For the love of books, we celebrate World Book Night
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April 11, 2014

April 23rd is World Book Night in the United State. This annual celebration spreads the love of reading from person to person. Tens of thousands of people go out into their communities and give half a million free paperbacks to light and non-readers. It’s more than giving free books to those who don’t regularly read. It’s about reaching out to others and touching lives in… [Read More]

Top 10 List for 2013: Good News from Swenson Book Development LLC
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December 27, 2013
Heirloom flower, Brooktondale, NY 2012

It has been a very good year for Swenson Book Development LLC and we credit the successes and accomplishments of our clients during 2013. 1.  Did someone slip President Obama’s speechwriter an advance copy of Seymour Smidt’s manuscript? His December address riffed on pages from Sy’s chapters offering a historical analysis of growing income inequality. I am so thankful Sy has recovered from a terrible car accident… [Read More]

Veterans Day 2013 in Ithaca to include Absent Narratives from War History
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October 11, 2013

Award winning author, Cathryn Prince, will be in Ithaca for two events during Veterans Day weekend.  Cathryn Prince is the author of four books of non-fiction history, a frequent contributor to The Christian Science Monitor, The Weston Forum, Weston Magazine, and Ridgefield Magazine, and has taught journalism at Quinnipiac, Columbia and Boston Universities. Military Writers Society of America recently awarded Cathryn Prince its 2013 Founders Award for Death… [Read More]

Little Free Library #4094
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September 7, 2013

Pop-up book club. Literary trading post. Community book swap. Wrap your head around this growing global phenomena: Little Free Libraries. In 2009 Todd Bol built a wooden box, made it look a bit like a schoolhouse, mounted it on a post in his front yard of his home in Hudson, Wisconsin, filled it with books, and stuck a note on the front door to take… [Read More]

Military Writers Society of America: 2013 Conference September 26-29 in Dayton
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August 6, 2013

Saving history one story at a time, Military Writers Society of America is a national organization dedicated to helping veterans, their families, and historians inscribe the complexities of military life and encourage writing to heal. Membership is open to anyone interested in books about military issues and the experiences of men and women in uniform. Membership benefits include monthly dispatches, listings and reviews of your… [Read More]

Ithaca: A Book Lover’s Paradise
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July 9, 2013

Ithaca, New York is more than just “Gorges.” Luminosity recently released a study deeming Ithaca the smartest city in America based on cognitive training exercises. A thriving, progressive college town, Ithaca is certainly a center for learning and growth. But what else makes it such a hotspot for brain power? Ithaca boasts a community of writers, readers, and researchers; one that makes our small city… [Read More]

Happy Father’s Day: For the love of books
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June 15, 2013

Growing up in a home with books explains, in part, my love of books. My father has always had a library. That Bob Swenson read Ariel and Will Durant’s 11 volumes of The Story of Civilization and William Shirer’s The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, meant I surreptitiously read them too, in junior high. Cold War novels, international espionage thrillers, an occasional mystery, Michener,… [Read More]

Summer Reading List
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June 8, 2013

Good writers read good writing. While you are writing your work-in-progress, keep reading great books. Here’s our recommendations for a super summer reading list. Non-Fiction Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation by Michael Pollan Death in the Baltic: WWII Sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff by Cathryn Prince Dirty Wars by Jeremy Scahill Good Prose: The Art of Non-Fiction… [Read More]

Prose: Good, Better, Best
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June 4, 2013

Tracy Kidder and Richard Todd have co-authored Good Prose: The Art of Non-Fiction and opened a window into writing and editing, writer and editor. Author of Strength in What Remains, Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World, Tracy Kidder won the Pulitzer Prize for his 1981 non-fiction narrative, The Soul of a New Machine. Kidder established… [Read More]