Archive for the ‘Booknotes’ Category
The Father of the Underground Railroad on BookNotes
At the start of Black History Month, we honor a towering figure in the abolitionist movement, William Still — not to be confused with the Dean of African American composers, William Grant Still. Historian at Towson University, Andrew K. Diemer, talks about his William Still biography, Vigilance.
BookNotes Review January 2023
Seasonal Work Laura Lippman One: Simple One-pan Wonders Jamie Oliver MASTER SLAVE HUSBAND WIFE An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom Ilyon Woo A Message From Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky
BookNotes honors MLK Day
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born on Tuesday, January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, GA, and in 2023, we mark MLK Day on Monday, January 16. To talk about the legacy of his words, the guest on BookNotes this month is Marilyn Nelson, award-winning poet and author or translator of more than 20 books […]
December BookNotes Review
The Jeffersonians: The Visionary Presidencies of Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe Kevin Gutzman The Tudors in Love: Passion and Politics in the Age of England’s Most Famous Dynasty Sarah Gristwood Stella Maris Cormac McCarthy A Book of Days Patti Smith
BookNotes features a winning poetry collection
Anthony Moll is the winner of the 2022 Jean Feldman Poetry Prize from the Washington Writers’ Publishing House for You Cannot Save Here. I spoke to them about this collection of poems exploring how we live when each day feels as if the world is ending.
BookNotes Review November 2022
Egypt’s Golden Couple: When Akhenaten and Nefertiti Were Gods on Earth John Coleman Darnell & Colleen Manassa Darnell The Queen: Her Life Andrew Morton The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times Michelle Obama We Are the Light Matthew Quick Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing Matthew Perry
A cautionary tale for democracy on BookNotes
The French Revolution is celebrated as a founding moment of modern representative government. But in her book Last Revolutionaries: The Conspiracy Trial of Gracchus Babeuf and the Equals Laura Mason, a teaching professor in history at Johns Hopkins University, explains how an elected government’s assault on popular democracy and social justice destroyed the republic, and […]
BookNotes Review October 2022
DEMON COPPERHEAD BARBARA KINGSOLVER LIBERATION DAY GEORGE SAUNDERS OUR MISSING HEARTS CELESTE NG THE PASSENGER CORMAC McCARTHY THE LAST CHAIR JOHN IRVING AND THERE WAS LIGHT: ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND THE AMERICAN STRUGGLE JON MEACHAM THE REVOLUTIONARY SAMUEL ADAMS STACY SCHIFF MADLY, DEEPLY THE DIARIES OF ALAN RICKMAN THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF AN ORDINARY MAN, A […]
A Violin Conspiracy on BookNotes
Brendan Slocumb is a Baltimore-Washington area violinist and teacher. He has now turned his talents to writing, and his debut novel The Violin Conspiracy has been published by Penguin Random House. As a prelude to our extended discussion in the Wheeler Room at The Enoch Pratt Free Libary on Cathedral Street on Wednesday, October 26 at […]
BookNotes Review September 2022
LUCY BY THE SEA ELIZABETH STROUT LESSONS IAN McEWAN THE MARRIAGE PORTRAIT MAGGIE O’FARRELL MARPLE: TWELVE NEW MYSTERIES VARIOUS AUTHORS