Jonathan Hogan
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"Can't cook but doesn't bite." So begins the newspaper ad offering the services of an "A-1 housekeeper, sound morals, exceptional disposition" that draws the hungry attention of widower Oliver Milliron in the fall of 1909. And so, begins the unforgettable season that deposits the noncooking, nonbiting, ever-whistling Rose Llewellyn and her font-of-knowledge brother, Morris Morgan, in Marias Coulee along with a stampede of homesteaders drawn by the...
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In the winter of 1920, a quirky bequest draws Morrie Morgan back to Butte, Montana, from a year-long honeymoon with his bride, Grace. But the mansion bestowed by a former boss upon the itinerant charmer, who debuted in Doig's bestselling The Whistling Season, promises to be less windfall than money pit. And the town itself, with its polyglot army of miners struggling to extricate themselves from the stranglehold of the ruthless Anaconda Copper Mining...
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Texas writer/historian Mike Cox explores the inception and rise of the famed Texas Rangers.
Starting in 1821 with just a handful of men, the Rangers' first purpose was to keep settlers safe from the feared and gruesome Karankawa Indians, a cannibalistic tribe that wandered the Texas territory. As the influx of settlers grew, the attacks increased and it became clear that a much larger, better trained force was necessary.
From their tumultuous...
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"I like to play indoors better 'cause that's where all the electrical outlets are," reports a fourth grader. But it's not only computers, television, and video games that are keeping kids inside. It's also their parents' fears of traffic, strangers, Lyme disease, and West Nile virus; their schools' emphasis on more and more homework; their structured schedules; and their lack of access to natural areas. Local governments, neighborhood associations,...
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The second installment of a no-holds-barred look at the history of the famed Texas Rangers from western author Mike Cox
Following up on his magnificent history of the 19th century Texas Rangers, Mike Cox now takes us from 1900 through the present. From horseback to helicopters, from the frontier cattle days through the crime-ridden boom-or-bust oil field era, from Prohibition to World War II espionage to the violent ethnic turbulence of the '50s...
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"In order to stave off the mass extinction of species, including our own, we must move swiftly to preserve the biodiversity of our planet, says Edward O. Wilson in his most impassioned book to date. Half-Earth argues that the situation facing us is too large to be solved piecemeal and proposes a solution commensurate with the magnitude of the problem: dedicate fully half the surface of the Earth to nature."--Amazon.
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"Summary Edward O. Wilson recalls his lifetime with ants-from his first boyhood encounters in the woods of Alabama to perilous journeys into the Brazilian rainforest." Ants are the most warlike of all animals, with colony pitted against colony. ... Their clashes dwarf Waterloo and Gettysburg," writes Edward O. Wilson in his most finely observed work in decades. In a myrmecological tour to such far-flung destinations as Mozambique and New Guinea, the...
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An "examination of the relationship between the humanities and the sciences: what they offer to each other, how they can be united, and where they still fall short. Both endeavours, Edward O. Wilson reveals, have their roots in human creativity--the defining trait of our species"--
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"By bringing us the inspiring and sometimes unsettling tales of Ellis Island, Vincent Cannato's American Passage helps us understand who we are as a nation." - Walter Isaacson
The remarkable saga of America's landmark port of entry, from immigration post to deportation center to mythical icon.
For most of New York's early history, Ellis Island had been an obscure little island that barely held itself above high tide. Today the small island stands...
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George Washington and King George III of Britain had a great deal in common-aside from sharing the same first name. Both loved to hunt and farm, both towered above most other men of their day, and both were dedicated husbands and fathers. Yet despite their similarities, they were destined to become bitter enemies. As the Revolutionary War erupted, people on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean formed very different opinions. To the patriotic American...
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Multiple New York Times Notable Book winner and University of Texas professor, David M. Oshinsky is a leading American political and cultural historian. Garnering the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in History, this comprehensive and gripping narrative covers all the challenges, characters, and controversies in America's relentless struggle against polio. Funded by philanthropy and grassroots contributions, Salk's killed-virus vaccine (1954) and Sabin's live-virus...
14) An Open Book
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Pulitzer Prize winner, Michael Dirda, shares his love for all literature, novels, comic books, poetry, even erotica, in this humorous memoir of his childhood. Growing up in a blue-collar, Midwestern household of the 50s and 60s, Dirda appalled his father with his insatiable thirst for reading. His humorous remembrances of the works he loved will spark the interest of anyone who savors a good story.
15) Work Song
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National Book Award finalist and Wallace Stegner Award winner Ivan Doig has garnered critical and popular acclaim for his vibrant, authentic tales of the American West. In Work Song he takes listeners to Butte, Montana, in 1919 for the tale of one charmer's efforts to elude Chicago gangsters. Stepping off the train in the world's copper mining capital, Morris Morgan secures a room at the boarding house of an attractive widow he'd like to know better....
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In 1946, America had just exited the biggest war in modern history and was about to enter another of a kind no one had fought before. We think of this moment as the brilliant start of America Triumphant, in world politics and economics. But the reality is murkier: 1946 brought tension between industry and labor, political disunity, bad veteran morale, housing crises, inflation, a Soviet menace-all shadowed by an indecisiveness that would plague decision...
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Wrongful intolerance has existed in American society for more than four centuries. Us and Them illuminates the shadowy corners of our national past and traces the country's continuing efforts to measure up to its lofty ideals. Through 14 dramatic narratives, listeners witness epic struggles that shaped our collective identity. These and eight other forgotten incidents of history come to life in clear and vibrant prose. - A Quaker woman in 1660 Massachusetts...
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Would you believe it if I told you that every bird you see-even the smallest hummingbird-is a dinosaur? Well, that's what many scientists now believe! Follow along as scientists examine ancient fossils and pose new theories on how prehistoric dinosaurs evolved into today's modern birds. Packed with exciting stories of unearthing ancient fossils and tales of what early feathered dinosaurs might have looked like, this book will have imaginations running...
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Imagine your shock at waking up one morning to a fleet of enormous, otherworldly craft looming over you. And when bizarre aliens begin to emerge-speaking strange gibberish-your heart races even faster. Similar fears may have gripped New World inhabitants when diverse civilizations-separated by a vast ocean-first met. American natives once knew nothing of towering ships, galloping horses, thundering guns, or smallpox. From 1492 onward, however, waves...
20) Time and Place
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From TCU Press' Texas Tradition Series, "designed to publish and preserve significant Texas literature," comes Time and Place by Bryan Woolley, a powerful novel about a small West Texas town during the 1950s. Seventeen-year-old Kevin Adams' best friend is the first polio victim of Fort Appleby. In just a few short months, Kevin's adolescence is stripped away and he must confront decisions he is not prepared to make.