Category Archives: Books

Boom Copper by Angus Murdoch (1943. Drier and Koepel. No ISBN) In researching the history of copper mining in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula for my forthcoming novel, Kotimaa: Homeland, the tale of Finnish immigrants to the United States in the early … Continue reading →

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Phillip K. Dick (1968. Del Rey. ISBN 978-0-345-40447-3) This is not Blade Runner. Though this short novel, really more of a novella, was the basis for the character Rick Deckard (played by Harrison … Continue reading →

Miles Lord: The Maverick Judge Who Brought Corporate America to Justice by Roberta Waburn (2017. University of Minnesota. ISBN978-1-5179-0231-5) No. This is not how judges act, decide cases, or go about their business. That’s the thought that rings true after … Continue reading →

Faith Works by Jim Wallis (2000. Random House. ISBN 1-4000-6479-1) An Evangelical friend gifted this non-fiction “handbook for Christians” a year or so back. It sat on my shelf, waiting discovery, until it became one of my bedside and bathroom … Continue reading →

Big Shoulders by William Jamerson (2007. Pine Stump. ISBN 978-1-882882-12-0) The back cover jacket of this “coming of age in a CCC camp” novel reveals that the author is an award winning filmmaker (Camp Forgotten: The CCC in Michigan) so … Continue reading →

Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah (2011. St. Martin’s. ISBN 978-0312663155. This review is of the Audible version of the novel.) It’s a long way from Duluth, Minnesota to Williston, North Dakota. So, when my wife Rene’ and I decided to … Continue reading →

Across the River and into the Trees by Ernest Hemingway (1950. Scribner. ISBN 978-0-684-84464-0) Mmmm. How to begin? How about with this. After being lured into the crazy world of writing, editing, and publishing by the seductive, dynamic, and brusque … Continue reading →

The Circus at the Edge of the Earth by Charles Wilkins (1998. McLelland and Stewart. 978-0771088421) In this travelogue, memoir, and depiction of a dying art form, my Canadian friend and noted nonfiction writer, Charles “Charlie” Wilkins leaves us with … Continue reading →

My Own Words: Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Mary Hartnett, and Wendy W. Williams (2016. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-5011-4524-7) Someone gifted me this book for Christmas. It sat on my reading shelf, somewhere down in the stack, … Continue reading →

Going Coastal: An Anthology of Lake Superior Short Stories (2017. North Star Press. ISBN 978-1-68201-069-3) I have to be careful here. I’m reviewing a collection of short stories by contemporary writers (some of whom are acquaintances of mine) whose work … Continue reading →