Western Pa. authors to pitch books at Oakmont event
A dozen local authors will gather in Oakmont this month to pitch their books to an audience of hundreds in five minutes. The 12th annual event, sponsored by Tarentum-based Word Association Publishers, will be held from 5 to 9:30 p.m. Oct. 24 at Riverside Landing in Oakmont, 12 Washington Ave....
‘The Hunger Games’ prequel title, book cover revealed
“The Hunger Games” prequel has a title and a book cover. Suzanne Collins’ “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” is due out May 19. Scholastic announced the title Friday along with the cover art, which features the now famous mockingjay symbol, along with a snake. Collins announced earlier this year...
Local sci-fi, horror authors to participate in panel discussion in Monroeville
Visitors to the Barnes & Noble bookstore in Monroeville later this month may find themselves immersed in a world where women have leeches for arms, intergalactic mercenary werewolves fly through space beating people up and aliens wink at passers-by in bars with names like The Pickled Quasar. But it’s not...
Store-bought is fine: ‘Barefoot Contessa’ writing memoir
The next book by million-selling chef Ina Garten will be a little more personal. Celadon Books announced Wednesday that Garten is working on a memoir, not yet titled. It’s tentatively scheduled for 2022. Garten, longtime host of the Food Network’s “Barefoot Contessa,” has written such bestsellers as “Barefoot Contessa Parties!”...
6 new paperbacks to pick up, including a biography of Fred Rogers
These paperback roundups have a tendency to be fiction-focused — in my own reading, I’m always drawn toward novels — but in honor of the new season, let’s mix things up a bit. Here are six nonfiction books, freshly out in paperback, all of which look like they’d be splendid...
Review: Inspirational Mister Rogers quotes fill new coffee-table book
If you need something to hold you over between the Mister Rogers documentary and the upcoming biopic starring Tom Hanks, a new coffee-table book of his quotes is now in bookstores. “Everything I Need to Know I Learned from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” is small and short, with the cover featuring...
‘The Nanny’ explores deadly mystery in English upper class
Fans of Daphne du Maurier’s “Rebecca,” along with devotees of the “Downton Abbey” series, likely will enjoy English author Gilly Macmillan’s newest novel, “The Nanny.” Inside a rambling mansion outside of London, Lady Virginia Holt, her daughter, Jo, and Jo’s young daughter, Ruby, share an uneasy existence. Thirty years ago,...
Carnegie Library, CMU help Book Fairies in fight against banned books
As part of Banned Books Week, Sept. 22-28, Carnegie Mellon University’s English department is partnering with the ACLU and the Book Fairies of Pennsylvania to shed light on the topic of book banning. The Book Fairies share the joy of reading by leaving their books in public places to be...
Comics creator Frank Santoro explores growing up in ‘Pittsburgh’
Frank Santoro, a comics creator of international stature, has a new graphic novel set in the Swissvale neighborhood where he grew up, entitled “Pittsburgh.” The book — first published in France, now in the U.S. by New York Review Comics — is a family saga chronicling the relationship of his...
Author Jenkins to speak at Saint Vincent on ‘The Church in the 21st Century’
Best-selling author Philip Jenkins will give the Pope Benedict XVI Lecture at Saint Vincent Seminary on Oct. 29. Jenkins, author of more than 25 books, will speak on the topic “The Church in the 21st Century: Is the Church Entering a Golden Age or a Dark Age?” at 7:30 p.m....
Collection of premier proverb scholar opens at UVM
BURLINGTON, Vt. — From “Strike while the iron is hot” to “Been there, done that,” proverbs have been developed around the world for centuries, spread by word of mouth, writings, and nowadays social media. University of Vermont Professor Wolfgang Mieder, thought to be the world’s premier paroemiologist, has been studying...
Civil War authors to appear at Latrobe library
Two men who have penned books on Civil War topics will be featured in a series of local author presentations this fall at Adams Memorial Library in Latrobe. Derry resident Alfred C. Young III will speak about his book, “Lee’s Army During the Overland Campaign,” at 6 p.m. Tuesday in...
Book tells about Tarentum native’s Vietnam War rescue mission
Allen Ellis Weseleskey says he would do it all over again. In the same way. Facing the same imminent danger. Weseleskey, who was born in Tarentum, lived in Springdale and currently resides in Virginia Beach, Va., is a retired Navy captain. On March 9, 1968, in Vietnam, he rescued a...
Penn-Trafford grad produces Western Pennsylvania football history book
When Rush Pedder was 7 years old, his dad took him to a Penn-Trafford football game he called an experience of a lifetime. He was hooked on high school football, especially Penn-Trafford football. Through the years, Penn-Trafford football became a family tradition. While in high school he did things to...
Marvel celebrates 80th anniversary with massive comic
LOS ANGELES — Marvel Comics is celebrating its 80th anniversary with a massive issue that pays tribute to its history and introduces a new object with implications for the superhero universe going forward. The Marvel Comics 1000 issue, available Wednesday, pays homage to many of Marvel’s most recognizable characters, including...
‘Short Edition’ dispenses words of wisdom at Carnegie Mellon UniversityVideo
This vending machine dispenses food for thought. “Short Edition” is based on the concept of pressing a button and, instead of drinks or snacks coming out, the user receives a story or a poem. It prints quickly. The paper is biodegradable. It’s available 24 hours a day. There is no...
Charles Santore, illustrator of children’s books, dies at 84
PHILADELPHIA — Charles Santore, an illustrator known for his richly detailed and whimsical interpretations of classic children’s books has died, his daughter said Friday. Christina Santore said her father died Sunday after a brief illness in Philadelphia, where he was born, raised and worked. He was 84. He spent over...
‘Competitive readers’ duke it out in Battle of the Books
There is no skimming for the 29 teams competing in Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s Battle of the Books. Teams of three to five people need to read — thoroughly — the list of books “assigned” each year. “The questions are really hard,” says Dan Hensley, the library’s adult programming coordinator....
Unity native, journalist’s book explores China’s ‘Red Carpet’
After covering the “business of Hollywood” for The Wall Street Journal for the last six years, Unity native Erich Schwartzel is expanding his research into how China is influencing the film industry. Schwartzel, 32, is writing his first book, “Red Carpet,” after inking a deal with Penguin Press publishing house....
Nobel laureate Toni Morrison dead at 88
NEW YORK — Nobel laureate Toni Morrison, a pioneer and reigning giant of modern literature whose imaginative power in “Beloved,” ”Song of Solomon” and other works transformed American letters by dramatizing the pursuit of freedom within the boundaries of race, has died at age 88. Publisher Alfred A. Knopf announced...
Edward Snowden book coming out Sept. 17
NEW YORK — Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden has written a memoir. The book by the man whose leaks of classified documents transformed the debate about government surveillance is coming out Sept. 17. Metropolitan Books, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers, announced Thursday that Snowden’s “Permanent Record” will be...
Woman dies in Alaska trying to reach famed ‘Into the Wild’ bus
FAIRBANKS, Alaska — A newlywed woman from Belarus who was swept away by a river in Alaska was trying to reach an abandoned bus made famous by the book and film “Into the Wild.” Veramika Maikamava, 24, and her husband, Piotr Markielau, also 24, on Thursday were heading for the...
Book by soccer star Megan Rapinoe to be published next year
NEW YORK — Soccer star Megan Rapinoe has scored again, this time with a book deal. Penguin Press announced Thursday that Rapinoe’s book, currently untitled, will be published in Fall 2020. Penguin is calling the book a “perfect vehicle” for an “honest, thoughtful, unapologetic” take on everything from soccer to...
Actress Bella Thorne shares personal struggles in 1st poetry book
Bella Thorne says people are confused by her and she doesn’t understand why, but maybe her new book will clear things up. “People constantly come to me, directors, producers, people that are like in the industry, and they’re always like, ‘I just really misjudged you. You’re just so different, Bella....
‘Queer Eye’s’ Tan France looks deeper in new book ‘Naturally Tan’Video
You might know him from the French tuck or his distinctive hair. But “Queer Eye’s” fashion guru Tan France wants fans to get to know him beyond the surface. His new book, “Naturally Tan,” provides a deeper look at the English designer’s life. “I wanted the opportunity to really say...
