Front Porch Book Club

Linda and Nancy share their favorite snippets from this book of short takes on parenthood. Hilarity ensues as Linda and Nancy recount the fires and near miss flooding they caused in their early parenting years.

Dr. Dawne Curry takes us on an incomparable journey through South Africa's social and political structures that set up Apartheid and led to its eventual dismantling, all the while relating it to Trevor Noah's experience. Grab your suitcases -- we're going on a trip!

His father was white. His mother was Black. Trevor Noah was "illegal" in South Africa. He recounts his experience under Apartheid, unmasking the system's brutality with candid humor. Join us as we discuss Noah's Born a Crime .

Linda interviews co-host Nancy, along with Timothy W Scholl about the writing and production of This Mortal Life Also, a play about Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Linny and Nancy dig into this biography of the courageous actions of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Hans von Dohnanyi in the German Resistance to Nazism.

Larry McDaniel, founder of Coyote Hill - a foster care provider and services agency, joins us on the Front Porch to discuss The Lincoln Highway. Larry's expertise in working with children gives him special insight into the characters in this book by Amor Towles.

We discuss The Lincoln Highway , Amor Towles' engrossing and devastating story of four boys who hope to find their futures at the end of the 1950s Lincoln Highway.

Choose to find the humor! The front porch rings with laughter as Linda and Nancy welcome Anna Lind Thomas to discuss her hilarious memoir, We'll Laugh About This Someday . Anna dishes about dating Lady Gaga’s ex and how she is giving away her book for free, sort of with her publisher's blessing.

We'll Laugh About This Someday is Anna Lind Thomas' hilarious memoir of growing up the youngest, fluffy child in a loving but eccentric family. We root for her as she goes off to college, share her dating foibles, and revel in the joy and tedium of motherhood. Along the way, tears streamed down our cheeks, as Anna shares the hard, the funny, and the good.

Children’s book author and retired psychologist Chrissi Hart joins us on the Front Porch to discuss her book, Tea with the Queen . The book takes us on a fanciful journey to England with mouse Charlie and his grandparents. The journey includes a thrilling flight on the back of Percy the goose, an encounter with a pair of corgis, and finally a meeting with the mouse queen who lives under the floor...

It's children's book month for the Front Porch. In Tea with the Queen , Charlie and his grandparents go on an exciting adventure to meet the queen. Charlie learns to problem solve and that he can rely on others. A great gift for the young children in your life.

Author Dr. Meghan Winchell discusses her book about USO hostesses during World War II. We explore how USOs supported the troops, but also struggled with issues of gender, race, and class during this tumultuous time when even the military was still segregated. Since Meghan's book is about good fun, we share lots of laughter, too!

At the height of World War II, over 3,000 USO clubs served 1 million soldiers throughout the United States. Linda and Nancy discuss Dr. Meghan Winchell’s fascinating book, Good Girls, Good Food, Good Fun: The Story of USO Hostesses during World War II . The story of the USO is told through the memories of those who volunteered and visited the USO clubs, as well as through Meghan's in-depth researc...

Looking for a dose of moral clarity? In this episode Laura Fabrycky joins us on the front porch to talk about her experience as a guide in Berlin's Bonhoeffer Haus, during the tumultuous years following the 2016 US presidential election. Laura invites us to consider how Dietrich Bonhoeffer's life serves as a model for moral decision-making and ethical thinking.

This historically-grounded memoir takes readers on an unforgettable journey as the author steeps herself in the life of German theologian and martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer, mapping a course for herself as a guide in his Berlin home and an American diplomatic spouse finding her way through politically turbulent times.

Love Jane Austen? You'll be fascinated hearing from Wendy Jones, author of Jane on the Brain. Her book dissects Austen's characters using current mind/brain research, showing how Austen was a master of realistic characterization. You'll gain a deeper fascination and understanding of everyone from Elizabeth to Emma to Anne. Along the way, you'll learn a lot about scientific discoveries and maybe ev...

Jane Austen alert! This month's book, Jane on the Brain , was a New York Times "New and Notable Selection." Wendy Jones's fun and insightful book presents how Jane Austen's characters model what we now understand to be mind/brain science. This book had Linda gushing about its smart and witty illustrations of psychological concepts using some of her favorite characters. Nancy loved the book, too --...

Author Dr. Patrice McMahon joins us on the front porch to discuss her book, The NGO Game: Post-conflict Peacebuilding in the Balkans and Beyond . This book is a front row seat to the failure of Western interests to build strong civil societies after the Balkan wars. Through public/private partnerships, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were tasked with rebuilding war-torn countries. Instead, c...

The Front Porch reaches for our back-to-school backpacks as we review, The NGO Game, a scholarly critique of non-governmental organizations in post-conflict countries. The book examines the failure of peace-building efforts in the Balkans and examines the role these organizations played.

We have a blast on the front porch talking with Mark Snyder, Jr., author of the paranormal thriller, The Legacy . Linda and Mark go way back, and Linda asks Mark how such a wonderful, generous person could write such a disturbing book! Mark describes the genesis of the book and tells us how writing the book was a cathartic experience as he worries about adverse human impacts on the health of our p...

The Legacy , by Mark Snyder, Jr., is a paranormal thriller that places humanity's future in the hands of gods who will determine whether our race deserves to survive. The book  prompts Linda and Nancy to discuss their thoughts on destiny, mission, and purpose. Find out what Linda hopes people will say at her funeral.

Linda and Nancy welcome Jennie Cole-Mossman, child and family counselor, to the front porch to discuss Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. We discuss the importance of attachment and bonding to young children and relate that to the story of Kya, abandoned by her family in the North Carolina marsh. We explore the role of community members, like Jumpin’ and Mabel, in supporting healing from trau...

Linda and Nancy discuss Delia Owen’s New York Times bestselling book, Where the Crawdads Sing . This book tells the riveting story of Kya, a young girl abandoned by her family in the North Carolina swamp, her journey to young womanhood, and her entanglement in the murder of the town’s golden boy.

In This Blessed Earth by Ted Genoways, we read about Dr. Don Wilhite, international expert on drought. In this episode, Don joins us on the front porch to tell us about the critical challenge of drought and its impact on food production. Dr. Wilhite is the founding director of the National Drought Mitigation Center and has worked around the world to help producers, regions, and countries implement...

Linda and Nancy discuss This Blessed Earth by investigative journalist Ted Genoways. This nonfiction book follows a year in the life of a Nebraska farm family and examines the social, political, emotional, economic, and environmental challenges facing the people who grow the food WE eat! The book was named one of the Smithsonian’s Ten Best Books of 2017. Linda and Nancy discuss their family's farm...