From the very first sentence of Cynthia Simmons’ debut novel, “Wrong Kind of Paper,” we are alerted something serious is going to happen before the book is finished. And in just a few chapters we find out more of the nail-biting details than we ever could have imagined. “Wrong Kind of Paper” tells the story of Hallie Linden, a recent graduate of a prestigious liberal arts college journalism program who ends up working at a newspaper in a small town in Indiana. It’s certainly not her first choice of jobs, but it’s the only interview she scores from her 100 applications. The year is 1989, and sm ..read more

At first glance, “When You Wonder, You’re Learning” by Gregg Behr and Ryan Rydzewski is a standard text on family-based conflict management and resolution. But upon reading the first page, you’ll realize that this book is also a letter of appreciation to Fred Rogers and the Neighborhood he built through a television screen. I grew up with Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. I was an inconsistent viewer, but a Neighbor all the same. Reading this book, I was struck by how intentional Rogers was in making sure viewers felt safe enough to learn, to feel, and to fail. Anecdotes from Rogers’ own life and t ..read more

“Ready Player One” by Ernest Cline is an action-packed, Sci-Fi fantasy story. The book starts in the early 2000’s, when James Halliday and his business partner Ogden Morrow are working on a project called the OASIS with their company, Gregarious Simulation Systems, or GSS for short. Halliday and Morrow come up with the idea to create a virtual reality world where people’s imaginations and creativity are the only limits. When the OASIS is first released in 2012, people are instantly engrossed in its fantastical and mythic worlds. But then, in the year 2039, Halliday dies. While sadness pours ov ..read more

I picked up “The Indigo Scarf” because it’s about the region I call home—the mountains of north central Pennsylvania. I love history, and history about my own area drew me immediately. I also like books that are factual and well-researched. “The Indigo Scarf” by P. J. Piccirillo is both. It’s a richly layered and complex story. The journey begins in 1882 when a young woman chances to meet an older male relative she hasn’t seen in some time on a train. The two go to the dining car to catch up. The woman protests, knowing that multiracial people are not welcome. The conversation that ensues betw ..read more

“Caveat Emptor: The Secret Life of an American Art Forger" by Ken Perenyi gives readers an inside look at some of the more obscure, and less than honorable, aspects of the art world. As an aimless teenager in the 1960s, Perenyi began spending time at a local mansion in Hoboken, New Jersey. Known locally as "The Castle," it was the on-again, off-again home to some of the quirkier members of the New York City art scene, like Peter Max and Andy Whorhol. For a teenager who barely graduated high school, getting to spend time at the Castle, party with famous artists, and take trips to art galleries ..read more

As someone who helps others find great books to enjoy, I have little patience for books that don’t deliver. Luckily, choosing a book by State College native Charles Fergus never disappoints. I really enjoyed Fergus’ first Gideon Stoltz mystery, “A Stranger Here Below,” published in 2019. Now I’d like to recommend the second book in the series, “Nighthawk’s Wing . ” Both books are set in the early 19th century in a fictitious county right here in Central Pennsylvania. Gideon Stoltz is the young sheriff appointed to serve Colerain County at the discretion of its residents and other officials. Ma ..read more

Paolo Uccello is dying. He’s spent the majority of his life building up the fortunes of his family’s weaving business in Venice. Now, he has one last thing to do: Tell his story. Paolo’s grandson, Nico, has been suspended from school. A so-called “friend” of his was caught bullying a Jewish classmate while Nico stood by and did nothing. With his schedule suddenly empty, Nico visits his grandfather in the hospital every day. Paolo has written his story down and enclosed it in a series of envelopes. He gives them to Nico one by one. The letters tell the story of Venice near the end of World War ..read more

“Cross of Snow: A Life of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow” is a wonderfully informative biography by Nicolas Basbanes. Basbanes is a renowned cultural historian whose works often pique the interest of book lovers. In “Cross of Snow,” he has chosen to write about the well-known poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Longfellow is known as the “fireside poet” and “the poet for the people.” His poems have been studied and memorized around the world by people of all ages and social classes. “Cross of Snow” is full of Longfellow family photographs and notes that encapsulate the author’s visits to various Lon ..read more

Is there such a thing as trauma and pain—both known and unknown—that’s passed from generation to generation? And if so, how do these wounds shape lives in the present and determine life’s outcomes in the future? When her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, Elizabeth Kadetsky set out on a feverish mission to answer these questions. In her memoir, “The Memory Eaters,” Kadetsky—who is an associate professor of creative writing at Penn State—details her effort to salvage and piece together her family’s complicated history that progressive memory loss would soon obliterate. In her quest to unpac ..read more

Few crime sprees have captured readers’ imaginations as much as Jack the Ripper’s murders in Victorian-era London. And rarely has one murderer’s identity been more scrutinized. But how much ink has been spent understanding the five women he murdered? Who were they? What were their lives like? What led them to be in Whitechapel in 1888? Were the murder victims targeted or crimes of convenience? Hallie Rubenhold, a British historian and author who specializes in 18th and 19th century social and women’s history, addresses this crime narrative from a previously unapproached angle. In her book, “Th ..read more