ShelfLife@Texas

ShelfLife sat down with Suzanne Harper, an English and journalism alumna, to talk about her two young adult novels, “The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney” (Harper Collins, 2008) and “The Juliet Club” (Harper Collins, 2008).

Did you set out to write fiction for young adults?

All through college and graduate school and many writing courses after that, I really wanted to write mysteries for the adult market, although I kept reading children’s books during that time simply because I enjoyed them so
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ShelfLife@Texas sat down with Chef Allie Kent, University of Texas at Austin alumna (English ‘86), to discuss her new book “7 Secrets to Living Raw Foods” and her tips for a healthier lifestyle.

What inspired you to write “7 Secrets to Living Raw Foods”?

I was tired of being tired all of the time, of being overweight, of getting “4-5″ colds a year consistently, and as I am getting older (in my 40s now) I knew that I had to make changes
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In his latest book, “Jewish Terrorism in Israel,” author Ami Pedahzur tells a story which has never been told and in doing so helps alleviate the fear of the unknown. He and co-author Arie Perlinger present a historical overview of political violence in Jewish history, post-1967 terrorist groups, and Jewish terrorism in the 1990’s, including the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, former prime minister of Israel and Noble Peace Prize winner. They also provide analysis of more recent times and the hilltop youth who
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Katharine Beutner, a doctoral candidate in the Department of English and a former graduate intern at the Harry Ransom Center, has just published her first novel, “Alcestis” (SoHo, 2010).

In Greek myth, Alcestis is known as the ideal good wife; she loved her husband so much that she died to save his life and was sent to the underworld in his place. In this poetic and vividly-imagined debut, Beutner gives voice to the woman behind the ideal, bringing to life the
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Norman German, author of "A Savage Wisdom"

“A Savage Wisdom” is inspired by the life, crimes and legends of Annie Beatrice McQuiston, aka Toni Jo Henry, the only woman executed in Louisiana’s electric chair. ShelfLife@Texas asked author and University of Texas at Austin graduate alumnus (English ’79) Norman German about his new book.

How did you first become familiar with McQuiston’s story?
Toni Jo’s story has intrigued me since childhood, when I would read about her in special features in the Lake Charles
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This week, “The Handbook of Family Communication,” edited by Anita Vangelisti, the Jesse H. Jones Centennial Professor in Communication, will receive the distinguished book award from Family Communication Division of the National Communication Association (NCA) at its annual conference in Chicago.

“In the Handbook of Family Communication,” researchers examine communication across the life of families, including marital communication. Scholars from different educational specialties, including communication, psychology and sociology, explore topics such as the influence of characteristics of family relationships on specific
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Could today’s youth be the ultimate experts in the digital evolution?

Craig Watkins, associate professor of Radio-Television-Film, answers this question and takes us into the world of new media in his latest project, “The Young and the Digital: What the Migration to Social Network Sites, Games, and Anytime, Anywhere Media Means for Our Future” (Beacon 2009). “The Young and the Digital” explores highs and lows of digital media and how it affects lives of today’s youth from tweens, to teens, to
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Sarah Bird’s favorite description of herself as an author came from a high school student who was forced to attend a literary reading by her English teacher. She says,  “Sarah Bird was tall and thin and wore these cute reading glasses on the tip of her nose. If I recall correctly, she forgot her reading glasses and had to borrow somebody’s in the audience. Regardless of the reading glasses situation, she was very genuine and you could just tell on
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Why women have sex has long been a vexing question. In hopes of providing new insight into this provocative topic, psychologists Cindy M. Meston and David M. Buss collected candid stories from more than 1,000 women from 46 states, eight Canadian provinces, three European countries, Australia, New Zealand, Israel and China. The findings, detailed in their new book “Why Women Have Sex,” reveal a shocking array of reasons – from boredom to self-loathing to painful headaches to jealousy. We sat down with the
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Contrary to the famous proverb about windows to the soul, political communication expert Rod Hart would argue that language is the window to the soul, not the eyes. He should know. Hart has spent the past 40 years studying the language of American politics.

Earlier this month, his book “Campaign Talk: Why Elections Are Good for Us,” (Princeton University Press, 2000) received the Graber award, honoring the best political communication book of the past 10 years, from the American Political Science Association. The
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