Perhaps you are already having trouble keeping your new year’s resolutions, so why not try a new month’s resolution instead? A suggestion might be to enhance your knowledge and relax a bit with some new reading material from A.K. Smiley Public Library. Non-fiction books can entertain, educate, engage your mind, and satisfy your curiosity.
An entertaining and educational selection would be Mike Rowe’s “The Way I Heard It,” which is a collection of stories gleaned from his podcast. If his name is familiar, his voice may be even more familiar to fans of the early days of “QVC,” “Dirty Jobs,” and “Deadliest Catch” programs on television. He shares human interest stories about famous people, but does so by sharing interesting and uncommon tales using first names and not revealing their full names until the end of the story. You might pick up on the fact that he was a fan of Paul Harvey and recognize some characters from Rowe’s previous jobs, as well as some celebrities.
If history along with celebrity gossip catches your attention, “The Castle on Sunset: Life, Death, Love, Art, and Scandal at Hollywood’s Chateau Marmont,” by Shawn Levy is waiting for you. Originally built in 1929 as a luxury apartment building, Levy shares the evolution of the building into a famous celebrity hotel. He also reveals inside tales of many of its famous residents: Jean Harlow, Natalie Wood, Tab Hunter, Jim Morrison, Rock Hudson, Lindsay Lohan, and John Belushi (including his final stay), just to name a few.
John Belushi, his comedic cohorts and their antics are also revealed in “Wild and Crazy Guys: How the Comedy Mavericks of the ‘80s Changed Hollywood Forever,” by Nick de Semlyen. Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Rick Moranis, and John Candy are all chronicled. The author’s entertaining insider accounts also include behind the scenes information on the making of “Saturday Night Live,” “Ghostbusters,” “Caddyshack,” “The Blues Brothers,” “Beverly Hills Cop,” and the National Lampoon movies, as well as other shows of that era.
Books, large print books, magazines, newspapers, audio books, music CDs, and DVDs, all on a variety of topics, can be found at A.K. Smiley Public Library. If this beautiful treasure of Redlands is not familiar to you, it is definitely time to come experience what you are missing!