Even Library staff can struggle to keep up with all the bookish news out there. From social media to local papers, books are a hot topic. In this monthly post we are highlighting some regional literary news and connecting you with our library collections so you can keep your finger on the pulse of Pittsburgh. Check out what was trending and topical this past month.

 

News Story – City Paper: A former Pittsburgh cop takes readers into the city’s underbelly in new memoir
Book mentioned: Journal of a Black Woman in Blue by Brenda Tate
“Brenda Tate served 40 years in Pittsburgh as a police officer, while struggling with addiction. She is now a revered community leader in Pittsburgh and lifelong resident of the historic Hill District.”

 

News Story – City Paper: The Market Women of Diamond Square is a feminist journey through the seedy streets of 1910s Pittsburgh
Book mentioned: The Market Women of Diamond Square by Jan Ellen Kurth
“When Katherina ‘Katya’ Wessel takes over a fruit stand at Pittsburgh’s Diamond Market House, she assumes she’s simply working to support herself and her invalid father. But she finds something else: a sisterhood of hucksters.”

 

News Story – Littsburgh: Announcing Laura Jackson’s “Deep & Wild” as the 2025 WCONA Writers Conference of Northern Appalachia® Book of the Year!
Book Mentioned: Deep & Wild by Laura Jackson
“Essays chronicling the beauty and awe of Appalachia through the eyes of a lifelong West Virginian.”

 

News Story – Post-Gazette: Review: Racing to the top in ‘Sir Lewis’
Book Mentioned: Sir Lewis by Michael E. Sawyer
“At the pinnacle of motorsports, a humble young man from Stevenage, England, has risen to become the greatest Formula One driver of all time. Lewis Hamilton’s journey from remote-controlled car hobbyist to seven-time world champion, knight of the realm, and global superstar is the stuff of sporting legend.”

 

News Story – WESA: Pittsburgh biographer tells the story of baseball maverick Earl Weaver
Book Mentioned: The Last Manager by John W. Miller
“The first major biography of legendary Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver.”
This title is also available for checkout as an eBook on Libby and in eAudio on Libby.

 

News Story – Public Source: Pittsburgh embraced me as a literary exile. Now I’m giving back through ‘radical charity.’
News Story – City Paper: Israel Centeno’s new noir novel is a layer cake of Venezuela, Pittsburgh, and Poe
Book Mentioned: Poe’s Project by Israel Centeno
“The Poe Project is a gripping historical mystery set against the turbulent backdrop of late 19th century Venezuela, the chaotic streets of 1890s New York City, and the dark corners of Edgar Allan Poe’s literary legacy.”

 

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