Category Archives: Authors

Forrest Pritchard, author of Gaining Ground featured in Parade

By bicadmin | Published: October 18, 2013

Do family farms still matter? That’s the question taken up by ParadeI this week in their feature of Forest Pritchard, author of Gaining Ground: A Story of Farmers’ Markets, Local Food and Saving the Family Farm. Forrest Pritchard recounts his experiences on his own family farm, Smith Meadows, and how after seventeen years of both triumph and heartbreak, his business is stronger than ever. Even so, Forrest Pritchard reminds us that high-yield industrial agriculture still dominates the field. Only 1% of the country still lives on a farm, as opposed to 50% just two generation ago. Forrest Pritchard urges Americans to ask what they value about their food, and where it comes from, with hope that a new wave of farmers dedicated to sustainable agriculture can give us all better choices at the grocery store.

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Lopez Island Library Welcomes Karen Joy Fowler, author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

By bicadmin | Published: October 14, 2013
Karen Joy Fowler at the Lopez Island Library

The Lopez Island Library caught a rare opportunity to host New York Times bestselling author Karen Joy Fowler earlier this month. Read More »

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Welcome to Margot Mifflin, author of The Blue Tattoo

By bicadmin | Published: October 3, 2013
Margot Mifflin

Author, journalist, and professor: Margot Mifflin’s stories and interests take her into the realm of taboo and outsiders as she explores the stories of women and the tattoos they wear. Read More »

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Welcome Jo Robinson, Author of Eating on the Wild Side

By bicadmin | Published: September 25, 2013

Jo Robinson is a bestselling, investigative journalist who has spent the past 15 years scouring research journals for information on how we can restore vital nutrients to our fruits, vegetables, meat, eggs, and dairy products. Her new book, Eating on the Wild Side: The Missing Link to Optimum Health, extends her expertise to reclaiming the lost nutrients of fruits and vegetables. The book has received stellar reviews and has been featured in Bon Appetit, Prevention, Health, Fitness, Epicurious, Oprah’s “O”, Mother Earth News, and Redbook. Jo has also appeared on several national television programs.

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Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford Released to Advance Praise

By bicadmin | Published: September 19, 2013

Jamie Ford’s much-anticipated second novel, Songs of Willow Frost, was released this month to advance praise. Set against the backdrop of Depression-era Seattle, this historical novel is a powerful tale of a Chinese-American boy with dreams for his future, and a young woman trying to escape her haunted past and the cultural confines of her race. With many “teachable moments” embedded throughout this story of hope, forgiveness, and reaching for your dreams, Songs of Willow Frost is a wonderful book for students, and will appeal to a wide community audience.

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Biographies vs. Beach Books: Trends in All Campus Reads Selections

By bicadmin | Published: September 19, 2013

In the last decade, common reading programs have become a mainstay for library programming, literary organizations, and college campuses. The rise in First Year Experience, Freshman Reads, and All Campus Reads programs seems to correspond to the decline of core curricula in higher education — as colleges distance themselves from core curricula they find that students still need to have something in common academically. Books in common type programs on campuses have been a convenient answer to that need.

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Featured Venue: A Conversation with West Kentucky Reads!

By bicadmin | Published: September 19, 2013

Gail Robinson Butler, the coordinator for the One Book, One Campus, One Community program at West Kentucky Community and Technical College was gracious enough to offer these thoughts on her experience as an All Campus Reads organizer. Thanks Gail!

BIC: Any idea about how many campus literary events you’ve done over the years?

GRB: Over the years, WKCTC has conducted many campus literary events spanning various departments and divisions, including the library and the English Department. Those events are numerous and exciting. Many Kentucky and regional authors, such as Silas House and Bobbie Ann Mason, were brought to campus. Seven years ago, we decided to add to our literary offerings and produce a One Book, One Campus, One Community Read every other year. WKCTC has involved numerous community partners in both the planning and production of the event, including the Paducah-McCracken County Library, Paducah Public Schools, McCracken County Public Schools, McNet Library Network and more. On alternate years we produce a Campus Read, targeting English 101 students. New York Times best-selling authors David Baldacci, Jeannette Walls, Homer Hickam and Garth Stein have visited Paducah as a result of the reads.

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Feathers Author Thor Hanson Tickled By Audience

By bicadmin | Published: September 19, 2013

We recently sat down with Thor Hanson, author of Feathers: The Evolution of a Natural Miracle, and asked him about his experience at literary events.

BIC: What are some of the “teachable” moments in your latest book, Feathers, that make it work well for a literary events program, especially those for college students?

TH: Feathers works well for literary events because it draws on so many different interests. A discussion of feather colors can start with Aztec tapestries, move on to the fashion industry, touch on the physics of pigments and iridescence, and end up at a Las Vegas show, where the dancers’ costumes attract the eye in the same way as a bird’s plumage. Similarly, the aerodynamics of feathers take you from the evolution of flying dinosaurs straight through the Wright Brothers and on to bio-mimicry, the hottest new trend in engineering. One of the most rewarding aspects of teaching about feathers is seeing people’s surprise at the many ways they touch our lives.

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Christina Baker Kline’s Orphan Train Among Most Popular Book Club PIcks

By bicadmin | Published: September 13, 2013

Christina Baker Kline’s best-selling novel, Orphan Train is among the most popular book club picks in the nation, according to bookmovement.com, a website that tracks trends and provides book ideas for book clubs around the country. Orphan Train is the story of a young Irish immigrant who, as a child, is sent away from New York on a train that regularly transported unwanted and abandoned children from the East Coast to the farmlands of the Midwest. Moving between contemporary Maine and Depression-era Minnesota, Orphan Train is a powerful tale of upheaval and resilience. The novel (which is the authors fifth work of fiction) was selected as a Target book club pick, has held steady on 5 national bestseller lists, and has just gone to print for the fifth time. Orphan Train makes a terrific Common Reads Selection, and Christina is a terrific presenter.

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Thor Hanson Charms Audience at Puget Sound Bird Festival

By bicadmin | Published: September 11, 2013

Thor Hanson, author of Feather: The Evolution of a Natural Miracle, was at an event in Edmonds Park Washington, that was arranged by Books In Comon. He was the keynote speaker at the Puget Sound Bird Festival, where he delighted more than 100 participants. Feathers, which is a fascinating and thought-provoking study of the unique history behind the evolution of feathers (they date back more than 150 million years!) has won numerous awards and was described by the New York Times as “gracious, funny, persuasive, and wide ranging.” Thor Hanson’s style as a presenter is just as compelling. “We loved Thor’s presentation,” said the Environmental Education Coordinator for the City of Edmonds Park. “He is so engaging and entertaining. He had people laughing all the way through, and there was a good mix of science and amusing anecdotes for our audience. There was a very lively Q&A and many people stayed to talk with Thor after the program.”

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  • Garth Stein: A SUDDEN LIGHT