Category Archives: Uncategorized

MM: Where do you hang your hat, the place you call home? How is that location connected to Finnish American or Finnish culture, heritage, and history? SS: I don’t actually remember being born, but I (never) “grew up” in Palo … Continue reading →

                                    INTERVIEW OF NATALIE SALMINEN RUDE MM: Your last name, Salminen, is definitely Finnish. NR: My Finnish heritage stems from my father. My great-grandfather, Alfred, moved from Vaasa, Finland to Toronto in 1903. He fled Finland as a young husband … Continue reading →

Strangers in a Strange Land by John B. Simon (2019. Hamilton. ISBN 978-0-7618-7149-1) I had never heard of this author or this title until I found myself invited to be part of a panel at this year’s Finn Fest in my … Continue reading →

The Girl from Venice by Martin Cruz Smith (2017. Audible. ISBN 978-1439140246) So, this was another book I “cheated” on as a book club assignment. I listened to most of this while walking the track at the local YMCA and finished … Continue reading →

Found on Goodreads: “INCREDIBLE book. As a Minnesota gal with Finnish ancestry and relatives from Michigan that moved to Minnesota. It felt as though this could have been one of my ancestors. Beautiful storytelling and realistic representations of life during … Continue reading →

The Kids Are Gonna Ask by Gretchen Anthony (2020. Park Row. ISBN 978-0-7783-0874-4) My title says it all. I did not toss this novel in the trash as I did one of John Irving’s worst. I did not stop reading … Continue reading →

Pedaling on Purpose by Ken Rogers and Steve Anderson (2008. Inspirit. ISBN 978-1-60461-634-7) Another “read” loaned to me by my friend, Ronaldo. It’s actually not his book but one he borrowed from mutual friends. The book is personally signed to those … Continue reading →

C,S,N,&Y by David Browne (2019. Hachette. ISBN 978-0306922633) They are my Beatles. And, in some ways, the rise and fall of this great American band, the band I grew up listening to through covers of their best stuff played by my … Continue reading →

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tocarzcak (2019. Penguin (Audible) ISBN   978-0525541349) My book club, the Greater Mesabi Men’s Book Club of Hibbing, Minnesota, is located over an hour from my rural NE Minnesota home. Some … Continue reading →

(Kid Cann (middle figure) the man behind the killing of Walter W. Liggett and the inspiration for Muckraker: A Novel Noir) If you are willing to take a slight risk, pre-order my novel, Muckraker, by clicking on the “Buy Stuff” … Continue reading →