Richmond Reads by John Denniston

Clear Off the Coffee Tables! This Season Brings Gift Books A-Plenty

Planning on giving a book to a friend this holiday season? Or perhaps you’ll be lucky enough to receive a bookstore gift card. Either way, we’ve put together a few suggestions to guide you through the stacks of new books.

World War II is a defining time for Baby Boomers—whether you’re a product of the boom or one of its producers—and there’s no better starting point for an understanding of the time than The War: An Intimate History, 1941-1945 by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns (Knopf, 480 pages, $50).

This beautifully written and superbly illustrated coffee table book, through its weaving of personal descriptions, brings a human touch to one of the most  inhumane periods of mankind’s history. Some of the photographs are difficult to look at, even today, and some of the statistics are staggering.

But the chronological intertwining of the events in the Pacific and European theaters, as told primarily through the stories of four American towns, four families and four veterans, creates a compelling narrative that reads almost like a novel. This companion piece to the PBS documentary of the same name is a superb overview that shows us where we come from and who we are.

If you like your history on the lighter, more irrelevant side, check out the newly published deluxe edition of Our Dumb Century: The Onion Presents 100 Years of Headlines from America’s Finest News Source by the editors of The Onion (Crown, 176 pages, $23.95). This student parody newspaper began at the University of Wisconsin in the 1980s and is a cult favorite (especially its website) for its politically incorrect, no-holds-barred humor.

Thank goodness the editors have put its “actual” front pages together in this hardback so we can rediscover how “Tele-Vision Promises Mass Enrichment of Mankind” alongside “CIA Denies CIA Founding” (Feb. 20, 1947), “New Medical Report Finds Heavy Petting Linked to Communism” (March 8, 1953), “Judge Wapner Hears Oliver North Testimony” (July 8, 1987) and “Whites Invent Rock and Roll” (Nov. 21, 1955). Jonathan Swift would be proud.

Speaking of rock ’n’ roll, CREEM: America’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll Magazine by Robert Matheu and Brian J. Bowe (Collins, 272 pages, $29.95) is a must-read for any Baby Boomer who was into music during rock’s golden age of 1969-1988.

Articles by such legendary writers as Lester Bangs, Charles Bukowski, Cameron Crowe and Dave Marsh bring back the glory days of the MC5, the Clash, Led Zeppelin, Cream, Mott the Hoopla and countless others. And the beautiful color photos of these long-defunct bands (particularly those in the “Boy Howdy” profiles) are in themselves worth the price of this oversized recognition of rock.

“The other rock magazine” has gone Creem one better. Rolling Stone Cover to Cover: The First 40 Years (Bondi Digital, 200 pages and DVD, $125), following the lead of Mad Magazine, Playboy and, a personal favorite, National Lampoon, compiles every page of its more than 1,000 issues (115,000+ pages) onto a DVD with a companion hardback. The DVD is searchable by group, style or word, and the scanned pages include articles, photographs and even advertising. This is serious stuff for the music fan, and it carries a serious price tag.

One of the best self-help books for the over-50 crowd this season just may be a little paperback on fashion. Forever Cool: How to Achieve Ageless, Youthful, and Modern Personal Style by Sherrie Mathieson (Clarkson Potter, 256 pages, $22.95) is a collection of 200 makeovers that are guaranteed to help you end fashion crimes.

You’ll recognize the mistakes commonly made by “certain people of a certain age,” and the practical and easy advice is a great handbook for 21st-century fashion. This book is much more than “don’t wear black socks with Bermuda shorts.” Mathieson spends a lot of time discussing color, accessories, fabrics and fit in her simple approach to updating your look. 

Speaking of fit, Lauri Ward has written an indispensable redecorating manual in Downsizing Your Home with Style: Living Well in a Smaller Space (Collins, 208 pages, $24.95). The book starts with preparing to downsize and continues through reviewing your changes a year after the fact. It’s filled with details for each room on how to use space, how to find storage and how to make rooms multifunctional. Each chapter has to-do lists, tips, sidebars, successful examples and detailed photographs.

And finally, what is the holiday season without entertaining? If you love to hostess, you’ll definitely want to check out Southern Lady: Gracious Tables: The Perfect Setting for Any Occasion by Phyllis Hoffman (Collins, 256 pages, $39.95). Hoffman, the publisher of seven magazines including Southern Lady and Cooking With Paula Deen, has created an exquisite book with scrumptious recipes, perfect menus and special advice in the true Southern sense.

From a garden-side treat featuring fried green tomatoes to a quiet moment with red velvet scones with cream cheese glaze, she covers table settings, flowers, color and finishing touches in a book that is as beautiful to look at as it is mouth-watering to read.

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