Walkin Preacher of the Ozarks by Guy Howard, 273 pages

 This is the modern saga of a country preacher who has, literally, walked into the lives of countless Ozark backhills people. It is of necessity (and in truth) the intimate revelation of their physical and spiritual existence. Many were good lives; some were bad.

Therefore, in deference to those lives which are revealed where all may see, in the crisp black type of these pages, the actual names and places are not always given. The records of some have already been entered in the Great Book, but lest the living fear identification, it isnot presumed that this narrative could prejudice the text on their final Record.

Guy Howard, long-time resident of Branson, honored by University of Missouri School of Journalism as "notable Missouri author." Walkin' Preacher was featured in Life and Time Magazines.

Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters, 273 pages

 Amelia Peabody inherited two things from her father: a considerable fortune and an unbendable will. The first allowed her to indulge in her life's passion. Without the second, the mummy's curse would have made corpses of them all.

Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 by Stephen Puleo, 273 pages

Around noon on January 15, 1919, a group of firefighters was playing cards in Boston's North End when they heard a tremendous crash. It was like roaring surf, one of them said later. Like a runaway two-horse team smashing through a fence, said another. A third firefighter jumped up from his chair to look out a window-"Oh my God!" he shouted to the other men, "Run!"

A 50-foot-tall steel tank filled with 2.3 million gallons of molasses had just collapsed on Boston's waterfront, disgorging its contents as a 15-foot-high wave of molasses that at its outset traveled at 35 miles an hour. It demolished wooden homes, even the brick fire station. The number of dead wasn't known for days. It would be years before a landmark court battle determined who was responsible for the disaster.

This was a truly outstanding work. It looked at the political implications behind this tragedy, with big business butting up against government oversight and workers rights, anti-immigrant bias (especially against Italians) and what led up to this tragedy and the long trial afterwards. I can't recommend this book enough for fans on historical nonfiction.

Orphan Island by Laurel Snyder, 273 pages

On the island, everything is perfect. The sun rises in a sky filled with dancing shapes; the wind, water, and trees shelter and protect those who live there; when the nine children go to sleep in their cabins, it is with full stomachs and joy in their hearts. And only one thing ever changes: on that day, each year, when a boat appears from the mist upon the ocean carrying one young child to join them—and taking the eldest one away, never to be seen again.

Today’s Changing is no different. The boat arrives, taking away Jinny’s best friend, Deen, replacing him with a new little girl named Ess, and leaving Jinny as the new Elder. Jinny knows her responsibility now—to teach Ess everything she needs to know about the island, to keep things as they’ve always been. But will she be ready for the inevitable day when the boat will come back—and take her away forever from the only home she’s known?

Once There Was A Farm by Virginia Bell Dabney, 273 pages

A woman looks back at her childhood on a small Virginia farm. This wasn't the best memoir I've read, was a little disjointed at times, but wasn't horrible.

Archie: The Swingin' Sixties, 1960-1963, by Bob Montana, 273 pages

The daily newspaper strips from 1960-1963 collected in one book.