For the Love of Books Podcast

Author Lisa Romence pens A Teacher's Gift

A Teacher’s Gift is a book of inspirational stories and reflections garnered from over three decades of classroom experience. 

Sponsored by Modern History Press, Moravian Sons Distillery, Doc Chavent and authors Lisa Romence and Brian Talarczyk.

 

 

Each page provides insights into the complexities and challenges of a teacher’s typical day.  This book is a timeless resource that teachers can reach for whenever they need encouragement and inspiration.  The entries will refresh and recharge the reader, and remind them of the 

significant role they play in the lives of their students. 

Listen in for a chance to win a signed copy of A Teacher's Gift.

Copyright (c) 2025. Emma Blogs, LLC. All rights reserved.

Author Brian Talarczyk pens I Am Not Bipolar: A Memoir

Happy Father's Day from the For the Love of Books Podcast with host author Emma Palova

In this candid memoir, author Brian Talarczyk delves into his harrowing journey with bipolar disorder—a legacy he unknowingly inherited until his father’s sudden death in 2001.

Sponsored by authors Brian Talarczyk, Jennifer Raines, Caroline Topperman and Lowell-based business Moravian Sons Distillery.

 

With vulnerability and humor, Talarczyk recounts the soaring highs and crushing lows of his experience, from manic episodes and terrifying psychosis that led to his stay at the Yale New Haven Psychiatric Facility, to the profound depression that nearly claimed his life. I Am Not Bipolar is a raw and compelling account of a man’s battle with mental illness, the lessons learned, and his resolve to break the silence surrounding mental health.

Listen in for a chance to win a signed copy of I Am Not Bipolar: A Memoir

Copyright (c) 2025 Emma Blogs, LLC. All rights reserved.

Author Caroline Topperman pens memoir Your Roots Cast a Shadow

Caroline Topperman's own move to Poland is a central part of Your Roots Cast a Shadow memoir as she grapples with her "Polish roots" while being a "Canadian by nature".

Sponsored by author Caroline Topperman, Moravian Sons Distillery and Doc Chavent.

 

She experiences cultural differences, language barriers, and a growing awareness of the political climate in modern-day Poland, particularly the rise of nationalism and racism.

Her journey to understand her family's past is intertwined with her present-day observations of Polish society, including its attitudes towards history, religion, and social acceptance.

The book ultimately questions how personal history intersects with global events to shape identity and the challenges of balancing one's origins with new surroundings.

Listen in for a chance to win a signed copy of Your Roots Cast a Shadow.

Copyright (c) 2025. Emma Palova. All rights reserved.

True crime author Rod Sadler pens Depraved Obsession

"You can't say the last evil person in this world was Hitler."

Those were the words of Circuit Court Judge Timothy Kenny when he spoke of Ronald Lloyd Bailey, a Michigan serial killer serving a life sentence without parole.

 

During a sunny Labor Day weekend in 1985, thirteen-year-old Shawn Moore was kidnapped while riding his bike near his home in Brighton, Michigan. Still on edge from a series of unsolved murders dubbed the Oakland County Child Killings in the mid-seventies, a task force of up to seventy-five investigators worked day and night to find Shawn.

In an almost unheard-of series of events, local, state, and federal law enforcement combined their resources and efforts to track down the killer. They knew the kidnapper could be anywhere, and there was an urgency to find Shawn Moore alive.

 Depraved Obsession: The Gripping True Story of Law Enforcement’s Hunt for a Sadistic Serial Killer launches on May 6.

Sponsored by Moravian Sons Distillery, Doc Chavent, and author Carla Stockton.

Listen in for a chance to win a signed copy of Depraved Obsession.

Copyright (c) 2025. Emma Palova. All rights reserved.

Author Mikel Classen pens Piracy on the Great Lakes

"Loaded with rare period photos and engravings of the infamous pirates who wreaked havoc in Great Lakes waters and shore communities, Classen's inviting narrative is fast-paced and filled with legends of treasures and daring exploits."

-Sue Harrison, international best-selling historical novelist

 

Sponsored by Moravian Sons Distillery, Doc Chavent and author Carla Stockton

Listen in for a chance to win a signed copy of Piracy on the Great Lakes.

Copyright (c) 2025 Emma Palova.

Author Carla Stockton pens Too Much of Nothing, a memoir

In Too Much of Nothing, Carla Stockton, a first-generation American baby boomer, shares her life story through a series of vignettes. The memoir begins with her mother's escape from Europe before World War II and culminates in Stockton's own journey to break free from a stifling marriage.

 

With a blend of humor and heart, Stockton reflects on the challenges and triumphs of living in the shadow of history. Her story is a meditation on the resilience required to navigate the complexities of identity and womanhood in a changing world.

Listen in for a chance to win a signed copy of Too Much of Nothing.

Sponsored by author Carla Stockton, Doc Chavent, and Moravian Sons Distillery.

Copyright (c) 2025. Author Emma Palova, All rights reserved.

 

Holidays with Lowell authors Glad Fletcher and Kathryn Den Houter

Lowell authors Glad Fletcher and Katherine Den Houter joined forces for a special holiday book signing event at the Coffee House at Cascade Christian Church on Dec. 14 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Holiday episode sponsored by authors Kathryn Den Houter, Glad Fletcher, Moravian Sons Distillery and Doc Chavent. 

Listen in for a chance to win a signed copy of Fletcher's or Den Houter's books.

Copyright (c) 2024. Emma Blogs, LLC. All rights reserved.

Author Larry Jorgensen pens Shipwrecked and Rescued

Happy Thanksgiving. Books make great gifts.

 

Author Larry Jorgensen tells the true-life adventure of the 1926 City of Bangor shipwreck rescue off the Keweenaw Peninsula in Upper Michigan.

 

A fierce November storm tossed the ship with a crew of 23 and 240 new Chrysler automobiles onto a Lake Superior reef. For the first time, Shipwrecked and Cars and Crew tell the near-tragic story of lost and desperate shipmates floundering for two days in the deep snow and near-zero temperatures. Jorgensen's detailed research and collection of historical photos chronicles what happened, introduces the key players, and finally reveals the fate of those collectors' prizes in the century since.

Listen in to win a signed copy of Shipwrecked and Rescued. Contact Emma via the website emmapalova.com with the name of the city that deceived Captain Mackin's logistics in this story.

Sponsored by @Moravian Sons Distillery and Doc Chavent

Copyright (c) 2024 Emma Blogs, LLC. All rights reserved.

Author Joan H. Young pens How to Hike the North Country Trail

The first 100 pages of How to Hike the North Country Trail: not quite a Guide explain why the North Country Trail is unique among National Scenic Trails and why its political history causes the checkerboard of allowed uses found along its length.

 

One cannot just camp anywhere along the trail. This requires much

more planning for a long hike than some hikers expect. The rest of

the book is the first-ever attempt to list all the legal places to camp or find

lodging along the 4800 miles of the NCT. As the title says, it's "not quite a

guide." This trail is still too long and too fluid to publish the level of

detail that a true guide would contain. However, the book in conjunction with

the free interactive map at northcountrytrail.org, is a great aid in creating a

plan for a long hike.

Listen in for a chance to win a signed copy of How to Hike the North Country Trail.

Sponsored by Moravian Sons Distillery and Doc Chavent

Copyright (c)2024. Emma Blogs, LLC. All rights reserved.

Yooper Ale Trails presents Michigan's Upper Peninsula breweries and brewpubs

Mikel B. Classen and Jon C. Stott, award-winning authors of travel books, provide expert guidance for beer aficionados and tourists to visit the 29 unique craft breweries and brewpubs of Michigan's Upper Peninsula in Yooper Ale Trails.

The tours to breweries are organized geographically from the east UP to the west side into eight picturesque ale trails. Each brewery or brewpub has its own story. Classen and Stott have captured the essence of the beer scene in the UP since the mid-1990s. Classen suggests planning six months for an ale trail trip.

"The book itself is a little bit of a roadbook too, you get a good breakdown of beers we found there," Classen said.

Listen to the episode to win a signed hardcover copy of Yooper Ale Trails.

Sponsored by Moravian Sons Distillery and Doc Chavent.

Copyright (c) 2024. Emma Blogs, LLC.