Smoky Mountain News

A national bestselling author, a local icon, and a well-known regional outdoor writer and photographer will all make their way to City Lights Bookstore in Sylva soon.

• First, Gary Carden returns to the store for a special program on Appalachian literature and culture, entitled “Going Home with Gary Carden: A Discussion of Appalachian Literature” held 7 p.m. Friday, July 9.

Going home is an important theme in many Appalachian authors’ works and will serve as the focal point of the discussion. Featured books, each of them classics in their own right, will be Harriet Arnonw’s The Dollmaker, Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain, and Lamb in His Bosom by Caroline Miller.

Carden will discuss various ways of looking at Appalachian culture and what makes it special. Each of the novels he will touch on reflects those elements in different ways.

• Bestselling novelist Sharyn McCrumb will read from her new book in her Ballad Series of novels, entitled The Devil Amongst the Lawyers, at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 13.

The book takes up the story of a young woman accused in 1934 of murdering her father. Only one journalist really cares about the truth, and he gets help from his cousin, whom readers come to know in her later life as the mysterious Nora Bonesteel, who has “the sight.”

• Celebrate hunting and fishing with outdoorsman and author Jim Casada at 7 p.m. Saturday, July 19. Casada will read selections from his outdoor guidebooks, including Beginner’s Guide to Fly Fishing, Fly Fishing in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and The Wild Bounty Cookbook.

828.586.9499 or www.citylightsnc.com.