Crack of the Bat: The Louisville Slugger Story, by Bob Hill (Sports Publishing, $29.95), is an in-depth and entertaining look at the history of the famous Louisville Slugger bat. Learn the story of the five-generation family company, the roots of baseball, the physics of hitting the ball, and how the bats are manufactured. Packed with over 160 photographs of players and parks, plus interviews with baseball's most famous names, the book will be a treasured keepsake for any baseball fan. 

  In Actors, Audiences, & Historic Theaters of Kentucky (University Press of Kentucky, $29.95), Marilyn Casto takes the reader to the theaters of yesteryear, covering both the social and architectural history of Kentucky theaters, then using this information to define the society for which they were built. Examining nearly two centuries of theatrical history, Ms. Casto provides insight into what people considered entertaining and what they deemed essential in the theater-going experience. Included are photographs of many of the historical theater sites as well as memorabilia from early productions. 

  Hill Man, by Janice Holt Giles (University Press of Kentucky, $20.00), was originally released in 1954 under Giles' pen name of John Garth. Above the title was the description, "The earthy story of a Kentucky mountaineer and a city woman." The mountaineer is Rady Cromwell, the son of a Baptist preacher who has long since rebelled from his moral upbringing. He is a shrewd character, although likable, with wit and good looks to get him through life. The city woman is Cordelia Rowe, Rady's second wife, who "wasn't cut out to be a ridge runner" and remains an outsider to the ridge and its ways. Set in the mid-1920s, Hill Man is a realistic portrayal of rural Kentucky life and language. 

  Life is Like a Horse Race, by Lexington Herald-Leader columnist Don Edwards (Lexington Herald-Leader, $7.50), is a compilation of the best of more than 20 years of Edwards' columns examining Kentucky society and its stereotypes with insight and humor. Edwards' fictitious characters such as Buffy Bleugrazz and Barbara Jean, her rural cousin, or Bubba, the mythical typical Kentuckian, are sure to bring a smile with their tongue-in-cheek satire. 

  Award-winning inspirational speaker Liz Curtis Higgs tickles the funny bone with Bookends (Multnomah Publishers, $12.99), her second work of fiction. Higgs' unmistakable humor is sprinkled throughout the story, making the reader laugh out loud at the ridiculous situations in which the characters, Emilie Getz and Jonas Fielding, find themselves. Emilie, a lover of history, has returned to her hometown of Lititz, Pennsylvania, to write a book on the Moravian church and to uncover an artifact that could change the town's history forever. Jonas, a land developer, owns the land where this artifact is buried. Watch as the two fight tooth and nail to win this battle of wills and to avoid where their hearts are leading them-to each other.