By Crystal’s own admission, "By Hook or by Crook" is a linguistic travelogue. Normally a writer of textbooks and dictionaries—utterly self-contained literary worlds—this book takes a meandering path through the Welsh countryside... Read More

On September 16, 1908, the New York Times ran a lead business news story in which the White Star Line announced that construction was beginning on the world’s largest steamship, the Titanic. On the same day, another announcement... Read More

What a treasure to have a second how-to book of this caliber enter the world for developing writers. This new handbook is like its predecessor in its most important characteristics. Following the format of co-author Kooser’s first... Read More

Sparked by an idea from an industry discussion group, “the pebble and the avalanche” is a metaphor for what the author refers to as “disaggregation,” the “process of taking things apart, breaking connections, and of dismantling... Read More

People love to drive and they love to gossip. With this book, the author feeds both loves. By profiling six of the men who have had the largest impact on the world automotive industry over the past half century, Johnson gives everyone... Read More

For those old enough to remember a world without Wal-Mart, this book starts with an interesting romp through retail history. The days of bustling downtown shopping areas with Mom-and-Pop stores filled to the brim with American-made... Read More

It can be an odd thing when reading fiction to encounter a likable story about unlikable people, and more peculiar still to come across a collection that consists almost entirely of such pieces. This cycle of twelve interrelated stories... Read More

Philip Persinger takes on the vagaries of chance and love in "Do the Math" which answers the question “What would you do if you had the opportunity to reunite with the love of your life?” Theoretical mathematician William Teale is... Read More