When gazing at the city's impressive skyline, we too often forget the notable individuals who built these grand and glittering buildings, as well as the nearby museums, parks and neighborhoods we also treasure. Reflected in the character, reputation and even design of our city, the legacy of the early settlers continues on today. Through their efforts, almost always imbued with a civic entrepreneurial spirit, they stamped their mark on our burgeoning regional reputation, while also allowing current leaders to bolster and broaden our national reputation. From its very beginnings, Cincinnati offered an enticing combination of personable welcome and worldly sophistication. At one point, Cincinnati had more native-born residents than any other American city, a testament to the values that attracted and retained its citizens. In Founders and Famous Families of Cincinnati, author Wendy Hart Beckman brings to life the founding families' histories, sharing these intertwined and fascinating tales with readers near and far. A charming history of lives lived large -- truly the Who's Who (as well as the When and Where) of Cincinnati -- that when considered together, made the Queen City the great place to live and work that it is today.

When gazing at the city's impressive skyline, we too often forget the notable individuals who built these grand and glittering buildings, as well as the nearby museums, parks and neighborhoods we also treasure. Reflected in the character, reputation and even design of our city, the legacy of the early settlers continues on today. Through their efforts, almost always imbued with a civic entrepreneurial spirit, they stamped their mark on our burgeoning regional reputation, while also allowing current leaders to bolster and broaden our national reputation. From its very beginnings, Cincinnati offered an enticing combination of personable welcome and worldly sophistication. At one point, Cincinnati had more native-born residents than any other American city, a testament to the values that attracted and retained its citizens. In Founders and Famous Families of Cincinnati, author Wendy Hart Beckman brings to life the founding families' histories, sharing these intertwined and fascinating tales with readers near and far. A charming history of lives lived large -- truly the Who's Who (as well as the When and Where) of Cincinnati -- that when considered together, made the Queen City the great place to live and work that it is today.

In 1961 Paige was put up for adoption, a more taboo and secretive topic than it is today. Paige's adoptive family chose not to focus on the adoption, but instead function as a regular family with natural children. However, being adopted made her feel vulnerable and unreal. She longed to know more about her true self. In Akin to the Truth: A Memoir of Adoption and Identity, Paige tells stories from the perspective of a child and adolescent, growing up with a closely guarded secret. Through vignettes, Paige relates feelings about her adoption to forming and maintaining relationships, caring for pets, moving to new houses and neighborhoods, losing loved ones and entering young adulthood. Her need for acceptance is juxtaposed with her adoptive father's increasingly erratic behavior. This is a tale of family joys and hardships, friendships, falling in love and the need to belong. It is set in the era of free love, social unrest and unexpected change during the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

A Fiddler's Journey is an epistolary memoir, told through letters written by Judy Justice to her family. With a scholarship to study "avant-garde music," Cincinnatian Judy Justice sailed to Germany in May 1960 to break traditions and taste new personal and professional freedoms in a country that was experiencing a rebirth of freedom of its own. Even more significant; however, Judy's trip took place a mere fifteen years after the United States and Germany had been at war. World War II ended in the European theater in 1945, leaving much of Germany destroyed and its people trying to rebuild their infrastructure and regain pride. As you read A Fiddler's Journey, you will experience: The adventure of a young woman finding her way around Europe during the breaking of centuries of patriarchal and male-dominant traditions Her struggle to perfect her craft and find her niche as a violinist What she played, what she heard played and what it was like to tour with a chamber orchestra The realization of a dream achieved"