The Strange Tools of Human Communication by Ruth Finnegan centers on communication as a multimodal phenomenon of voice, writing, and music. She traces alphabetic writing to Semitic proto-alphabets derived from Egyptian hieroglyphs, distinguishing it from pictographic systems that convey meaning visually across languages. Finnegan teaches...

The Rock And Roll Almanac by Andrew Craneman is a detailed, date-specific chronology of significant events in rock music history spanning over 70 years. It catalogs landmark album releases, band milestones, artist activities, legal issues, births, and deaths, covering influential moments such as Johnny Cash’s...

The Hipster’s Legacy is a vividly personal memoir by Lorraine Gibson Cohen, who blends memory, family history, and artistic reflection into a heartfelt portrait of mid-century life in Southern California. Told with humor and candor, the narrative centers on the author's return to Culper Court,...

Wayne B. Olivieri shares his career in the entertainment industry spanned music, acting, and writing in his memoir, The Undiscovered Showman. He formed and reformed bands like The Rockids and Olivier’s Twist, performing at key venues and recording demos, but despite some recognition and opportunities,...

Nancy Thornton Navarro and Adriana Thornton-Cornejo, two daughters of the late Walter Thornton, along with historian Philip Mershon, present The Merchant of Venus: The Life of Walter Thornton. Shocked to see a photo of their father in the movie Seabiscuit, the women researched their father's...

To the Hilt by Dan Meyer and Marc Hartzman is a deep dive into the dangerous and fascinating world of sword swallowing. The book covers the lives and careers of iconic performers, including Dan Meyer himself, who became a leading figure in the field, setting...

The Nutcracker Chronicles by Janine Kovac is a memoir that explores Kovac's journey as a ballerina and her early aspirations, which included becoming a psychologist. Influenced by a music box ballerina, Kovac begins ballet lessons at Fort Bliss, later admiring prima ballerina Renée Segapeli after...

Seattle is known for its persistent rainfall and its outstanding coffee. By the late 1980s to early 1990s, Seattle emerged as ground zero for a new music genre: grunge. Yet, despite the explosion of the alternative rock scene and its artists, Seattle had been home...

The Mountain Whippoorwill (Or, How Hill-Billy Jim Won the Great Fiddlers' Prize) is a folktale originally written by Stephen Vincent Benet and retold by John McEuen, with illustrations by Jas Ingram and Buddy Finethy. The story follows Hill-Billy Jim, a young man born in the...

The Joy of Musicology: Unleashing the Magical Symphony for All by M.P. Johnson is more than just an introduction to music around the world or the history of music as the term musicology may suggest to those in the field. The book presents the many...