Browse by Subject: Culture

Filled with colorful photographs and infused with the joy of two expert chefs celebrating the foods that are closest to their hearts, Taste the Islands brings the places, histories, and rhythms of the Caribbean into your home kitchen.  

In this narrated cookbook, Adela Hernandez Gonzmart and Ferdie Pacheco memorialize their passion for the Columbia, the nation’s largest Spanish restaurant and Florida’s oldest restaurant. This special 115th anniversary edition of the The Columbia Restaurant Spanish Cookbook features a touching foreword by Andrea Gonzmart Williams, granddaughter of Adela.

When Ray Whaley set out to accomplish his bucket-list goal of kayaking the length of the St. Johns River, it didn’t take long for him to realize he was in over his head. The longest river in Florida, stretching 310 miles between Vero Beach and Jacksonville, the St. Johns had been paddled in its entirety by only a handful of people. Whaley found himself blazing his own trail on an exciting and unexpected adventure.           

With an eye for the illogical and a flair for the irreverent, journalist Mark Lane aims his sharp wit at one of the most intriguing duties of the Florida legislature—signing state symbols into law. In Roaring Reptiles, Bountiful Citrus, and Neon Pies, he spotlights nineteen things that have been proposed and/or appointed to officially define Florida.

Peels back the actual and contextual layers of Walt Disney’s inspiration and vision for Disney World in central Florida, exploring the reasons why the resort has emerged as such a prominent sociocultural force.

Discover some of Florida’s most fascinating personalities in this entertaining kaleidoscope of interviews. Made in Florida showcases a colorful lineup of notable people who got their start in the state and who have helped make it the unique, diverse place it is today. 

Experience the rough-and-tumble Glades as they once were.

John Capouya draws on extensive interviews with surviving musicians to re-create the exciting atmosphere of the golden age of soul, establishing Florida as one of the great soul music capitals of the United States.  

Beloved raconteur, environmentalist, and down-home philosopher, Gamble Rogers (1937–1991) ushered in a renaissance of folk music to a place and time that desperately needed it. In this book, Bruce Horovitz tells the story of how Rogers infused Florida’s rapidly commercializing landscape with a refreshing dose of homegrown authenticity and how his distinctive music and personality touched the nation.  

Discover how one spectacular building project revolutionized Miami, how one man’s moxie helped turn a fractious tropical city into a cultural capital of the Americas. In Center of Dreams, New York Times bestselling author Les Standiford tells the inspiring story of the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts.