Category: Books/Museum Reviews
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Combing Through the White House by Theodore Pappas
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Combing Through the White House: Talk about some hairy situations! (I’ll see myself out.) Quick synopsis: A book about presidential hair. Yes, you read that correctly. Fact for Non-History People: Lincoln was clean-shaven for a good portion of his life until a young girl wrote him a letter suggesting he grow…
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President Garfield by CW Goodyear
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for President Garfield: More than just an assassination. Quick synopsis: A full biography of President Garfield. Fact for Non-History People: By age 26, Garfield was married and a college president. Fact for History Nerds: Garfield never lost an election in his life. My Take on President Garfield: To be honest, I wondered…
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The Dragon from Chicago by Pamela Toler
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Dragon from Chicago: She made the right enemies. Quick synopsis: The story of American journalist Sigrid Schultz and her reporting in Europe before and during World War II. Fact for Non-History People: Until the 1930s, women’s citizenship was defined by the citizenship of her father or husband. Fact for History…
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Adventures in Volcanoland by Tamsin Mather
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Adventures in Volcanoland: Big mountain go boom sometimes. Quick synopsis: A science travelogue by a seasoned volcanologist. Fact for Non-History People: The continents move at about the same rate of toenail growth. Fact for History Nerds: Radium is a million times more radioactive than uranium. My Take on Adventures in Volcanoland:…
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The Devil at His Elbow by Valerie Bauerlein
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Devil at His Elbow: Keeping murder in the family. Quick synopsis: The story of disgraced lawyer and killer, Alex Murdaugh. Fact for Non-History People: Hampton County, S.C. is named for a Confederate general who had been one of the South’s biggest slave owners. Fact for History Nerds: The Murdaugh family…
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A Brief Atlas of the Lighthouses at the End of the World by José Luis González Macías
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for A Brief Atlas of the Lighthouses at the End of the World: Long title, short book, tons of fun! Quick synopsis: A look at lighthouses…at the end of the world. So, the title, basically. Fact for Non-History People: The first lighthouse was of course Egypt’s Pharos of Alexandria, better know as…
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Twenty Years by Sune Engel Rasmussen
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Twenty Years: Plenty of rage to go around. Quick synopsis: A look at the war in Afghanistan through the eyes of various Afghans. Fact for Non-History People: In the 1980s, Afghans in Iran and Pakistan made up nearly half of the world’s population of refugees. Fact for History Nerds: The U.S.…
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The Horse by Timothy Winegard
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Horse: Because without them, we’d have to walk. Like suckers. Quick synopsis: The story of the horse. Yes, the whole story. Fact for Non-History People: 99.99 percent of all species that have ever existed are extinct. Fact for History Nerds: Horses have been used in war for over 5,000 years.…
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A Well-Trained Wife by Tia Levings
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for A Well-Trained Wife: When you gotta go, you gotta go. Quick synopsis: The story of how Tia Levings left her abusive marriage. Fact for Non-History People: U.S. women couldn’t open their own bank accounts until 1960. Fact for History Nerds: They couldn’t get credit cards until 1974. My Take on A…