Category: Books/Museum Reviews
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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…
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The Tao of the Backup Catcher by Tim Brown with Erik Kratz
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Tao of the Backup Catcher: It better be a good Tao because this job is rough. Quick synopsis: The story of Erik Kratz and the life of a career backup catcher in Major League Baseball. Fact for Non-History People: 60% of players who get one day as a major leaguer…
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Chasing Shadows by Greg Skomal and Ret Talbot
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Chasing Shadows: The book has sharks. What more do you need? Quick synopsis: The story of sharks and shark expert Greg Skomal. Fact for Non-History People: Great White Sharks and their ancestors have survived every mass extinction event for more than 450 million years. Fact for History Nerds: Humpback whales are…
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Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness by Peter Moore
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: Not everyone loved Benjamin Franklin. Quick synopsis: The story of how the phrase, “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” came to be in American culture. Fact for Non-History People: 12 of the original colonies voted yes on the Declaration of Independence on July…
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No Ordinary Assignment by Jane Ferguson
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for No Ordinary Assignment: Safety? Sounds boring. Quick synopsis: The story of war journalist, Jane Ferguson. Fact for Non-History People: Sana’a, Yemen, is believed to be the one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Fact for History Nerds: The Somali language wasn’t formally written down until the 1970s. My…
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Hands of Time by Rebecca Struthers
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Hands of Time: Watch this! (I’ll see myself out.) Quick synopsis: The story of the watch by a horologist. Fact for Non-History People: That weird little pocket inside the pocket of your jeans? It was put there to hold a pocket watch. Fact for History Nerds: As of 2020, the most…