All My Love, Bob: One Man’s WWII: Excerpts from Letters to Bob’s Home-bound Wife, Dorothy edited by Richard J. Schonberger, with contributions from brothers Robert E. Schonberger and Father Micah (Thomas Schonberger)
($12, 485 p., pbk.)
Available from Amazon
This book is a compilation of some 700 letters that Bob Schonberger wrote to his wife during his 1942-46 tour as a military officer during World War II. Dorothy, who was home with their three sons, carefully saved them all. The letters are not war chronicles. Rather, they are personal letters that share details of wartime life in Europe; observations and opinions about people and culture, food and drink, and social and recreational activities; and especially, tell of Bob’s longing for his wife and family in North Dakota. Richard Schonberger, a graduate of Ellendale High School and the University of North Dakota (1961), edited his father’s letters with the help of his brothers, Robert and Thomas.
Dakota Day Trips: The Road to Rural Wonders / Cliff Naylor ($13.95, 183 p., pbk.)
Available from Barnes and Noble and local bookstores and businesses in North Dakota, South Dakota, & Montana
Cliff Naylor, known for his “Off the Beaten Path” stories on KFYR-TV, has self-published a third book featuring rural treasures in North Dakota, eastern Montana, and northern South Dakota. "These are 50 new places, all well worth a trip to," said Naylor. His “Off the Beaten Path” series started when he was at KFYR and would see and hear interesting things while on assignment. He started doing some stories on his own time and the segment became so popular that it eventually grew into a weekly story for KFYR. Naylor’s first two books, Dakota Day Trips (1999) and More Dakota Day Trips (2001, 2016 reprint), are still available and were co-written with his wife, Monica Hannan.
Mniwaken: Place Names and History of the Spirit Lake Dakota by Louis Garcia and Mark Diedrich
Contact Cankdeska Cikana Community College (CCCC) for information about how to obtain a copy.
Mniwakanmeans Spirit Lake and this book is a "story collection which includes nearly a hundred significant places and landmarks based on decades of research by the coauthors, Louis Garcia and Mark Dietrich [sic]." (New Rockford Transcript, July 25, 2022, p. B4.)Cankdeska Cikana Community College gave away signed copies during their annual alumni gathering on July 21. The co-authors were on hand for book signings and to share information "about the process of combining oral and contemporary history to tell a complete and honest perspective of the Dakota experience." (Red Lake Nation News, July 8, 2022).
Co-author Louis Garcia teaches Dakota Studies at CCCC and is the Spirit Lake Nation's tribal historian. Co-author Mark Diedrich has written other books on Dakota history and chiefs, among them Mni Wakan Oyate (Spirit Lake Nation): A History of the Sisituwan, Wahpeton, Pabaksa, and Other Dakota that Settled at Spirit Lake, North Dakota and Grass Dance of the Spirit Lake Dakota with Garcia.
Nineteen Forty-Five / Brian Striefel
($16.99, 334 p., pbk.; $6.49 NOOK; $6.99, Kindle)
Available from: Amazon,Barnes and Noble
Why Mary Forgot / Brian Striefel($11.95, 345 p. pbk; $2.99, Kindle)
Available from: Amazon
Nineteen Forty-Five,a period thriller, won the 2021 Silver Medal IPPY Award for Best Regional Fiction- West Mountain Region. A tale about a secret kept for almost 50 years, it “chronicles a young ranch girl's journey from innocence to heroics, from Montana to a post-prohibition speakeasy ... to Germany and back.”
Streifel's second book, Why Mary Forgot, is a crime thriller told “through the eyes of rookie-detective Hanna (2005) and Miss North Dakota (1927.)” Itwas published in October 2021.
Streifel grew up in Minot, attended Minot State University, and holds degrees in Chemistry from NDSU and a Master's in Business Management from the University of Mary. He spent his career at Dakota Gasification and now lives in Beulah.
O Beautiful: A Novel / Jung Yun ($27.99, 320 p., hardcover; $14.99, ebook; paperback set for release on February 7, 2023)
Shelter: A Novel / Jung Yun ($16, 366 p., pbk.; $9.99, ebook)
Available fromAmazon and Barnes and Noble
I recently listened to audio versions of both of these books and loved them! Author Jung Yun was born in South Korea and grew up in Fargo.
O Beautiful''s dedication reads: “To my parents, who chose a strange and wondrous place to call home.” In the book, Elinor, now a freelance writer in New York City, is on assignment to write a feature story about the Bakken oil boom for a prestigious magazine. She soon realizes it’s nothing like the place she once called home. Rumaan Alam, author of Leave the World Behind, said: “With a shrewd eye and a sharp sense of humor, Jung Yun finds in the familiar tale of one woman’s return to her small-town roots a story as big as the nation itself. Both an intimate look at one life and a fearless exploration of the biggest issues of our time.”
Shelter, published in 2016, was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, named a Best Literary Debut of the Year by Buzzfeed, and named a Best Book of the Year by Minnesota Public Radio (MPR). In its review, MPR said: “Spare and suspenseful, Shelter introduces readers to a young, mixed-race family, the Chos, who find themselves underwater in their mortgage and their marriage. This post-recession novel peels back the layers of emotional damage that the financial crisis wrought. And although Kyung and Gillian are raising a beloved son, the shadows of their own childhoods are ever-present.”
Author Jung Yun earned a B.A. from Vassar, an M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Her work has appeared in numerous publications, and she has received several awards, including an honorable mention for the Pushcart Prize. Yun has twice received Artist Fellowships in fiction from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. She lives in Baltimore with her husband and is as an Assistant Professor of English at George Washington University.
Sins of the Father by Sabrina Halvorson($19.90, 228 p., hardcover; $9.99, pbk.; $1.99, Kindle)
Available from Amazonand Shared Story Press
Psychological thrillers and horror stories that delve into the dark corners of human nature -- The tag line on Author Sabrina Halvorson’s website is a clue to what’s inside the pages of Sins of the Father, the first book in the Akashic series and a tale about “a scientist on the verge of a breakthrough, a child in danger, and a buried secret that’ll ruin lives.” The author has a background in newspaper, radio, and television news and writes articles for magazines and short stories. You can find her on AgNet West Radio Network. Halvorson grew up in central California and now lives in Fargo with her husband, Rusty, who is also in the ag reporting business with KFGO. Sins of the Father is her first book.
They Had Eyes of Silver by Sarah Davis($21.99, 354 p., hardcover; $15..99, pbk.)
Available from:Amazon, Barnes and Noble
A second book by New Rockford veterinarian Dr. Sarah Davis (penned as S.E. Davis) was released on June 21, 2022. They Had Eyes of Silver is Book One of the Wulfin series and tells a story about finding “family secrets grounded in the supernatural” on a trip to Belgium. The author is a supervisory public health veterinarian for the USDA-FSIS based in Glenfield, North Dakota. She grew up in Sykeston, attended NDSU, earned her DVM at Iowa State, and worked in an equine surgery facility in Los Angeles before returning to North Dakota. Dr. Davis’ debut novel, Inside Voices, was published in 2020 and included in the North Dakota in Print column in the March/June/August 2020 issue of The Good Stuff.For more information, visit the author’s website.
The Women of Alba Bales House($24.95, DVD, 30 min.)
Available from Prairie Public
This documentary from Prairie Public features women reminiscing about their experiences at the Alba Bales House on the NDSU campus in Fargo and how it “shaped their careers – and their lives.” The house once served as a “practice house” where women lived and learned the art of household management while training for home economics careers. Matt Olien produced the film and the project was funded by NDSU Libraries, NDSU College of Human Sciences and Education, and the members of Prairie Public. For more information, see this 2018 online exhibit, “Appetite for Education: The Alba Bales House,” created by Beth Twomey, then head of Research and Instruction at NDSU Libraries.
Stephanie Sapp - Journals and a Coloring Book
Available from Amazon
Thanks to Beth Reitan for sharing this information.
Stephanie Sapp, one of Beth's classmates from Bottineau, and “a FABULOUS artist,” recently published several journals and a coloring book.
One example is pictured. Visit Amazon to see more!