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"Step into my parlor," said Roz Warren to the library patron. (Photo by Pierre Vignau via Creative Commons/Flickr)

Ode on the Bala Cynwyd Library's Summer Reading Club

Reading for prizes

Every summer, libraries host reading clubs for kids and adults. Humorist Roz Warren is taking one for the team and becoming summer reading's very own hype woman.

Roz Warren

Jul 29, 2016 Articles 4 minute read

Readercon 27's panelists ask "Which book would you save?"

What would you save from the flames?

At Boston's Readercon sci-fi convention, Tom Purdom picked one book to save from 'Fahrenheit 451's' bonfire. Now he wants to know your pick.

Tom Purdom

Jul 24, 2016 Articles 4 minute read

It could have happened. (Illustration via Creative Commons/Wikimedia)

Marla R. Miller's biography 'Betsy Ross and the Making of America'

Betsy Ross, defense contractor

Betsy Ross may not have made the first American flag, but Marla R. Miller's 'Betsy Ross and the Making of America' illuminates the history of the artisans and shopkeepers who built the United States.

Tom Purdom

Jul 15, 2016 Articles 4 minute read

British spy John Andre, after the party. (Illustration via Creative Commons/Wikimedia)

'Wicked Philadelphia: Sin in the City of Brotherly Love,' by Thomas H. Keels

William Penn and prostitutes: All the news that's unfit to print

Rick Soisson reviews 'Wicked Philadelphia: Sin in the City of Brotherly Love,' Thomas Keels's 2010 catalog of our city's historic scandals and scoundrels.

Rick Soisson

Jul 03, 2016 Articles 4 minute read

Bob Levin's memoir is filled with delicious anecdotes. (Photo by Yuri Long via Creative Commons/Flickr)

Bob Levin's 'Cheesesteak, the West Philadelphia Years, a Rememboir'

A 'Cheesesteak' with everything

Bob Levin's Rememboir recalls his childhood in West Philly and is stuffed full of tales from his literary life.

Bob Ingram

Jun 12, 2016 Articles 3 minute read

Author Brian Shapiro, saying what he means, meaning what he says. (Photo via Flynn Media)

Brian Shapiro's 'Exceptionally Human, Successful Communication in a Distracted World'

Less talk, more communication

We're talking less, but Brian Shapiro's 'Exceptionally Human, Successful Communication in a Distracted World' helps us make those words matter more.

Pamela J. Forsythe

Jun 12, 2016 Articles 2 minute read

There are about 1.5 million stories in this particular naked city. (Illustration for <em>BSR</em> by Mike Jackson of alrightmike.com)

'Philadelphia Noir,' edited by Carlin Romano

Real and imagined crimes

This overlooked 2010 collection of Philadelphia neighborhood-based noir fiction contains plenty of surprises, literary flourishes, and a crazy Biddle.

Rick Soissonand Illustration by Mike Jackson

May 30, 2016 Articles 4 minute read

Abadia di San Antimo, from 'Odyssey'. (Art by Peter Kurt Woerner)

Peter Kurt Woerner's 'Odyssey,' a visual diary

The road goes on

American Institute of Architects fellow Peter Kurt Woerner uses memories and line drawings to chronicle his Odyssey. Bob Levin remembers him from Friends Central's class of 1960.