Majesty of St. Augustine Book

Woodmere Cemetery isn't blessed with lots of permanent residents, but Gail Hershenzon's book does a wonderful job of bringing the place to life. She's specially skillful at summing up interesting residents in a paragraph, pointing out a number of fascinating monuments, and spinning some gruesome stories.

My favorite is about Amelia Buck, buried in an unmarked grave. Her sister kept Amelia's body, convinced she could pray her back to life. She tried to feed her dead sister a little coffee each day and even propped her up in a chair on the porch to watch the Fourth of July parade.

The reason this book doesn't get five stars is that Amelia Buck is said to have died July 27 -- several weeks after the Fourth of July. Probably the first date is a typo and should have said June 27, but it does call into question other facts and figures in the book.