It’s been said that when you’re born with the middle name “Records,” your destiny truly has been chosen for you. John Records Landecker fulfilled HIS destiny by becoming one of the most popular and respected disc jockeys in radio history, helping shape and define Top 40 radio in its heyday. Listeners by the millions in Philadelphia, Toronto, and Chicago never missed a John Records Landecker show — waiting for the “boogie check,” for example —…
Deanna Lewis and Josh Haber are each deep into their careers, which leave little time to cultivate meaningful relationships. But they each also sense a powerful connection at their first meeting, in the D.J. Starling novel “Deja Vu.” Deanna, meanwhile, is haunted by recurring – and increasingly intense – nightmares that threaten her very well-being. When she finally accepts the help of her best friend, Faith – who believes she can supply an antidote to…
Malcolm Tully, the young owner of a pastry shop in suburban Chicago, would never dream of joining a religious cult, let alone leading one. But when he starts a discussion group to liven up Saturday nights at the shop, events quickly spiral out of control. Kathleen Maher‘s book “Diary of a Heretic” is a comic novel about the outlandish rise and fall of Religion Without Rules, a spiritual movement with Malcolm as reluctant leader and…
Cynthia Dagnal-Myron is an award-winning former reporter for both the Chicago Sun Times and Arizona Daily Star whose articles have appeared in Rolling Stone, Salon, Working Mother, Orion and many others. During her Sun Times years, she sat desk to desk with mentor and friend, the late Roger Ebert, and traveled with, interviewed and reviewed rockers like Kiss, Queen, the Who, Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin. She also interviewed film stars like John Travolta, Kirk Douglas,…
How do you mend a broken friendship? For Lance Parker and Daniel McAllister, the answer is simple – road trip. In Randy Richardson‘s coming-of-age story “Cheeseland” the shock and grief of a friend’s suicide creates a gulf between the two suburban Chicago high school seniors. A trip to Wisconsin should be just the ticket to come to terms with the trauma that has pulled them apart. The journey of recovery is filled with comical twists…
It’s been called “a psychedelic fairytale for the modern age.” David David Katzman‘s second novel “A Greater Monster” is a darkly poetic tale that takes you on a trip – oh, yes, a trip – into a radically twisted alternate reality, which reflects civilization like a funhouse mirror. Along the way, you’ll encounter sphinxes, gods, living skeletons, witches, and quite possibly the strangest circus ever imagined. And we’re not talking about the Republican National Convention…
