By Laura Ingalls Wilder, with Pamela Smith Hill, editor Laura Ingalls Wilder told an audience in 1937: “I realized I had seen and lived it all—the successive phases of the frontier, first the frontiersman, then the pioneer, then the farmers and the towns. Then I understood that in my own life I represented a whole […]
By Michael Jarrett Producing Country: The Inside Story of the Great Recordings examines how the process of recording country music has changed since Ralph Peer began capturing performances on acetate in 1927. “Musicians make music. Producers make recordings,” explains author Michael Jarrett, an English professor at Penn State University. He interviewed 51 record producers for […]
By Tamara Saviano When I saw the title of Tamara Saviano’s memoir, The Most Beautiful Girl, I immediately thought of the Charlie Rich song from my young Navy days: “Hey, did you happen to see the most beautiful girl in the world? And if you did, was she crying, crying?” And it is the song […]
By Tanya Tucker with Patsi Bale Cox Tanya Tucker, with the assistance of celebrity biographer Patsi Bale Cox, wrote her autobiography in 1997, at age 39. Nickel Dreams: My Life tells the story of this feisty gal with a powerful voice and a personality to match. She had her first hit at age 13, and […]
By Robert Gottlieb Great expectations were what Charles Dickens had for his ten children, and he was mostly disappointed. Seven sons and two daughters grew to adulthood under the influence of a father who tried to direct how they lived their lives. He expected them to possess his tenaciousness and energy level, not realizing the […]
By Gerry House I read the book, Country Music Broke My Brain, in the hope it would be better than the title. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. The author is Gerry House, who hosted a syndicated radio show for 25 years, penned songs such as Reba McEntire’s “Little Rock,” and wrote comedic scripts for numerous TV awards […]
By Roman Krznaric How Should We Live? Great Ideas from the Past for Everyday Life was first published in 2011 and is being reissued in 2014. “I believe the future of the art of living can be found by gazing into the past,” writes author Roman Krznaric in the preface. “If we explore how people […]
By William Seidman and Richard Grbavac Organizations usually have a few star performers who are more motivated and dedicated and deliver better results than the others. What if it were possible for every person in your company to be a star performer? The Star Factor: Discover What Your Top Performers Do Differently–and Inspire a New […]
By Eve Haas The Secrets of the Notebook: A Woman’s Quest to Uncover Her Royal Family Secret is a nonfiction mystery, with history and aspects of a love story, all wrapped up with a satisfying conclusion. Eve Haas spent thirty years searching for an explanation as to why her great-great-grandfather’s family had apparently disappeared from […]
With Randy Poe Buck ‘Em! The Autobiography of Buck Owens is more about his music than his life. During the late 1990s, Owens recorded almost one hundred hours on cassette tapes, telling his story the way he wanted to be remembered. His last tape was recorded in September 2000, and his failing health prevented him […]