Over-the-Rhine: When Beer Was King


Michael D. Morgan - 2010
    In the 1870s, OTR was comparable to the cultural hearts of Paris and Vienna. By the turn of the last century, the neighborhood was home to roughly three hundred saloons and had over a dozen breweries within or adjacent to its borders. It was beloved by countless citizens and travelers for the exact reasons that others successfully sought to destroy it. This is the story of how the heart of the "Paris of America" became a time capsule.

Grand River and Joy


Susan Messer - 2009
    The confrontations in Grand River and Joy are complex, challenging, bitterly funny, and---painful though it is to acknowledge it---spot-on accurate."---Rosellen Brown, author of Before and After and Half a Heart"Grand River and Joy is a rare novel of insight and inspiration. It's impossible not to like a book this well-written and meaningful---not to mention as historically significant, humorous, and meditative."---Laura Kasischke, author of The Life Before Her Eyes and Be MineHalloween morning 1966, Harry Levine arrives at his wholesale shoe warehouse to find an ethnic slur soaped on the front window. As he scavenges around the sprawling warehouse basement, looking for the supplies he needs to clean the window, he makes more unsettling discoveries: a stash of Black Power literature; marijuana; a new phone line running off his own; and a makeshift living room, arranged by Alvin, the teenaged tenant who lives with his father, Curtis, above the warehouse. Accustomed to sloughing off fears about Detroit's troubled inner-city neighborhood, Harry dismisses the soaped window as a Halloween prank and gradually dismantles “Alvin's lounge” in a silent conversation with the teenaged tenant. Still, these events and discoveries draw him more deeply into the frustrations and fissures permeating his city in the months leading up to the Detroit riots.Grand River and Joy, named after a landmark intersection in Detroit, follows Harry through the intersections of his life and the history of his city. It's a work of fiction set in a world that is anything but fictional, a novel about the intersections between races, classes and religions exploding in the long, hot summers of Detroit in the 1960s. Grand River and Joy is a powerful and moving exploration of one of the most difficult chapters of Michigan history.Susan Messer's fiction and nonfiction have appeared in numerous publications, including Glimmer Train Stories, North American Review, and Colorado Review. She received an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship in prose, an Illinois Arts Council literary award for creative nonfiction, and a prize in the Jewish Cultural Writing Competition of the Dora Teitelboim Center for Yiddish Culture.Cover photograph copyright © Bill Rauhauser and Rauhauser Photographic Trust

Home Brewing: A Complete Guide On How To Brew Beer


James Houston - 2013
    A step by step guide that makes your first homebrew easy and fun.2. Over 350 pages of information that sets you apart fromamateur brewers.3. 13 amazing recipes of various styles and flavors.4. A profound list of the best equipment, websites, calculators,forums, brewing apps, recipes, and tons more!5. A robust list of trouble shooting tips

Michigan's Strychnine Saint: The Curious Case of Mrs. Mary McKnight


Tobin T. Buhk - 2014
      The spring of 1903 proved disastrous for the Murphy family. On April 22, the infant Ruth Murphy died in her crib. Within an hour, her mother, Gertrude, experienced a violent spasm before she, too, died. Ten days later, John Murphy followed his wife and child to the grave after suffering from a crippling convulsion. While neighbors whispered about a curse and physicians feared a contagious disease, Kalkaska County sheriff John W. Creighton and prosecuting attorney Ernest C. Smith searched for answers. As they probed deeper into the suspicious deaths, they uncovered a wicked web of intrigue. And at the center stood a widow in a black taffeta dress.   Includes photos

Racecar: Searching for the Limit in Formula SAE


Matt Brown - 2011
    With fewer people and resources than any of the top competitors, the only way they were going to win was to push the limit, go for broke, and hope for more than a little luck. By the time they got to the racetrack, they knew: In the fog of fierce competition, whether you win or lose, you learn the hardest lessons about engineering, teamwork, friendship, and yourself.

Beer School: A Crash Course in Craft Beer


Jonny Garrett - 2016
    The legends of the craft beer industry have made sure everyone’s within reach of the perfect pint. But, how do you get the right brew for you? And, can you learn to make a beer that will add to the lager legacy?Beers of the world: Welcome to Beer School, brought to you by the heroes of YouTube sensation the Craft Beer Channel, a guide to everything you need to know about the wide and wonderful beers of the world. In Beer School, Jonny and Brad explain the intricacies of the finest artisan craft brews, including: ales, lagers, porters, stouts, IPSs, and bitters.How to make beer: The lads have the inside scoop on everything from hop varieties and barrel aging, to serving temperatures and glassware. Beer School helps you learn how to make beer and how to get the most out of every sip. You will learn about: grain, mash, water, hops, boil, yeast, fermentation, serving, storing, pouring, and tasting.

The Hollywood Scandal Almanac: 12 Months of Sinister, Salacious and Senseless History!


Jerry Roberts - 2012
      The real-life scandals of Hollywood’s personalities rival any drama they bring to life on the silver screen. This book provides 365 daily doses of high and low crimes, fraud and deceit, culled from Tinseltown’s checkered past.   Whether it’s the exploits of silent-era star Fatty Arbuckle, the midcentury misdeeds of Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe, or the modern excesses of Lindsay Lohan, this calendar of Hollywood transgressions has a sensational true tale for every day of the year. It’s an entertaining and sometimes shocking trip down memory lane filled with sneaky affairs, box-office bombs, and careers cut short—sometimes by murder. It shows that the drama doesn’t end when the credits roll.

Palm Beach Babylon: The Sinful History of America's Super-Rich Paradise


Murray Weiss - 1992
    Starting with the island's founder Henry Flagler, and updated for Kindle, "Palm Beach Babylon" chronicles the Kennedys, the Trumps, the Dodges, Helmsleys, Pulitzers, Vanderbilts, Mizners and Madoffs, and many more "Titans of Industry" and "Royalty." "The history is solid, the writing stylish," wrote renowned author Pete Hamill. "Riveting," exclaimed Nicholas Pileggi, author of "Wiseguy" and "Casino." The New York Times declared "Palm Beach Babylon" the best book ever written on the storied tropical island, where the "Rich and Famous" flock every winter to indulge in a world that only money can pierce. "Murray Weiss and Bill Hoffmann have . . . produced an intriguing account of the wagers of too much wealth and too much leisure time," wrote Dominick Dunne, the best selling novelist and true-crime expert. And as one reader posted along with 5-Stars: A REAL PAGE TURNER: I loved this book because it had all the allure of great fiction, yet it was about real people who, although they live in a real place (Palm Beach, FL), seem more like Great Gatsby characters than anything else! It also provides a fascinating historical perspective of the glamorous Palm Beach, how it was built, the man who built it, and the wealthy who flocked to it.

A 1,000-Mile Walk on the Beach: One Woman's Trek of the Perimeter of Lake Michigan (A 1,000 MILE ADVENTURE #1)


Loreen Niewenhuis - 2010
    This book chronicles that journey, a 1,000-mile walk around the world's fifth-largest lake. The book explores both the geology of the lake and the measure of a person--a woman, married, mother of two sons (who joined her for portions of the walk). But most of the walk was done solo, an adventure in discovery of self and place. Niewenhuis conveys a sense of the magnitude of the lake she loves, a place so elemental to the four Midwestern states that form its shores. From a ground-level perspective, the book explores the natural and human history of Lake Michigan . . . and raises important questions about preserving our wild places and protecting fragile ecosystems on which we all depend.

Beer Tasting Quick Reference Guide


Jeff Alworth - 2012
    Tasting profiles from the booklet get the ball rolling they break down beer into style categories and include information on each variety's background, flavors, aromas, and unique character."

If These Walls Could Talk: Michigan Football Stories from Inside the Big House


Jon Falk - 2010
    Falk s encyclopedic knowledge of Wolverines football traditions and history make him a vital component of the staff that transforms talented college football players into true Michigan Men. And in his nearly four decades on the job, Falk has become one of the most beloved figures in team history. In If These Walls Could Talk, Falk shares his stories, memories, and friendships established in the locker room, on the sideline, and on the road with one of college football s most storied institutions. From legendary tales of Bo Schembechler s epic gridiron chess matches with Ohio State s Woody Hayes to the memorable day Falk introduced freshman phenom Anthony Carter to two-time All-American Ron Kramer, Falk s recollections connect the past and present to underscore the importance of building the relationships that drive the Wolverines to success. Win or lose, a game only lasts 3-1/2 hours, Falk said. Friends last a lifetime. He s an extra arm to the coaching staff. He s a shoulder to lean on for the players.... All players eventually have to leave the University of Michigan. But no one ever leaves Big Jon. Tom Brady, former Michigan quarterback, from his foreword [Falk] can tell stories going all the way back to Bo. That s a good feeling for a former player. That s what Michigan is all about. When you play football for Michigan, you never really leave. It will always be part of your home. Mike Hart, former Michigan running back Nobody knows more about Michigan tradition than Jon. Paul Jokisch, former Michigan wide receiver

A Brewer's Guide to Opening a Nano Brewery


Dan Woodske - 2012
    Starting as an avid homebrewer he wondered why there wasn't a brewery within an hour drive of his home...that's when he decided to take his passion for brewing to the pro level. This book describes everything you need from buying brewery equipment, marketing your beer, licensing, running your brewing, and finding that perfect space. The process of opening a brewery can seem daunting, but in under 100 pages you will find brewing good beer is the hard part, the rest seems easy once it is all laid out for you. You want details on the licensing process? You want to learn how to sell your beer? You want real life examples on how a nanobrewery works and how it can be profitable? Then buy this book. Don't spend $10,000 on a consultant, spend $15 and get info from someone that actually owns and operates a nano-brewery...and does it successfully.

A History of Howard Johnson's: How a Massachusetts Soda Fountain Became an American Icon (American Palate)


Anthony Mitchell Sammarco - 2013
    Popularly known as the "Father of the Franchise Industry," Johnson delivered good food and prices that brought appreciative customers back for more. The attractive white Colonial Revival restaurants, with eye-catching porcelain tile roofs, illuminated cupolas and sea blue shutters, were described in "Reader's Digest" in 1949 as the epitome of "eating places that look like New England town meeting houses dressed up for Sunday." Boston historian and author Anthony M. Sammarco recounts how Howard Johnson introduced twenty-eight flavors of ice cream, the "Tendersweet" clam strips, grilled frankforts and a menu of delicious and traditional foods that families eagerly enjoyed when they traveled.

A Detroit Anthology


Anna Clark - 2014
    In this, we are rich. We begin with abundance. But while much is written about our city these hard days, it is typically meant to explain Detroit to those who live elsewhere. Much of this writing is brilliant, but our anthology, this anthology, is different: it is a collection of Detroit stories for Detroiters. Through essays, photographs, poetry, and art, this anthology collects the stories we tell each other over late nights at the pub and long afternoons on the porch. We share them in coffee shops, at church social hours, in living rooms, and while waiting for the bus. These are stories addressed to the rhetorical “you”—with the ratcheted up language that comes with it—and these are stories that took real legwork to investigate. We may be lifelong residents, newcomers, or former Detroiters; we may be activists, workers, teachers, artists, healers, or students. But a common undercurrent alights our work that is collected here: we are a city moving through the fire of transformation. We are afire.Featuring essays, photographs, poetry, and art by Terry Blackhawk, Grace Lee Boggs, John Carlisle, Desiree Cooper, dream hampton, francine j. harris, Steve Hughes, Jamaal May, Tracie McMillan, Ken Mikolowski, Marsha Music, Shaka Senghor, Thomas J. Sugrue, and many others.

The Tigers of '68: Baseball's Last Real Champions


George Cantor - 1997
    This book revisits the main performers of this illustrious team and weaves their stories into a cohesive narrative that captures all the drama and color of Detroit's 1968 season.