Reviewer: Sharon Brunner Terri Martin’s Straw Horse was filled with intrigue, suspense and humor coupled with a blooming romance. The story took place in the Northwoods at a fictional town called Peshekee located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (U.P.). The main characters in the book were Kat, Nikko, Sheriff…
Review by Mack Hassler One of my great literary heroes is Samuel Johnson, “…the style of a man who thinks with rigorous clarity and as the author of a dictionary has the whole language at his command.” (from the Preface to Johnson’s The History of Ressalas by Michael Lewis, professor…
Reviewer: Sharon Brunner Clyde Wainio’s If it Snows, Go Fishing: 60 Years of Stream Fishing in the Copper Country celebrates a lifetime of fishing adventures in the captivating Upper Peninsula of Michigan (U.P). Main characters in the story were Ed, someone he fished with for years, his brother Wil, his…
Review by Sharon Brunner Linda M. Kramer and Carol L. Schultz offer a fun and entertaining story about puppies and dogs in their book “Nibble Nosers Can’t Drive” and portray dogs’ endearing behaviors. The term nibble noser was derived from a dog’s and puppy’s need to smell and chew. As…
Review by Sharon Brunner Diana Magnuson’s Garden Sleeping, Garden Growing: In and Around All Year Long celebrates gardens and the joys they bring to people who nurture them in their growth throughout the year. The main characters were Aunt Noriko and her niece Dehlia. The location of the story was…
Reviewer: Sharon Brunner Richard P. Smith’s Understanding Michigan Black Bear, 3rd Edition offers an extensive review covering the habits, attacks, and hunting of Michigan black bears. These well-researched bruins have exhibited avoidant and dangerous behaviors. They may run away if yelled at or may attack if they feel threatened. Some…
Review by Mack Hassler Scott Fitzgerald published and sold to mass-market and glossy magazines that paid well in order to maintain the expensive life style that his debutante wife Zelda expected. As a major American fiction writer, he also published four financially successful novels. This substantial collection gathers 43 of…
Review by John Austin The extraordinary core of People of the Dune—a blistering, elaborate, and meticulous interrogation of the tension between modern property rights on the one hand and the obligations we owe to sacred places and the common good on the other—comes in the form of an unorthodox legal…
Review by Mack Hassler Oh Jake,” Brett said “We could have had such a damned-good time together…. “Yes,” I said, “Isn’t it pretty to think so?” “You are all a lost generation” Gertrude Stein in conversation The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway (1926) I…
Review by Tyler R. Tichelaar I’ve always said that if I didn’t live in Marquette, I would want to live on Mackinac Island. Despite numerous trips to this beautiful isle, I’ve never stayed a night on the island, much less lived there year-round, so I’ve always been curious what it…
Review by Mack Hassler “then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more” …
Building Kathy Ann By Robert “Buzz” Johnson Review by Deborah K Frontiera ISBN: 979-8-8956-054-8 Modern History Press, 2025, PB Ret. $21.95 If you’ve never thought about how much is involved in building a boat from the keel up, you will more than appreciate the many technical skills involved by the time…
Review by Mack Hassler “ … upon this rock I will build my Church…. I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. Wharever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on on earth shall…
Reviewer Sharon Brunner Joshua Veith’s Dark Straits (Sudden Quiet: Book II) offered a haunting view of survival while various groups battle for regional control. The outbreak of deadly diseases led to the collapse of societal law and order. The various groups involved in the story were Rangers, Indigenous, Eco-elves, and…
Review by Sharon Brunner Raymond Luczak has captured the essence of the Deaf experience with all of its complications in his book The Language of Home: Stories, which took approximately 40 years to write. The time the stories took place varied from the 1970s to perhaps present time and it…
Review by Mack Hassler “…his demons are driving him [the lead violinist]….The company takes up the choruses and men and women cry oit like all possessed… some celebrate the beauty of the bride and the joys of love in the excitement….” Upton Sinclair, The Jungle (1929), pp. 10-11. “…[a study]…
Review by Sharon Brunner Michael and Evie Carrier brought to life dangerous situations, passionate and enduring love, and the trials and tribulations of a young couple in their memoir “Trax: We Made in New York 1968-72.” Michael provided a disclosure at the beginning of the book about their different recollections…
Review by Victor R. Volkman Quite rarely, a “social history” book of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula crosses my Superior Reads desk. Social history focuses on the lives and experiences of ordinary people, rather than just political or military events. Social history is often described as “history from below” because it explores…
