Who better to offer instruction, advice, and humor than a man who's entering his ninth decade with a jaunty two-step? Dick Van Dyke's optimistic outlook is an invigorating tonic for anyone needing a reminder that life should be lived with enthusiasm despite what the calendar says.

After almost twenty years of caring for elderly parents -- first for their senile father, and then for their cantankerous ninety-three-year old mother -- author Plum Johnson and her three younger brothers have finally fallen to their middle-aged knees with conflicted feelings of grief and relief. Now they must empty and sell the beloved family home, twenty-three rooms bulging with history, antiques, and oxygen tanks. Plum thought: How tough will that...

"Millions of devoted readers believe they know Laura Ingalls -- the pioneer girl who survived blizzards and near-starvation on the Great Plains and went on to write the famous autobiographical books. But the full saga of her life has never been told. Now Caroline Fraser, editor of the Library of America's Little House series, masterfully fills in the gaps. For all the hardships Wilder's books describe, her life was harder and grittier. With fresh...

"A brilliant portrait of two American giants, Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, and America entering the automobile age, told through the fascinating but little-known narrative of the summer road trips taken by Edison and Ford"-- The fascinating story of two American giants--Henry Ford and Thomas Edison--whose annual summer sojourns introduced the road trip to our culture and made the automobile an essential part of modern life, even as their own relationship...

"More so than almost anyone outside John McCain's immediate family, Mark Salter had unparalleled access to Senator McCain. Salter served to influence the senator's thoughts and actions, cowriting several books with him and acting as a valued confidant. Now, Salter draws on the storied facets of McCain's early biography as well as the later-in-life political philosophy for which the nation knew and loved him, delivering an intimate and comprehensive...

"Known for her childhood role as Laura Ingalls Wilder on the classic NBC show Little House on the Prairie, Melissa Gilbert has spent nearly her entire life in Hollywood. From Dancing with the Stars to a turn in politics, she was always on the lookout for her next project. She just had no idea that her latest one would be completely life changing. When her husband introduces her to the wilds of rural Michigan, Melissa begins to fall back in love with...

"Painfully shy, Elizabeth Windsor's personality was well suited to her youthful ambition of living quietly in the country, raising a family, and caring for her dogs and horses. But when her uncle, King Edward VIII, abdicated, she became heir to the throne--embarking on a journey that would test her as a woman and queen. Ascending to the throne at only 25, this self-effacing monarch navigated endless setbacks, family conflict, and occasional triumphs...