Category: Books/Museum Reviews
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Trail of the Lost by Andrea Lankford
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Trail of the Lost: If you don’t have a plan, one may be made for you. Quick synopsis: The search for three missing hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail. Fact for Non-History People: The Pacific Crest Trail travels 2,650 miles from Mexico to Canada. So, it can kill you by cold…
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Gallop Towards the Sun by Peter Stark
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Gallop Towards the Sun: Be careful trusting a dude with three first names. Quick synopsis: The story of Tecumseh and William Henry Harrison as they battled both literally and figuratively. Fact for Non-History People: Presidential trivia! William Henry Harrison is the shortest serving president since he gave a long inauguration speech…
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Young Queens by Leah Redmond Chang
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Young Queens: The Kardashians are amateurs compared to these people. Quick synopsis: The story of the early lives of Catherine de Medici, Mary Queen of Scots, and Elisabeth de Valois. Fact for Non-History People: King Francis of France stayed in the room the night of the marriage of Catherine de Medici…
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Road to Surrender by Evan Thomas
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Road to Surrender: It did not go down how you think it did. Quick synopsis: The story of the decision to drop the atomic bomb. Fact for Non-History People: Even after the dropping of the second atomic bomb, Japan’s Supreme Council was deadlocked on whether to surrender. Fact for History Nerds:…
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Valiant Women by Lena Andrews
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Valiant Women: They also had to be very patient. Quick synopsis: The story of U.S. women’s integration into the military during World War II. Fact for Non-History People: The U.S. military needed a force of 16 million personnel to fight World War II. Fact for History Nerds: U.S. women would ultimately…
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Behold the Monster by Jillian Lauren
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Behold the Monster: A lot of Little. Quick synopsis: The story of Jillian Lauren’s meetings with serial killer Samuel Little. Fact for Non-History People: Samuel Little is most likely the most prolific serial killer in U.S. history. Fact for History Nerds: Both Little Richard and Malcolm X are in Little’s family…
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The Underworld by Susan Casey
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Underworld: Nope. Not going down there. No way. Quick synopsis: A look at the deepest depths of the ocean. Fact for Non-History People: The top layer of the ocean that we can see is called the epipelagic (sunlight) zone. It only makes up 5% of the ocean’s volume. Fact for…
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Becoming the Ex-Wife by Marsha Gordon
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Becoming the Ex-Wife: Best thing that ever happened to her. Quick synopsis: The story of author Ursula Parrott who popularized the term “ex-wife.” Fact for Non-History People: A 1930s study found that 94% of women believed divorce should be the solution for an unhappy marriage but only 54% approved if there…
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Ira Hayes by Tom Holm
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Ira Hayes: An example of someone who never wanted the limelight. Quick synopsis: The story of Ira Hayes, one of the marines to raise the American Flag at Iwo Jima. Fact for Non-History People: We didn’t have the right names of the men who raised the flag until 2019. Fact for…