I want summer weather. I want sweat on my brow and aches in my legs. July backpacking is on my list of goals this year: spending five days hiking for miles on an island with no wifi. I wish to filter away the brain-eating amoebas and drink a river with a straw. To sleep under […]
Melody Dworak
Posted inBook Reviews
Fully Booked: Velvety voices and vivid scenes
Every night for the past eight years, sometime between 8:30 and 10 p.m., my child has had the comforting voices of myself or his father lull him to sleep with a great story. I need that comfort, too, and I get it from my beloved audiobook narrators. They bring fiction to life, stories floating in […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Fully Booked: Self-help books that aren’t B.S.
Can’t decide what to read next? Librarians at the Iowa City Public Library have some ideas. This month, Melody Dworak highlights great nonfiction advice books. Browse print books and audiobooks available for checkout at the ICPL. As a reader who loves to learn about conflict-resolution strategies, I embrace books on negotiating agreements and finding win-win […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Fully Booked: Romantic comedies that feel like a hearty meal
Can’t decide what to read next? Librarians at the Iowa City Public Library have some ideas. This month, Melody Dworak highlights great romance. Browse print books and audiobooks available for checkout at the ICPL. Scottish author Mhairi McFarlane has become a rom-com-writing critical darling, and is hands-down my favorite author right now. (Mhairi is pronounced […]
Posted inBook Reviews
Book Review: ‘Redemption Songs: A Year in the Life of a Community Prison Choir’ by Andy Douglas
What can music do for the incarcerated soul? Turning trauma into personal transformation, music and art creates a nest in even the most locked-up hearts. Iowa City author Andy Douglas explores this idea in his 2019 book, Redemption Songs: A Year in the Life of a Community Prison Choir.
Posted inBook Reviews
Book Review: ‘The Current’ by Tim Johnston
The Current Tim Johnston, Algonquin Books On the Road. Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. Road trip stories lend themselves well to coming-of-age adventures. Kerouac writes the Great American Novel, Pee-wee finds his bike, Harold gets his kiss. For 19-year-olds Audrey Sutter and Caroline Price, a road trip turns into tragedy […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Review: Rebecca Dinerstein’s debut novel, ‘The Sunlit Night’
When life forces you to start afresh, do you feel afraid — or free? Rebecca Dinerstein wove that question deeply throughout her debut novel…
Posted inFood & Drink
Review: ‘New Prairie Kitchen’ celebrates local food, highlights area chefs
Solon’s Big Grove Brewery is hosting a release reception for New Prairie Kitchen (Midway Books 2015), a cookbook by Summer Miller that promotes…
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Lit Scene: Review of Angela Flournoy’s debut novel, ‘The Turner House’
Writers Workshop graduate Angela Flournoy reads from her debut novel at Prairie Lights on Monday, April 27 at 7 p.m. Flourney’s book…
Posted inFood & Drink
Interview: Mark Bittman on diet, food systems and rethinking Iowa’s food policies
Mark Bittman, New York Times columnist and author of best-selling cookbooks, was scheduled to speak at the Englert this evening…
Posted inCommunity/News
Interview: Iowa City Book Festival author Robert E. Gutsche, Jr. on “Race, Place and the Press”
Robert E. Gutsche, Jr. will read from his recently published book ‘A Transplanted Chicago: Race, Place and the Press in Iowa City’ at Java House as part of the Iowa City Book Festival on On Saturday, Oct. 4 at 2 p.m.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Enduring migrations: A conversation with Writers’ Workshop grad Ayana Mathis
Literary celebrities come to town for the sixth annual Iowa City Book Festival, Oct. 2-5. Among the greats gracing our fair flyover state is Ayana Mathis, author…
