Category: Books/Museum Reviews

  • Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult by Maria Bamford

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult: You might kick her out, though. Quick synopsis: A memoir by standup comedian Maria Bamford. Fact for Non-History People: Maria puts an actual financial breakdown of what she makes for doing a show in the book. I’m not kidding. It’s a spreadsheet. Fact for History Nerds:…

  • The Devils Will Get No Rest by James Conroy

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Devils Will Get No Rest: The Reality TV Reunion Show of World War II. Quick synopsis: The story of the Allied Casablanca Conference of World War II. Fact for Non-History People: FDR saw Churchill naked. No, I won’t explain it any further. Fact for History Nerds: During World War II,…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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:…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…