Christina Baker Kline knits together the past and present. Most of us have no idea about the real orphan trains, and their fascinating historical origins. In a recent TV interview, Christina Baker Kline describes how children were taken from their homes to be transported thousands of miles to new homes in the midwest. She reveals interesting details (redheaded children were banned from the orphan trains for more than a decade!) and describes her research process.
Chico State’s 2013-14 Biggest Book Club in the North State selection was on the theme of “Reading Water.” They chose Robert Glennon’s Unquenchable: America’s Water Crisis and What To Do About It. In an effort to promote their event, Chico State created this wonderful video describing both the benefits of the Community Reading Program in general, and their exciting programming for Glennon’s thought-provoking book. Check out the history of the common reads philosophy, and see our own Books In Common website featured!
One Book, One Community of Monroe will take a trip south next year, when the community of Monroe, MI will read The Distance Between Us together.
Christina Baker Kline is a novelist, nonfiction writer and editor. In addition to Orphan Train, her novels include Bird in Hand, The Way Life Should Be, Desire Lines and Sweet Water. She served as Writer-in-Residence at Fordham University from 2007 to 2011 and was the on-staff editor and writing coach at the social networking site SheWrites.com. She lives in Montclair, New […]
Welcome Mardi Jo Link, whose funny and engaging, memoir Bootstrapper: From Broke to Badass on a Northern Michigan Farm was named a Michigan Notable Book, a Great Lakes Great Read, and also spent several months on the Heartland Bestseller List. Mardi Link was born in Detroit and grew up in the state’s southeastern suburbs, spending […]
Calling it a “thoroughly enjoyable nail biter,” The Wall Street Journal recently featured Koethi Zan’s The Never List. “I’m very interested in trauma and recovery,” Koethi said, “The main animating force for this book is that I wanted a crime thriller that was also a trauma-recovery memoir. The mystery that [Sarah] had to solve was the […]
Lawyer-turned-novelist Tara Conklin explores slavery and the question of justice in her debut novel, The House Girl. Conklin worked as a litigator in the New York and London offices of a major corporate law firm, but now devotes her time to writing fiction. She received her BA in history from Yale University, a JD from […]
Splendid Table, NPR’s culinary culture and lifestyle program, has just released their list of 6 food books for summer reading – – and Forrest Pritchard’s Gaining Ground: A Story of Farmers’ Markets, Local Food and Saving the Family Farm was at the top! Listen to Russ Parson, food editor and columnist at the Los Angeles […]
