Connecticut Bootlegger Queen Nellie Green

Recounts the life of Nellie Green, who was known as the "queen of the rumrunners on the East Coast," against the backdrop of the Prohibition era, the women's movement, and the Roaring Twenties.

Connecticut has a long history of producing outstanding sports teams and athletes. Two of the greatest teams to come out of the state are the legendary Brakettes and Falcons women's fast-pitch softball teams. In their seventy-six-year history, the Brakettes are considered the most successful and longest-running organized women's sports franchise of all time. With forty national championships, three world championships and eleven Olympians, their dynasty remains synonymous with softball excellence. Likewise, the Connecticut Falcons were the most dominant team of the Women's Professional Softball League, winning the championship title all four years of the WPS existence. The most famous and iconic product of these two teams has been Waterbury's legendary Joan Joyce, who is considered by many experts to be the greatest female athlete in sports history. Join author Tony Renzoni as he interviews former players and highlights the accomplishments of these two renowned teams and their legendary athletes.

Connecticut is home to a number of landmark music venues that have featured local and national performers. While some of the locations have closed, they have certainly not been forgotten. The New Haven Coliseum, the Arena and the Bushnell Memorial were once the places to be for music lovers, while elsewhere places like the Cheri Shack and the Shaboo hosted local bands and national headliners. Other venues such as Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun, The Meadows and Toad's Place have now taken center stage and continue to attract large crowds. With in-depth interviews with performers and many timeless photos, author Tony Renzoni takes you on a nostalgic and fun tour of the Nutmeg State's most beloved music sites.

Connecticut has a long history of producing outstanding sports teams and athletes. Two of the greatest teams to come out of the state are the legendary Brakettes and Falcons women's fast-pitch softball teams. In their seventy-six-year history, the Brakettes are considered the most successful and longest-running organized women's sports franchise of all time. With forty national championships, three world championships and eleven Olympians, their dynasty remains synonymous with softball excellence. Likewise, the Connecticut Falcons were the most dominant team of the Women's Professional Softball League, winning the championship title all four years of the WPS existence. The most famous and iconic product of these two teams has been Waterbury's legendary Joan Joyce, who is considered by many experts to be the greatest female athlete in sports history. Join author Tony Renzoni as he interviews former players and highlights the accomplishments of these two renowned teams and their legendary athletes.

Long neglected in the annals of American music, the Nutmeg State's influence on the history of rock'n'roll deserves recognition. Connecticut's musical highlights include the beautiful harmonies of New Haven's Five Satins, Gene Pitney's rise to fame, Stamford's the Fifth Estate and notable rockers such as Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, Rivers Cuomo of Weezer and Saturday Night Live Band's Christine Ohlman. Rock Hall of Famers include Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz of the Talking Heads and Dennis Dunaway of the Alice Cooper Band. Some events became legend, like Jimi Hendrix's spellbinding performance at Yale's Woolsey Hall, Jim Morrison's onstage arrest at the New Haven Arena and teenage Bob Dylan's appearance at Branford's Indian Neck Folk Festival. With in-depth interviews as well as rare, never-before-seen photos, author Tony Renzoni leads a sonic trip that captures the spirit and zenith of the local scene.

Joan Joyce will always be known as the unbeatable pitcher for the Raybestos Brakettes and the Connecticut Falcons, whose numerous career records--including an incredible 150 no-hitters and 50 perfect games--made her the best in the game. However, she was also one of the most gifted athletes the state has ever produced, as she also set records in basketball and later went on to a stellar career in the LPGA. A true pioneer of women's sports, Joan is currently the head softball coach at Florida Atlantic University. Join author Tony Renzoni as he profiles the multifaceted career of one of the country's greatest athletes.

Herbert Asbury presents here a vivid and startling account of New York gangdom from its beginning in Revolutionary times to comparatively recent days. Here are the stories of the great gangs which terrorized the city and at times menaced its very existence—from the Bowery Boys and the Dead Rabbits to the Gophers and the Eastmans. Kid Dropper, Dopey Benny, Gyp the Blood and Owney Madden are a few of the gangster luminaries described, not to mention such female evildoers as Gallus Mag and Sadie the Goat. Nor have the underworld’s lesser lights been overlooked; for these pages are crowded with a host of gang warriors, pickpockets, tong leaders, murderers, politicians, gamblers, prostitutes, dive-keepers and a few would-be reformers. Mr. Asbury has created such a rich, factual background for this chronicle of crime and gangsterism that the book gains considerable stature as a revealing picture of New York City’s history through a century of frenzied growth and expansion. Whether you read it as such or merely for amusement, it is a swift, exciting experience.

In her first contemporary novel since Room, bestselling author Emma Donoghue returns with a brilliant tale of love, loss and family. The life of a retired New York professor is thrown into chaos when he takes his great-nephew to the French Riviera in the hopes of uncovering his own mother’s wartime secrets. Noah is only days away from his first trip back to Nice since he was a child when he receives an unexpected request. A social worker is looking for a temporary home for Michael, his eleven-year-old great-nephew. Although he has never met the boy, Noah is convinced to take Michael with him to France. Suffering from jet lag and culture shock, the odd couple argue about everything from steak haché to screen time, and the trip shows every sign of being a disaster. But Michael’s skill with tech and his sharp eye help Noah unearth troubling details about their family’s past. Eventually they both come to understand that people of all eras run risks on behalf of their loved ones. In learning this they discover that they are more akin than they knew. Written with all the tenderness and psychological intensity that made Room a huge bestseller, Akin is a funny, heart-wrenching tale of an old man and a boy who unpick the threads of their painful stories and start to write a new one together.