaceful summer evening. The target: a Jewish couple who found love in the Sobibor concentration camp during World War II. Motivated by antisemitism at a time when the American Nazi Party challenged the US Supreme Court, the perpetrator, Michael undergoes an experience and possibly, a transformation. In &quo...

On this edition of "The History Stacks," Dr. Lawrence Knorr invites Brady Crytzer to discuss the American Revolution and his quest to not only keep this part of history alive, but to make it accessible for those interested. A professor of history at Robert Morris University, Crytzer is an Associate Editor of the Journal of the American Revolution , and winner of the 2023 Judge Robert K....

Hilary Hauck has created detailed, researched, and yet thoughtful novels that take the reader to parts of the world they may have only read about or seen in films. She has firsthand experience; self-described as an "Italian-speaking Brit living in the US," Hilary has traveled throughout the world and lived in Italy for twelve years. Her writing encompasses historical fiction, adventure,...

In a life of service, Rev. Dr. Reginald Davis feels a nation's problems must be solved by one and all, and his belief that through the Word of God this can be attained. "We Need Each Other--To Transform America--The Call for Unity to Solve Our National Problems Together," from the Scriptoria Press imprint, examines what Dr. Davis has experienced, a program he takes to chruches, univ...

Steven Richard Smith has lived through several "careers," all which have led to literature, both as an author and a teacher. A former Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agent in the 1990's in California, Smith returned to Ohio to seek his twin passions. Smith earned his Master of Arts in English from the University of Akron. He created the game  Sentence Smackdown to teach gram...

"What happens when the saviors of the world are falling apart at the seams?" Fifteen years ago, six college housemates unwittingly opened a portal which unleashed monsters upon the world. Of the six, only Charlie touched this portal, and has paid the price, in the loss of his family. In addition, his friends' memories of the incident were erased. Now the Nowhere Men are coming home,...

Michael L. Hawley has become an authority on the mass murderer known as Jack the Ripper, and his contributions have brought us closer to finding out his true identity. He is the author of several books on the subject and related matters, which you may find at his author page . His titles include  Jack the Ripper Suspect Dr. Francis Tumblety,  and  The Watchmaker Revelations  series. Hawley write b...