Pleasant Hills author Leckenby publishes Thanksgiving children’s book
For Pleasant Hills mother-daughter duo Nicole Leckenby and Mary Dunn, there is something new to be thankful for this holiday season. As of Nov. 1, Leckenby has been celebrating the Thanksgiving season with the release of her and Dunn’s newest book, “It’s Turkey Lurkey Time.” Here, Leckenby has continued to...
Monroeville native’s debut book tops Amazon charts
When Monroeville native Kelley McNeil was driving along a rural road with her daughter in the car, she had an idea pop into her head. “I thought what if we got into an accident and when we woke up, (my daughter) had disappeared,” she said. McNeil would explore that idea...
Jonathan Karl’s ‘Betrayal’ unearths new details about Trump’s attack on democracyVideo
The bountiful genre of Donald Trump books now has another entry, courtesy of Jonathan Karl. As the chief Washington correspondent for ABC News, he’s covered Trump since the start of his presidential campaign. Now he assesses the wreckage of the presidency in ” Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump...
11 books to add to your reading list this month
While the frenzy of hot books fall has begun to subside, there are still a great many books to look forward to in November, the true start of cozy season. Most anticipated publications this coming month include an iconic Chinese artist’s political memoir; provocative thoughts on feminism from an art...
Paul Newman memoir left unpublished to come out next year
NEW YORK — A memoir Paul Newman left unpublished in his lifetime will come out next fall. Publisher Alfred A. Knopf announced Wednesday that the book, currently untitled, will include Newman’s thoughts on “acting, directing, boyhood, family, fame, Hollywood, Broadway, love, his first marriage, his 50-year marriage to Joanne Woodward,...
Brad Raffensperger book details Trump’s pressure to alter Georgia electionVideo
ATLANTA — Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s secretary of state, was sitting at his kitchen table with his wife when President Donald Trump called with an urgent demand: Change the election results. Details of that famous call in January are the centerpiece of Raffensperger’s book published Tuesday, “Integrity Counts.” Raffensperger refused Trump...
U.S. files antitrust suit to stop major book publisher merger
The Justice Department is suing to block a $2.2 billion book publishing deal that would have reshaped the industry, saying consolidation would hurt authors and, ultimately, readers. German media giant Bertelsmann’s Penguin Random House, already the largest American publisher, wants to buy New York-based Simon & Schuster, whose authors include...
Isaly’s chipped ham, Klondikes celebrated in new historical book
Is there a Western Pennsylvanian who hasn’t eaten Isaly’s chipped chopped ham or sung along to the advertising jingle, “What would you do for a Klondike bar?” Now they can learn how Isaly’s grew from horse-drawn milk wagons to become the world’s largest dairy storechain in the Senator John Heinz...
Lower Burrell writer’s book spotlights 30 Alle-Kiski communities past and present
From Aluminum City Terrace to Yellow Dog Village, there’s a story behind every little town in the Alle-Kiski Valley. Writer George Guido of Lower Burrell has collected many of them in his new book, “Neighborhoods of the Alle-Kiski Valley: 30 Communities Full of Unique History.” He’ll be selling copies from...
Fiona Hill, a nobody to Trump and Putin, saw into them both
Vladimir Putin paid scant attention to Fiona Hill, a preeminent U.S. expert on Russia, when she was seated next to him at dinners. Putin’s people placed her there by design, choosing a “nondescript woman,” as she put it, so the Russian president would have no competition for attention. Fluent in...
Tanzanian Abdulrazak Gurnah awarded Nobel literature prize
STOCKHOLM — U.K.-based Tanzanian writer Abdulrazak Gurnah, whose experience of crossing continents and cultures has fed his novels about the impact of migration on individuals and societies, won the Nobel Prize for Literature on Thursday. The Swedish Academy said the award was in recognition of Gurnah’s “uncompromising and compassionate penetration...
Dave Grohl’s ‘Storyteller’ book reveals long list of famous friends
It’s hard to think of a current musician so universally accepted into the rock ‘n’ roll fraternity as Dave Grohl. The Foo Fighters frontman dines regularly with Paul McCartney. He wrote and recorded a pandemic-era song with Mick Jagger. Joan Jett read bedtime stories to his daughters. He formed a...
Pivotal bridge from Winnie the Pooh series to be auctionedVideo
LONDON — The adventures of the honey-loving bear “Winnie the Pooh” have captivated children — and their parents — for nigh-on 100 years. Fans now have a chance to own a central piece of Pooh’s history, when a countryside bridge from southern England goes up for auction next week. The...
Forgotten First: A look at 4 (and more) NFL trailblazers
In this era of racial reckoning, it’s not only appropriate but significant that the stories of NFL trailblazers be told. Keyshawn Johnson, the 1996 top overall draft pick by the New York Jets and now a host of ESPN’s morning program “Keyshawn, JWill and Max”, has done so. Collaborating with...
Book: Top U.S. officer feared Trump could order China strike
Fearful of Donald Trump’s actions in his final weeks as president, the United States’ top military officer twice assured his Chinese counterpart that the two nations would not go to war, according to a forthcoming book. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley told Gen. Li Zuocheng of...
Publisher to reissue Pa. Sen. Doug Mastriano’s WWI book with corrections
HARRISBURG — The academic press that published a Pennsylvania state senator’s book about World War I hero Sgt. Alvin York has asked him to review a list of factual errors and sourcing issues in the book and the press’ director said Tuesday it plans to publish a corrected version early...
Authors of book about women in business persevering during the pandemic celebrate its launch
Contributors to a book about female business leaders’ strength and determination through the pandemic celebrated its release earlier this month. “Twenty Won: an anthology of 21 female entrepreneurs sharing stories of business resilience during the 2020 global crisis,” launched April 21. It reached bestseller status in several Amazon.com categories and...
Anti-poverty activist Wes Moore to tell his inspirational story at Neighborhood Academy in September
Raised by a single mother in poverty after his father’s death, Wes Moore went on to become a Rhodes scholar, U.S. Army officer in Afghanistan, a nationally known anti-poverty activist and a New York Times best-selling author. The Neighborhood Academy, the Pittsburgh faith-based private school dedicated to breaking cycles of...
Dive into your summer reading list
Back-to-school supplies are on the store shelves, but summer is far from over. August is still prime vacation time, whether you’re heading to the beach, the city, the mountains or your Potter County hunting camp. What better way to spend the hours in the car, on the plane or in...
Prince Harry working on ‘intimate and heartfelt memoir’
NEW YORK — Prince Harry is writing what his publisher is calling an “intimate and heartfelt memoir.” Random House expects to release the book, currently untitled, late in 2022. “I’m writing this not as the prince I was born but as the man I have become,” the Duke of Sussex,...
Colin Kaepernick picture book to come out in April
NEW YORK — Colin Kaepernick will release a series of books through the children’s publisher Scholastic, starting with a picture story scheduled for next year. “I Color Myself Different” will come out in April, according to an announcement Thursday by Scholastic and Kaepernick Publishing, which the former NFL quarterback founded...
Get organized: North Side woman writes book about tools to get through the clutter
The green bench on the cover of the book has a distinct meaning. “I chose a bench because anyone can sit on a bench,” Jill B. Yesko said Thursday inside Kingfly Spirits in Pittsburgh’s Strip District. “A bench is usually accessible to everyone. The bench represents my personal opinion to...
‘PulpFest’ returns to Pittsburgh in August
Ask most people what “pulp fiction” is and the likely reply would be that it’s a movie about two hit men played by Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta. While that is essentially correct, it’s also true that decades before pop culture content was consumed digitally, it came in the...
Delmont librarian interviewed on American Library Association podcast
The Delmont Public Library was among several subjects discussed on the American Library Association’s “Call Number with American Libraries” podcast on Tuesday. Librarian Denni Grassel was interviewed by host Phil Morehart about the library’s brand-new Outdoor Learning Center. Having hosted an open house for the center on June 7, Grassel...
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh challenges kids to read 5 books this summer
The idea of having an entire summer to relax and read five books probably sounds pretty appealing to most adults. However, it might be a little more of a challenge to coax kids to do it, especially when they’ve been itching to get out and run, swim and jump around...