Kathy Witt

PERFECT DAY KENTUCKY:

DAY TRIPS, WEEKEND GETAWAYS AND OTHER ESCAPES

$27

Explorer Daniel Boone made this observation two centuries ago and it still holds true today: Kentucky is a place of awe-inspiring wonder and natural beauty, of pristine, well-preserved historic downtown districts and rolling backcountry roads framed by miles of black paddock and dry-stone fencing.

From the longest known cave system in the world at Mammoth Cave to the world's longest underground suspension bridge at Hidden River Cave, from the most natural arches in the country east of the Mississippi River—like Creelsboro Natural Arch, aka the Rockhouse—to the second-largest waterfall by volume in the eastern United States (hello, Cumberland Falls!), from heritage bourbon distilleries like Heaven Hill and Wild Turkey to historic horse farms like Claiborne and Our Mims, and from the world's most famous secret-recipe chicken at the place where it all began to the Birthplace and Boyhood Home of Abraham Lincoln, Kentucky has so many unique, extraordinary, and authentic experiences. But what if you have only a limited amount of time to spend at a destination? Perfect Day Kentucky puts the quintessential experiences before you, while also presenting additional suggestions to inspire further exploration and encourage longer stays.

SECRET CINCINNATI:

A GUIDE TO THE WEIRD, WONDERFUL AND OBSCURE

$20.95

Is it safe to photograph bobolinks at a once-contaminated nuclear weapons plant? Is it possible to channel a medium from whatever realm she inhabits in the afterlife? Is that an alligator over yonder?

Did you know you can watch an unscripted star show with an audience of only eighteen? Find pieces of an exquisite old castle-like building all over the city? Hear a free concert outdoors in the dead of winter? Conduct your own paranormal investigation at a honky-tonk? See the world's largest steam engines? Browse and buy animal skulls?

Told with wonder, humor, and a big dose of sentimentality, here is a travel guide that lauds those little (and little-known) treasures all over town. From a tower missing its church and a maze you can meditate your way through to a book relating to a real-life beheading and a memorial to the last passenger pigeon, Secret Cincinnati is an exuberant shout-out to all that makes Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky the sometimes weird and always wonderful place it is.

Lanie Sullivan and Isabelle Blakely never meet, but the two girls share a fascination for all things Gone With the Wind—especially Belle Watling, a character in the book, and Ona Munson, the actress who portrays Belle in the movie. Lanie meets Ona in 1939, during the three-day movie premiere in Atlanta, Ga. When Lanie comes between Ona Munson and disaster, Ona rewards her with a gift—a little treasure originally given to the actress by the author of Gone With the Wind herself, Margaret Mitchell.

More than sixty years later, as she helps prepare a museum dedicated to Gone With the Wind for its Grand Opening, Belle comes upon letters written to Ona Munson and feels an instant connection to their naive, star-struck author, Lanie Sullivan. As Belle digs deeper into the past through Lanie’s letters, her connection grows even stronger— not to mention her curiosity at Lanie’s references to a special gift. Margaret Mitchell died in 1949; Ona Munson in 1955. What about Lanie? Belle begins a quest to discover what the gift was, where it is—and what became of Lanie Sullivan.

This was the first book by Collector Books to focus not only on collectible dolls, but on the artists who created them. The book highlights 25 contemporary doll designers and their dolls, including Sue Sizemore (Kacinda), Anna Puchalski (limited edition Cocoa), Monica Reo (Alissa), Karen Williams Smith (The Promise), Kim Jelley (Blue Ice Faerie), Mary Ellen Frank (Lizzie and Oleanna), Marilyn Radzat (The Golden Faerie), and many more. Artist profiles are provided, which share the stories behind the creation of the dolls and the source of inspiration for the artists.

Sections include healing and spirituality, history and heritage, storybook creatures and characters, Christmastide, needle arts, and more. Almost 200 beautiful color photographs make the book shine.

Here is a detailed, state-by-state guide listing the museums and collections of antique, art, baby, contemporary, fashion, and miniature dolls, plus special category collections including the W.P.A. dolls found in museums, libraries, and historical societies, bed and breakfast inns, and other venues that have permanent quality collections of dolls for public viewing. The book includes listings of doll hospitals and their specialties, plus directories of national doll organizations and clubs and a guide to annual doll shows. Interviews with a doll museum curator, doll doctor, costumer, show director, and artist, plus in-depth articles on selected collections, will give readers a behind-the-scenes look at the doll world from many different perspectives. Doll 'dream destinations' will be included as well. The Doll Directory is the indispensable guide every doll lover/collector needs to find museums and collections to visit, hospitals for doll reconstruction and restoration, doll clubs and organizations to join, and doll shows to attend.