Cynthia Berger / WPSU Producer

Semhar Mengisteab, a high school student from State College, recommends a novel that will help you commemorate Black History Month, which begins this week.

Cheryl Bazzoui, an author and Bradford resident, reviews a young adult Christmas novel. Christmas with Tucker, by Greg Kincaid, is about a young boy struggling through his first Christmas after the death of his father with the help of a neighbor’s dog.

Paige Cooperstein, a Penn State University Park student, reviews Rebecca Rasmussen’s debut novel. Rasmussen received one of her Master of Fine Arts Degrees at Penn State.

Hear how some Pennsylvania cities fared in a new book by the architecture critic and University of Pennsylvania professor, Witold Rybczynski.

Retired Lock Haven University Professor, Carolyn Perry, came out with her memoir this year. It details her survival of Hurricanes Agnes and Katrina. Our reviewer, Marjorie Maddox, is the director of the Creative Writing program at Lock Haven University.

Pamela Kavanaugh, a former science teacher and high school librarian, brings her love of science and reading together when she reviews the debut novel of Cornell physicist, Paul McEuen. That novel is Spiral.

If you’re gearing up for major league baseball playoffs, you’ll want to read Rebecca Alpert’s new book, Out of Left Field: Jews and Black Baseball.

John Connolly, the author of The Burning Soul, will speak at Schlow Library in downtown State College on Tuesday, September 27th at 7 pm. Mystery fans will not want to miss this.

Josh Ritter was scheduled to open at the Dispatch concert on Sunday August 28th at the Bryce Jordan Center. But Hurricane Irene prevented his arrival. In lieu of hearing him perform live, Rachel Sweeney reviews Ritter’s debut novel, Bright’s Passage.