Tagged: book reviews

Today we speak by phone with Kurt Anderson, the widely acclaimed writer whose novels include "Heyday" and "Turn of the Century," among other books. Andersen writes for television, film, and the stage, contributes to Vanity Fair, and hosts the PRI program Studio 360 (which is heard every Thursday at 8pm on Public Radio 89.5-1 KWGS).

On this edition of StudioTulsa, Nancy Pearl, our longtime book expert and the author of four "Book Lust" volumes of recommended reading --- and now, also, the curator of Amazon.com's new series of reprints of classic, out-of-print books --- offers her summer reading list. (Summer arrives, officially, on Wednesday the 20th!) Here is Nancy's list:

"A Partial History of Lost Causes" by Jennifer Dubois

"After Life" by Rhian Ellis

"The Forgotten Waltz" by Anne Enright

"Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk" by Ben Fountain

"The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green

On today's show, we speak with the gifted Alaskan writer Eowyn Ivey, whose first novel, "The Snow Child" (Reagan Arthur Books), appeared earlier this year to international acclaim. (And yes, in case you're wondering, Eowyn's mother did name her after a character in Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings.") As the following rave review from a critic at Amazon.com has noted: "In her haunting, evocative debut, Eowyn Ivey stakes her claim on a Russian fairy tale, daring the reader --- and the characters --- to be lulled into thinking they know the ending.

[Aired on Friday, March 2nd.] Book reviewer Nancy Pearl joins us to talk about the best new books of 2012 and a few overlooked gems from the past couple of years. Pearl is the author of six highly regarded "books about books" in her Book Lust series, and she's embarking as the series editor for "Book Lust Discoveries," which will revive twelve classic, long-out-of-print titles that are worth a fresh read. The series gets underway in April with Merle Miller's "A Gay and Melancholy Sound."

Here's Nancy's latest picks: