Read This Book!

Music Librarian Jessica Abbazio recommends "American Music" by Annie Leibovitz as a book to give as a gift on this installment of Read This Book from the University of Minnesota Libraries.

Lisa Von Drasek interviews Julie Schumacher — author of "The Shakespeare Requirement" — in this installment of Read This Book! from the University of Minnesota Libraries. The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune keep hitting beleaguered English professor Jason Fitger right between the eyes in The Shakespeare Requirement, the hilarious and eagerly awaited sequel to the cult classic of anhedonic academe, the Thurber Prize-winning Dear Committee Members.

Tim Johnson reviews Revenge of the Nerd: Or . . . The Singular Adventures of the Man Who Would Be Booger by Curtis Armstrong, in this edition of "Read This Book!" from the University of Minnesota Libraries. Armstrong, who played Booger in the 1984 film, "Revenge of the Nerds," is an avid Sherlock Holmes fan, and Johnson is Curator of the Sherlock Holmes Collections at the University of Minnesota Libraries.

Dread Nation — a New York Times bestseller — is at once provocative, terrifying, and darkly subversive. Written by Justina Ireland, Dread Nation represents a stunning vision of an America both foreign and familiar — a country on the brink, at the explosive crossroads where race, humanity, and survival meet. University of Minnesota librarian, Lisa Von Drasek, reviews Dread Nation in this installment of Read This Book!, hosted by Alicia Kubas.

Breakfast with Beatrice and Original Scandinavian Recipes were featured on this installment of Read This Book with Megan Kocher, Curator of the Doris Kirschner Cookbook Collection, and host Lisa Von Drasek. Kocher also announced that the University Libraries recently acquired Beatrice Ojakangas' cookbook collection — which includes Original Scandinavian Recipes — for the Kirschner Collection, which is available to the public at the University of Minnesota's Magrath Library on the St. Paul campus. 

Lisa Von Drasek recommends two children's books for writing on Part 3 of Summer Reading for Children on Read This Book! from the University of Minnesota Libraries. The books are: Heart Maps by Georgia Heard and Happy Mail by Eunice and Sabrina Moyle.

Alicia Kubas reviewed "When Women Didn't Count: Behind the scenes on data collection and women in the USA" by Robert Lopresti, which details the startling facts of how women have been sidelined, neglected, and just plain lied about in U.S. government statistics for more than two centuries.

Lisa Von Drasek recommends several books from independent publishers in Part 2 of Summer Reading for Children on Read This Book! from the University of Minnesota Libraries.

Lisa Von Drasek recommends informational books from National Geographic in Part 1 of our 2018 Summer Reading recommendations for children on Read This Book! from the University of Minnesota Libraries. The books are: Almanac 2019, Brain Games, Extreme Records, and Explore My World: Lions.

Host Lisa Von Drasek and Jan Fransen discussed the true-life crime book I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer on this episode of Read This Book! from the University of Minnesota Libraries.

Lisa Von Drasek discusses a book by Beatrice Ojakangas called: Homemade: Finnish Rye, Feed Sack Fashion, and Other Simple Ingredients from My Life in Food in this installment of Read This Book! from the University of Minnesota Libraries.

Lisa Von Drasek talks about the 2017 Marion Vannett Ridgway Award winners in this episode of Read This Book! from the University of Minnesota Libraries. "Hannah and Sugar," written and illustrated by Kate Berube was the 2017 winner, with Honor Awards going to Bethan Woollvin for "Little Red" and Dori Kleber for "More-igami."

Five University of Minnesota librarians and archivists recently joined Read This Book host Lisa Von Drasek to make recommendations for books to give this holiday season.  Still shopping? Then pay attention!

In this special episode of Read This Book!, Librarian Alicia Kubas and host Lisa Von Drasek reviewed two books that would make great gifts this holiday season.  The books are: Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" — artwork by Yayoi Kusama, and "Poetry From Scratch" by Jennifer McCartney.

Flying Funny: My Life Without a Net by Dudley Riggs was the featured book on this episode of Read This Book! from the University of Minnesota Libraries.  Performing Arts Archivist Kate Hujda joined host Lisa Von Drasek in sharing insights into the book, Riggs, and Riggs' papers, which are in the Libraries' Performing Arts Archives.