The word “breathtaking” did not make it into Noah Webster’s original 1823 American Dictionary of the English Language. Perhaps, it is because the adjective was not necessary until the Grand Canyon became a national monument and then a national park almost a century after Webster first published his grand volume. Yet, it is the word…

Wordsmiths and bibliophiles unite as Mark Dunn’s “Ella Minnow Pea” celebrates its 20th anniversary by releasing an illustrated edition to mark this milestone. ‘A Novel in Letters’ Ella Minnow Pea resides in the fictional island of Nollop, where Nevin Nollop, the fictitious inventor of the pangram “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog,”…

Although a hefty read at 916 pages, “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln” is not scholarly. Yet the size of this prize-winning book conveys the weight of Abraham Lincoln’s cabinet choices, as well as the strategic mind that eventually garnered his rivals’ respect. On the eve of the Civil War, the 16th…

Sadly, the names of Charles and Anne Lindbergh are most closely associated with the tragic kidnapping and subsequent murder of their first-born infant, 20-month-old Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr., in 1932. To escape the hysteria and American press, the Lindberghs moved to Europe in 1935. They returned in 1939. Anne and her husband Charles Lindbergh had…

C.J. Box has been writing about the fictional adventures of Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett for over two decades. During that time, Pickett has remained happily married and watched his daughters grow up. He has become a little battered and a little slower over time, yet he still loves his job. “Shadows Reel” is the…

Bill Bogdonavich is a bombardier in the Army Air Force during World War II. He is on the run from the Germans after being shot down over Yugoslavia. Drew Carlton is a pilot. He is training C-47 pilots in Texas. He would rather be overseas. “Red Burning Sky,” a novel by Tom Young, brings the…