Story Tags

Why the Grateful Dead Matter

“Not everyone likes it, but those who do REALLY like it.”

A Look At The Grateful Dead

They never had a #1 hit and they made the Top 10 only once, and even that was after being around for more than 2 decades. Jerry Garcia likened the Grateful Dead to licorice: “not everyone likes it, but those who do really like it.”  I am not a Deadhead, but I am married to one…who happens to look a bit like Jerry Garcia. With the 25th anniversary of Jerry Garcia’s death coming up this year, it seemed a good time to bring the Grateful Dead back into the spotlight.  

The Plantagenets

English Royals and Their Families

Most of us get along pretty well with our immediate relatives. However, if you’re royalty, that might not be the case. Rivalry for the crown can create problems in the best of families, as the following books illustrate.   The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England by Dan Jones

Anything Goes

Musical Theatre

Who doesn’t love a good show? Let’s look at an overview of one of America’s great homegrown institutions as well as some of the people and shows that have contributed to its history. Anything Goes: A History of American Musical Theatre by Ethan Mordden

Washington's Circle

Proximity to Power

A look at (mostly) presidents and their advisers

What is it like standing behind the head that wears the crown? The following titles look at heads of state and the people who influenced them. Four of them deal with U.S. Presidents and those who counseled them, their cabinet members in particular, and are listed in chronological order. The last title deals with a difficult English monarch and the courtiers who served him.

Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation

The Founding Generation

Tom Brokow coined the term “The Greatest Generation” when he wrote his book, by the same name, about those who grew up during the Great Depression and helped to win World War II. The following books all feature what I like to think of as The Founding Generation, those individuals who grew up as British subjects and whose hard work and ingenuity started this great nation of ours.  

Last Hope Island

World War II

War through film, art, observation, sacrifice and heroism

There are many books published about World War II, but these five amazing books bring the war to life in unique ways. Travel back and experience the war through film, art, observation, sacrifice and heroism. Last Hope Island: Britain, Occupied Europe, and the Brotherhood that Helped Turn the Tide of War by Lynne Olson

Chocolate Wars

I Hope You're Hungry!

My husband says that Pennsylvania's state motto should be "I hope you're hungry," since everywhere you go there, someone is usually trying to feed you. I should know - many of those folks are my relatives. In addition to food books, I have also included books on beverages. After all, you might get a bit thirsty while "eating" these suggested titles!